Sporting News has Justin Jackson 10th best running back in nation

[Alaskawildkat]

I see in addition that on the news stand Jackson is named as the most elusive running back in the B1G and positioned on the All Big Ten team.

Go Cats!

 

[Deeringfish]

Let's hope

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I've got to be honest--after hearing wonderful things about Jackson in the month leading up to last winter's bowl game, I was really looking forward to seeing how he would fare. I did not come away impressed with him as one of the top 10 running backs in the nation. Brutally honest: he wasn't even one of the top two running backs in the bowl game that day.

Any player can be down on any given day, I get that. And maybe Jackson is every bit as good as Sporting News ranks him. But he's gonna need to show it against the best teams on your schedule, not just the rest.

I'm more excited about young Thorson than Jackson, actually. Think he has a lot of potential.

 

[Gladeskat]

I've got to be honest--after hearing wonderful things about Jackson in the month leading up to last winter's bowl game, I was really looking forward to seeing how he would fare. I did not come away impressed with him as one of the top 10 running backs in the nation. Brutally honest: he wasn't even one of the top two running backs in the bowl game that day.

Any player can be down on any given day, I get that. And maybe Jackson is every bit as good as Sporting News ranks him. But he's gonna need to show it against the best teams on your schedule, not just the rest.

I'm more excited about young Thorson than Jackson, actually. Think he has a lot of potential.

I think that was more a function of the relative quality of line play that day. Jackson isn't a burner, but he has great vision and cutting ability. He put up 1400 yards (4.6 ypc) behind an average at best OL when everyone knew he was going to get the ball on most plays. He's a very good RB.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I think that was more a function of the relative quality of line play that day. Jackson isn't a burner, but he has great vision and cutting ability. He put up 1400 yards (4.6 ypc) behind an average at best OL when everyone knew he was going to get the ball on most plays. He's a very good RB.

In which case, he will excel again this year, hopefully as much in your toughest games as your easiest, and I will happily eat my words.

 

[Gladeskat]

In which case, he will excel again this year, hopefully as much in your toughest games as your easiest, and I will happily eat my words.

Nobody is saying you have to eat them now, but where we get beat by strong opponents is at the LOS. Jackson put up 162 yards against Wisconsin and 149 against Notre Dame in 2014, as well as 186 yards against Penn State, 139 against UW, and 134 against Stanford. Heck, he had 74 yards on 14 carries (5.3 ypc) against Tennessee. We should have ran him more against you guys.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Nobody is saying you have to eat them now, but where we get beat by strong opponents is at the LOS. Jackson put up 162 yards against Wisconsin and 149 against Notre Dame in 2014, as well as 186 yards against Penn State, 139 against UW, and 134 against Stanford. Heck, he had 74 yards on 14 carries (5.3 ypc) against Tennessee. We should have ran him more against you guys.

Seems like lopsided analysis. No mention of the Michigan, Iowa, or Nebraska games from last season. Or even Eastern Illinois. Was that also the fault of the OLine?

Jalen Hurd has run the past two years behind a mediocre (at best) OLine. Year before last, the line was atrocious. And Jalen still did very well, both years. So I watch for the better RBs to find ways of churning yards even when the rest of the squad doesn't meet their level of excellence. If Justin can not find ways to do that routinely, especially against the better competition, he may not belong in the conversation when it comes to the most elite in the nation.

As for the bowl game, I agree--you should've run him more. He was doing okay. But when you got behind by two scores, his touches dropped like a rock. I think your team lost its offensive identity at that point, and couldn't find it again.

We'll see how Justin does this coming season. I personally expect there will be more excitement about Clayton Thorson after a few games; think his upside is pretty high, if he can dial it in and hold it.

 

[Overly_Invested_Cat]

As for the bowl game, I agree--you should've run him more. He was doing okay. But when you got behind by two scores, his touches dropped like a rock. I think your team lost its offensive identity at that point, and couldn't find it again.

