Without adding another one
- Thread starter kougkurt
- Start date
If I have learned anything this recruiting season is that players commit/follow coaches more so than schools. So I'm hoping Atuaia can bring one of his Virginia running backs with him. If not I'm very concerned.
Indeed. I haven't seen anything from Watson that makes me think he can even approach the value of Borghi and McIntosh. To be fair, he had an offensive line of backups in the bowl game "blocking" for him. But I don't know that he has the speed, power, elusiveness that I'd like to see from the #1 running back at WSU. Maybe one of the freshmen will surprise. If not, I agree that a portal RB would be nice to have.
Glad Cougar
Right now we have Watson and Bazil, with some experience and with the program for a few years. They said
Watson was pushing McIntosh in the spring and fall, but that could be sports writers talk. The walkon Katzer from Spokane looked OK in the spring game, but that doesn't mean much, and now you have the 2 Freshman backs coming in Schlenbacker from Bellingham, and Jenkins from Texas. Many times Freshman can have an impact at the RB position, Schlenbacker is big enough, appears to have decent speed, his recruiting ranking is similar to that of Bishop Sankey, but he's bigger and has more power, so I am hoping for a surprise there.
I'd like to see what Watson and Bazil could do with a few reps under their belt. I don't believe Bazil had a carry this year, just 1 two years ago, Watson had less than 20 carries all season, I haven't seen anything the jumps off the screen impressive, but many running backs need to get into the rhythm of the game, needless to say neither had enough carries to do that. Watson's sun bowl numbers weren't great, to say the least, but out OL was terrible to be honest.
If I am a running back at a power 5 school and I am 2nd or 3rd, depth chart and think I can start most anywhere else, and thinking about the transfer portal, WSU would be a great place to put on your list.
I just hope the coaches have a surprise up their sleeve, or maybe Morris sees a way to use the current backs that the previous staff didn't.
Watson was pushing McIntosh in the spring and fall, but that could be sports writers talk. The walkon Katzer from Spokane looked OK in the spring game, but that doesn't mean much, and now you have the 2 Freshman backs coming in Schlenbacker from Bellingham, and Jenkins from Texas. Many times Freshman can have an impact at the RB position, Schlenbacker is big enough, appears to have decent speed, his recruiting ranking is similar to that of Bishop Sankey, but he's bigger and has more power, so I am hoping for a surprise there.
I'd like to see what Watson and Bazil could do with a few reps under their belt. I don't believe Bazil had a carry this year, just 1 two years ago, Watson had less than 20 carries all season, I haven't seen anything the jumps off the screen impressive, but many running backs need to get into the rhythm of the game, needless to say neither had enough carries to do that. Watson's sun bowl numbers weren't great, to say the least, but out OL was terrible to be honest.
If I am a running back at a power 5 school and I am 2nd or 3rd, depth chart and think I can start most anywhere else, and thinking about the transfer portal, WSU would be a great place to put on your list.
I just hope the coaches have a surprise up their sleeve, or maybe Morris sees a way to use the current backs that the previous staff didn't.
Thanks for the analysis! I thought I remember Dickert saying that Schlenbaker's best position might not be running back. With a lack of depth at RB, I think he gets a real looooooooong look at RB.
Last edited:
Similar threads
