Ol Bowling Ball looked really good just now

[whosyourdawgy]

Just finished off a nice drive with a 9 yd td on 3rd and goal. Looks pretty dang good

[GreenheadDawg]

Just finished off a nice drive with a 9 yd td on 3rd and goal. Looks pretty dang good

i hope somebody steps up because I'm afraid we may miss the bowling ball more than people want to admit

[smootness]

i hope somebody steps up because I'm afraid we may miss the bowling ball more than people want to admit

I can't remember the last time we had a big drop-off after a RB left.

[GreenheadDawg]

I can't remember the last time we had a big drop-off after a RB left.

True. Hope this isn't the first year

[Dawgcentral]

Like others I've been watching some DVR the last few days. Josh was indeed a difference maker. That low center of gravity and the ability to get those extra yards is hard to come by, but we've got three guys with great potential, and the effort will be there.

With improvement in Dak's reads, and our receiver depth, I expect better opportunities to run through gaps.

[Todd4State]

I think the running backs we have now give us a better chance to beat Alabama and Ole Miss than having Josh as the primary guy. Not that Josh was bad or that we won't miss him- but it's more about offensive style than anything.

[Todd4State]

True. Hope this isn't the first year

With the way that Shumpert performed at the end of the year, I see no reason why we would have a drop off. Not to mention Lee, Williams and Dear contributing.

[QuadrupleOption]

I can't remember the last time we had a big drop-off after a RB left.

1999 after JJ Johnson left. And we went 10-2 that year.

[War Machine Dawg]

1999 after JJ Johnson left. And we went 10-2 that year.

So, 16 years. And that was only because JWS insisted on a 3-headed monster with Chris Rainey, who was clearly inferior to Zo and Dontae. Not to mention our OL was pretty bad that season, which was far and away the main culprit for the drop-off.

[Jarius]

Josh appeared to mail it in after he knew he was going pro. He almost ran not to get hurt. Shumpert took carries away from him the last 3 games.

[FlabLoser]

J Rob looked good today. He ran hard. Used quickness to make fast cuts, yet stay north & south. Ran through tackles. Pushed the pile. Also blocked & caught passes and got good YACs.

[TaleofTwoDogs]

If I remember correctly, Dixon had a great preseason with the 'Niners then ended up as a bench warming reserve role. Different situations obviously but hope Josh gets a chance to keep on grinding in the regular season.

[Dawg61]

Dixon>Norwood>Ballard>JRob>Perkins

I'll go back to Norwood. This is how I rank the RBs so we've had a drop off twice before. This will be year 3 but with Dak included we will have a better rushing attack than ever. Yes we take a step back with one player but we free up snaps for a lot of other very talented players making us a much better offense.

[thf24]

I think it'll even out since, although we may lose some RB production, we might be able to open up the offense a little more since we can rely on Shump, Lee, and Williams' pass blocking much more than JRob's. They allegedly all have better hands than JRob as well (though I personally never saw any evidence JRob was particularly deficient in that area, even making a few circus plays to the contrary), so maybe we'll use more screens and RB's in the passing game.

[basedog]

JRob was really good but after the Ky game he was just so so at best. Dak makes our offense go, we will be better at the RB position with more depth and ability.

[Bama_Dawg]

I think it'll even out since, although we may lose some RB production, we might be able to open up the offense a little more since we can rely on Shump, Lee, and Williams' pass blocking much more than JRob's. They allegedly all have better hands than JRob as well (though I personally never saw any evidence JRob was particularly deficient in that area, even making a few circus plays to the contrary), so maybe we'll use more screens and RB's in the passing game.

This, a million times this. Our screen game was non-existent last year. I thought we were saving it for Bama. But with a young O-line, please, let's go with the screens!

[Johnson85]

Dixon>Norwood>Ballard>JRob>Perkins

I'll go back to Norwood. This is how I rank the RBs so we've had a drop off twice before. This will be year 3 but with Dak included we will have a better rushing attack than ever. Yes we take a step back with one player but we free up snaps for a lot of other very talented players making us a much better offense.

I don't think Dixon is better than Norwood. They're very different backs, but either one could be a primary back in college and lead a very successful offense. As far as the NFL, Dixon gives you more as far as the ability to be an every down player and play special teams whereas I think Norwood was more of a third down back plus a potential returner. But by that same token, Norwood is better in his niche than Dixon is as an every down player (which he obviously wasn't most of the time).

[FlabLoser]

Norwood had Heisman talent. And in the NFL Norwood made NFL DBs look like keystone cops. Just made people look stupid. Ridiculous fast and and quick. But Norwood was too fragile for a long NFL career.

I think Dixon is a lot more durable than Norwood and more of a typical RB build.

[smootness]

Dixon>Norwood>Ballard>JRob>Perkins

I'll go back to Norwood. This is how I rank the RBs so we've had a drop off twice before. This will be year 3 but with Dak included we will have a better rushing attack than ever. Yes we take a step back with one player but we free up snaps for a lot of other very talented players making us a much better offense.

I didn't mean that we've continually replaced RBs with someone better; I'm just saying I can't remember the last time our running game had a big drop-off. Perkins had a great year the tear after Ballard, and we ran the ball very well that year.

I think 1999 is the answer, and as previously said, it didn't hurt our team as a whole at all. Then in 2000, those same RBs went nuts and ran all over everybody.

We'll be fine in the run game, that's my point.

[Johnson85]

Norwood had Heisman talent. And in the NFL Norwood made NFL DBs look like keystone cops. Just made people look stupid. Ridiculous fast and and quick. But Norwood was too fragile for a long NFL career.

I think Dixon is a lot more durable than Norwood and more of a typical RB build.

I think if we had Norwood on this team he would be getting Reggie Bush treatment. Even in the NFL, Bush seemed like the over priced version of Norwood to me.