Pre-Spring Depth Chart: Running Back

I think 15 carries/game seems right for Wood. He will get additional touches through the air. With everyone healthy in 2010, there were still 3 backs getting touches (Allen, Wood, Gray). I think a similar plan will be employed.

Gray will probably get most of his in the second half if they are trying to salt away the game, but physically he is the whole package. He earned a spot in the CW doghouse with some fumbling issues and blitz pick-ups (yes, he was in the game vs. MSU when Clausen suffered the turf toe/ligament injury). I agree—he is the prime candidate for the Maurice Stovall award. If he comes anywhere near the production of Stovall in 2005, we will all be celebrating.

Roberson is the real question, as you stated. We won’t get a chance to see him until the spring game. It will be interesting to watch. Also, McDaniel will definitely get worked in somehow based on the depth, but where and at who’s expense?

In 2008 against Navy, Gray lost a fumble near the goalline that seemed harmless at the time, but proved huge as Navy fought back to a 28-21 game before finally losing. And then in 2009 against Michigan he botched a handoff with Clausen, which led to an important Michigan TD. At the same time, I can remember a couple explosive runs he’s had, one against Nevada in ‘09 and then last year against Utah. So even though Gray has limited playing experience, he’s been involved in some big plays going both ways.

The consensus seems to be that Roberson will be a key player, and I would agree. I don’t think it’s a huge deal that Notre Dame doesn’t go 6-deep at RB, since they only use one at a time, but if Roberson isn’t ready to play then the depth becomes very sketchy. Jonas Gray is no sure thing, and McDaniel is a freshman, so it’s important that Roberson is at least capable of playing, in case Wood or Gray were to get hurt.

I love Cierre Wood’s explosiveness, but if I see him dance behind the line of scrimmage one more time I’m gonna hurl. I hope he studies Armando Allen’s career; Allen was a guy who was purely a speed back at first, but developed his leg strength over his collegiate career to the point that he could legitimately break through arm tackles and such. He also changed his running style from too much east-west to almost purely north-south. Allen may have ended up sacrificing a few big runs by being such a north-south runner, but he also consistently gained yardage and became possibly the most dependable player on the offense. Cierre Wood needs to take notes. He needs to get stronger in his lower body, and he needs to accept 2-3 yard runs. I don’t want to take away what he does best, but at the same time he had way too many carries for zero or negative yardage last season.

Jim,

I agree with everything you said. I don’t normally think someone is going to break out in their senior year (I was certain Kamara wouldn’t do much last year), but I think Gray is one of the guys that can do something special. Maybe not special as in become a star, but if he can be a backup that doesn’t show any drop-off from Wood, then I’d be happy.

Chris,

For sure, the focus will be on Roberson. The team needs him to step up this year and we should probably be excited at his opportunity rather than worried. If Kelly loves this guy, he’s probably going to be a good one!

I hear what you’re saying with Wood dancing behind the line, but that’s just a product of being a young runner with break away speed. I’m sure the coaches are continuing to work with him on not doing it, but in reality, it is going to happen from time to time and that’s the sacrifice you make for a homerun hitter in the backfield.

In fact, I bet the stats would kind of surprise you, because I went back and checked all of the carries from 2010 a while ago. I noted the carries for zero or negative yards and Allen ended up with something like 21% and Wood ended up with 23%. Gray was shockingly close to 50% and Hughes had something like 8%.

Wood had about 2 or 3 more carries on the season than Allen that went for zero or negative yards, so why are people so frustrated with Wood? I believe it’s because Wood was intentionally kicking it outside too often (we saw a handful of -3, -4, -5 runs), whereas Allen was more fundamentally sound, but just not as explosive.

I think Wood will improve at this, so I don’t think it’s a big deal. I mean, Allen didn’t have great quickness and I thought he lacked vision for a senior runner. I hear people say Wood has bad vision, but he’s just not following his blocks often enough and he’s trying to do it on his own. Since he’s a young runner, I’d rather have that (and the homerun ability) than an older runner like Allen who consistently ran into blockers, got stuffed at the line almost as often, and had no big play ability.

