T
TULAUS
Guest
Vondrell McGee figures to be the starter at RB when we open vs FAU on Aug 30. A lot of fans and experts are wondering how much the loss of Jamaal Charles is going to hurt our offensive production. There are a number of factors that come into play here. Certainly McGee is not the big play threat that Jamaal Charles was. But on the other hand he does not run sideways and seems to maintain a more secure hold on the ball. Due to his stocky build he also has the potential to be a superior pass blocker, but not as much of a threat as a receiver. How much our offensive production is affected will also depend on what other big play threats can emerge, or if a change to a more ground based, ball-control offense - assuming the OL becomes a strength instead of a weakness (a big if) - reduces the need for high scoring to win games.
Whatever the case, I decided to take a closer look at McGees freshman stats. He "only" picked up 297 yards on 75 carries, for a respectable, but not flashy, average of 4.0 ypc. But remember he was used extensively in goal line situations. In fact a review of the play by play for the year shows 15% of his carries were on the opponent 2 yard line or closer, where the defense is stacked and the most you can gain is, not surprisingly, 2 yards. If you remove those 15% of plays, he rushed 64 times for 298 yards for a somewhat more impressive 4.7 ypc. (Note one of the goal line plays was a fumbled option pitch where he was credited with a loss of 7).
Compare these numbers to Mike Hart last year. Hart has a similar build (5-8, 205) and similar speed (4.67 at NFL combine). In the 2007 year Hart only carried the ball inside the oppponent 2 yard line 3% of his carries. If you deduct these carries, his average on the year was 5.3 ypc.
The point of all this is, with McGee as a feature back or even as a half time back with Fozzy, he will get more carries in the open field, his ypc should go up and he will be a part of a productive running game. There is the makings of a nice one two punch, with Fozzy providing more of a big play threat (though still not like Charles) and McGee slashing defenses at the end of games or to keep the ball away from powerful offenses. The key to the offense, as everbody knows, is how do we punish teams that stack the line and take away that running game? Where will the threats come from to make teams pay? Obviously one or more of the young receivers is going to have to emerge.
Whatever the case, I decided to take a closer look at McGees freshman stats. He "only" picked up 297 yards on 75 carries, for a respectable, but not flashy, average of 4.0 ypc. But remember he was used extensively in goal line situations. In fact a review of the play by play for the year shows 15% of his carries were on the opponent 2 yard line or closer, where the defense is stacked and the most you can gain is, not surprisingly, 2 yards. If you remove those 15% of plays, he rushed 64 times for 298 yards for a somewhat more impressive 4.7 ypc. (Note one of the goal line plays was a fumbled option pitch where he was credited with a loss of 7).
Compare these numbers to Mike Hart last year. Hart has a similar build (5-8, 205) and similar speed (4.67 at NFL combine). In the 2007 year Hart only carried the ball inside the oppponent 2 yard line 3% of his carries. If you deduct these carries, his average on the year was 5.3 ypc.
The point of all this is, with McGee as a feature back or even as a half time back with Fozzy, he will get more carries in the open field, his ypc should go up and he will be a part of a productive running game. There is the makings of a nice one two punch, with Fozzy providing more of a big play threat (though still not like Charles) and McGee slashing defenses at the end of games or to keep the ball away from powerful offenses. The key to the offense, as everbody knows, is how do we punish teams that stack the line and take away that running game? Where will the threats come from to make teams pay? Obviously one or more of the young receivers is going to have to emerge.
