Where is Imani's power? Is he not waiting for blocks?

Cross is a north south runner. Short yardage guy. If it looks like he is running into his blockers it is because he is. He is considerably larger than Ameer. The O-line needs to make that push to create larger holes. If you thought he had blazing speed and shiftiness you obviously were not around for his recruitment. And for Beck to run him laterally was the dumbest idea ever. I can't say that he needs to run harder because he rarely gets beyond 3-4 yards. If you all want to complain about his ability or strength look at the O-line first.

 
I think most of us could see this last year. Except devnet. Red shirting Adam hurts and losing Heard hurts too. AA goes down and we are in trouble. We're not using Newby very well either. We need to get him the ball on the option or swing passes. He needs to get in the weight room he's not ready to play between the tackles yet like Ameer does, but we could still get him the ball on the edges better.

 
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307husker said:
Muscle fiber type.

An athlete that can do 200 push ups, or 40 pull ups, doesn't likely have the fiber types necessary (Fast Twitch, Type 11b) to be explosive. They would probably have a higher percentage of Type 1 Slow Twitch fibers to be able to produce a long muscular endurance effort.

Similar to the idea that if you have all of your potential RB's run a max effort 1 mile test, your best players will likely finish last (assuming generally equal conditioning and athleticism). Those with Fast Titch fibers will fatigue quickly and finish slowly. Those fast twitch fibers are terrible for prolonged efforts, but essential for short, explosive bursts of power.

It's not that Imani isn't strong, he obviously is, but I question whether he has the ability to produce contractions as quickly as an athlete with more "fast twitch" muscle fiber profiles.
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Is this why Abdullah goes out constantly?

 
Bye Bye Big XII said:
307husker said:
Muscle fiber type.

An athlete that can do 200 push ups, or 40 pull ups, doesn't likely have the fiber types necessary (Fast Twitch, Type 11b) to be explosive. They would probably have a higher percentage of Type 1 Slow Twitch fibers to be able to produce a long muscular endurance effort.

Similar to the idea that if you have all of your potential RB's run a max effort 1 mile test, your best players will likely finish last (assuming generally equal conditioning and athleticism). Those with Fast Titch fibers will fatigue quickly and finish slowly. Those fast twitch fibers are terrible for prolonged efforts, but essential for short, explosive bursts of power.

It's not that Imani isn't strong, he obviously is, but I question whether he has the ability to produce contractions as quickly as an athlete with more "fast twitch" muscle fiber profiles.
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Is this why Abdullah goes out constantly?
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Could be a possiblity.....

But I am seeing conditioning being a problem with NU, both on the offense and defense......

Keep in mind, Ameer was "banged up" during the game and that could be a good reason to not run him into the ground on consecutive plays.

 
matthew_m_g said:
I think Imani may be going through his 'Gray Hulk' phase,
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Haha. Love the Marvel reference
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Chaddyboxer said:
Could be a possiblity.....

But I am seeing conditioning being a problem with NU, both on the offense and defense......

Keep in mind, Ameer was "banged up" during the game and that could be a good reason to not run him into the ground on consecutive plays.
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Absolutely agree on the conditioning being an issue. You can see it as the games wear on. But for Ameer...he's always tapered off as the season wore on. They road him hard last year, and it cost us late. I'm hoping he and Beck are being more calculated with his carries this year and that's why we don't see him in there carrying the rock 30 times, and blocking on another 40 plays.

 
The Dude said:
5.1 yards per carry, leads the team in scoring. His only problem is he doesn't get the ball enough.
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I disagree here. I had some hopes before the season, but he doesn't run hard to me. Weisman for Iowa doesn't have the skills Cross has but he runs over defenders time to time.

 
BIG ERN said:
The Dude said:
5.1 yards per carry, leads the team in scoring. His only problem is he doesn't get the ball enough.
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I disagree here. I had some hopes before the season, but he doesn't run hard to me. Weisman for Iowa doesn't have the skills Cross has but he runs over defenders time to time.
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I came into the season fairly convinced that Cross was a short-yardage specialist: He is strong and can push the pile or carry defenders for an extra couple yards. He has done well in that role. After the Wyoming game, I thought I could be wrong. He showed much improved quickness with his feet and great agility on the double-spin TD run. Unfortunately, I really haven't seen any of that the rest of the year. Granted, he hasn't had a lot of chances but I haven't seen the same quickness and burst that he showed in the first game. I'm back to thinking he is a short-yardage specialist and might not develop into more. Nothing wrong with that, just always hope for the best from our players.

 
Mavric said:
BIG ERN said:
The Dude said:
5.1 yards per carry, leads the team in scoring. His only problem is he doesn't get the ball enough.
Click to expand...
I disagree here. I had some hopes before the season, but he doesn't run hard to me. Weisman for Iowa doesn't have the skills Cross has but he runs over defenders time to time.
Click to expand...
I came into the season fairly convinced that Cross was a short-yardage specialist: He is strong and can push the pile or carry defenders for an extra couple yards. He has done well in that role. After the Wyoming game, I thought I could be wrong. He showed much improved quickness with his feet and great agility on the double-spin TD run. Unfortunately, I really haven't seen any of that the rest of the year. Granted, he hasn't had a lot of chances but I haven't seen the same quickness and burst that he showed in the first game. I'm back to thinking he is a short-yardage specialist and might not develop into more. Nothing wrong with that, just always hope for the best from our players.
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yeah this. Even ate crow to dev after that game. Was very impressed. I still think he could step out of that role as his career here progresses, and I didn't think that before the Wyoming game. He has that skill, it's more on whether the coaches choose to use him in that role or not, and right now he's riding behind Ameer...and unfortunately for him he might always be behind someone for the rest of his career here. I worry about what this offseason is going to do to our RB group. Offseason hasn't been friendly to our talented backs recently, and we likely have more now than ever before.

