This running back looks good to me....thoughts?
- Thread starter ShockandAweWSU
- Start date
Who looks to be quicker...Watson or this kid. This kid is one cut back. Has really good vision. Even Borghi took a long tome to change direction. This kid gets through the whole very well. They could do worse...Alvin Arzu and the like.
There are a couple of plays where he seems to be running away from people, but I think a legit 4.4 guy would create space much faster.
He's fast enough to get to the edge in high school, and once he turns the corner, he's fast enough to not get caught. I also see a back who's good at evasion, not at escape. He can make people miss, but he doesn't really escape first contact. He doesn't look like a reliable option up the middle.
He reads and follows blocks well, but benefits a lot from the fact that his team blocks very well. Look at his film, and you'll see big holes and a lot of well timed downfield blocking.
On a team with lesser blocking (which usually describes us) I'm not sure he sees much success out of the backfield. Between his style and his size (5-10, 180) I'd be more willing to look at him as a receiver than as an RB. Getting him the ball in space, when he's 1:1 with a DB, seems like a better alternative than trying to make him get through the whole D. If he's actually got 4.4 speed, I like him as an inside receiver, and trying to get him lined up against a safety or LB.
He looks good. Hard for me to get excited about backs considering Bazille can’t get on the field. I was pumped to see him play and I remember after seeing him play thinking could be a freshman contributor…the deanthony Thomas lightening back. So far nothin. So who knows.
Pretty much agree with your assessment. Really good vision and cutback ability. Decent speed, but doesn't appear to be blazing. I didn't see all of the highlights, but I never saw him have to deal with contact. Did any defender actually touch him in these highlights? I'd like to see whether he can actually break a tackle or bounce off a defender. I wonder how much strength there is.
Glad Cougar
Holy fuc$ing tap dancing Moses you SOBs.
What the fuc$ is it? Blame the kid for not being fast enough but he does nothing but run away from people into the endzone from anywhere on the field.
Blame him for having too good of blocking and cant run in traffic.
Blame him for never being touched and not having a break a tackle.
What the hell else??? If he carried 1 water bucket to the sideline you would bitch because he didnt carry 2 water buckets at the same time.
He runs fast and scores touchdowns. Isn’t that enough???
I can nitpick with the best of them. You guys are worse.
What the fuc$ is it? Blame the kid for not being fast enough but he does nothing but run away from people into the endzone from anywhere on the field.
Blame him for having too good of blocking and cant run in traffic.
Blame him for never being touched and not having a break a tackle.
What the hell else??? If he carried 1 water bucket to the sideline you would bitch because he didnt carry 2 water buckets at the same time.
He runs fast and scores touchdowns. Isn’t that enough???
I can nitpick with the best of them. You guys are worse.
Kid with a nose for the end zone from a big So Cal school? I like it.
Every sprinter I've ever know (I've known a couple P5 sprinters) is lazy af when it comes to actually sprinting. They turn on the burners only as much as they absolutely have to - could be the same with this kid.
No idea. Waiting for Biggs to tell me.
Might not be wrong. Watching his film there’s plays that look like kids are about to catch him that aren’t that fast then other plays looks like he blows by everyone. I’m not sure who Biggs was ranting at I like the kids film and like what I see if I’m recruiting the position just my perspective as a fan seems like we recruit these guys who look like home run backs and they never get a carry. Like Bazille. Robert Lewis ended up being a good receiver for us but his RB film was insane and I saw him as another deanthony Thomas game breaker and it never panned out.
Robert Lewis film was simply incredible. Prob best I've seen for a Wazzu recruit. Calvin Green had a great one too.
I thought lewis' at rb was really good as well. Maybe they were concerned he couldn't take the hits at 160 or whatever he started out on campus.
I don't think I criticized the kid, I basically said I don't know how he does when he meets contact. The video doesn't show anything that gives me an answer. He might be as strong as Adrian Peterson for all I know, but seeing only highlights in which he isn't touched doesn't answer the question. But hey, if he is so good that he never gets touched by anyone, hell....sign him up!
Glad Cougar
Agreed. This is one video, with a lot of long, easy runs. I’d like to see more, especially how he does when he gets hit in the backfield, whether he can do anything in protection (at his size, I have serious doubts), and what he does in short yardage. Based on this video, I’m not sure he’s a college RB…especially on a team that doesn’t run block very well.
Educated guess based on the film i saw of him running in HS is that he’s a liability in the passing game picking up blitzes and such. Considering Watson didn’t do so well with that in the bowl game either, that’s a scary thought. Just a guess though as he certainly can run.
Why you laughing at this. Watson didn’t pick up rushers at all in the bowl game. When backs stink at this they don’t see the field. Now that said, you’ve got an explosive enough guy you either don’t worry about him having to do this, or you figure you can coach him to do it when he needs to. I doubt Oregon gave two shits about DeAnthony Thomas picking up blitzes, but he was also a pretty rare talent.
Ok. He didn’t play in the bowl game either when Borghi and DM weren’t available. And Watson is far from a stud at this point.
Running backs coach Smith was completely enamored w Watson and recruited him out of Wisconsin. We shall see how Atuai feels about him.
I don’t think he fumbled I think he got tackled for like a 3 yard loss. Either way I believe you are right that he’s only had one carry.
Nothing like never giving him another to instill confidence? Like spilling the holy water. "You'll never get this gig again!"
