re: The running game worries me

our main problem is we are pulling linemen to much,
Duke defense was quicker and we were bigger and should be more man on man.
Even at goal line over the past few years we are pulling linemen out of gaps.
Thats not needed when you have size and its making backs wait.
I was hoping we would get away from all that and let our backs use vision..

Agreed.

Lots of optimism in this thread that the running game will magically improve, but I’m not sure the bug guys they’ve recruited up front are the right fit for the run schemes I saw yesterday.

And the same thing that happened to Duke will happen to them. Selling out to stop the run is not balance on defense and will eventually cost you.

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Curious to know if one of the reasons Brown did so well is also the reason he got suspended.

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That is easy to answer.

NCAA mandatory suspension for recreational drugs is half a season which is six games for football. It is a calendar year for PEDs.

Brown was suspended 6 games.

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Running game is still a big concern.

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Yes.

Neither the two RBs nor the OL have shown that they are up to the standard set by previous teams. People seem to be hugely optimistic that Brown coming back will do wonders for the OL. If the other coaches in the league thought enough of him to even give him a pre-season 3rd team all-SEC, I might be also. Sure, he'll help and be an improvement over what we've had. Will the entire unit improve enough to win championships behind? Will the RBs also improve enough? We'll see. That's why we play the games. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Nobody wants to hear it but Najee Harris is an average SEC back most of the time and shows flashes of his potential for a quarter, maybe a half, then it goes back in the closet. But he doesn't put it together for long periods of time. Brian Robinson, I dunno. I've seen some runs that make you think he's going to be good, but most of them this year have been indecisive is the best word I can use to describe it.

A road grading OL cures many of those ills in the backfield but we've still got lots of work to do there. I'm not trying to single anyone out because nobody is playing well up there, but I noticed time after time Womack getting pushed back into the backfield. I see other guys throw a lick then stand up and put their hands on their hips and watch the play go by and the RB is struggling for an extra yard, and the OL just stands there. And just about all of them will engage their man on running plays but get stalemated there and not move. It's like they make contact and just lean on each other. I don't know what the problem is. Is it scheme, is it effort, is it attitude, is it coaching, it it talent? The only one I feel safe eliminating is talent. We've got the dudes, but I'm not sure what is causing them to so massively underachieve.

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Nobody wants to hear it but Najee Harris is an average SEC back most of the time and shows flashes of his potential for a quarter, maybe a half, then it goes back in the closet. But he doesn't put it together for long periods of time. Brian Robinson, I dunno. I've seen some runs that make you think he's going to be good, but most of them this year have been indecisive is the best word I can use to describe it.



I mean, you and others keep saying this, but all of the facts about his production so far at Alabama say that you are wrong. I'm trying to see where you and others are coming from, I really am. I just don't.

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I mean, look at his career numbers. The guy seldom has bad numbers but he never has great numbers either. I will concede that he never seems to get a ton of touches, but damn, son! You've got to show out when you get the chance.

Najee has broken 100 yards only once 2 games into his 3rd year (27 games). That was against Arkansas State last year when he got 13 carries for 135 yards. His career long is 35 yards. That came against UGA in the title game. His most impressive performance to date to me would have to be the second half of that same title game against UGA or maybe last year's LSU game in BR.

Here's his career numbers at Bama:
27 games played, 202 rushes for 1273 yards and 8 TDs for a 6.3 ypc average plus 11 receptions for 64 yards and 0 TDs for a 5.8 ypc average. His longest carry is 35, longest reception 22.

The only number that stands out as elite as a 5 star, #1 or 2 player in the nation back should have, is the per carry average of 6.3 yards. Which is what everyone always points to. But nobody has done less with his touches than Najee. He averages a score once every 26.6 times he touches the ball.

Maybe folks like me who say he's not The Man at RB aren't being fair, maybe he's just a boring workhorse with no explosion, just workman-like numbers that you can count on for 6 yards a pop. But it doesn't feel that way. I get the sense that with his limited work, his numbers are a statistical anomaly. He has averaged 7.5 carries per game, but I'm sure that number is skewed a little low with fewer carries earlier in his career so it's closer to the 12 carries he's had in each game this year. But my point is that I think we get to that 6 yard average this way: 3-9-2-3-5-23-4-6-3-7-5-4
The end result is a 6.3 yard average, but it's one or two middling distance carries and a lot of average or below average totes with no explosive runs.

Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike the guy and I'm not trying to pick on him. I just expected more substance from a guy rated so highly coming out of high school. He's not producing on a level we've come to expect and enjoy out of Bama RB's.

I think the biggest issue is our style of running. Whatever happened to a running back hitting the whole with a head of steam? The hesitate, hand off, hesitate and then run style that we employ most of the time seems like the biggest problem.

Asking the linemen to block for that length on time has to be an issue.

Typically, there is room for discussion as it is hard for OL to excel at both run and pass blocking.

But, in the first 2 games, Bama has excelled at neither.

There is no power running between the tackles. No push from the OL, no blocking at the second level, our guards are slow when pulling and can't lead, we are committed to these delayed handoffs vs hitting a hole and more. Just feels like a long continued trend away from traditional Bama power football with a dominant play action game. Personally I miss HTWMI and the pistol days...

We have one of the best throwing QBs in the country and one of the most accurate, gunslingers (that's an accurate contradiction) in CFB history coupled with the best WR corps in the nation. So yes, I am in favor of being pass heavy. However, we cant even abandon run blocking well enough to create a single clean pocket against Duke and one of the nation's worst FBS teams.

The OL is absolutely getting abused through two games. Needs to get better and I'm certain it will, but hopefully Tua stays healthy in the meantime. He has played with a lot of pressure and contact so far.