Totally agree with your point about us losing our offensive identity in the bowl game, at Michigan, against Iowa and even against Nebraska (until the 4th quarter). It frustrated the heck out of me that we almost completely abandoned the run when we got behind. Shifting to a pass first approach only highlighted our glaring weakness at QB/WR last year and placed more burden on our defense.

Yes, staying on the ground when you're behind drains clock time, but a successful running drive with 1 or 2 passes tires the opponent out and gives our D more recovery time. I hope we don't see a repeat of this approach in the coming year.

Regarding JJ, I agree that he has very little flash or breakaway speed, but if we watch him get a bunch of carries in a game, you'll see how he just gets stronger and stronger. Not dazzling...just solid with the ability to almost always fall forward to get the first down.

 

[Alaskawildkat]

@VFL-82-JP

If your expectations for our quarterback become reality, Justin Jackson in tandem with a repeat of last year's D could well result in the 10th best running back in the nation being on the 10th best, or better, team in the nation!

 

[VFL-82-JP]

@VFL-82-JP

If your expectations for our quarterback become reality, Justin Jackson in tandem with a repeat of last year's D could well result in the 10th best running back in the nation being on the 10th best, or better, team in the nation!

I do like NU's upside in 2016, Alaska. There was a thread a month or two ago discussing win/loss expectations. For some, the conversation was about 6.5 wins, and the over/under on that. I would've shifted the conversation to 8.5, and still picked the over.

I don't know about finishing Top 10 in the nation, but do think 9-3 or even 10-2, Top 3 in the B10 and Top 15-20 in the country is quite achievable if your lads generally reach their potential. There's that much upside to the squad, imo.

 

[Gladeskat]

Seems like lopsided analysis. No mention of the Michigan, Iowa, or Nebraska games from last season. Or even Eastern Illinois. Was that also the fault of the OLine?

Yes. Absolutely. I listed nice performances against better defenses. However, Michigan, Iowa, and Tennessee have much better, more physical DL's and defense in general than Wisconsin. The Penn State game was JJ's and our OL's best performance against a good DL (PSU had 3 players drafted off of their DL and typically has good LB's). On the other hand, I don't think Nebraska's defense, in general, is all that good; they are not as strong at OL or DL as one would expect from Nebraska. The Nebraska game was a strange game whereby we didn't move the ball at all (except for 2 long Clayton Thorson runs) until the 4th quarter, and then we rolled up almost 200 yards in the 4th quarter against a defense that should have been fresh based up a HUGE difference in TOP up to that point.

Jalen Hurd has run the past two years behind a mediocre (at best) OLine. Year before last, the line was atrocious. And Jalen still did very well, both years. So I watch for the better RBs to find ways of churning yards even when the rest of the squad doesn't meet their level of excellence. If Justin can not find ways to do that routinely, especially against the better competition, he may not belong in the conversation when it comes to the most elite in the nation.

If Tennessee's OL is "mediocre at best" then our OL is relatively worse. It lacks any players right now who will be drafted. In fact, NU hasn't had an OL drafted since 2005 (Strief to New Orleans). Keep in mind we had one of the WORST offenses (ranked <110) in D1 football last year. The only quality performances last season were by Vitale at SB and JJ & WML at RB. Thorson did a good job playing a limited role and keeping turnovers to a minimum. He does have a good upside if we can find some decent WR's.

Hurd is 240 lbs, JJ is 185 and gets by with vision and cutting ability. That might explain some of the difference in consistency (though JJ has an uncanny ability of finishing his runs well and squeezing out yards.

As for the bowl game, I agree--you should've run him more. He was doing okay. But when you got behind by two scores, his touches dropped like a rock. I think your team lost its offensive identity at that point, and couldn't find it again.

We'll see how Justin does this coming season. I personally expect there will be more excitement about Clayton Thorson after a few games; think his upside is pretty high, if he can dial it in and hold it.

