2021 Fall Camp Notes - Running Backs

Undone said:
It's possible that Marvin Scott could really break out and develop some shiftyness to be an "every down, do-it-all back." But as a combination of body type and also with how good his high school tape looked to me I've kind of assumed that Morrison would eventually be our guy. 

Is it just me or is basically nobody talking about him?

In my opinion the two big-bodied guys we have are unlikely to push us where we need to be at running back. Johnson, while supposedly being one of the top 5 fastest players on the team, hasn't shown a ton of natural RB ability in my opinion. Some might say he hasn't seen enough touches as a Husker to make that judgment and that might be fair but that's just what I've seen.

I'll be honest, I see a large running back room with no clear RB1 that sticks out as being someone who launches our offense into the tier it needs to be in right now. Obviously I want to be proven wrong on 8/28.
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*joins you on the Scott and Morrison hype train*

 
BigRedBuster said:
Why does it have to be limited to the Frost era?  He's been here for 3 seasons.  That's not much of a sample size to say someone can't get injured and come back.

Adrian Petersen is one that I always think about with this.  He got injured several times at OU.  Would come back and then get injured again.  Then, he goes off to the NFL and has a great career fairly injury free.
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While there are lingering concerns with certain injuries, guys are usually labeled "injury prone" until they aren't anymore and then no one talks about it. Jurgens has missed two games over two seasons. Stepp played in every game last year and his only two serious college injuries have been missing the last five games of his RFR season after spraining his ankle and missing this spring's camp. As usual this guy is talking some nonsense.

 
Fru said:
Yeah he's likely not an every down RB.

But if it's midway thru the 4th quarter in a tie ball game against Iowa and it's 3rd and 2 or 4th and 1 at Iowa's 40 yard line... Bring that hoss in. 
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250 is a ton to lug. hard to see good weight if he is over 230, there is a limit to useful size.

 
For those of you putting your eggs into the Stepp basket- you may want to tap your brakes. 

Last season he didnt play against Utah due to injury and in midseason he had just 1 carry and 5 carries in back to back games. In 3 years he has less than 500 total yards. Hope Im wrong, but doubt it. We have some unproven depth that hopefully come through. 

https://reignoftroy.com/2020/11/21/markese-stepp-usc-football-out-utah/

 
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For those who think Stepp is our guy- he has been injury prone all the way back to his Junior and Senior years of HS- 

"The 6-foot, 235 pound Stepp missed his junior season of high school with a hamstring injury, and three games his senior year in 2017.

During his freshman season at USC in 2018, he suffered a concussion and played in just four games to preserve his redshirt. After playing seven games in 2019, he suffered an ankle injury that caused him to miss the rest of the 2019 season."

https://nebraska.rivals.com/news/nebraska-transfer-rb-markese-stepp-out-for-spring-with-injury

 
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Undone said:
I suppose I can only assume that last year the coaches just weren't seeing anybody outside of Mills that was "doing all the right things." Not sure that Held is intentionally splitting carries evenly each game as part of his best case strategy or if that's just a byproduct of other factors.
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I think last year was much more about injuries and COVID than anyone not doing enough when they were out there.

 
Mavric said:
I think last year was much more about injuries and COVID than anyone not doing enough when they were out there.
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I was thinking also about not showing willingness/toughness in blocking during practice though, also. Frost has been pretty vocal about their own internal requirements for what somebody has to be doing during camp/during the week of practice between games, etc., in order to get carries.

Ultimately I'm just really hoping that Morrison & Ervin get a solid chance at the 1st & 2nd down handoff situations because something tells me they have the best shots at being the complete package. Could be totally off there.

 
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Undone said:
I was thinking also about not showing willingness/toughness in blocking during practice though, also. Frost has been pretty vocal about their own internal requirements for what somebody has to be doing during camp/during the week of practice between games, etc., in order to get carries.

Ultimately I'm just really hoping that Morrison & Ervin get a solid chance at the 1st & 2nd down handoff situations because something tells me they have the best shots at being the complete package. Could be totally off there.
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It's possible.  But it seems like most every time someone new showed up in the backfield the reason they ceased to be out there wasn't because of performance.

 
Stepp missed:

Missed Entire Junior Year of HS due to hamstring injury

Missed 3 games as Senior in HS due to injury

Missed 8 games due to injury his Freshman year of College

Missed 5 games due to injury in his Sophomore year of College

Missed 1 game due to injury his Junior year of College- but carried 1 and 5 times in back to back games. 

At NU he missed Spring practice due to an injury that required surgery 

So he missed over 30 games and  somehow Im off base by calling this player injury prone? Really?  :dunno

 
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Mavric said:
It's possible.  But it seems like most every time someone new showed up in the backfield the reason they ceased to be out there wasn't because of performance.
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Yeah, good call. So what's your take on who is most likely to emerge in the first half of the season?

 
Undone said:
Yeah, good call. So what's your take on who is most likely to emerge in the first half of the season?
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Sean Callahan sure seems to think Gabe Ervin is the favorite going into camp.  I don't know if that makes me feel good about getting a good one or not very impressed about everyone else.

I still think Sevion Morrison is one to watch out for.  And I think Yant will have a role but not a large one.

So if I had to guess right now I'd say Ervin and Morrison get decent snaps with Yant sprinkled in here and there.

 
Did Morrison get a single carry last year? Scott III of course got quite a few sprinkled in here & there, especially with Mills getting hurt.

 
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