2006 Rutgers Scarlet Knights

[Colonel_Reb]

Here are the projected white starters for Rutgers this season.

Offense
QB-Mike Teel
FB-Brain Leonard-Carried the team last year
TE-Clark Harris
OG-Mike Fladell

Defense
LB-Brandon Renkart
Edited by: Colonel_Reb

 

[Triad]

Only one reason to cheer for the Scarlet Knights this year.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Wonder how many carries Brian Leonard will get tonight? He has 1-23 yard catch already.

 

[backrow]

2 catches for 33 yards and 1 carry for 4 yards so far

 

[whiteCB]

Leonard recieved a gift last night as Ray Rice turned his ankle pretty badly looking like he'll miss at least 2 games. When Rice went out they actually made Brian the feature back and he responded with 7 runs for 35 yards and 3 catches for 31 yards. It was weird actaully seeing two white running backs in the same backfield. I thought I was watching a D3 game.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

was the freshman from UConn a white kid? he was definitely very light-skinned... he ran for 199 yards and 2 TDs in his first career start, so he was impressive regardless... here are some pics so you guys can judge:

 

[Leonardfan]

looks like a mulatto

 

[C Darwin]

I wonder what the combine wunderlich score is for the RU PAT block team?

 

[Triad]

Whoa! Rutgers just shocked #3 Louisville. Leonard had a key 3rd down reception for 26 yards that led to the winning field goal. He finished with a paltry 6 touches in the game.Edited by: Triad

 

[Don Wassall]

I very much dislike Greg Schiano yet couldn't help rooting for Rutgers solely because Brian Leonard is on the team, as misused as he is this year and was again tonight and despite being deniedthe rightto be a featured back for Rutgers or another big program. Shiano will be rewarded by achieving his dream of running the Miami program. I hope he gets what he wants, because he's earned it by being a great Caste System disciple. I further hope he gets what he deservesat that Caste System showcase, and that Brian Leonard eventually becomes a feature back in the NFL. Gotta think positive, right?

 

[OC football]

Leonard did not look very fast to me. Sorry.

 

[Kaptain]

Leonard did not look very fast to me. Sorry.

Well he's no scat-back. Plenty of power running backs have won championships for their teams (Riggins,Csonka, Bettis etc). These guys don't "seem" fast but somehow have the ability to outrun defenses. Remember Riggins touchdown run in the SB? Of more recent memory I remember back when Alstott actually got to touch the ball he would often have big runs. Leonard, of course, has had several big runs (70-80 yrds)in his college career.
One thing that handicaps white power RB's these days is that they can do something physically that virtually none of their peers can do - block. I watched parts of the game last night too and Leonard is a damn good blocker. Take away Leonard and Rice may look rather average. But who could block for Leonard? Leonard has alway run the ball out of the single set-back. Why not have two power backs in the backfield? Imagine if Leonard had a guy like himself blocking for his runs. That may be unstoppable. It used to be common place to have that set-up (2-powerbacks)in the NFL. Is it a coincedence that the only truly unstoppable team in NFL history featured that exact set-up?

 

[ocaamikedm11]

On the game changing play where he caught the pass and ran it inside the Louisville 40, he sure didn't look slow. I think he has good - not great - speed, and a lot of black RBs can get away with just good speed. Leonard has been screwed badly and its one of the biggest disappointments for us this year..

 

[C Darwin]

One thing that handicaps white power RB's these days is that they can do something physically that virtually none of their peers can do - block. I watched parts of the game last night too and Leonard is a damn good blocker. Take away Leonard and Rice may look rather average. But who could block for Leonard? Leonard has alway run the ball out of the single set-back. Why not have two power backs in the backfield? Imagine if Leonard had a guy like himself blocking for his runs. That may be unstoppable. It used to be common place to have that set-up (2-powerbacks)in the NFL. Is it a coincedence that the only truly unstoppable team in NFL history featured that exact set-up?

Dude, I didn't want to promote the stigma of whites as blockers, but Leonard didn't blow a block all game. I saw him over-run one block, but the defender was not in a position to make a play and Leonard came back and hit him anyway. Leonard was outstanding!

Thurman Thomas was not a fast back. Actually, it was reported that his back up (Kenny Davis) was faster than him. The Bills have a history of taking chances on tailbacks. If the Bills take a chance on Leonard, he could be the white Thurman Thomas (with out the mid-face mask bar). He could be the next McGahee that doesn't speak like mush-mouth from Fat Albert. He could be the next OJ that doesn't kill anybody.

It hasn't been making any national news, but Bills safety Donte Witner was arrested this week for puttin' a whoopin' on his girlfriend. Hopefully Bowen will get some PT this week.

