• Hi Guest, want to participate in the discussions, keep track of read/unread posts access private forums and more? Create your free account and increase the benefits of your eGriz.com experience today!

RB position discussion/revision 2/spring practices

alabamagrizzly

Well-known member
**Revision 2**
added Austin Spring
updated Jonathan Richards position change

**Revision 1**
added RB Carl Johnson, FB Riley Kack, and FB Austin Chadderdon.

Time to review the RB's. Cut and paste from last year. Nothing lost but a little gained. This is probably our deepest, most expierienced position, except mabey DL. Offence for sure. They will be our workhorses again next year but they depend on a new O line gellin' together.

Projected 2014 depth chart
RB-Jordan Canada Sr (2013- 13G 211att 1062yrds 5.0avg 16td 11rec 121yrds 0td)
Travon Van Sr (2013- 11G 106att 523yrds 4.6avg 6td 13rec 176yrds 1td)
Joey Counts Jr (2013- 8G 41att 207yrds 5.0 1td 1rec 51yrds 1td)
John Nyugen So (2013- 11G 59att 267yrds 4.5avg 2td 4rec 22yrds 0td)
Treshawn Favors Fr (2013-redshirt)
Austin Spring Fr (2013- walk on)
Carl Johnson Fr (2013- high school)

FB-Jamal Wilson Jr (2013- 0rush 5rec 23yrds)
Gavin Hagfors Jr (2013- 1ru 2yrd 7rec 46yrds)
Jonathan Richards Jr (2013- 0rush, 0rec)
Riley Kack Fr (2013- high school)
Austin Chadderdon Fr (2013- high school)

Projected 2015 depth chart
RB-John Nyugen Jr
Joey Counts Sr
Treshawn Favors So
Carl Johnson RS-Fr?
Austin Spring So

FB-Jamal Wilson Sr
Gavin Hagfors Sr
Jonathan Richards Sr
Riley Kack RS-Fr?
Austin Chadderdon RS-Fr?

Running Backs
Jordan Canada will be a Sr and is set to move himself into 4th place on the career rushing yards list. His ability to break big runs has made him very exciting to watch. If we can get more consistent run blocking from our new line next year, he may break 1400 or 1500 yrds next year. His pass blocking is also very good but I think J Green has a big part to play in that cus all the backs block very well.

Travon Van will also be a Sr. Health issues were a major concern this year. The type of sprain he had is a tuff one to come back from and I beleive it was still effecting him in the CC game. If he could stay healthy next year (plus more consistency from the O line) we may get two 1000 yard rushers. The big plus with him is what he brings comin' out of the back feild catchin' passes. The mismatches he creates with LB's trying to cover him are too much for defenses. I have not seen him pass block enough to know how effective he is.

Joey Counts will be a Jr and should be a little bigger then the 5-9 215 lbs he played at this year. Injuries also limited his production. Staying healthy will be a concern of his again next year which will also help our punt and kick coverage. In 2015 he should be part of another great three headed attack with John Nyugen and Treshawn Favors. Im just not sure if he will be the lead in that group. Next year will tell us alot about that.

John Nyugen was a pleasant surprise this year. After starting the year as a redshirt, he had to play due to injuries to Van and Counts. He collected almost 270 yards with 4.5 a carry and 2 TD's. He plays alot like his brother but he's a little stouter at 5-7 and 180. Plus seeing #38 on his back, you just expect him to run through people. Next year he will be 4th on the depth chart but I wouldn't be surprised to see him start in 2015 if his athletic ability is far greater then Counts. We will see him returning more kicks and punts next year I beleive with the coaches trying to protect Ellis. I just hope he dosnt get the bad rap his brother got as a fumbler. I do think he fumbled his first ever PR though if I remember correctly.

Treshawn Favors comes off his redshirt year and, baring injury to the others, probably won't see much playin' time. At 5'9" and 185, he's supposed to have good speed. He came to Montana more highly recruited then Nyugen but I think Nyugen came in more ready to play then Favors. Favors will get his time after next year. In 2015 he will share time with Counts and Nyugen and probably be the third option. In '16 as a Jr, him and Nyugen will be the guys and if our current coaching staff is still here, im sure they will both be capable of rushing for a 1000 yards.

Austin Spring walked on last year and will be a Fr RB this year. The 6'0" 195lber attended Billings West. All I can find on hus high school career is an article talking about West rebuilding in 2012. It mentions Spring as a back up TE and fighting for a starting LB spot. In guessing he's one of those kids that try's to walk on but within a year or two has moved on from football. Then again he could stick it out.

Carl Johnson is an incoming walk-on Fr out of Hardin that should redshirt this year. His Sr, Jr, and So year of high school he was all conference at RB. He was also a three time all conference selection at LB so a position change down the road may be a possibility.

[/i]Full Backs[/i]
Jamal Wilson has this spot locked down for two more years. A rare find of an athlete that wants to play O and loves smashing people. I don't think he had one carry and only caught 5 passes but I don't think he would have it any other way. As soon as the ball is hiked, Wilson is on a seek and destroy mission ready to blow up the 1st would be tackler he can find.