I’m just not that hung up on Wood “accepting 2-3 yard runs” although as he gets older we’ll probably see more patience and fewer negative plays. I kind of think it’s an NFL mentality…lower your head for 3 yards, 4 yards, 3 yards, 5 yards, 3 yards…but in college and specifically in this offense there needs to be explosiveness and a lot of 15+ runs, and I think Wood is the kind of runner to do that on a consistent basis.

Just my 2 cents!

How many RBs should we recruit for 2012? Two seems smart, since Gray’s eligibility is gone after this season. Four RBs seems kind of short, and a great opportunity for a stud RB to come in next year and contribute with significant playing time.

Michael —

Two would be the prudent number, especially with a very slim possibility that Wood could go into the draft if he had a monster year. I would think you want one pure RB (Keith Marshall?) and one that could play slot and RB both (perhaps Drew Harris?). Playing time has to be a big selling point for the 2012 recruits at RB, WR, and DB without question.

Two sounds good to me too. Especially considering we’re not sure where McDaniel is going to get the bulk of his time. I’m sure he’ll start out at RB, but if Marshall comes in next year (fingers crossed!), I could see McDaniel moving to the slot or something.

I definitely like at least 5 running backs, if not 6. I prefer a lot of bodies and four guys getting regular playing time if possible. It’s not always possible though, right?

There is no reason to be concerned with depth. We know that Wood and Gray are capable and as Roberson was running against the first team defense on the scout team, we can have confidence that he is capable. And if there are a couple injuries Riddick will be back and we have options at receiver. Roby Toma has shown that he is a very servicable slot receiver, catches the ball well, and runs harder than Jones after the catch.

The only way a 2012 running back recruit is going to see meaningful time is if Woods has a great year and decides to bolt for the NFL or Roberson is a bust.

I think Keith Marshall would get some carries as a freshman no matter what. I’m usually all about holding guys back if possible, but he looks like a perfect fit for the offense and someone who would immediately demand carries the second he steps on campus because of his talent, speed and explosiveness.

No worries with Wood. Have you ever seen his quickness when the hole is there? Sayers, Payton and Sanders sometimes danced behind the lines. It’s not how much you dance, it’s how you hit it when it’s there. He’ll be fine. Here is the question. The Irish will sign two backs next year. But consider, if another 8-5, maybe a Roberson or Wood. But, if 11-1 or 10-2……….oooooohhh, maybe Dorsett or Walker. We have to win baby!!

Hubie,

I like what you’re saying. Winning will be critical in order to pick up those elite players.

Wood will do just fine. I believe he will have a break out season. His youth and inexperience showed the difference between HS and college. The coaches are great , he is getting better at pass blocking too. He’s got lots of speed and needs to drop his shoulders like Allen did. If he stays healthy he will break 1000 yards.

Jonas Gray on the other hand, I have never been a big fan. He has shown flashes of greatness, followd by fumbles. As a senior, he needs to step up. The NFL gus aren’t talking about him and he has been tagged as a fumbler. I hope he proves me wrong in saying that.

I’d like to see more of Cam Roberson, I really haven’t watched how he runs.

I think a big thing in Kellys offence that seems to be missing is a running QB, which will open the run game up largely. Crist’s now has 2 bad knees so his mobility is a large question mark for me. Kelly still has Weis’ Pro style qbs on the roster, so it will be interesting to see how Golsen works out.

Spot on analysis for the most part, in my opinion. What concerns me the most with the RB position, however (which the other commenters have noted) is the issue of fumbleitas.

I’m probably higher on Jonas Gray’s potential than any other Irish fan I’ve spoken to about him, but the chronic fumbling over 3 years is indeed disconcerting.

Early in his ND career, Charlie Weis cockily stated with a grin (in reference to Travis Thomas, I believe) that there is a cure for fumbleitas. This was one of a good handful of statements that you could actually say Charlie backed up at the ND HFC. Though never a particularly impressive runner, Thomas emerged from his sophomore year doghouse, following the BYU debacle of 2003, to be the kind of back you at least expected to hold onto the ball.

Though it was never much of a problem to begin with, Darius Walker had pretty remarkable stats in the ball security department as I recall.

Later on, Weis, who has referenced the statistic that turnover margin affects the outcome of games more than anything else, replaced Mike Haywood as RB Coach with Tony Alford. Alford has gained significant recognition as a an excellent recruiter, but prior to his arrival at ND, he staked his claim as a coach on ball security above all else. The stats in his first bio in the ND Media Guide back up this stated emphasis.