 
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kchusker_chris said:
Mavric said:
BIG ERN said:
The Dude said:
5.1 yards per carry, leads the team in scoring. His only problem is he doesn't get the ball enough.
Click to expand...
I disagree here. I had some hopes before the season, but he doesn't run hard to me. Weisman for Iowa doesn't have the skills Cross has but he runs over defenders time to time.
Click to expand...
I came into the season fairly convinced that Cross was a short-yardage specialist: He is strong and can push the pile or carry defenders for an extra couple yards. He has done well in that role. After the Wyoming game, I thought I could be wrong. He showed much improved quickness with his feet and great agility on the double-spin TD run. Unfortunately, I really haven't seen any of that the rest of the year. Granted, he hasn't had a lot of chances but I haven't seen the same quickness and burst that he showed in the first game. I'm back to thinking he is a short-yardage specialist and might not develop into more. Nothing wrong with that, just always hope for the best from our players.
Click to expand...
yeah this. Even ate crow to dev after that game. Was very impressed. I still think he could step out of that role as his career here progresses, and I didn't think that before the Wyoming game. He has that skill, it's more on whether the coaches choose to use him in that role or not, and right now he's riding behind Ameer...and unfortunately for him he might always be behind someone for the rest of his career here. I worry about what this offseason is going to do to our RB group. Offseason hasn't been friendly to our talented backs recently, and we likely have more now than ever before.
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Agreed with both of you here as I ate crow as well. I just don't feel Cross has that needed burst that our backs are asked to have out of his first cut. Ill have to watch again, but I really don't think he reads his blocks well either.

Newby? I feel as soon as he starts to read his blocks better he is going to be a MONSTER back. He has that top end speed that Ameer doesnt have. Love Ameer and he has done so many good things for us this year, but one knock on him is that he is missing that "break away nobody touches me" speed. Newby has that.

AT? I feel this kind of combination of size and speed would really help us out a ton this year to spell Ameer. I do think that he would be helping this team. He wouldn't steal touches from Ameer, but in my opinion, this type of back is what we are missing in our offense currently.

Really excited about the future with our current stable.

 
EZ-E said:
kchusker_chris said:
Mavric said:
BIG ERN said:
The Dude said:
5.1 yards per carry, leads the team in scoring. His only problem is he doesn't get the ball enough.
Click to expand...
I disagree here. I had some hopes before the season, but he doesn't run hard to me. Weisman for Iowa doesn't have the skills Cross has but he runs over defenders time to time.
Click to expand...
I came into the season fairly convinced that Cross was a short-yardage specialist: He is strong and can push the pile or carry defenders for an extra couple yards. He has done well in that role. After the Wyoming game, I thought I could be wrong. He showed much improved quickness with his feet and great agility on the double-spin TD run. Unfortunately, I really haven't seen any of that the rest of the year. Granted, he hasn't had a lot of chances but I haven't seen the same quickness and burst that he showed in the first game. I'm back to thinking he is a short-yardage specialist and might not develop into more. Nothing wrong with that, just always hope for the best from our players.
Click to expand...
yeah this. Even ate crow to dev after that game. Was very impressed. I still think he could step out of that role as his career here progresses, and I didn't think that before the Wyoming game. He has that skill, it's more on whether the coaches choose to use him in that role or not, and right now he's riding behind Ameer...and unfortunately for him he might always be behind someone for the rest of his career here. I worry about what this offseason is going to do to our RB group. Offseason hasn't been friendly to our talented backs recently, and we likely have more now than ever before.
Click to expand...
Agreed with both of you here as I ate crow as well. I just don't feel Cross has that needed burst that our backs are asked to have out of his first cut. Ill have to watch again, but I really don't think he reads his blocks well either.

Newby? I feel as soon as he starts to read his blocks better he is going to be a MONSTER back. He has that top end speed that Ameer doesnt have. Love Ameer and he has done so many good things for us this year, but one knock on him is that he is missing that "break away nobody touches me" speed. Newby has that.

AT? I feel this kind of combination of size and speed would really help us out a ton this year to spell Ameer. I do think that he would be helping this team. He wouldn't steal touches from Ameer, but in my opinion, this type of back is what we are missing in our offense currently.

Really excited about the future with our current stable.
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I wonder with Newby if it isn't the same case I mentioned with Cross. Maybe I am not seeing it but they seem to only give him runs on sweeps and then he is out. Need to give him a series or 2 to really know what he can do. Game speed is different than practice speed and RB's have to have some timing down especially when they don't see a lot of action.

 
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