Fork Union RB Joe Williams commits to...

[UConnErik]

Sounds like a solid player. Looks good on tape. The thing that is interesting to me is that he may have been on board since June....so he was not a replacement for M. Dobbs. I would guess that we are still recruiting at this position.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Recruiting services? Pennsylvannia kid? Fork Union? 10.45 handheld v electronic? Under-the-radar? Something wrong? Doesn't mean much. Better question is who did UConn have to beat out for this kids services. Indiana U in PA is not impressive. Other schools mentioned (West Virginia & Rutgers) are more impressive. Too bad UConn hadn't beaten out the likes of Penn State or Georgia or South Carolina.

All in all sounds like this kid has the potential to come in and at least be a Lyle McCombs-like back. Don't know if he has Todman or Donald Brown-like talent. Time will tell.

Save that sentence for your clipboard. You can say this about every RB we recruit for the next 25 years.

 

[businesslawyer]

Save that sentence for your clipboard. You can say this about every RB we recruit for the next 25 years.

It takes an unbelievably skewed sense of entitlement to say "at least he can perform like a freshman rusher who passed 1000 yards and led his conference" as if it is no big deal.

 

[Chin Diesel]

It takes an unbelievably skewed sense of entitlement to say "at least he can perform like a freshman rusher who passed 1000 yards and led his conference" as if it is no big deal.

Read carefully counselor.

All in all sounds like this kid has the potential to come in and at least be a Lyle McCombs-like back. Don't know if he has Todman or Donald Brown-like talent. Time will tell.

TDH said he has the "potential" to end up being somewhere between McCombs and Todman/Brown.

I'll gladly carry the "unbelievable skewed sense of entitlement" banner on that one.

I expect all of our RB recruits to have that level of "potential".

 

[businesslawyer]

Read carefully counselor.

All in all sounds like this kid has the potential to come in and at least be a Lyle McCombs-like back. Don't know if he has Todman or Donald Brown-like talent. Time will tell.

TDH said he has the "potential" to end up being somewhere between McCombs and Todman/Brown.

I'll gladly carry the "unbelievable skewed sense of entitlement" banner on that one.

I expect all of our RB recruits to have that level of "potential".

While it gets old being one of the only posters who is free to admit mistakes, I think your reading of TDH's post is a better reading than mine was. My bad and apology.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I'm just wondering.....how do we know McCombs won't turn out to be a DB or JT? Now I'm not saying I think he will, but he's off to a better start than both of them.

If Williams came in and rushed for 1100 yards his freshman year there isn't one of us on this board that wouldn't sign for that right now.

 

[Chin Diesel]

While it gets old being one of the only posters who is free to admit mistakes, I think your reading of TDH's post is a better reading than mine was. My bad and apology.

No worries. And I agree with you that no one should expect every RB to come in and perform as well as McCombs did. But I think they should have the potential to do so.

We're not even halfway through a week without any bowl game to discuss, no transfers and no basketball to boot as well. By Friday posters will be getting slammed for misusing punctuation?

 

[TouchdownHusky]

While it gets old being one of the only posters who is free to admit mistakes, I think your reading of TDH's post is a better reading than mine was. My bad and apology.

OK now I'm worried. Did they post the results of my last physical? Am I terminal? At a minimum, I'm having trouble believing what my eyes are seeing.

Thanks, Chin for the observation. Curious Biz, considering that LM was the featured back, what part of his 4.2 yds/carry do you consider on par with Brown's 5.7 in '08, JT's 5.1 in '09 & 5.1 in '10 when they were the featured back? Neither one was as a freshman.

Don't get me wrong, I really like McCombs. He had a terrific year. But, to date he's not either Todman or Brown expecially in the ability to break a big gainer and take it to the house. So landing an RB who has potential to come in and at least be a Lyle McCombs-like back is a reasonable expectation. Now landing a Lyle McCombs caliber at the QB position?? Now that would be entitlement. Dan O's obviously don't come around Storrs every decade.

 

[uconndogs]

I'm just wondering.....how do we know McCombs won't turn out to be a DB or JT? Now I'm not saying I think he will, but he's off to a better start than both of them.

If Williams came in and rushed for 1100 yards his freshman year there isn't one of us on this board that wouldn't sign for that right now.

McCombs had a very nice year. That said, I do not see him in the mold of DB or JT. He's not as fast or strong as either of them. LM really struggled this year gaining any yards after contact. In that sense alone he is no where near the back DB was in college. I have to believe this staff is looking fast and furious for a back to compliment LM.

That all said, kid has all the respect in the world from me. He was very productive and tough and I would never have believed he could hold up under that work load through a whole season given his size. Very nice back.

 

[huskypantz]

McCombs had a very nice year. That said, I do not see him in the mold of DB or JT. He's not as fast or strong as either of them. LM really struggled this year gaining any yards after contact. In that sense alone he is no where near the back DB was in college. I have to believe this staff is looking fast and furious for a back to compliment LM.

That all said, kid has all the respect in the world from me. He was very productive and tough and I would never have believed he could hold up under that work load through a whole season given his size. Very nice back.