I felt it was a poorly called game by our OC. Yes, we should have stuck to what got us 10 wins. Aside from Jackson's few carries, I don't understand why they didn't go to Vitale more often. I still think JJ is an excellent back with excellent vision, ability to set up his blocks, and finish well, but his lack of top speed may hurt him a bit.

 

[Overly_Invested_Cat]

Seems like lopsided analysis. No mention of the Michigan, Iowa, or Nebraska games from last season. Or even Eastern Illinois. Was that also the fault of the OLine?

Jalen Hurd has run the past two years behind a mediocre (at best) OLine. Year before last, the line was atrocious. And Jalen still did very well, both years. So I watch for the better RBs to find ways of churning yards even when the rest of the squad doesn't meet their level of excellence. If Justin can not find ways to do that routinely, especially against the better competition, he may not belong in the conversation when it comes to the most elite in the nation.

As for the bowl game, I agree--you should've run him more. He was doing okay. But when you got behind by two scores, his touches dropped like a rock. I think your team lost its offensive identity at that point, and couldn't find it again.

We'll see how Justin does this coming season. I personally expect there will be more excitement about Clayton Thorson after a few games; think his upside is pretty high, if he can dial it in and hold it.

I was very, very impressed by Jalen Hurd. He's going to dish out a lot of punishment this year. Can't wait to see him play some more.

 

[phatcat]

Seems like lopsided analysis. No mention of the Michigan, Iowa, or Nebraska games from last season. Or even Eastern Illinois. Was that also the fault of the OLine?

Jalen Hurd has run the past two years behind a mediocre (at best) OLine. Year before last, the line was atrocious. And Jalen still did very well, both years. So I watch for the better RBs to find ways of churning yards even when the rest of the squad doesn't meet their level of excellence. If Justin can not find ways to do that routinely, especially against the better competition, he may not belong in the conversation when it comes to the most elite in the nation.

As for the bowl game, I agree--you should've run him more. He was doing okay. But when you got behind by two scores, his touches dropped like a rock. I think your team lost its offensive identity at that point, and couldn't find it again.

We'll see how Justin does this coming season. I personally expect there will be more excitement about Clayton Thorson after a few games; think his upside is pretty high, if he can dial it in and hold it.

a) I hope you spend as much time on your own board as ours, or on teams that have beaten you in bowl games, if you've been around that long. b) it makes no sense to denigrate an obviously good player. You had decent success against him. Clearly he had success against other teams. If he'd carried it twice as often against TU, at the same ypc, would you have the same opinion? It's rather difficult for a running back like JJTBC to put up big numbers if your team is getting b1tch slapped.

You won, we get it. Your guy was better than ours. We get it. LAST year was the SEC's year. The year before was the B1G's. I hope Hurd is able to stay eligible.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

a) I hope you spend as much time on your own board as ours, or on teams that have beaten you in bowl games, if you've been around that long. b) it makes no sense to denigrate an obviously good player. You had decent success against him. Clearly he had success against other teams. If he'd carried it twice as often against TU, at the same ypc, would you have the same opinion? It's rather difficult for a running back like JJTBC to put up big numbers if your team is getting b1tch slapped.

You won, we get it. Your guy was better than ours. We get it. LAST year was the SEC's year. The year before was the B1G's. I hope Hurd is able to stay eligible.

Whoa, lot of hostility.

a) I do. Much more time there (at VolNation), in fact, than here. I fully realize I'm just a visitor here. Not sure why this bothers you, though.

b) I didn't mean to denigrate Jackson. He's a very good running back. But the question wasn't about whether he's good; it was about whether he's one of the 10 best in the nation. I gave my opinion, based on my observations. That doesn't mean I dislike the young man, or wish him ill, or think he's not a good football player.

b.part deux) It's UT, not TU. I suspect you knew that. Why go out of your way to misname...is it merely to try to get a reaction? I believe we should call people and organizations, institutions by the names they prefer; that's just politeness, and costs us nothing. I'm careful to use NU here, not NW or UN or any other misnomer. Not sure why you felt the need to do that.

