Can Holloway Turn it Around?

[Bama_Dawg]

Brandon has had a rough go of it in his MSU career. He's not thought about in the RB discussion that much.

So we all know he's fast, can be shifty, and is serviceable catching the ball. Will we utilize him like a Darren Sproles, get him the ball on the edge, let him be the matchup nightmare for a linebacker, maybe even a wheel route?

We know he's all Dawg, I just would like for him to be the impact player like he could be.

Shump, Lee, and Williams (not particularly in that order) will carry the load from a RB perspective, but if we could utilize Holloway correctly, he could really burn some teams. Be a momentum swing when we needed it.

What are your guy's thoughts?

[Jack Lambert]

If he could catch the ball he would have all kinds of recieving yards.

[BeastMan]

I agree with your point but wouldn't frame it up as "turn it around" b/c that implys he's not playing well or not playing up to his potential. The thing you have to keep in mind is that he's a specialty player and his touches are situational. I think the coaches are just getting comfortable with his role and how to use him. He had 464 all-purpose yards last year and I think he has more this year.

[Leroy Jenkins]

He is a Straight-line speed guy, not a lot of shake that I have seen... and he has not been a reliable pass catcher in the past. If he can work on that who knows.

[YazooDawg23]

Every Holloway carry is a wasted down. Dan needs to quit trying to make him an SEC player. Not gonna happen.

[Johnson85]

Brandon has had a rough go of it in his MSU career. He's not thought about in the RB discussion that much.

So we all know he's fast, can be shifty, and is serviceable catching the ball. Will we utilize him like a Darren Sproles, get him the ball on the edge, let him be the matchup nightmare for a linebacker, maybe even a wheel route?

We know he's all Dawg, I just would like for him to be the impact player like he could be.

Shump, Lee, and Williams (not particularly in that order) will carry the load from a RB perspective, but if we could utilize Holloway correctly, he could really burn some teams. Be a momentum swing when we needed it.

What are your guy's thoughts?

I don't think he's had a rough go of it. He's a track guy playing football, and as such has a limited role to play. I think last year was the first year we've really had the pieces in place to be able to utilize him and I thought he did pretty well. We could use him a lot better if he was elusive or if he had good hands, and maybe if we had been able to use him earlier he would have developed more as a football player, but I'm guessing the coaches recognized there was a good chance he would always be more of a track guy than football player when they signed him.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Thing with Brandon is you're hoping he can give you 4 maybe 5 big plays a year. If he does that then he's served his purpose. Last year he had 2 runs of 35yds or more. If he can double that then we've hit gold with him. I'm hoping that Malik Dear eventually becomes that jack of all trades guy that gets the jet sweeps, bubble screens, toss sweeps, wildcats, etc.

[maroonmania]

Yep, not much shiftiness that I've seen out of Holloway. I think that's why Mullen likes to send him up between the Tackles hoping he might hit a crease and GO. If you are depending on him to juke someone or change directions its likely not going to happen.

[jumbo]

We just need to stop running him up the middle. Give him the ball on sweeps, screens and maybe the occasional wheel route.

[War Machine Dawg]

I agree with your point but wouldn't frame it up as "turn it around" b/c that implys he's not playing well or not playing up to his potential. The thing you have to keep in mind is that he's a specialty player and his touches are situational. I think the coaches are just getting comfortable with his role and how to use him. He had 464 all-purpose yards last year and I think he has more this year.

This. He's a change of pace guy, nothing more. Expecting him to be anything else is setting yourself up for disappointment.

Thing with Brandon is you're hoping he can give you 4 maybe 5 big plays a year. If he does that then he's served his purpose. Last year he had 2 runs of 35yds or more. If he can double that then we've hit gold with him. I'm hoping that Malik Dear eventually becomes that jack of all trades guy that gets the jet sweeps, bubble screens, toss sweeps, wildcats, etc.

Yep, not much shiftiness that I've seen out of Holloway. I think that's why Mullen likes to send him up between the Tackles hoping he might hit a crease and GO. If you are depending on him to juke someone or change directions its likely not going to happen.

Precisely. Holloway has his role, but a large portion of our fans can't grasp what it is. They either want it expanded or reduced. I think we're using him about as well as we can, given his skill set and limitations.