JT went down on the suggestion of contact during his freshman year. Comparing McCombs as a freshman to soph/junior year JT is not accurate.

 

[businesslawyer]

OK now I'm worried. Did they post the results of my last physical? Am I terminal? At a minimum, I'm having trouble believing what my eyes are seeing.

Thanks, Chin for the observation. Curious Biz, considering that LM was the featured back, what part of his 4.2 yds/carry do you consider on par with Brown's 5.7 in '08, JT's 5.1 in '09 & 5.1 in '10 when they were the featured back? Neither one was as a freshman.

Don't get me wrong, I really like McCombs. He had a terrific year. But, to date he's not either Todman or Brown expecially in the ability to break a big gainer and take it to the house. So landing an RB who has potential to come in and at least be a Lyle McCombs-like back is a reasonable expectation. Now landing a Lyle McCombs caliber at the QB position?? Now that would be entitlement. Dan O's obviously don't come around Storrs every decade.

I don't think that McCombs is as good as Brown or Todman were when they started playing. I just think that if our standard is that every back we plug in is going to be as good as Brown and Todman, we're setting ourselves up for failure. Because short of Alabama, I know of very few schools who can make that claim.

 

[Palatine]

JT went down on the suggestion of contact during his freshman year. Comparing McCombs as a freshman to soph/junior year JT is not accurate.

JT showed speed his freshman year that McCombs couldn't approach.

McCombs had a nice year but most of his yards came before first contact. Our OL deserves much of the credit for his success.

 

[BHusky]

JT showed speed his freshman year that McCombs couldn't approach.

McCombs had a nice year but most of his yards came before first contact. Our OL deserves much of the credit for his success.

It is absurd to compare JT/DB to McCombs after this year. DB did not get carriers until his Sophmore year and even then he split them. JT got 47 carriers his FR year. Yes he showed great speed, but maybe that was because he had fresh legs for the less than 4 carriers a game on average he got versus McCombs' 25. The OLine did a good job, but not as good as some of the monster OLine they had with DB and Todman who bullied people. The only like comparison is that they all succeeded with average/poor QB play where teams could load the box knowing that passing was not a major threat.

 

[gioff23]

If you subtract the long runs McCombs had, you'll see very pedestrian numbers

 

[BlueMAB]

McCombs hasn't shown the potential to be either Todman or Brown. But he's damn good, we're lucky to have him. He doesn't turn the ball over. 275 carries and only 2 fumbles as a (RS) freshman is outstanding. As he gets older, bigger and stronger he should start to break some of those arm tackles that trip him up. If he does that, his ypc will go up. If he improves the way Todman and Brown did, he has a chance at playing at the next level.

 

[businesslawyer]

Not to be picky, but Donald Brown was starting, and had run off back to back 200+ yard games against Rutgers and Pitt in which he looked like a superstar, by the end of his redshirt freshman season.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I think we can all agree that there has been no evidence to make anyone think that LM is going to turn out to be DB or JT. And it's an unfair expectation to begin with. Having said that, have I seen weirder things happen? Yes I have.

 

[BHusky]

If you subtract the long runs McCombs had, you'll see very pedestrian numbers

How do you take out runs and try and justify that? In this type of argument you could maybe factor out a bad opponent a RB might have had a huge day against to get more consistent numbers, but not runs.

How would Randy Moss's carrier look in the NFL if you subtracted his long catches? Pretty pedestrian and not HOF worthly I would guess, especially during his time with the Vikings.

Kind of like the bad defense (not UConn specific) that says they will be good if they can simply eliminate big plays. Good defenses will not give up the big play and good backs will have long runs that "skew" their YPC. Not sure of many college backs that have a 5 YPC average by gaining 5 yards every carry.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

How do you take out runs and try and justify that? In this type of argument you could maybe factor out a bad opponent a RB might have had a huge day against to get more consistent numbers, but not runs.

How would Randy Moss's carrier look in the NFL if you subtracted his long catches? Pretty pedestrian and not HOF worthly I would guess, especially during his time with the Vikings.

Kind of like the bad defense (not UConn specific) that says they will be good if they can simply eliminate big plays. Good defenses will not give up the big play and good backs will have long runs that "skew" their YPC. Not sure of many college backs that have a 5 YPC average by gaining 5 yards every carry.

Play along with us......

 

[Dann]

i would be a average drinker if you didn't count the brews i funnel and shotgun every weekend.

 

[Palatine]

If you take away all of McCombs runs, he gained NO YARDAGE -- NONE!

 

[businesslawyer]

i would be a average drinker if you didn't count the brews i funnel and shotgun every weekend.

I'd be brilliant if you didn't count all the dumb things I say.

 

[Palatine]

The moon would be closer if it wasn't so far away.

The ocean would be a desert if you take away all the water.

Bill Gates wouldn't be a billionaire if he didn't have all that money.

 

[microfich]

Palatine wouldn't be a Popular Poster if he didn't post.

 

[HuskyFan16]

Palatine wouldn't be a Popular Poster if he didn't post.

Nice fifth post bro