SEC Football: 2012’s Breakout Stars
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Very great read that threw out a lot of players I wasn’t too up to date on. Will be very useful when it comes to handicapping this upcoming seasons.
I was a bit disappointed, however, to see that Georgia’s Isaiah Crowell was left off the list. The young RB is only going to be a sophomore but I expect very big things from this guy. Very fast, very versatile, and amazing ball carrier vision. Not too much of a power runner, but when you have all the skills this guy has, power can be overlooked, at least until he reaches the next level. His ability capped with defenses honing in on Aaron Murray this year should make for a pretty productive season to start off his promising career.
Lacy is going to be a monster this year, that’s for sure. Another guy I was hoping to see on this list along with Lacy was Alabama’s Kenny Bell. Nothing special in the size department, but he seems to be a ver promising target for McCarron. He showed flashes of brilliance this past year, and with Richardson gone they may be looking to air it out a bit more this year. It could b Bell’s time to shine.
Otis,
I can’t speak for everybody else but I didn’t pull anybody who was among the leaders (statistically) at their position last season. Crowell is the second leading returning rusher in the SEC this year (behind Zac Stacy) and did compile 850 yds last year despite not playing much down the stretch. He was actually sixth overall in the SEC in rushing yards last year. So that’s why I didn’t include him. The problem with Crowell last year was that he didn’t get hit much in high school so when he got smacked around in the SEC he didn’t like it so much and also came away with multiple injuries. After having a full season in the weight program he should be more prepared for the toll that the SEC takes on a running back’s body. As a Georgia guy, I certainly hope he lives up to his “hype” this year. Everything I’ve heard since the off-season started has been positive.
Another thing that should help Crowell is that Georgia is going to be a lot deeper at RB so he’s got Boo Malcome, Keith Marshall, Todd Gurley, Richard Samuel, etc pushing him for playing time.
Hi Otis, thanks for the comment. Good question about Crowell. Perhaps he wasn’t mentioned because he had a pretty solid freshman debut last season, rushing for 850 yards (4.9 ypc avg) and 5 TDs.
I’ll ask Kevin from College Football Zealots to give you some of his thoughts on Crowell. He’s a big Georgia fan and follower.
I admittedly don’t know much about the new Alabama receivers and only saw Bell (and Norwood) play sparingly last season. McCarron is definitely going to need some receivers this season to take the pressure off the running game.
Thanks again for the great info.
Pez
I now have a better understanding of why Crowell wa left off that list. It seems I didnt interpret the title all that well.
Crowell did have a monster season last year and is very well known, appearing on a couple of dark horse heisman candidate lists this past year.
Very good point referring to the stable of running back logic. Being a die hard bayou Bengal fan I, admittedly, don’t know much about the georgi backfield other than what I learned when I watched them in the seccg this past season. The thought that their stable may hinder his abilities a bit really makes sense, considering the type of offense that is ran in Baton Rouge. Its something that does take away from an individual’s ability to rack up personal stats. Spencer ware and Michael ford could definitely vouch for that. But it helps the team always bringing something a little different to the table at any given time of the ball game.
Georgia had issues at RB last year with Washaun Ealey pretty much getting the boot from Richt and then Caleb King not making the grades. By the time the SECCG rolled around the stable of backs was depleted in the SECCG. Crowell went out early in that game and Richard Samuel was already out from the Florida game. Pretty much left Georgia with a redshirt freshman in Boo Malcome, who is pretty talented but had no game experience and a bunch of walk-ons.
This year we’ve got Crowell and Malcome. Samuel is back for his senior year but will probably see time at FB and we have two highly touted freshmen that will push for P/T and provide depth in case of injury. We are a lot deeper this year then we were in 2011.
LSU has always used the stable of running backs pretty well (at least to my recollection) being able to throw fresh guy at you time and time again.