Finally, my intent certainly was not to say "we won" in a different way. I'm over 2015, now focused entirely on 2016. Only mentioned Hurd and the bowl as a point of comparison; could've been Fournette or McCaffrey. I'm most familiar with Hurd, so went with him. But in judging players' relative merits, you forcibly have to look to the past. It's where the data are.

Bottom line: you seem angry and resentful. I'm sorry if what I've typed contributed to your sour outlook. I only mean to share insights about the game of football (and sometimes practice facilities, former coaches we miss, and the like). It was not my intent to spin you up like a top. Hope the rest of your day is better than this bit of it.

 

[NJCat]

Whoa, lot of hostility.

a) I do. Much more time there (at VolNation), in fact, than here. I fully realize I'm just a visitor here. Not sure why this bothers you, though.

b) I didn't mean to denigrate Jackson. He's a very good running back. But the question wasn't about whether he's good; it was about whether he's one of the 10 best in the nation. I gave my opinion, based on my observations. That doesn't mean I dislike the young man, or wish him ill, or think he's not a good football player.

b.part deux) It's UT, not TU. I suspect you knew that. Why go out of your way to misname...is it merely to try to get a reaction? I believe we should call people and organizations, institutions by the names they prefer; that's just politeness, and costs us nothing. I'm careful to use NU here, not NW or UN or any other misnomer. Not sure why you felt the need to do that.

Finally, my intent certainly was not to say "we won" in a different way. I'm over 2015, now focused entirely on 2016. Only mentioned Hurd and the bowl as a point of comparison; could've been Fournette or McCaffrey. I'm most familiar with Hurd, so went with him. But in judging players' relative merits, you forcibly have to look to the past. It's where the data are.

Bottom line: you seem angry and resentful. I'm sorry if what I've typed contributed to your sour outlook. I only mean to share insights about the game of football (and sometimes practice facilities, former coaches we miss, and the like). It was not my intent to spin you up like a top. Hope the rest of your day is better than this bit of it.

Please stay here. You are a constructive, objective member.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Please stay here. You are a constructive, objective member.

Thanks, Fitzphile. No worries here, I'm thick skinned. I'll stick around.

 

[ThatkidfromHolland]

Thanks, Fitzphile. No worries here, I'm thick skinned. I'll stick around.

Great to hear I really enjoy hearing your perspective on things.

 

[phatcat]

Thanks, Fitzphile. No worries here, I'm thick skinned. I'll stick around.

D*mn, I will have to try harder next time.

McCaffrey was neutralized by a team that you shredded. Not top 10?

 

[Figrating]

Any recognition JJ received last year was on a team that was afraid to pass. His ranking could easily be higher on a team with a more balanced O.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

D*mn, I will have to try harder next time.

McCaffrey was neutralized by a team that you shredded. Not top 10?

McCaffrey's 2015 season was freakish. Dude truly should've won the Heisman.

The context I put it in is simple: Jalen Hurd has a good chance in 2016 of breaking the Tennessee career rushing record. He can do that, comfortably, and still not earn as many yards in 3 years as McCaffrey did in 1 season. Mind-boggling how good a season he had, whether neutralized by NU or not.

I'm hugely interested in seeing if he can come anywhere near repeating that feat in 2016. If he does, people will forget Fournette exists. And that's while acknowledging that Fournette is also an elite running back.

Any recognition JJ received last year was on a team that was afraid to pass. His ranking could easily be higher on a team with a more balanced O.

Or it could cut the other way, Figrating. Start dialing up more pass plays, and something else has to give. Usually, it comes at the expense of touches by the RB. Jackson could get more YPC in 2016 thanks to a balanced attack spreading the defense better, and still earn fewer total yards because fewer carries. Fewer total yards --> fewer 100+ yard games. Fewer 100+ yard games --> less national acclaim.