2024 RB Commit Gibson Ranked #1 by 247

That wasnt mullen.

 

and you left out 4 yards on punt returns

 

Out of curiosity....do you have an expectation on what punt return average should be? And while I'm at it, do you know what we averaged last year?

 

And in case you don't happen to be aware, UF was 17th in the nation in punt return average.....2nd in the SEC (Devonta Smith might have impacted that number for Bama).

 

I keep hearing how deep and talented our running back room is but I’m not sure what this is based on. I thought you didn’t believe in star ratings because so far that’s all we have. Pierce’s most productive year has been 500 yards. The highest rated guys are transfers with nothing to show yet. Arkansas when they had Felix jones and McFadden…that was a loaded running back room.

 

Bama was close to getting TT!

Purple Hurricane alum here..

 

I said nothing about star ratings. That's your albatross around your neck.

Today, who has a deeper and better RB room than UF?

 

Are you just trying to bait a dumb argument? UF has the deepest and most talented RB room. It's based on college and high school film and star rating. Heck, go with offers as well.

 

Pierce, Davis, Lingard, Bowman. If there is a better four I don't know who they are. I imagine alabama and georgia have some highly rated RBs on roster. That's usually a given.

I guess the question about our RBs is, if our OL will be enough and if they can all be in the mix making plays.

But does it matter if it turns out Pierce and Davis get the majority of snaps as long as our run game is better? I guess it really does not matter. I want to see all of our RBs in the games making defenses dizzy but maybe it only matters that we have success.

I hope Lingard emerges healthy.

 

Penn State and Miami have very good stables at RB as well

 

Georgia obviously. They have 4 5 star running backs.Projecting UGA's depth chart at running back

 

Good answer, but not deeper or better. I'd say it's a wash. Next.

 

Don't forget Nay'Quan Wright. Davis and Wright will be our best 2 RBs catching passes out of the backfield. I like all 5 of our RBs.

 

Georgia obviously? First, going purely by recruiting rankings is silly. But since that is your premise....below are the actual rankings.

Composite rankings
UGA-
Edwards 4 star #21 ranked RB
White 5 star , #1
Milton 4 star, #7
Cook 4 star, listed as APB not RB
McIntosh 4 star, #11
UF-
Peirce 4 star,#8
Wright 4 star, #16
Lingard 5 star ,#2
Bowman 5 star, #3
Davis 3 star, #26

Both teams have 21 stars between the 5 RB. Most sane people would say it's pretty much a wash based purely on the ranking criteria. Cannot imagine what would make either one "obviously" better.

 

production

 

Of course production should be the measure. But he made the argument about all the "5 stars". Of course even production can be skewed....type of offense, OL capability, seniority, etc. Bowman clearly adds talent to the room, but hasn't had any production yet.
I'm all for a good debate on the best room....but saying UGA obviously du to all the 5 stars makes little sense.

 

Let's see how the rushing production sorts out after 21. UF's dual threat QB's, plural, are a big plus to help the running game while that statue from Southern California is a net negative. The poodles cannot afford to have JT Daniel get injured running the ball as much as UF's QB will do. The extra ground attacker will open up lanes for the UF RBs. UGALY will use their RB stable as it has had the better OL in previous seasons. However, I don't think that will be the case in 21. UF's OL should be much improved over the last 2 seasons.

 

White has a couple of torn ACLs. Don't know how much that is going to change how he runs. Definitely not the #1 RB after that.

 

I agree it should be based on production. While I think highly of our depth to say it is the best around is not based on reality - it is based on orange and blue glasses. A rb success has a lot to do with o line and scheme but we can’t magically assume how players may do in better situations we can only go by what they have done.

Since georgia was referenced - every RB on Georgia averaged over 5 yards per carry last year. At UF- none of our 3 main rbs did (Lingard and clements did with only 5 carries). While splitting carries reduces over yards per game per player, yards per carry is something that can be utilized for success. (Again, we cannot just write off o line and schemes but we cannot also just make those issues disappear and not give credit for actual production).

Pierce and Davis have been average SEC backs and I see a lot of posters praising Wright and thinking he gets the nod as best RB…yet he had a team worst 3.9 yards per carry. Bowman probably has the most potential and Lingard is a wild card.

if we as fans stepped back and reviewed our roster of running backs and prior production and they had say, Kentucky as the team, I doubt so many would be as impressed.

Would you look at the names Rodriguez and Smoke and be like, hey, that is a good rb duo? Well, Rodriguez has more career yardage than any gator RB by 100 yards and averages over 7 yards per carry for his career. His back up, Smoke averages 5.9 yards per carry for his career, more than anyone with any significant college carries at UF (same career yardage as Davis). On that same team last year UK also had Rose who has nearly 2000 yards and averaged 5.8 ypc for his career. I doubt any gator fan going into 2020 would have looked at UKs running back room and thought it could compare to UF…but they all had more yards and more importantly ypc than all UF backs. Yes, difference offenses and such but i never think anything about UK football is better than UF no matter what styles they use.

anyway, while I am optimistic and hopeful we have an awesome running game and I hope someone busts out this year (I think Davis is actually going to start for some reason) and love the 5 star youngsters….I figured I would play devils advocate to those who say we are super deep and most talented rb room.