Wednesday, August 11, 2010

B-Backs....the 2010 Edition......


Writing about our B-back corp in this offense should never be too hard. If it is, we have a VERY big problem. And luckily this year there's plenty to write about: Anthony Allen's position change, Lucas Cox- Human Battering Ram, & two more solid back-ups.

Gone is two-year starter & 2008 ACC Player of the Year Jon Dwyer. Dwyer was a fine player for us & an ideal B-back with the size to break tackles & the speed to take it the distance if he got a seam. It's more of a testament to our depth than a knock on Dwyer when I say I don't think we'll miss him at all this year. In fact, no position is deeper for us in 2010 than B-back, where we have four players who can contribute. Let's start from the top:

Allen will replace Dwyer quite nicely in 2010......
  • senior Anthony Allen is the starter entering the year and we should see little drop off from Dwyer's previous numbers. Allen, a starter at A-back last year who led the nation in yards-per-carry at 9.7, should make a seamless transition to his new, and certainly more natural, position directly behind Joshua Nesbitt. Allen has prototype size for the position at 6'0" & 229 pounds and certainly relishes contact. While he may not have the breakaway speed Dwyer had, he can take it the distance & has enough speed to get the job done. While his gait may be unorthodox, I expect Allen to have a very successful year. One other thing about #18: he has very good hands. Expect to see CPJ use him on screens & other pass plays more frequently than Dwyer. And one note on the transition aspect of Allen's move to B-back: there's no position that's easier to play in our offense. Once you master the mesh with the QB (which is more of a matter of repetition than anything else) it's full steam ahead into the breach......

Luke Cox will be used late in games to seal the deal.....
  • behind Allen on the depth chart is senior Lucas Cox. Perhaps no player had a better spring than Cox, who proved a bulldozer of a back. It was not at all uncommon this spring to see the 6'0", 245 pound Cox carrying multiple players forward as they attempted to tackle him. Once an A-back out of necessity, Cox is firmly entrenched as the #2 B-back this year & I expect he'll see more carries than past backups for two reasons: 1) he can lessen the wear & tear on Nesbitt by carrying the ball in short yardage situations, & 2) a fresh Cox late in the game or on a drive would simply wear down & demoralize a defense. Not only can Cox serve as an experienced back-up this year, he can be a true weapon late in games.
  • redshirt junior Preston Lyons missed the spring with a shoulder injury but returns ready for action this Fall. Lyons proved an effective back-up to Dwyer last year & a nice change of pace. While not as big & bruising as the other B-backs, Lyons possesses great body control & is able to wriggle through seemingly non-existent holes at the line of scrimmage. He's surprisingly elusive & difficult to get a good hit on. While I don't expect he'll play extensively this year in our base set, Lyons is a valuable back-up & contributor on special teams.
  • It might be easy to forget RS sophomore Richard Watson with all that depth at B-back & while Watson may not see the ball too much this season he will have a chance at the starting job in 2011. It seems to have taken a while for the light to come on but Watson will contribute, at least on special teams, in 2010 & the staff feels with a good Fall & Spring he may be in line to start next year.
  • Expect freshman Charles Perkins of Collins Hill to redshirt this year & give Watson a good run for the starting job in 2011. While he's been talked about as an A-back at soem points, Perkins' future lies at B-back. And a bright future it should be.....
As I said earlier, there's no position as deep on our squad as B-back in 2010. I expect tremendous production from any of the four who may play there this year, particularly with our improved offensive line play. Watch for a few more screens & even a couple wheel routes to Allen out of the backfield. I also expect us to try & use Allen & Cox as a 1-2 punch; Allen to soften things up while Cox comes in, wears out the defense, & closes the deal. I also expect Cox to play a greater role in short yardage situations this year. Anyway you cut it, we are in great shape at B-back in 2010.....

5 comments:

  1. As always excellent write up. Thanks on behalf of all the readers for your work on this blog, we really appreciate it.

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  2. One of my favorite CPJ plays that we haven't seen at Tech is the B-Back Dive Play action QB waggle.

    It starts off as an ordinary looking tripple option play. Once the QB pulls back the ball and slides down the line the entire defense thinks "option", forgets about the B-Back and pursues the QB and A-Back.

    In the mean time the B-Back gets up and runs for the side line. Instead of the option the QB steps back and throws to a wide open B-Back who then turns and runs up field.

    Its cool because there's a clever recognition by CPJ in the plays design. In the tripple option the B-Back is Practially worthless after he doesn't get the ball, so everyone forgets about him.

    Just a cool play I hope the run with AntAllen.

    FLW

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  3. amazing I'm suprised we haven't seen that yet

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  4. Yet again we have to put up with the whole, tired "Tech lost their top rusher" line of crap that people are resurrecting again this season. What were we going to do when Choice left before him? What were we going to do when PJ Daniels left? Or after Hollings? (despite him getting hurt and us being pretty bad at rushing for the rest of the season) Or Joe Burns? Or Gregory, who would have gotten more touches if Hamilton weren't so swift himself? Or after CJ Williams?

    Do I need to keep going to make a point? I know they have space to fill, but please come up with something original. I've heard that lame excuse for space-filler too many times in the past.

    -El Mayor

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  5. Just to be clear, I was not criticizing The Great Hash Slinger. I was lamenting the lack of depth and knowledge of the standard AP writer.

    -Mayor

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