Regardless, Alford’s tutelage in holding onto the ball has appeared to have only a modest impact on Jonas Gray during their year at the same position as coach and student of the RB position. I’m not sure if current RB coach, Chuck Martin, carries a similar emphasis, but the lack of significant improvement for Gray in this department remains evident.

What I don’t think has been mentioned yet is the fact that Cierre Wood also fumbles way too frequently. Often, his drops were luckily recovered by the offense, but the potential loss of the ball in these games could have been devastating [eg., the USC game this year]. This tendency, more than anything else, concerns me about his ability to be a top-flght lead back.

The second thing that makes me wonder about Wood is his (in)ability to regularly break tackles. Many young backs, Armando Allen in particular, struggle to do so early in their careers, only to develop into stronger runners later on. Let’s hope this is the case with Wood. With good coaching, I expect him to get better in both these areas, but you never know.

Nice post. A few comments. Julius Jones was NDs best tailback in the last 10 years. He forced his way onto the field as a true freshman and was only stopped by academic probation. Cierre couldn’t force the issue as a frosh, and made it clear as a soph that he has a lot of work to do. I’m not poormouthing the kid, though. If he gets well acquainted with the squat rack, does his power cleans, and watches his film, I think he could be very good next year. He has great athleticism and finds lanes in the open field. I just want to see him improve on reading holes at the line of scrimmage and powering through defenders.

And why does everyone say that Kelly’s O is pass-happy? All of the statistical breakdowns that I’ve seen have him running a pretty even run-pass ratio for most of his career. Look at last year. For the first time in 5 years, we had a pretty dependable rushing attack. I have to think that we would have been able to run even more if Crist hadn’t gone down and defenses respected our passing attack more at the end of the season.

Did Jonas Gray fumble last year? I know he didn’t have many carries, but if he didn’t then I don’t think the stigma should stay with him if we’re going on 20 months without him losing the ball. I agree Wood has to improve ball security, but I’m not too worried about it.

I wouldn’t argue that Jones wasn’t the best tailback of the past 10 years. His freshman season was pretty good (5.0 YPC on 75 carries), but that’s hardly mind blowing. He also followed that up with (relative) pedestrian sophomore and junior seasons (4.2 YPC and 65 yards per game). It was until he came back in 2003 that Jones put together a full season at a very high level.

Maybe Wood has a lot of work to do, but I’d be shocked if he follows up his first year with the type of years Jones had. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Wood at 5.5 next year, which is where Jones was as a fifth year senior in ’03.

The funny thing is, the running wasn’t any more potent in 2010. And it actually improved after Crist went down. The Irish were 101st in rushing in 2008, 84th in 2009, and 92nd last year.

ND threw the ball around 55% of the time…nothing crazy, but still a percentage that can be defined as pass-happy. And that was with 48 attempts against Miami easing the Canes into a nice slow defeat!!

Maybe JJ didn’t have mindblowing stats after his freshmen year, but he was always by far our biggest offensive weapon. He was the guy that opposing defenses keyed in on. They knew that if they stopped him, they stopped our whole O. Cierre has a lot of work to do before he gets to that level. I’m not saying he can’t do it, but he’s got a ways to go.

I agree that 55% passing constitutes a pass-happy offense. That’s 10% more passes than runs, which is a lot. But I was talking about Kelly’s career averages. The stats I’ve seen put Kelly’s career numbers a lot closer to even. Let’s hope he continues to emphasize the run like he did in games 9-13 of his ND career.

i dont see a 1,000 yard rusher in Kelly’s offense. but I am seriously excited to see some more of Cierre. in the SC game he played extremely well, lol, the run that he fumbled, and then recovered, was an insane display of footwork, do not remember the last guy who could move like he did. not sure what the word on McDaniel is. is he a slot receiver or RB?? the coaches are really high on Roberson apparently, and are serious about getting him on the field this year

I concur on Wood, his speed, shiftiness, and open field running is something we haven’t seen in years at ND. But remember, Eifert recovered that fumble against USC!

All indications are that McDaniel is going to start out at running back, but of course we can never say he’ll always stay there. But with the depth chart the way it is, he should stay there for a while.

Roberson will have to step up big time.