The RB Rotation Delimma

[ramblin_man]

How do we get all the RB’s touches and not lose someone in the process! Gibbs and Smith are top notch high level RB who both would be featured backs on many teams. Mason and Griffin are great in their own right! I bet they’re all hungry and battling for carries. It’s a great problem to have but the bond between players and Choice has to be so tight that these RB trust him with their future. It was nice to see us line up with Smith, Sims, and Gibbs all on the field at the same time. Talk about having a Corp of dangerous players all at once. Of course there’s a business side of it where it all boils down to beating out the player ahead of you. Recruiting the players with the right family mindset and them earning everything! Culture of selflessness while the NIL screams make it about yourself. As Mr. Miyagi says “You must first learn balance.”
What would you do?

 

[4shotB]

How do we get all the RB’s touches and not lose someone in the process!

What would you do?

Bama and OSU have this issue annually. I don't think Choice and Collins do anything different than what they have been doing. If a guy wants to leave b/c of playing time, the school AND the kid are better off if he moves on. In my work career when I had leadership responsibility I found out that the worst strategy of all is to try and make everyone happy. We all know the ending of that sory.

 

[Jacket05]

How do we get all the RB’s touches and not lose someone in the process! Gibbs and Smith are top notch high level RB who both would be featured backs on many teams. Mason and Griffin are great in their own right! I bet they’re all hungry and battling for carries. It’s a great problem to have but the bond between players and Choice has to be so tight that these RB trust him with their future. It was nice to see us line up with Smith, Sims, and Gibbs all on the field at the same time. Talk about having a Corp of dangerous players all at once. Of course there’s a business side of it where it all boils down to beating out the player ahead of you. Recruiting the players with the right family mindset and them earning everything! Culture of selflessness while the NIL screams make it about yourself. As Mr. Miyagi says “You must first learn balance.”
What would you do?

I think we can hold onto Mason, Smith, and Gibbs but I don't see Griffin sticking around. He is a solid back and can be a starter for a lot of programs but is not likely to get much playing time behind the other 3.

Also not only did I love having Gibbs and Smith on the field at the same time but I loved that they each laid big key blocks for the other!!! I also thought it was pretty disrespectful of CDP that we had both backs on the field and instead of using one for mis-direction to pull defenders away he brings them both to the same side challenging UNC to stop them straight up!

 

[Jerry the Jacket]

I really think Dontae Smith is our best back. No disrespect to Gibbs, Mason or Griffin but Dontae is just got the whole package. He runs hard and does not require much blocking. Gibbs is great but he has to have space to accelerate and make big plays. Mason is more of a hammer and a quality football player. One of our best blockers. Griffin is tough and runs hard but he too needs space and has to have a hole to get much. Dontae is adept at bouncing to the hole and just putting his head down and getting that tough yard when you have to have it.

It's a great problem to have. I think you will see Dontae emerge as the year moves along. It's almost like we save him until the fourth quarter and spring him on the tired defense of the other team. I think he could be making those plays early if given the chance. Maybe we should consider switching roles for Gibbs and Smith. I think that might help the team and help both guys get more yards and big plays.

Go Jackets!

 

[MidtownJacket]

I trust that CTC is better positioned than any of us to talk to the RBs about playing time. Looking around the country nowadays a lot of young guys seem happy with rotating and keeping their legs ready and bodies healthy. Less seem to want to be a featured back. They understand longevity is key and it’s a lot more fun to run over jello-legged linebackers in the second half than be the one running through Wet concrete.

 

[slugboy]

Gibbs doesn’t have the best yards per attempt on the team, but if you watch him in the game, the entire defense keys off of him. I put the stats below, but the stats don’t tell the story with Gibbs. Sims got great yardage last night partially because the defenders were all watching what Gibbs was doing.

Just watch any running play where Gibbs is in—the defenses are out to make sure that he doesn’t beat them. Play action should open up really nicely for us.

