Comments on: Football: Spring practice preview — running back

By: armchair quarterbackn

armchair quarterbackn — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:36:03 +0000

when it comes down to it, the only people who truly know what these backs are capable of are the ballers themselves and the coaches.

To compare one back to the other is a waste of time. Different teams, players, coaches, schemes etc etc…

I’d be more concerned about the lack of depth on the O-line especially at tackle. Not to mention the fact that there is no proven starter at qb.

Without a deep, quality o-line and a decent passing game, who starts at rb really won’t matter.

By: Dangn56

Dangn56 — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:17:25 +0000

Got that right, TOast. Gould wil coach’em up. He’s the man! There’s plenty of talent there.

By: calbear

calbear — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:08:26 +0000

interesting stuff. Most RBs seem good at catching, especially Sofele. I hesitate to call Briggs 1st round talent …wouldn’t deny it but our 1st round pick 11 Marshawn never redshirted…that says something about his preparation and overall talent.

Would i like to see Briggs burst through? Of course. I remember the other year we were worried about talent at teh RB position…the beginning of 2008. yes, we had best and vereen but Best was recovering from hip surgery, vereen was banged up and we had Deboskie for spring practice. Do we have something to worry about compared with QB? Not so much in my opinion. I have complete faith in Gould and how he prepares these kids.

Who is David Aknin? A new FB? Walk-on? Would like to hear more.

New strength coach…awesome!

By: Jan K Oski

Jan K Oski — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 23:17:44 +0000

Milo- don’t forget about Coach Blasquez in getting these kids conditioned for the season. He was a major factor in DLS being undefeated all those years, and I have no doubt he’ll do the same at the next level with bigger and better athletes.

Go BEARS!

By: Calfansincebirth

Calfansincebirth — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:34:00 +0000

David Aknin is a BEAST. He should get some consideration at Full Back. He had 400 yards in one game when he was at my high school

By: milo

milo — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:35:53 +0000

Sofele can catch the ball. He should be in the slot 8-10 plays a game.

Regarding the wildcat and all…still need a good o-line to execute that formation, if not more so. Sure you can get away with less size but you still need execution. I think we’ll see a big change with Coach M in there.

By: t0ast

t0ast — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 19:42:48 +0000

In Gould We Trust

By: bigmarsh415

bigmarsh415 — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 19:18:33 +0000

Rotfogel:

briggs is good. has the size, enough speed, and has the makeup of a marshawn type…maybe…

that being said….

WATCH the highlights of brendon bigelow…this is the best running back in the country hands down. he is jbest fast, and is bigger!!!!! if his knee gets better (we should all pray) move everyone aside and let this phenom do his thing.

i want Bridgford at QB (nobody wanted maynard out of college except keenan hahah) he was like 50/50 Td/int at buffalo…the pac-12 is a little harder i would say..don’t know why everyone is so high on him..
bridg is accurate, fast delivery, just needs a little more weight. he is an aaron rodgers..while maynard is reggie robertson

a healthy BIGELOW at rb…with cj as his backup and briggs if healthy

and marv keenan tevin and clay (who has serious speed) at wr’s

now only if the 0-line with coach M can improve we will be sickkkkkkk

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:29:46 +0000

Can any of the RBs catch out of the backfield? Whoever is the best at that may have a leg up, since every year over the last 3-5 years one of the favorite plays is the wheel route to the RB and wide-side screens to the RB.

Absent a material restructuring of the playbook, it may not matter. Over the last few years, we have consistently run out of the Ace set or the shotgun (or even that idiotic wildcat) and it hasn’t worked. To the extent that there have been god gains, it usually has been through tackle-breaking one-person efforts by the likes of Forsett, Best, and Vereen. Until we get back to the I-formation, as the standard set, with the benefit of a blocking FB, and until the plays involving rollouts, rolling pockets, and called QBs are included, our RBs will get stuffed and our QB, whoever it is, will face the same problems that plagued Longshore and Riley. Maybe Coach M’s addition signals that Cal’s offense will finally figure it out.

By: rotfogel

rotfogel — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:11:36 +0000

DBall,
No, Bigelow is just below Briggs in terms of highest ceiling. I take it you’ve seen neither. Well, I can’t say I’ve seen much if any of Bigelow, but I have seen Briggs. Briggs has first round talent, maybe Bigelow does too, but he doesn’t have Briggs’ size and strength.