Running Back depth....best in history?

[SilverEagle]

After one of the spring practices I happened to be talking to someone who makes his living covering football, and I commented that if all our running backs currently on the roster show up healthy this fall, it is my humble opinion that it will be the deepest that we have been in that position in........well.... as long as I have observed NT football. I got the "what?" wrinkled brow from the aforementioned professional and then a recitation of the Cobb/Thomas years at NT.

So I would like to bring this up to everyone and state my case. Yes, the Cobb/Thomas years were unprecedented as far as having some "great" running backs available, but how much real depth did we have during that era......or any other era for that matter.

2004 is a good example of what "the professional" was citing when he looked at me as if I were drinking and/or having a stroke regarding my statement. On the roster that year was...Patrick Cobbs, Jamario Thomas (freshman year), backed up by Kevin Moore and (the hardest working RB in NT history) James Mitchell.

Right before the season started Patrick broke his hand and bravely tried to play, but it didn't work out. Fortunately we had Jamario Thomas to fill in, with the speedy (and streaky) Kevin Moore and the very steady James Mitchell to provide depth. James Mitchell provided substantial relief against Ark St. when Jamario couldn't go (hammy), but if Mitchell had gone down could Moore have carried the load? So, there was greatness (potentially) available that year, but the real depth was very questionable and if our two stars went down, the quality dropped off significantly.

Now, last year we had Byrd, Pegram, Jimmerson, Rollins, Lewis, and in a pinch Evans and Wilhite. We lost two for the season, but our RB production did not suffer at all, because we were much deeper than in years past and the drop off in talent when you got down to the third (or even fourth or fifth) RB was not as significant as 2004.

IMHO this year will be even better. Our starters are (assuming again that they all show up healthy and ready to go) Jimmerson, Evans, Pegram (assuming he comes back full speed) Rollins, Lewis, Tucker, Wilhite, Smith (if he comes back) and assuming he's the real deal, the freshman from Sulphur Springs.

Are any two of them as good as Cobbs/Thomas? Probably not, but Jimmerson is a pretty close version of Cobbs, and Evans has better break-away-take-it-to-the-house speed than Jamario. And in this scrimmage, he proved to me that he was not afraid to put his shoulder down and run in traffic. But since neither of them are most of the offense like Cobbs/Thomas were, we'll never really know.

So in 2004, on a scale of 1-10, we had two 10's (when they were both healthy) and then it dropped off to 6/5 with Mitchell and Moore. With our current group, we have probably two 8's and a large log jam of 7 and 6's.

And THAT is why I believe that we are (potentially) deeper at RB than we've ever been.

Edited April 13, 2014 by SilverEagle

[GTWT]

I hope you're right. In UNT's offense the RBs matter more than the QBs.

After facing our OL for 3 quarters a defense should be pretty much bruised, battered, and susceptible to the running game.

[meangreener]

Our running back stable is insanely great.

[Ben Gooding]

Yes, it is. It's kind of ashame we have 4 or 5 of these guys all at the same time. Aside from Evans they are all every down backs and won't get the touches bc of quality depth.

[Green Crazy]

I really like our running backs, but most of the rb's you listed for this year haven't proven themselves in an actual game. Pegram and Jimmerson are the only rbs to make an impact in a game, so I wouldn't consider this the deepest stable of rbs yet, maybe by the end of the year, but not now.

[MeanGreenZen]

Comparing a walk-on running back who has been impressive in spring drills to a player who won a national rushing championship is a little silly.

Evans might be quicker than our 2nd and 3rd string linebackers, but is he gonna rush for more than 200 yards against Colorado?

Also, James Mitchell averaged 5.2 yards a carry for his career and rushed for more than 100 yards in his only start. In my opinion, Mitchell was better than Byrd (and none of these current guys could beat out Byrd), he just didn't get on the field much because he always had a national rushing champion in front of him. I don't remember much about Moore except that he was a pretty hyped recruit for the Dickey-era who never made much of an on-field contribution.

Our 2004 running backs were way better and deeper than what we have now. If you wanted to make the argument that our current offensive line is our best ever, I might agree with you.

Edited April 13, 2014 by MeanGreenZen

[Green Crazy]

I really like our running backs, but most of the rb's you listed for this year haven't proven themselves in an actual game. Pegram and Jimmerson are the only rbs to make an impact in a game, so I wouldn't consider this the deepest stable of rbs yet, maybe by the end of the year, but not now.

Edit: looking back and knowing what we know now, I like the 2011 season running backs of Dunbar, James Hamilton, Byrd and Jeremy Brown.

Also, why is it so hard to find a roster from more than two years ago? Does anyone know of a site that you can see rosters of the past?

[golfingomez]

I really like our running backs, but most of the rb's you listed for this year haven't proven themselves in an actual game. Pegram and Jimmerson are the only rbs to make an impact in a game, so I wouldn't consider this the deepest stable of rbs yet, maybe by the end of the year, but not now.

this... i understand the argument... and despite how much 'potential' these guys have, they still have to actually go out there and prove it...

as it stands right now, our most experienced RB has less then 1000 yards rushing in 2 years of work

[Green P1]

Pretty super early to be making this assertion.

Also... what about 2009?

[SSP]

Awww... James is going to be so excited to hear that his name is still being dropped on here.

[NT03]

Edit: looking back and knowing what we know now, I like the 2011 season running backs of Dunbar, James Hamilton, Byrd and Jeremy Brown.

Also, why is it so hard to find a roster from more than two years ago? Does anyone know of a site that you can see rosters of the past?

So deep that in you didn't even list the RB we had on the roster in 2011 who is now playing in the NFL .. Edited April 13, 2014 by NT03

[Mean Green 93-98]

So deep that in you didn't even list the RB we had on the roster in 2011 who is now playing in the NFL ..

Are you referring to Jamize? I don't recall him ever being in the backfield while he was here.

[NT03]

Are you referring to Jamize? I don't recall him ever being in the backfield while he was here.

Exactly my point. That how good our stable was

I do recall him lining up a few times in the backfield only to go in motion

[Mean Green 93-98]

Exactly my point. That how good our stable was

I do recall him lining up a few times in the backfield only to go in motion

Well, he wasn't moved because of RB depth. . . . he was recruited as a TE/WR, and stayed there. Obviously he would have been a good RB (or even better FB), but I don't think we can count him for RB depth any more than we could could Lance at slot WR depth, even though he would have been good there.

[casual fan]

Not only do I like our depth, I like the distribution.

Sr. Pegram & Wilhite

Jr. Jimmerson

So Rollins & Lewis

Rs Fr Evans & Tucker

Fr Wilson & Ivery (I have the feeling they could be really special....time will tell)

[JesseMartin]

Either way this debate will be a matter of opinion...so...would "tied for 1st place" be a good enough compromise overall, based on potential, production, talent, speed, etc? Because I dig what we had in the past but am also excited about what we have now, so I'm not really down to play favorites.