2016 Leatherneck Football Preview - Running Backs

[ST_Lawson]

Last week was Quarterbacks, this week....the Running Backs. For reference, the upcoming schedule for the next few weeks includes WRs (7/7), TEs (7/14) and OLine (7/21).

Running Backs

Here’s the RBs that we currently have on the roster:
#5 Senior Jamie Gilmore - 5’8” 190 lbs - http://www.owlsports.com/roster.aspx?rp ... h=football
#26 Senior Charles Westbrook - 5’10” 200 lbs - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#28 Senior Devon Moore - 6’2” 210 lbs - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#21 Junior Devon Sanders - 5’9” 200 lbs - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#34 Sophomore Steve McShane - 5’8” 185 lbs - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#36 R-Freshman Max Norris - 5’10” 225 lbs - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#43 R-Freshman Brody Crossin - 6’2” 215 lbs - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football
#9 Freshman Victavious (Vic) Johnson - 5’11” 205 lbs - http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football

Last season, as most of you are aware, a large portion of the team’s rushing yards (1,196 net) were acquired by the “bus-like” Nikko Watson. With Watson having completed his final year of eligibility, the responsibility will fall to the rest of the RB corps to pick up the slack.

Outside of Watson’s performance, rushing stats from last year include the following:
Steve McShane - 232 net yards, 3.6 per attempt, 19.33 ypg
Devon Moore - 228 net yards, 3.4 per attempt, 22.8 ypg, 4 TDs
Charles Westbrook - 81 net yards, 3.0 per attempt, 9 ypg
Devon Sanders - 35 net yards, 3.5 per attempt, 11.67 ypg

So, outside of Watson, McShane and Moore were used the most, racking up 65-70 rushing attempts each (Watson had 262 attempts).

Incoming transfer from Temple University, Jamie Gilmore, will also be in the mix for picking up significant rushing yards. From an athletics press release:

“Gilmore played as a true-freshman for the Owls in 2012 and redshirted last fall. He rushed for 94 yards his rookie year and gained 179 yards his sophomore year, including a season-high 92 yards against Memphis while playing in every game. In 2014, he was the team's leading rusher in the win at Vanderbilt (65 yards) and recorded a career-high 100 receiving yards on two receptions against Tulsa. Gilmore gained 229 yards and scored a touchdown his junior year, and also averaged 22 yards on three kickoff returns. During his three years of playing at Temple (30 games), Gilmore rushed for 502 yards and a touchdown while catching 14 passes for 198 yards and a TD. He earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration.”

Senior Westbrook and Junior Sanders will also bring quite a bit of additional experience to the RB position this season. Personally, I wasn’t all that impressed by them this last season, but it’s entirely possible that one or both of them have turned a corner and are ready to make more significant contributions.

Beyond the more experienced players, we have a couple of redshirt freshmen in Max Norris and Brody Crossin. Norris is, like Watson was, more of a fullback-style RB. Not quite as heavy as Watson, but still a pretty solidly-built guy for his height. If he’s got anything close to the leg strength that Watson had, he could be a force to contend with over the next few years. Crossin is taller and a bit lighter than Norris, but also very talented, having come to Western via the Florida-based IMG Academy sports-focused boarding school (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMG_Academy).

Considering the depth we have at RB, I think it’s likely that incoming freshman Vic Johnson will be redshirted in 2016 and come out firing on all cylinders in 2017. He looks to be a very strong running back...just from appearances, as a senior in HS, he already looked like a FBS-level RB.

So, based on this, if I had to guess based on previous performances and who we’ve added, I’d say that we’ll likely see a rotating corps of Gilmore and McShane at something like a halfback position (both being smaller and more “nimble” RBs) and Moore and either Westbrook or Sanders playing more of the fullback role (larger...more blocking-type RB) although I fully expect Norris to compete strongly for that position as well.