Take the defenses in the video and mentally impose Pac-12 LBs and safeties instead of those kids he is playing against, a fraction of whom are D-1 athletes, even in CIF. I like some of his receiving skills, especially, and speed in space, even if it's not 4.4 (his Twitter bio now says 4.3; sure). Watch what happens when there's any traffic, though. Lots of steps to not get anywhere. Takes forever to get around corners. Gets through some holes but it's hard to see him developing to be able to do that against bigger or better athletes. There's a reason he just has offers from the Big Sky and UNLV; that's all. Not like he couldn't do anything but I doubt he'd see the field in the Pac-12. Won't be livid if we get someone like this, especially this year, but it's hard to understand how people are apoplectic about some offers yet ask "what more do you want" when you have a decent Big Sky or stretch Mountain West recruit, but not a Pac-12 player, on the screen.
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Most to almost all P5 to Pac 12 RB's, except for the ones at the WSU's, Ore St's, Duke's, Kentucky's, etc, are at least about at least 189 pounds
This kid is about 180, so about 5 to 7 to 9 pounds too light. But that can be easily fixed.
Jamal Morrow wasn't much bigger then this kid. At first Morrow wasn't good between the tackles, because of his size.
But because of Morrow's, shiftiness, ability to juke, cutback, evasion, make defenders miss, etc, he later thru practice, will, determination, was able to also learn vision, read the blocks, hit hole hard, break some tackles, and handle some contact, and how to deflect contact.
Morrow altho semi fast, wasn't as fast as this kid. Morrow's vision, block reading, following, was ok in highschool, probably not as good as this kid, but the speed of the game, vs WSU's Pac 12 opponent defenders, was temporarily faster then his ability to see, read things, follow blocks, etc, and that's why took Morrow some time to adjust.
But just like this kid, you could see flashes of his talent, ability.
This kid is probably somewhat semi similar to Morrow. The kid is slightly undersized, and has great elusivity, just like Morrow.
But the kid is probably as fast to faster then Morrow, and probably has at least as good to better vision, to reading, following blocks, better then Morrow, and probably hits hole decently like Morrow.
Pretty sure some said that Morrow wouldn't be a between the tackles RB, or block, etc. But Morrow proved them wrong, an or learned how to do it.
This kid is like Morrow, and like Morrow, may also run between tackles.
Will he do it? I don't know. But at worst you can always move him to slot, or use him as a outside scatback RB, punt, kickoff returner, etc.
The kid is probably worth a look, offer, scholly, etc. Just like Morrow was.
This kid is about 180, so about 5 to 7 to 9 pounds too light. But that can be easily fixed.
Jamal Morrow wasn't much bigger then this kid. At first Morrow wasn't good between the tackles, because of his size.
But because of Morrow's, shiftiness, ability to juke, cutback, evasion, make defenders miss, etc, he later thru practice, will, determination, was able to also learn vision, read the blocks, hit hole hard, break some tackles, and handle some contact, and how to deflect contact.
Morrow altho semi fast, wasn't as fast as this kid. Morrow's vision, block reading, following, was ok in highschool, probably not as good as this kid, but the speed of the game, vs WSU's Pac 12 opponent defenders, was temporarily faster then his ability to see, read things, follow blocks, etc, and that's why took Morrow some time to adjust.
But just like this kid, you could see flashes of his talent, ability.
This kid is probably somewhat semi similar to Morrow. The kid is slightly undersized, and has great elusivity, just like Morrow.
But the kid is probably as fast to faster then Morrow, and probably has at least as good to better vision, to reading, following blocks, better then Morrow, and probably hits hole decently like Morrow.
Pretty sure some said that Morrow wouldn't be a between the tackles RB, or block, etc. But Morrow proved them wrong, an or learned how to do it.
This kid is like Morrow, and like Morrow, may also run between tackles.
Will he do it? I don't know. But at worst you can always move him to slot, or use him as a outside scatback RB, punt, kickoff returner, etc.
The kid is probably worth a look, offer, scholly, etc. Just like Morrow was.
I guess here is the problem I have with a couple of opinions after film study. In the run and shoot the RB stayed in and blocked. In Leach's Air Raid Leach wanted the back out in the pattern.
Second, someone mentioned DeAnthony Thomas. In one of his 40 times he ran a 4.65 at the combine. He did get his time down to 4.5.
But to the greater point, do I believe Williams, Wicks and maybe even Borghi run below a 4.6? A real timed 40 and not what high school coaches say?
There was a few games Reggie Bush may have had the ball in his hands 7 times in the game, 3 times they went to the house. This kid is a 1 cut runner. Something Max and Watson were and are not. If the backs are getting consistently hit in the backfield we have a problem...and we may just have that.
Second, someone mentioned DeAnthony Thomas. In one of his 40 times he ran a 4.65 at the combine. He did get his time down to 4.5.
But to the greater point, do I believe Williams, Wicks and maybe even Borghi run below a 4.6? A real timed 40 and not what high school coaches say?
There was a few games Reggie Bush may have had the ball in his hands 7 times in the game, 3 times they went to the house. This kid is a 1 cut runner. Something Max and Watson were and are not. If the backs are getting consistently hit in the backfield we have a problem...and we may just have that.
I'm not sure the previous staff believed in soft landings. CJ Moore got the same treatment. Attempts to get him the ball were high difficulty catches in coverage. Whatever happened to building up a players confidence at game speed?
I would say there were enough easy drops to say I would question his hands.
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