Gavin Hagfors will also be here for two more years and is a great back up for Wilson. At 6'2" 226 he has great size for the position. When he 1st got here I was excited to see a back of his size run the ball but I think he's much better suited for the FB slot. He dosnt quite have the speed to be the featured back but his size gives us another big body comin out of the backfield. I also think he's a better pass catcher then Wilson.

Jonathan Richards, cousin of DE Aschan Richards, has been switched to the FB position after playing TE and before that LB. Being the third string FB, he probably won't play much but still more likely then TE. He's 6'2" and 222 lbs so he's better suited for the FB. What ever it takes to get in the feild.

Riley Kack will walk-on this year out if Bozeman. At 6'2" and 240, he's a load for a true Fr. An all state selection as a Sr, he scored 82 TD's in his career which ranks him 5th on his schools all time list.

Austin Chadderdon is another walk-on this year from Coeur d'Alene. He also comes in at 6'2" and 240. His team won three state championships in a row his So, Jr, and Sr year. He also led Idaho in sacks with 14.5 and was all state so a switch to the other side of the ball may also be in his future.
 
Alabama....we have several good running backs, however, our offensive line was poor this year for whatever reasons. Hopefully, Mick can recruit a couple of stud linemen from the JCs. Otherwise, watching quality running backs attempt to run with few holes will be frustrating once again.
 
I love our depth at running back and that we have different types of backs. I agree that Van and Counts staying healthy is important. Counts gives up a bit of power, a back who finishes runs well, others have called him a mini-Dan Moore and I can see flashes of that. Nguyen also finishes runs well which is suprising given his lack of size. Big rep on Favors, it will be interesting to see how he goes. Canada will of course be our stud, great instincts and shifty speed, plus he's got a great last name. :D

The line should not be a big problem, Barry Sanders never had a good line with Detroit and he did great, if all our guys are as good as Barry Sanders we should be solid at running back.
 
RB is stacked, as we can see this system takes a toll on running backs so needing 3-4 guys at most all times is critical. Probably the best position top to bottom on the roster.
 
Spanky said:
Alabama....we have several good running backs, however, our offensive line was poor this year for whatever reasons. Hopefully, Mick can recruit a couple of stud linemen from the JCs. Otherwise, watching quality running backs attempt to run with few holes will be frustrating once again.

And yet somehow, apparently by magic, Montana averaged over 180 ypg rushing, finishing 4th in the conference in that statistic. :roll:
 
AZGrizFan said:
Spanky said:
Alabama....we have several good running backs, however, our offensive line was poor this year for whatever reasons. Hopefully, Mick can recruit a couple of stud linemen from the JCs. Otherwise, watching quality running backs attempt to run with few holes will be frustrating once again.

And yet somehow, apparently by magic, Montana averaged over 180 ypg rushing, finishing 4th in the conference in that statistic. :roll:

I don't think 4th in conference should be our standard when it comes to our running game... He has a solid point that we probably have the best rb core in the conference and one of the best in the fcs... 180 yards a game is kinda unacceptable if we expect 2 rbs to go over 1000 yards
 
Arizona....if you think some success is due to the OL, so be it. By the way, I've recently listed a real nice bridge to discuss with you....
 
I am watching how the Philadephia Eagles utilize DeSean Jackson. He is placed all over the field. They have been very good getting him the ball by having him line up in the backfield. This makes it difficult for DB's getting to him in pass patterns. They are creating ways for him to be used in the open field. I would love to see the GRIZ use Van and/or Favors in the same ways. I really do like the creativity of Chip Kelly.
 
From the Joey Counts on crutches thread:

Carl Spackler said:
Apparently Joey's injury was misdiagnosed and it is worse that previously thought. Doctors recently discovered things are torn in his foot and he will miss all of next season in order to recover and heal properly.

Sounds like they are trying to get him a medical redshirt for 2014.

If this does end up being the case, does this give John Nguyen the opportunity for a bigger work load in 2014?
I was impressed with his running as a true frosh.
 
biga75 said:
From the Joey Counts on crutches thread:

Carl Spackler said:
Apparently Joey's injury was misdiagnosed and it is worse that previously thought. Doctors recently discovered things are torn in his foot and he will miss all of next season in order to recover and heal properly.

Sounds like they are trying to get him a medical redshirt for 2014.

If this does end up being the case, does this give John Nguyen the opportunity for a bigger work load in 2014?
I was impressed with his running as a true frosh.

Probably, I think they would like to keep Canada and Van to a moderate workload to keep them fresher, especially Van who was not healthy most of this year and may have some questions about durability going into next year. The other option is Favors, but in my mind he isn't going to see much action until 2015, barring injuries to 2 of the top 3 guys.
 
Spring ball is here finaly. The thing I'm looking forward to most from the RB's is to see how well Favors looks and how well Nguyen does now that he's got his Fr season in the books. We know what Canada and Van can do. If Favors is as good as advertised, we'll be in good shape.
 
Back
Top