One other thing to mention though is that, by all indications, Coach Fisher will be utilizing the TE position in the passing game much more than we’ve seen in the recent past here at Western. TEs (who I’ll be talking about in a couple of weeks) will be more often used in short passing situations as well as being an extra blocker in some setups. So, in some instances where you previously would have seen a RB handoff on something like 3rd and 5-10ish yards and hope that they can find a hole, we’ll likely see more short passes over the line to a TE who might be able to more effectively pick up those yards in some situations.

[sealhall74]

Not much experience to fall back on here. Yet another reason I hate that single RB zone read offense we used extensively the last few years. If you are not the main RB, you just don't get much of a chance to develop your tradecraft. Hopefully we have a couple of up and comers this year and every year.

[huskie]

Brody Crossin I've been told will continue to play LB. Keep up the great work Mr. Lawson I enjoy this site very much and look forward to your position write ups throughout the summer.

[ST_Lawson]

Brody Crossin I've been told will continue to play LB. Keep up the great work Mr. Lawson I enjoy this site very much and look forward to your position write ups throughout the summer.

Ah, ok. Thanks for the update. I didn't realize that he was playing LB...website still has him listed as a RB. Still, we have a lot of depth...just have to wait and see who's got the skills to step up and be the regular starter(s).

Thanks for being a frequent visitor to the site. I appreciate the support.

[leatherneckcountry]

I would like to see a lot of 2 backs i see mcshane as a jc baker type who if he gets to the second level he break lot's of big runs and get a bruiser which i think could be moore if he stays healthy and i see gilmore as a really good pick up.

[TrojanNeck]

My boy Max Norris is definitely built like a fullback (I hear his bench press is over 400# now) but don't discount his speed. He is quite fast and always falls forward because he simply never stops moving. I can't wait to watch him contribute this Fall.

[ST_Lawson]

My boy Max Norris is definitely built like a fullback (I hear his bench press is over 400# now) but don't discount his speed. He is quite fast and always falls forward because he simply never stops moving. I can't wait to watch him contribute this Fall.

Great to hear. With Nikko Watson gone now, we don't really have an obvious "top" running back (other than maybe McShane because he got a decent # of carries last year). Can't wait to see Norris compete for that spot and hopefully become the next great Leatherneck RB.

[ST_Lawson]

Couple of updates on the RB situation.

Senior Charles Westbrook (2015 stats: 81 net yards, 3.0 per attempt, 9 ypg) is no longer listed on the roster.
Sophomore transfer Joe Turk (from UCF) is now listed as a running back (http://goleathernecks.com/roster.aspx?r ... h=football)

I don't really know for sure, but my guess is that some combination of:

• - the new transfers that we got - Jamie Gilmore and Joe Turk
  - the now-available redshirt freshmen that we've had - Max Norris and Brody Crossin
  - the existing guys with experience - Steve McShane, Devon Sanders, and Devon Moore

...that a couple of guys really stood out in camp and it became apparent that Westbrook would not be getting much (if any) playing time this year. Either that or it's possible he got injured or something. I don't really have any inside info on that situation.

I think that if Turk is listed as RB, he's going to be our "Nikko Watson" for the next few years. Two inches taller, but not quite as heavy as Watson (but really...what RB is?), but from what I've heard, just as strong. He is heavier than the "average" RB though, and since he played at the TE position, he's probably got pretty good hands, so he'd also be good at short "dink" passes to the RB going around the outside or whatever.

Long story-short...we've got plenty of options at the RB position, and I'm pretty confident that we'll see a couple of solid standouts once the season gets rolling.

[meganeck]

McShane is listed as the starting RB

[ST_Lawson]

McShane is listed as the starting RB

Yup, not a huge surprise. With Turk being moved from TE to FB position, we'll probably see him in there fairly often even though he's not technically listed on the depth chart. McShane is more of a halfback-type RB (similar to JC Baker a few years ago...fast, nimble), while Turk is really more of a fullback (similar to Nikko Watson...battering ram, but also used for some blocking).