Who's gonna run the ball next year?

[cheewgumm]

Besides Dak.

I think losing JROB is huge. I assume we are counting on Shumpert and that's fine, but can he get it done and who else?!??

[War Machine Dawg]

Shump and some combination of Williams/Lee. We won't have the explosiveness that J-Rob brought, but we'll be more physical. It's a tradeoff. I'd also look for Holloway to get 5-8 touches a game as a change of pace guy, and I'm fine with that. We just have to be smart with how we use him on those touches.

[Ralph]

We just have to be smart with how we use him on those touches.

B Holloway up the middle for no gain.

[MSUDawg4Life]

Between Shumpert, Williams and Lee, we have to hope one of them steps up to be THE GUY. The other two will still get reps.

Right now, I'm not 100% sure Shumpert will be the one that separates himself from the pack. I think this is going to be a heated battle this spring and into the fall.

[Ralph]

Im hoping Williams becomes the guy.

[DudyDawg]

Shump was better than JRob late. We will be fine

[mstatefan91]

Shump was better than JRob late. We will be fine

Yeah I loved his running against OM and Tech. Physical stuff

The more touches you give Shump, the more he wears a defense down. Dan can't give him 1 touch a series like he did multiple times with J-Rob. Gotta feed him

[Hypnodawg]

Yeah I loved his running against OM and Tech. Physical stuff

The more touches you give Shump, the more he wears a defense down. Dan can't give him 1 touch a series like he did multiple times with J-Rob. Gotta feed him

I look for Shump to start carrying the load. I'm at a complete loss as to why JROB didn't the the majority of the touches the last two years. Sure would be nice to have him doing 50% and Shump 35% this year. I look for Shump do be no more than 50% given Mullen's history. We NEED 2 more backs to contribute significantly, and I don't think anyone has JROB's level of talent yet. Weaker O Line and unproven RBs means more will be on Daks shoulders. No idea how it will pan out, but I sure do love watching this game play out.

[I seen it dawg]

No one. We are terrible at running back

[Drugdog]

No one. We are terrible at running back

Ban him**

[msstate7]

No one. We are terrible at running back

Maybe fitz or staley can play rb*

[Howboutdemdogs]

We have a good problem, because we are loaded with talent and options in the backfield. The problem is choosing and settling on that one "go to guy". We don't have a tremendous amount of experience, which is our unknown.

[Coach34]

It will be anybody except a true freshman

[Schultzy]

MSU coaches can't go to the grocery store without tripping over a four star running back. That said, we all know Aeris Williams has high expectations but I heard Dontavian Lee is even better than they thought he was so that's good.

[Martianlander]

O-line development is going to have a lot to do with how the running backs look.

[chef dixon]

Not worried about the running game. They will all be players if given the opportunity. I'm excited about how finely tuned we will be in the passing game. The players that were kind of holding us back in the passing game are now gone and we've got studs across the board.

[thedawg]

It will be anybody except a true freshman

I know you keep saying that but I think Dear is just better than Holloway and has all spring and summer to get in shape. I know there's a lot better chance your right than you being wrong because of how Mullen almost stubbornly prefers upperclassmen. I'm just so ready to recruit past Holloway for the home run running back role.

[Coach34]

Exactly- it's going to be a committee of Shump, Aeris, and Lee. More straight ahead running and less zone stretch. I expect a return of the counter play as well

[Thick]

This year, we will have a little bit of everything at RB. Power, speed, and ability to catch the ball out of the backfield or on the edge. We have a LOT of talent at RB as always!

[CadaverDawg]

Maybe we could slim down Martinas Rankin, or beef up Jamal Peters to play RB.**

Shumpert will be the man this year, and Aeris will get a ton of carries too. I'm sure we'll try to wear people out, and then bring Holloway in to try and bust one big. I think it will be hugely effective because it will take a stacked box to bring down Dak, Shump, Aeris every running play, which in turn should create big mismatches in favor of our receivers. It may not be quite as exciting of a brand without JRob...but I think the production could be even better with those bruisers.

[CadaverDawg]

Exactly- it's going to be a committee of Shump, Aeris, and Lee. More straight ahead running and less zone stretch. I expect a return of the counter play as well

I agree, Coach.

