I could see it breaking it down this way: Edmunds in between the 20s, Williams outside the 20's, JC on 3rd down/receiver. Caleb/Mangus become our main KR/PR guys and backup the other three if injury/ineffective play happens (being realistic, it will probably happen)...Shane is definitely going to have a short lease with the RBs this year
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It must be incredibly frustrating to be Joel Caleb. At the same time I don't think we can fault the coaching staff at all. Its just an unfortunate situation where he is a phenomenal athlete that cannot maximize his potential into a specific position. It has happened in the past and it will happen again unfortunately. You can argue that he should be ahead of Coleman but ultimately we're arguing over the 3rd back in an offense with 2 potential workhorse backs.
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I think the RB position is a tough one to deal with. We had Ryan Williams who left early..(no idea why) he could have benefited from another breakout year. Then we had DW leave after his freshmen year..(again could have/should have stayed) got drafted by Giants poor DW.
2011 recruiting class of: Michael Holmes
2012 recruiting class of: mangus, coleman and harris(who didn't qualify)
So in 2 years we had 2 starting RB's leave, 1 get kicked off the team and 2 scat back RB's who were asked to carry the load. I blame our recruiting for sure, there is no way that a skilled position like RB should not have been a priority. If anything we should have been able to get a stud because 2 RB's left early for the NFL so there was a huge opening. Now kids like mangus and caleb are getting buried because actual RB's are being recruited and see a chance to play right away.
If anything I would say that is the #1 position that kids leave early for the NFL money. You have 19 RB's leaving early in this draft class which is crazy to think.
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If you're gonna get drafted in the 1st or 2nd round like DW you take the money and run. (no pun intended) Running backs only have a short shelf life in the NFL. Same goes for RMFW but I think you could argue that he could have benefited from another year. The one who I thought really should have stayed, but I completely understand why he left, was Darren Evans. He really need another year of being the man if/when RMFW left. But he had a family he needed to support and I can't blame him for wanting to support his family as soon as possible.
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I'd say if you're a RB who will get drafted at all, leave early. You've got only so many miles on those tires. And that's a position where career-threatening injuries happen more than any other. Get to the league, get through that rookie contract and hope to score a second one (usually the big one) while your knees are still intact. It's a sad but true reality of football.
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How big is the contract differences between say a 1st/2nd rounder and a 6th/7th? Obviously each one is different but maybe a ballpark figure if you know?
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It really drops off from the top few picks of the draft ($20 million plus total value) even to the end of the second round ($3.4 million or so). But you get to round 6-7, you're still talking about $2 million plus.
So unless you're one of those really high picks, the difference isn't too big. And RBs are going lower and lower in drafts now that teams see how short the lifespans are of running backs. The days of seeing someone like Trent Richardson go third overall are probably gone.
They are also moving to more 2-3 back rotations than one back that carries 20+ times a game. Unfortunately for the athletes, backs are now a dime a dozen in the NFL. Exploit them for the rookie contract, then dump them for somebody new.
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I was there to see Cyrus Lawrence prove this fact, sadly. Was a tremendous talent. His knee injury changed Billy Hite's running game philosophy, because he carried the ball so much. Hite swore he'd never ride a guy like that again.
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We didn't have a LB come in and be our #1 RB. We had a kid who played both ways in High School, both LB and RB, and put him on one side of the ball at RB.
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right but all of his rankings coming out of HS were for LB, and we had no other choice than to put him at RB because of #'s. I might be in the minority here with my opinion but it still shows lack of recruiting at RB position.
2011 rivals ranking top 55 RB's- VT had 0, I'm not saying we didn't recruit RB's but come on when VT can't even land a 3* RB something has to be wrong there. Our biggest RB recruit from 2011 to 2013 was Drew Harris with Mangus coming in at 33
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I don't think the Hokies intentionally didn't recruit running backs. Recruiting troubles is a reason large portions of the offensive staff was fired and replaced a couple years ago.
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Yeah, why would anyone put a kid who was a Parade All American running back in high school at running back in college?
"High School: A Parade All-American as a running back for Coach Ferrell Edmunds at Dan River High A SuperPrep and PrepStar All-American Named the Group A Offensive Player of the Year by VirginiaPreps Also a first-team Group A all-state selection at running back by VirginiaPreps Named the 2011 Danville Register & Bee All-Metro football offensive player of the year Rushed for 2,596 yards and 33 touchdowns on 283 carries, accounting for 61.5 percent of Dan Rivers offense"
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Running back is the one position where I will advocate that they should leave early every time, unless there are massive holes in their ability to block or understand the position. Tailbacks just take such a beating that they are truly limited in their career span. You can only take so many hits in a row before your power begins to diminish.
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Comments
#PoundTheRock
I could see it breaking it down this way: Edmunds in between the 20s, Williams outside the 20's, JC on 3rd down/receiver. Caleb/Mangus become our main KR/PR guys and backup the other three if injury/ineffective play happens (being realistic, it will probably happen)...Shane is definitely going to have a short lease with the RBs this year
When did we start rent-a-tailback? I think I missed something.
This doesn't sound good. I'm pretty sure it's an NCAA violation.