Gibbs, Mason, and Smith all have good yardage, considering we didn’t bust out on offense until yesterday. Our biggest issue is that we’ve been low scoring (except for KSU) until yesterday. If we continue to play on offense like we did yesterday, then there ARE enough carries for everyone.

			Rush	Rush	Rush	Rush
Rk	Player	G	Att	YdsV	Avg	TD
1	Jahmyr Gibbs	4	53	249	4.7	1
2	Jordan Mason	4	38	169	4.4	0
3	Jeff Sims	2	16	162	10.1	3
4	Dontae Smith	4	18	149	8.3	2
5	Jordan Yates	4	36	54	1.5	1
6	Jamious Griffin	1	5	16	3.2	0
7	Kyric McGowan	4	1	2	2.0	0
8	Trad Beatty	1	1	1	1.0	0

Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 9/26/2021.

 

[MidtownJacket]

Spot on @slugboy if we continue possessions and don’t go three and out there are plenty of carries. Especially because with Sims as QB1 I suspect we will hover 60/40 favoring the running game. Which sets up perfectly imho for our roster and skill set.

 

[AlabamaBuzz]

It is the RB Rotation blessing currently, but I know what you mean. I love how we use Dontae right now - wait til the D is tired, and put out there a guy with explosive speed, and also some toughness. I still think Gibbs can be used even more in the passing game, but this is one area that UNC had scouted for and did a good job of negating for the most part - some of Jeff's best runs were on plays where the ball was supposed to be thrown to Gibbs.

 

[ramblin_man]

Of course we want to see them all get their chances and it’s GreaT to have the ability to keep fresh legs and healthy bodies as the season progresses and no one is overwhelmed or nursing nagging small injuries that can’t properly heal because they have to continue to carry the team on their backs because they need them every other down for running or blocking. Of course this doesn’t negate the FACT that Choice would tell us all straight up that all out RB are sorry. Yes they need to lie down and bleed awhile and get back up and some more. Then he would slap em on the back of the helmet tell them they’re sorry and go back to work. Then he would close out the conversation with a “Hard is the way!” & “One time for the on time”. Finally he would laugh and twirl the toothpick inside his mouth and dance a little jig.

 

[FightWinDrink]

Running back by committee seems to be increasingly more popular even among the college game. Saves them for the NFL. Becoming rarer for top schools to just have 1 guy they feed. I think we can make it work with three

 

[IM79]

How do we get all the RB’s touches and not lose someone in the process!

Gibbs will be gone to the league after next year no matter what happens.
So you keep on recruiting new running backs. Either the current ones on the team to stay on the team or new freshmen to replace the ones who leave.

 

[stinger 1957]

I'm not a great analyzer, but it appears to me that DS has real good patience and waits on his holes(opportunities) and then has the speed and/or burst to take advantage of them. Speed takes care of a lot of things I guess, he just seems to use his a little different.
We are hindered a little with our power back it appears to me because Mason is not ideal for going outside, seems to me going fwd we need a power back with some speed, but I guess everyone is looking for one of those, don't know if we have that in any of our commits or not, anyone know?

 

[Ibeeballin]

Gibbs doesn’t have the best yards per attempt on the team, but if you watch him in the game, the entire defense keys off of him. I put the stats below, but the stats don’t tell the story with Gibbs. Sims got great yardage last night partially because the defenders were all watching what Gibbs was doing.

Just watch any running play where Gibbs is in—the defenses are out to make sure that he doesn’t beat them. Play action should open up really nicely for us.

Gibbs, Mason, and Smith all have good yardage, considering we didn’t bust out on offense until yesterday. Our biggest issue is that we’ve been low scoring (except for KSU) until yesterday. If we continue to play on offense like we did yesterday, then there ARE enough carries for everyone.

