Marcus Marshall ACC POY

stech81

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lv20gt

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IMO MM is the bback with the most raw talent we've had since Dwyer and he played well last year as a freshman. Marshall was our leading rusher last year and put up good numbers even against power teams. In ACC games + ND + UGA he had 433 yards on 72 carries for a 6 ypc average. If the OLine can regain it's form then he's a solid darkhorse choice for it, but I think it will be almost impossible for him to if Watson plays up to his potential. QB just does too much so unless he breaks out for something like 1800 rushing and 500 receiving I can't see him taking it,and I highly doubt he'll come anywhere near those numbers. The one thing I hope doesn't happen is we constantly bring guys in and out. We need to get back to having a start running back and you don't get that by going with a committee.
 

InsideLB

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Hope to see Marshall continue to improve ball security and in pass pro. He has potential to be a very productive back

I like what Marcus Allen can do when healthy and I am super high on #26.

I see a committee of sorts there.
 

tech_wreck47

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Everyone's still sleeping on Leggett. MM probably won't get enough carries because of the depth we have at BB.
Leggett was struggling to keep the starting spot in the spring that he got hurt, coach said he needs to be more aggresive and hit the hole harder, and stop dancing around. I saw MM dance around every once in a while, and I think he could have gotten more yards if he just ran straight and keep his momentum going forward, if you get hit the hole dancing you get stopped at that point when hit, if you are running full blast north and get hit chances are you will fall forward at least a yard, Laskey was very good at this. Imo Dedrick mills has a chance to be a big time BB and probably the one I'm most excited about out of that group. And I'm not saying MM or leggett doesn't have talent or won't do well before someone assumes that's what I'm saying lol.
 

AE 87

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Leggett was struggling to keep the starting spot in the spring that he got hurt, coach said he needs to be more aggresive and hit the hole harder, and stop dancing around. I saw MM dance around every once in a while, and I think he could have gotten more yards if he just ran straight and keep his momentum going forward, if you get hit the hole dancing you get stopped at that point when hit, if you are running full blast north and get hit chances are you will fall forward at least a yard, Laskey was very good at this. Imo Dedrick mills has a chance to be a big time BB and probably the one I'm most excited about out of that group. And I'm not saying MM or leggett doesn't have talent or won't do well before someone assumes that's what I'm saying lol.

A man cannot be a fan of two Bbacks; he will hate the one and love the other
 

takethepoints

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I didn't like the way MM carried the ball last year. There were way too many times where he was dancing in the hole or went for the wrong one. There's no question that he is bad news when he gets free, but, as I've also said, I'll take a BB who steadily gets me 4 on 3rd and 3 over one who occasionally busts a big one any day of the week.

But … I think his faults last year were due to inexperience more then anything else; he'd have never seen the field if Leggett and Quaid had been healthy. (Same for Skov, btw.) From all reports, he's learned and did well in the spring. There's no denying his talent (i.e. speed) either. His problem going into the fall is going to be competition and lots of it. Result = it'll be BB by committee again until someone shows they should get the most carries. If I had to guess, the committee will be MM and Leggett solely on the basis of experience with the O and speed. But I sure don't know that and, given the options, it might turn out to be Kirvonte Benson or Mills or Allen instead.

This is a good position to be in and I think we'll see better BB play next year no matter who steps up to the plate.
 

YJMD

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Marshall has established that he has a high ceiling. Other than that, we can't say a damn thing for certain about our B-back group. Whispers seem to be optimistic, though.
 

Jerry the Jacket

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When has Marcus Allen not been injured? I don't think he has completed an entire offensive series since he started playing. We have a lot of potential at B Back but we need to turn that into performance.

Go Jackets!
 

Augusta_Jacket

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Leggett was struggling to keep the starting spot in the spring that he got hurt, coach said he needs to be more aggresive and hit the hole harder, and stop dancing around. I saw MM dance around every once in a while, and I think he could have gotten more yards if he just ran straight and keep his momentum going forward, if you get hit the hole dancing you get stopped at that point when hit, if you are running full blast north and get hit chances are you will fall forward at least a yard, Laskey was very good at this. Imo Dedrick mills has a chance to be a big time BB and probably the one I'm most excited about out of that group. And I'm not saying MM or leggett doesn't have talent or won't do well before someone assumes that's what I'm saying lol.

CPJs criticism of him was that he ran upright. I don't recall him struggling to keep his starting position prior to injury. Maybe I am mis-remembering, though.
 

lv20gt

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Leggett was struggling to keep the starting spot in the spring that he got hurt, coach said he needs to be more aggresive and hit the hole harder, and stop dancing around. I saw MM dance around every once in a while, and I think he could have gotten more yards if he just ran straight and keep his momentum going forward, if you get hit the hole dancing you get stopped at that point when hit, if you are running full blast north and get hit chances are you will fall forward at least a yard, Laskey was very good at this. .

I disagree. Skov embodied that line of thinking and he was the worst bback we've had under Johnson who got significant reps. And it really isn't close. Somewhere along the way people got it in their head that all we need at bback is a guy that can go out, bully his way to 3 yards and almost never fumble, and that's it. And it usually comes back to the same justification. "That's all we need if our o-line blocks, our a-backs do their thing, our qb makes every read, our WRs block, and etc etc etc." Sure, in an ideal state that might be adequate. But GT won't ever be in an ideal state. Therefore we need a star at bback. We need somebody that can get more than just what the play gives. We need a guy with vision and the ability to make guys miss.
 

tech_wreck47

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I disagree. Skov embodied that line of thinking and he was the worst bback we've had under Johnson who got significant reps. And it really isn't close. Somewhere along the way people got it in their head that all we need at bback is a guy that can go out, bully his way to 3 yards and almost never fumble, and that's it. And it usually comes back to the same justification. "That's all we need if our o-line blocks, our a-backs do their thing, our qb makes every read, our WRs block, and etc etc etc." Sure, in an ideal state that might be adequate. But GT won't ever be in an ideal state. Therefore we need a star at bback. We need somebody that can get more than just what the play gives. We need a guy with vision and the ability to make guys miss.
We can't compare skovs style to Laskey or days even though his mindset was the same, skov ran with his head down and leaning his body to forward before impact so he was almost going down anticipating being hit trying to gain the extra yards. Laskey did the same thing some but not as bad but most of the time he had a great balance when being hit which helped him get those extra yards after being hit, skov didn't do that, and that makes a huge difference. We need our b backs to hit the hole hard with good balance and then the can dance a little after they get past the LB that's what Dwyer did and even Laskey and days.
 
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takethepoints

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I'd add that for most of Coach's career BB has been a committee position. It wasn't with Dwyer and Eckel because they were so very talented. Usually, however, it's been about a 60/40 split in playing time between a starter and backup. That has worked quite well and I see no reason to think it won't again.

Of course, if we hadn't had Laskey returning punts when he was a frosh, we'd have seen what a one man wrecking crew can do at BB last year. Ah, what might have been …
 
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