It must be incredibly frustrating to be Joel Caleb. At the same time I don't think we can fault the coaching staff at all. Its just an unfortunate situation where he is a phenomenal athlete that cannot maximize his potential into a specific position. It has happened in the past and it will happen again unfortunately. You can argue that he should be ahead of Coleman but ultimately we're arguing over the 3rd back in an offense with 2 potential workhorse backs.
I think the RB position is a tough one to deal with. We had Ryan Williams who left early..(no idea why) he could have benefited from another breakout year. Then we had DW leave after his freshmen year..(again could have/should have stayed) got drafted by Giants poor DW.
2011 recruiting class of: Michael Holmes
2012 recruiting class of: mangus, coleman and harris(who didn't qualify)
So in 2 years we had 2 starting RB's leave, 1 get kicked off the team and 2 scat back RB's who were asked to carry the load. I blame our recruiting for sure, there is no way that a skilled position like RB should not have been a priority. If anything we should have been able to get a stud because 2 RB's left early for the NFL so there was a huge opening. Now kids like mangus and caleb are getting buried because actual RB's are being recruited and see a chance to play right away.
If anything I would say that is the #1 position that kids leave early for the NFL money. You have 19 RB's leaving early in this draft class which is crazy to think.
I thought David Wilson was a junior when he left? I could be wrong though.
Nah, he was such a boss in his freshman year catching rabbits and eating chick-fil-a on sundays that the NFL let him get drafted as a freshman.
I knew I was wrong! What a boss
If you're gonna get drafted in the 1st or 2nd round like DW you take the money and run. (no pun intended) Running backs only have a short shelf life in the NFL. Same goes for RMFW but I think you could argue that he could have benefited from another year. The one who I thought really should have stayed, but I completely understand why he left, was Darren Evans. He really need another year of being the man if/when RMFW left. But he had a family he needed to support and I can't blame him for wanting to support his family as soon as possible.
I'd say if you're a RB who will get drafted at all, leave early. You've got only so many miles on those tires. And that's a position where career-threatening injuries happen more than any other. Get to the league, get through that rookie contract and hope to score a second one (usually the big one) while your knees are still intact. It's a sad but true reality of football.
How big is the contract differences between say a 1st/2nd rounder and a 6th/7th? Obviously each one is different but maybe a ballpark figure if you know?
It really drops off from the top few picks of the draft ($20 million plus total value) even to the end of the second round ($3.4 million or so). But you get to round 6-7, you're still talking about $2 million plus.
So unless you're one of those really high picks, the difference isn't too big. And RBs are going lower and lower in drafts now that teams see how short the lifespans are of running backs. The days of seeing someone like Trent Richardson go third overall are probably gone.
http://overthecap.com/nfl-rookie-salary-cap.php
I think NFL teams are doing exactly this. It becomes a return-on-investment business decision.
Wow. This is definitely one of those "the more you know" moments. Thanks Andy! I totally agree with you.
They are also moving to more 2-3 back rotations than one back that carries 20+ times a game. Unfortunately for the athletes, backs are now a dime a dozen in the NFL. Exploit them for the rookie contract, then dump them for somebody new.
I was there to see Cyrus Lawrence prove this fact, sadly. Was a tremendous talent. His knee injury changed Billy Hite's running game philosophy, because he carried the ball so much. Hite swore he'd never ride a guy like that again.
Cyrus was THE man! Shame he got injured so badly his senior year. He carried that team...literally.
Thats why I like Andy Bitter....he has those old school big wheel solid tires, we'll never wear him out!
agreed, regardless no excuse to be so short handed that a LB had to come in and be our #1 RB (thankfully he was/picked it up fast)
We didn't have a LB come in and be our #1 RB. We had a kid who played both ways in High School, both LB and RB, and put him on one side of the ball at RB.
right but all of his rankings coming out of HS were for LB, and we had no other choice than to put him at RB because of #'s. I might be in the minority here with my opinion but it still shows lack of recruiting at RB position.
2011 rivals ranking top 55 RB's- VT had 0, I'm not saying we didn't recruit RB's but come on when VT can't even land a 3* RB something has to be wrong there. Our biggest RB recruit from 2011 to 2013 was Drew Harris with Mangus coming in at 33
That all may be true, but to me, moving forward, we need to look at him as a running back. Kid ran his nuts off. He desrves that much.
I don't think the Hokies intentionally didn't recruit running backs. Recruiting troubles is a reason large portions of the offensive staff was fired and replaced a couple years ago.
Yeah, why would anyone put a kid who was a Parade All American running back in high school at running back in college?
"High School: A Parade All-American as a running back for Coach Ferrell Edmunds at Dan River High A SuperPrep and PrepStar All-American Named the Group A Offensive Player of the Year by VirginiaPreps Also a first-team Group A all-state selection at running back by VirginiaPreps Named the 2011 Danville Register & Bee All-Metro football offensive player of the year Rushed for 2,596 yards and 33 touchdowns on 283 carries, accounting for 61.5 percent of Dan Rivers offense"
That's a fairly convincing argument that he may have been an RB before he got to VT.
QED
Running back is the one position where I will advocate that they should leave early every time, unless there are massive holes in their ability to block or understand the position. Tailbacks just take such a beating that they are truly limited in their career span. You can only take so many hits in a row before your power begins to diminish.
Might just be a typo, but David Wilson was a junior when he left, had sat behind Evans and Williams before becoming a starter in 2011
What is Evans doing now anyways?