[smootness]

Exactly- it's going to be a committee of Shump, Aeris, and Lee. More straight ahead running and less zone stretch. I expect a return of the counter play as well

Yep. Hello, Anthony Dixon. Do people forget we've had tons of success running the ball without elite RB speed before?

Ballard wasn't anything close to a burner, either. We're going to be very, very good running the ball. People have soured on Aeris at seems, and we literally have never seen him run the ball. Shumpert got better and better and while he doesn't have great top-end speed, he certainly isn't slow.

[maroonmania]

I look for Shump to start carrying the load. I'm at a complete loss as to why JROB didn't the the majority of the touches the last two years. Sure would be nice to have him doing 50% and Shump 35% this year. I look for Shump do be no more than 50% given Mullen's history. We NEED 2 more backs to contribute significantly, and I don't think anyone has JROB's level of talent yet. Weaker O Line and unproven RBs means more will be on Daks shoulders. No idea how it will pan out, but I sure do love watching this game play out.

As talented as JROB was its become pretty obvious via twitter since he's declared that he was a pain in the butt to the coaches attitude wise. I believe that is the sole reason his carries were more limited over the past couple of seasons than you would expect and why Perkins stayed clearly above him even though JROB was the more talented back.

[DownwardDawg]

This is the one thing I never worry about as an MSU fan. Next.

[maroonmania]

Yep. Hello, Anthony Dixon. Do people forget we've had tons of success running the ball without elite RB speed before?

Ballard wasn't anything close to a burner, either. We're going to be very, very good running the ball. People have soured on Aeris at seems, and we literally have never seen him run the ball. Shumpert got better and better and while he doesn't have great top-end speed, he certainly isn't slow.

I don't know whether Ballard was a burner or not but I do know he and Norwood were the 2 hardest MSU RBs to catch from behind once into the open field these eyes have ever seen.

[notoriousdog]

I know you keep saying that but I think Dear is just better than Holloway and has all spring and summer to get in shape. I know there's a lot better chance your right than you being wrong because of how Mullen almost stubbornly prefers upperclassmen. I'm just so ready to recruit past Holloway for the home run running back role.

I thought Holloway was used well for the most part last year. But, I think we signed Keith Mixon with plans for him to takeover the Holloway role.

[smootness]

I don't know whether Ballard was a burner or not but I do know he and Norwood were the 2 hardest MSU RBs to catch from behind once into the open field these eyes have ever seen.

We've definitely had faster RBs than Ballard. From watching Williams' film, I definitely don't think he's any slower than Dixon was.

West Point used him as their kick returner, and he took several to the house. He has enough speed to play RB, for sure.

[LC Dawg]

I don't know whether Ballard was a burner or not but I do know he and Norwood were the 2 hardest MSU RBs to catch from behind once into the open field these eyes have ever seen.

I would love to see Norwood with our current offense.

[archdog]

Imagine Norwood and Omar Conner. Conner seemed to me as one of the best athletes we have ever had, except his true talents were wasted at qb. If he was in our offense him and bear would be unstoppabl.

[Bama_Dawg]

I can't wait to see Shump run it next year. The dude runs angry (yea he needs to develop his vision a bit more). I think of him as a Marshawn Lynch, just pounds you all game and then gets his yards in the 2nd half after he's worn you down. He loves contact and sometime runs to it (a bit too often). I've also been more impressed with his pass blocking. I'd consider it an upgrade over J-Rob on pass blocking.

[Sacrifice]

Our running game will be fine next season. Dak and our Recievers will shred Defenses. Our O-Line will be bad ass, I think better than last year. We just need a back to hit the hole with thoughts of making somebody bleed..Plus Daks running ability will make our O hard to defend..

[Bama_Dawg]

Our running game will be fine next season. Dak and our Recievers will shred Defenses. Our O-Line will be bad ass, I think better than last year. We just need a back to hit the hole with thoughts of making somebody bleed..Plus Daks running ability will make our O hard to defend..

If this is the case, Shumpert is the guy.

[Sacrifice]

If this is the case, Shumpert is the guy.

Yeah I think Shump will get a heavy load next season. I'll be honest, I almost gave up on him but he showed me something at the end of the year. I was a big fan of his coming out of HS...It looked like it started clicking with him towards the end of the season...

[hells bells]

Shump was better than JRob late. We will be fine

Williams will be very good. But I like SHUMP.