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Which other RB in B1G would you take?

By rdubs -10 November 2012
19 Comments
- Football

I like our stable, but which one would you take if you could only add one. I like Venric Mark from Northwestern, he seems to be everything that I wish Jordan Hall was. He hits the hole quickly and can make people miss. There are other guys with big names and numbers, but I really like Mark.

wside buck on 10 Nov 2012 - 2:33pm #

Did you see a couple weeks ago when Mark was caught from behind by the Iowa linebacker/safety on a breakaway run? I doubt any of our running backs would have been caught in that situation. He does have shiftiness, but lacks that top end speed we require at the position. The only running back in the conference I would want is Ameer Abdullah. Not so much for his running back abilities but his explosiveness as a playmaker.

UrbanWoodrowEar... on 10 Nov 2012 - 2:34pm #

Bell (MSU) or Burkhead (Nebraska)

buck-I.8 on 10 Nov 2012 - 2:38pm #

I'd want Abdullah he has great hands and speed, and would be great in the spread

rdubs on 10 Nov 2012 - 2:46pm #

@wside: I didn't see that run, but watching him hit the holes today against Michigan, he has a great burst to get to the second level.

bodast67 on 10 Nov 2012 - 2:52pm #

Burkhead...tough as nails kid. he plays his ass off even when injured and from what I hear, he is a good citizen- always spending his free time with sick children, showering them with attention and getting his teamates to rally around his cause.

rdubs on 10 Nov 2012 - 3:45pm #

Mark just had a KR brought back, he looked crazy fast on that one, I'd love to see that play you referenced, but hard to see too many people catching him.

EvanstonBuckeye on 10 Nov 2012 - 3:47pm #

Venric Mark. He would go apeshit in our offense and is a beast on returns as RDUBS just reported. What is less reported is how tough he is between the tackles.

wside buck on 10 Nov 2012 - 5:11pm #

@rdubs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV09jgiUHDY

granted it is a 72 yard run before he comes down. After watching him today though i might need to walk back those comments a bit.

rdubs on 10 Nov 2012 - 5:17pm #

That was Micah Hyde, not some random Iowa cornfed linebacker. Still a bit surprising, but Venric's first 20 to 30 yards were faster, but then you could see Mark slow down and Hyde catch him. But maintaining top end speed for that long is not a normal part of the game. The burst for the first 20 is the most important by far.

Buckeyevstheworld on 10 Nov 2012 - 5:35pm #

"he seems to be everything that I wish Jordan Hall was"

Healthy?

"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.

rdubs on 10 Nov 2012 - 5:37pm #

@Bucksvsworld: Well that would be nice too, but he seems to explode after his cuts a lot faster than Hall, which means if a guy misses he doesn't get a second chance. We didn't get much of a chance to see what Hall could do this year, so hopefully we will next year.

Buckeyevstheworld on 10 Nov 2012 - 5:47pm #

@Rdubs
I think much like Hyde, Hall would have had a great year if he were healthy. The upside to him not being healthy is that Rod Smith has shown flashes of what we all believed he could be.

"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.

Braxton2Devin on 10 Nov 2012 - 5:51pm #

Johnny Manziel lol... probably Mark or Abdullah, for our offense.

rdubs on 10 Nov 2012 - 6:26pm #

I agree Hall would have had a good season, he played well in his limited action. But Mark looked very good to me is all I am saying and I think he has a faster first step than Hall.