What should we do with D. Milton?

[BogeyGolfer]

I think the chances of him playing RB is slim to none with all of our depth next year. What about Slot receiver or even on defense?

[BeastMan]

I've said Safety if he can play it

[Political Hack]

S/OLB/Special Teams.

if love to see him calling the blocking schemes on punts, but still listed as a defensive player. Could possibly sneak in a few fakes with him carrying the ball.

[TheRef]

S/OLB/Special Teams.

if love to see him calling the blocking schemes on punts, but still listed as a defensive player. Could possibly sneak in a few fakes with him carrying the ball.

So basically a gunner in the punt cover unit?

[Political Hack]

no... middle man. Think we did the same thing with O Ridley.

They call them the swing man in some cases. The guy is in the middle of the three man grouping half way between the snapper and the punter. He signals the snap and then "closes the gate" to block.

[TheRef]

no... middle man. Think we did the same thing with O Ridley.

They call them the swing man in some cases. The guy is in the middle of the three man grouping half way between the snapper and the punter. He signals the snap and then "closes the gate" to block.

Hmmm...is he a reliable enough blocker for that? That's a fairly important position in the punt cover unit. It's like the wall in KR units. If he's a reliable enough blocker for it, all power to him to be the swing man.

[Dawg61]

I'd try him as a speed FB/TE. If he can catch the ball. Same with Griffin. The 3rd-5th tailbacks need to be learning a second position. They are some of the best athletes on the team and MSU just keeps wasting their eligibility.

[Bothrops]

Speaking of Griffin, I haven't heard anything out of him in a while. Is he hurt?

[Dawgtini]

He wil be the 3rd or 4th running back in next year...just like this year. Fix the fumblitis and he might be the 2nd. If any of the freshmens play, they will be used like Shump was this year.

[dawgs]

it's a bit presumptuous to think a 3rd or 4th string RB could just learn another position and beat out guys that have spent year specializing in those positions. it's like people that think tebow would be a great TE if he wanted even though he's never played the position. there's more to it than just being a good athlete.

guys like myles jack at ucla and charles woodson when he went both ways at michigan, and guys like anotnio gates and jimmy graham that went from CBB players to all-pro NFL TEs are few and far between. and in the case of jack, he was recruited as a RB by several schools and played the position as recently as last year in HS.

[Dawg61]

Yea I get that it's not just that easy but MSU has got to find a way to get more production from the 3rd and 4th string backs.

[Political Hack]

Milton is a good player who has fumble problems. he can't stay at RB if he's not going to be used there. they might as well try him at another spot and get him reps on special teams.

[Big Daddy Dawg]

I don't recall Griffin having a fumbling problem! As a matter of fact I think he would be perfect 1-2 with J-Rob!

[Coach34]

Milton need to transfer to NW State to get closer to home and somewhere he could be the guy. It would be better for him and us. We could use that scholly to go in another direction.

Milton is a good guy and I wish nothing but good things for him- but he is someone that needs to go another way. This is tough side of college football.

[dawgs]

Yea I get that it's not just that easy but MSU has got to find a way to get more production from the 3rd and 4th string backs.

unless we have an injury or 2, there's no need to "find a way to get more production from the 3rd and 4th string backs". those guys are pretty much only going to get touches in blowouts and play some special teams. otherwise, they need an injury to get meaningful touches.

[Coach34]

unless we have an injury or 2, there's no need to "find a way to get more production from the 3rd and 4th string backs". those guys are pretty much only going to get touches in blowouts and play some special teams. otherwise, they need an injury to get meaningful touches.

Exactly:

Alabama's #3 RB had 28 carries
UPig's #3 had 40 carries
SC's #3 had 40 carries

When your QB is going to be one of your top 2 rushers like Dakota will for us- the #3 RB is SOL

[The Croom Diaries]

I agree. I hate it, but there just isn't much room and we need to trim the fat. We are only losing 11 seniors - and only 7 of those where major contributors (plus Baker). So there isn't much to trim with this signing class coming in. We'll get two schollys back coming off probation but there still some guys who will be on the chopping block. Milton's name is near the top.

