Not a whole lot of experience returning. Adams got the most work and Anderson has an injury resume. I'm going with the new guy Sermon. Like his size and athleticism.
Who Will Be This Year's Breakout Running Back
- Thread starter fortworth4ou2
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I would say Paige Parker.
Actually, Its too early to talk about football. If I was guessing I would say a healthy Rodney Anderson.Another choice would be Flowers our fullback who had a great game at RB when Perine was injured & Mixon was suspended for one game. (Iowa State game I believe).He had 149 yds of offense as a RB in ISU game
We have an OU softball National Championship possible run to talk about.
Lets see if we can win it all back to back. .
We will talk about football about July.
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There's a chance that at least two backs will emerge as pretty solid and I'm hoping for a solid 3-back rotation....not including Flowers.
Flowers played a great game at RB last season showing his quickness and ball catching in a Big12 game when Perine & Mixon did not play.
Demitri Flowers...2016
"Named second-team All-Big 12 by league's coaches ... turned in 149 yards of total offense and a receiving TD on 25 touches at Iowa State (11/3) ... started at tailback against Cyclones and ran for 115 yards on the only 22 carries of his career ... four of his 11 receptions resulted in touchdowns ... caught a 34-yard TD pass at Texas Tech (10/22) ... hauled in a 67-yard catch in Big 12-title-clinching win over Oklahoma State (12/3)".
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It will be Adams and Anderson if they stay healthy, but like the OP, I'm skeptical of anybody who's been Sermon should have a jump on Brooks for a third spot, or maybe 2nd if an injury to the top two. But I think Sutton is a more explosive runner than either. Sermon isn't used to the speed of the game, based on spring game performance, but he'll get there.
Between Sutton, the Lackawana transfer, Brooks and Sermon, whichever is the best pass blocker is most likely to be a top two guy to share running time if there is an injury two Adams or Anderson. But from spring performance and history, Sermon is pretty unlikely to be the starter at running back, IMO.
Sutton was not a good pass blocker in the spring game. (does the word, ole` mean anthing?) But it's really really hard for a true freshman to learn who to block against the myriad of blitzes that DC think up when they play against you. Ohio State doesn't just have that. They have the best athletes on OUr schedule, probably by more than a little. You can't throw it against them unless you can protect, and you can't protect if your running back doesn't know who to block.
I'd think that if we lost both Anderson and Adams to injury, that then we go looking for a fullback wearing 36 to move over. Guarantee you that Dimitri Flowers knows who to block and will block them better than anybody else with a running back number. But I don't think he plays back there unless the top two don't get it done. He's too valuable to fullback, and lighting up Iowa State isn't evidence that he ought to start.
I believe the chalk says that Anderson will be number one on the depth chart when we line up against UTEP.
Between Sutton, the Lackawana transfer, Brooks and Sermon, whichever is the best pass blocker is most likely to be a top two guy to share running time if there is an injury two Adams or Anderson. But from spring performance and history, Sermon is pretty unlikely to be the starter at running back, IMO.
Sutton was not a good pass blocker in the spring game. (does the word, ole` mean anthing?) But it's really really hard for a true freshman to learn who to block against the myriad of blitzes that DC think up when they play against you. Ohio State doesn't just have that. They have the best athletes on OUr schedule, probably by more than a little. You can't throw it against them unless you can protect, and you can't protect if your running back doesn't know who to block.
I'd think that if we lost both Anderson and Adams to injury, that then we go looking for a fullback wearing 36 to move over. Guarantee you that Dimitri Flowers knows who to block and will block them better than anybody else with a running back number. But I don't think he plays back there unless the top two don't get it done. He's too valuable to fullback, and lighting up Iowa State isn't evidence that he ought to start.
I believe the chalk says that Anderson will be number one on the depth chart when we line up against UTEP.
Even after his 149 yard output against lowly Iowa State, I'm not sure Flowers should be regarded as a full time running back. He's one of the best FB/HB players in the country and his blocking and pass receiving are solid. If he were to emerge as the main running back, it would mean that Adams, Anderson, Sermon, Brooks and Sutton have either been injured, suspended or highly ineffective....which would be disastrous.
I would, however, like to see him carry the ball more often.
I would, however, like to see him carry the ball more often.
Rodney Anderson is NFL quality. He has the size and speed to excell IF only he can stay healthy. Very important a couple of the new backs step up to handle some of the load. Adams did not impress when pressed into service last season.
I too am excited about the Softball Team but football discussions is a year around deal!
I like Flowers production in the Iowa State game but it was just iowa state. Not taking anything away from his contribution to the team but u highly doubt Stoops wants him to be our best running back. My pick is Anderson
With the offensive line, I think we will have a 1000 yard rusher and a couple of 500 to 700 yard guys. I can't remember the last time OU didn't have a good or great running game. Hell even in the Blake years we still ran the ball.
There's a good trivia question. When was the last time OU didn't have, good or a great running game?
The 60's or the early 40's
There's a good trivia question. When was the last time OU didn't have, good or a great running game?
The 60's or the early 40's
It surely doesn't go back to the 40s. We ran horribly during the second year of Gomer's two year stint as HC. That was 1965.
It kind of depends on what you call a good running game. The first wishbone year, we were pretty average in games 1 through 3 running the veer, and didn't really get the hang of the bone until we faced Nebraska in game 10 of an 11 game regular season.
We'd been pretty good the second half of the ISU game, when this smallish quick kid named Pruitt became the right halfback. Some would say that a good/great running game only applies if you run it well against the best teams on the schedule.
The running game was pretty average in 1999, until we took the redshirt off Q Griffin.
In 2014, Perine lit up Iowa State and especially the national record against Kansas, but those teams were both horrible defensively. Trevor Knight looked like an All American against the Cylones, running and throwing. But after Keith Ford got hurt, we didn't run it wall against anybody who was any good. I think we ended up 8-5. Baylor killed us because we couldn't make a first down, and the defense got worn out. Clemson killed us. I think we scored 6 points. Samaje couldnt' make an inch before it was 35-0. Even with a national record, we had a pretty mediocre running game.
It kind of depends on what you call a good running game. The first wishbone year, we were pretty average in games 1 through 3 running the veer, and didn't really get the hang of the bone until we faced Nebraska in game 10 of an 11 game regular season.
We'd been pretty good the second half of the ISU game, when this smallish quick kid named Pruitt became the right halfback. Some would say that a good/great running game only applies if you run it well against the best teams on the schedule.
The running game was pretty average in 1999, until we took the redshirt off Q Griffin.
In 2014, Perine lit up Iowa State and especially the national record against Kansas, but those teams were both horrible defensively. Trevor Knight looked like an All American against the Cylones, running and throwing. But after Keith Ford got hurt, we didn't run it wall against anybody who was any good. I think we ended up 8-5. Baylor killed us because we couldn't make a first down, and the defense got worn out. Clemson killed us. I think we scored 6 points. Samaje couldnt' make an inch before it was 35-0. Even with a national record, we had a pretty mediocre running game.
Oline is best we've had in years. The holes will be there, just hold on to the ball and pass block as aforementioned.