			Rush	Rush	Rush	Rush
Rk	Player	G	Att	YdsV	Avg	TD
1	Jahmyr Gibbs	4	53	249	4.7	1
2	Jordan Mason	4	38	169	4.4	0
3	Jeff Sims	2	16	162	10.1	3
4	Dontae Smith	4	18	149	8.3	2
5	Jordan Yates	4	36	54	1.5	1
6	Jamious Griffin	1	5	16	3.2	0
7	Kyric McGowan	4	1	2	2.0	0
8	Trad Beatty	1	1	1	1.0	0

Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 9/26/2021.

Now watch how Gibbs numbers explode with Sims back at QB

 

[malak05]

How do we get all the RB’s touches and not lose someone in the process! Gibbs and Smith are top notch high level RB who both would be featured backs on many teams. Mason and Griffin are great in their own right! I bet they’re all hungry and battling for carries. It’s a great problem to have but the bond between players and Choice has to be so tight that these RB trust him with their future. It was nice to see us line up with Smith, Sims, and Gibbs all on the field at the same time. Talk about having a Corp of dangerous players all at once. Of course there’s a business side of it where it all boils down to beating out the player ahead of you. Recruiting the players with the right family mindset and them earning everything! Culture of selflessness while the NIL screams make it about yourself. As Mr. Miyagi says “You must first learn balance.”
What would you do?

I think out of the 3 you definitely have them all fitting a role which is great for keeping them motivated to stay right now...

Gibbs is your obvious #1 sorta plays multiple skills very well...(Still got some work to do on pass blocking but he's young that's one of the last thing RB seem to learn)
D.Smith a guy who can spring into the game for unique plays or the 2 back set.
Mason is the best piece for blocking on design pass plays and late game fresh legs guy

Griffin is a good running back by yeah its a situation we're wonder about carries but also 1 go goes down will need him greatly

 

[orientalnc]

I loved the lineup with Gibbs and Mason together. Maybe Gibbs was teamed with Smith also, but the announcers commented on the former pair. Gibbs is a solid pass receiver and makes our offense so much better than just his yards per carry.

 

[orientalnc]

I think out of the 3 you definitely have them all fitting a role which is great for keeping them motivated to stay right now...

Gibbs is your obvious #1 sorta plays multiple skills very well...(Still got some work to do on pass blocking but he's young that's one of the last thing RB seem to learn)
D.Smith a guy who can spring into the game for unique plays or the 2 back set.
Mason is the best piece for blocking on design pass plays and late game fresh legs guy

Griffin is a good running back by yeah its a situation we're wonder about carries but also 1 go goes down will need him greatly

Griffin has only played in one game. I wonder if CGC/Choice are hoping to redshirt him. With the COVID year he is only a soph.

 

[Lightbulb]

Griffin has only played in one game. I wonder if CGC/Choice are hoping to redshirt him. With the COVID year he is only a soph.

I'm really hoping Griffin sticks around

 

[wesgt123]

I think for those worried about Gibbs, his production will absolutely go up if Sims stays running and remains a threat. Terrible for the opposing defense but amazing for us.

 

[SteamWhistle]

Gibbs is better with Sims in the game cause they can’t just key on Gibbs the entire time.

 

[Techster]

We talked about this some in another thread. Making use of two backs that are versatile. We saw some of it against UNC with Smith and Gibbs in the backfield at the same time. This is beautifully designed play by Rutgers (RUTGERS!).




What makes this work when applied to us for our personnel and scheme is we run similar plays off similar formations....oh, and we have the players to execute. There is currently film of Dontae getting the ball in motion (or off a sweep). So having him extend to the wheel route off it, and Gibbs running a skinny post or seam route from the backfield wouldn't be out of the ordinary since he's involved in our passing game. On top of that, Sims can keep it if it's the right read for him to. McGowin going across the middle from the slot and taking the safety with him is another extension of something that we already do with him during games.

Plays like this, and moving the personnel we have around like chess pieces gets me excited. I hope our offensive staff is an energized at the white board as they should be.