[Political Hack]

Is like to see 40 runs per game with JRob getting 15-20, Dak getting 10-12, Shump getting 5-10, and a few specialty guys (Tubby/Holloway/Griffin/etc...) getting. few touches to keep teams honest.

[Dawg61]

It'll just be the next guy not getting the snaps then. What I'm asking for is for Mullen to be more creative and find snaps for the 3rd and 4th string backs. They are being underutilized.

[Dawg61]

You'll eventually see a drop off out of the RB position if we're only using 2 besides the QB for the year. What HS RB is going to want to play here after a couple of seasons of throwing the Milton's and Griffin's to the curb? It's best to have 4 great RBs in your game plans than to always only rely on 2. We are spoiled right now at RBs as a fan base. We just always expect to have great RB's but we won't for long if we kick our #3's and #4's aside.

[dawgs]

It'll just be the next guy not getting the snaps then. What I'm asking for is for Mullen to be more creative and find snaps for the 3rd and 4th string backs. They are being underutilized.

if they aren't as good as the RB1 and RB2, then i would prefer my RB1 and RB2 get a large majority of the touches. i'd also like the think that our WRs who have been specializing at WR for a few years are better WR options than our RB3 and RB4. same with defense. sometimes guys just aren't good enough to be a better option than what we have on the field.

[Coach34]

It'll just be the next guy not getting the snaps then. What I'm asking for is for Mullen to be more creative and find snaps for the 3rd and 4th string backs. They are being underutilized.

You just cant get snaps for those guys if nobody gets hurt when you have a running QB like we do. There arent enough carries to spread around.

40 carries per game at most

Prescott averaged 13 over the 9 games he basically played- that leaves 27
We want JRob getting 15 carries at a minimum- that leaves 12 at most
Shump needs 6-7

that leaves 5 carries between #3 RB, Jameon Lewis, Brandon Holloway, and the back-up QB if he plays. The carries simply arent there.

[Dawg61]

What it is is we've just been extremely fortunate with not having injuries at the position. Most teams would of been using Milton a lot more than MSU has because they've had injuries. In the last 2 years besides an ankle sprain Perk and JRob have been healthy enough to eat the snaps. Milton is just unlucky for himself but we are very lucky as a team.

[dawgs]

You'll eventually see a drop off out of the RB position if we're only using 2 besides the QB for the year. What HS RB is going to want to play here after a couple of seasons of throwing the Milton's and Griffin's to the curb? It's best to have 4 great RBs in your game plans than to always only rely on 2. We are spoiled right now at RBs as a fan base. We just always expect to have great RB's but we won't for long if we kick our #3's and #4's aside.

if a guy hasn't moved up to the 2 deep by his junior season, there aren't going to be any recruit scared off by us "throwing him to the curb". bama signs multiple 4+* RBs every year, the best 2 generally get the touches, and the rest pick up scraps and hope to crack the 2 deep next season or transfer. this year yeldon and drake got most of the touches, followed by derrick henry (5*) with 28 and tenpenny (4*) and hart (4*) with 22 apiece. either those young guys will wait their turn, force their way into the 2 deep, or they'll transfer.

we obviously aren't bama, but i don't think we'll run into trouble finding RBs we like willing to sign with us because our RB3 and RB4 only get 20something carries on a season barring injury. it's just how it is. you don't play lesser players meaningful minutes just to spread the wealth unless you're really overusing your RB1 and RB2.

[gravedigger]

Id say with the emphasis our team should have on the run game next year he should still get good playing time. JRob Shump as starters. Milton is certainly in the 2nd group before Williams from West Point takes his spot. We need to pound the ball with fresh backs on every down.

I'd say 4 running backs should be getting a number of plays every game. Now, will Milton drop with the new kids coming in? maybe. But he'd certainly translate well into a linebacker, or a hybrid safety in nickel packages.

[smootness]

You'll eventually see a drop off out of the RB position if we're only using 2 besides the QB for the year. What HS RB is going to want to play here after a couple of seasons of throwing the Milton's and Griffin's to the curb? It's best to have 4 great RBs in your game plans than to always only rely on 2. We are spoiled right now at RBs as a fan base. We just always expect to have great RB's but we won't for long if we kick our #3's and #4's aside.

I'll be honest, I'm having trouble understanding this argument.

Who uses their 3/4 RBs more than we do?

This year, our #3/4 RBs had 39/20 carries (Milton was #5, btw)
2012 - 34/32
2011 - 16/12
2010 - 60/14
2009 - 44/26 (Dixon was #1 that year, and #2 only had 45 carries)
2008 - 18/12
2007 - 21/4
2006 - 42/32

I think you're reading too much into it. I think the reason you may feel like we're not using our backup RBs enough is because it's no longer Adrian Marcus that far down on the depth chart. It's now Nick Griffin.

We're actually using our #2 RB more under Mullen than we ever have before. As long as a HS kid sees a team running a lot, especially if they let more than 1 guy get a good number of carries, it's an attractive situation to them. No HS kid thinks, 'I'm probably just going to be the #3 or #4 RB so I need to go somewhere where they get a lot of carries'. They all think they'll step in and get playing time immediately.

And we're not recruiting a bunch of 5-star studs anyway. Shumpert and Aeris Williams are the only RBs who are even 4-stars that we've brought in since Dixon and Elliott. Ballard, Perkins, Robinson, Griffin, Milton...these weren't highly recruited guys; we're just good at knowing what we want and finding talent.

ETA: It was already mentioned earlier, but nobody recruits RBs right now like Alabama. This year, they had the following:

5-star FR Derrick Henry - 28 carries
4-star FR Altee Tenpenny - 22 carries
4-star rSO Dee Hart - 22 carries
4-star rJR Jalston Fowler - 19 carries

They also redshirter 4-stars Tyren Jones and Alvin Kamara.

Yet they still have Bo Scarbrough committed and are still in the game with Leonard Fournette. They're Alabama, but the number of carries down their depth chart there isn't scaring anybody off.

[preachermatt83]

can he kick ?

[Dawg61]

It's not carries I want to see from Milton it's more plays. Put him in as a FB/TE on a play-action play for example. I think he can be a weapon catching the ball. If he can catch. I'd use him in 2 RB sets also. Not a ton maybe just 4-5 extra plays a game. I think he and Griffin are both too good to see so few plays on the field so find more plays for them. Special teams is another way to get them on the field more. They are two of our better athletes.

[smootness]

I'm fine with the way we use Milton. There will always be players who don't see the field much. He fumbles when he's in, and we have better RBs. I also don't think he'd make a great FB or TE.

[FISHDAWG]

Milton need to transfer to NW State to get closer to home and somewhere he could be the guy. It would be better for him and us. We could use that scholly to go in another direction.

Milton is a good guy and I wish nothing but good things for him- but he is someone that needs to go another way. This is tough side of college football.

^^^ this...then maybe give that schollie to the Liggins guy that we withdrew the offer from ... I don't care how you cut it that was just wrong ... unless we don't know the full story there

[Covercorner2]

I don't think "trimming the fat" with capable depth at arguably the most injury-prone position in football is a good idea. Maybe give them some touches at H-back or FB, but to change positions (completely) or part ways wouldnt be smart. It's not like Griffin and Shumpert have set the world on fire....

[smootness]

The bottom line is, we'll always have a chance to bring in new RBs that are capable of getting the job done. Griffin has looked very good when healthy (hasn't been much, and I don't know if he'll get back there), and Shumpert should be very good in time. We'll also have Aeris Williams and Dontavian Lee next year.

The point is, Milton certainly hasn't set the world on fire and fumbles a lot, and he won't play much at RB, no matter who actually is getting carries.