 

[jared]

I don't think he has a super-quick initial burst but once he gets up to speed, he's damn fast for his size and really damn fast period. I think most of the time he's just a patient runner who waits for blocks to develop. I think he also slows down so he can be ready to jump over the people that will inevitably try and tackle his ankles. I know everyone's seen this clip by now, but you can't honestly take a look at this and conclude Leonard lacks speed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXJRmKMHTsE

 

[Colonel_Reb]

Leonard is very fast for his size and should be given credit for such. He is such a punishing runner compared to Rice. The point about Leonard's blocking is a good one. Without Leonard being there to block for Rice, he'd be nothing more than average. Leonard's decision to block has caused his own demise though, in my opinion. They talked about Leonard's carries being at the expense of Rice's emergence, but if it wasn't for Leonard being ok with it and blocking for him, the emergence would never have happened. Leonard led Rutgers in rushing in 2003, 2004, and 2005, and he has helped screw himself out of a fourth year of that. Yeah, Schiano is a piece of crap for trying to institute the change, but Leonard is partly to blame for the situation by being so humble.

 

[white is right]

One thing that handicaps white power RB's these days is that they can do something physically that virtually none of their peers can do - block. I watched parts of the game last night too and Leonard is a damn good blocker. Take away Leonard and Rice may look rather average. But who could block for Leonard? Leonard has alway run the ball out of the single set-back. Why not have two power backs in the backfield? Imagine if Leonard had a guy like himself blocking for his runs. That may be unstoppable. It used to be common place to have that set-up (2-powerbacks)in the NFL. Is it a coincedence that the only truly unstoppable team in NFL history featured that exact set-up?

Dude, I didn't want to promote the stigma of whites as blockers, but Leonard didn't blow a block all game. I saw him over-run one block, but the defender was not in a position to make a play and Leonard came back and hit him anyway. Leonard was outstanding!

Thurman Thomas was not a fast back. Actually, it was reported that his back up (Kenny Davis) was faster than him. The Bills have a history of taking chances on tailbacks. If the Bills take a chance on Leonard, he could be the white Thurman Thomas (with out the mid-face mask bar). He could be the next McGahee that doesn't speak like mush-mouth from Fat Albert. He could be the next OJ that doesn't kill anybody.

It hasn't been making any national news, but Bills safety Donte Witner was arrested this week for puttin' a whoopin' on his girlfriend. Hopefully Bowen will get some PT this week.

Leonard can be a poor mans Riggins. There is no shame in that.

 

[C Darwin]

Poor mans Riggins? It is my opinion that Leonard has WAY more in his tool belt than Riggins had. Both have the north / south "white style" of running. Maybe it was the screen pass play to Leonard last night that reminded me of Thurman. That was the bread and butter play of the Jim Kelly Bills.

I see Lumsden as a Riggins style runner: fast, tough, punishing, and efficient. Leonard adds a level of intellect and courage that is shown by few other runners. The Leap! He knows what is opponent is going to do, then he figures out a way to beat him. It's not flash, he baits the tackler. He uses his brain. How white is that!

This debate may be moot.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Leonard shows more burst in the open field than rice does. it's a simple as that. i haven't seen a 40 time for either player, but Leonard appears to be noticeably faster than rice.

rice looks to be a little shiftier, and he shows solid running skills: good patience, vision, decent speed, and he's pretty physical. he's a solid runner, no doubt about it. but Leonard is special. he is bigger, stronger, faster, and more productive than rice. he's among the all-time leaders in Rutgers history in rushing yards, receiving yards, touchdowns, catches, and all-purpose yardage.

add to that, he was a Freshman All-American and Freshman Big Easy POY, first-team Big East as a sophmore, junior, and soon to be senior. at 6'2" 235-pounds, he runs a 4.52 40 and routinely leaps OVER defenders. he has a career long run of 83 yards during which he broke a tackle in the backfield, leaped over a corner near the sideline, and outran another corner the length of the field to score a touchdown.

so it's pretty obvious the kid is a phenomenal talent.

and last night, despite only getting five carries and 1 catch, he was the BIGGEST reason Rutgers won against Louisville. as my brother said to me, he simply told rice to "get behind me, and follow me to the win." and that's what happened. rice's runs were all made possible by the dominant blocking of Leonard. the guy is a COMPLETE running back.

hopefully the morons in the NFL will give him a chance to showcase ALL his talents at the next level.

 

[Triad]

Leonard did not look very fast to me. Sorry.

You don't show a lot of speed blocking on power plays. On my TV he was flying on the screen reception. Also, you.tube his run last year against Illinois.

Rice definitely has nice holes to run through for two reasons both are due to Leonard: obviously first of all Leonard's blocking is awesome and secondly the defense can't key 100% on Rice because there is the chance Leonard hit a quick trap (I don't know why Rutgers doen't run the play) or Leonard could catch a pass. Leonard opportunities are in the single back set.Edited by: Triad

 

[white is right]

Leonard did not look very fast to me. Sorry.

You don't show a lot of speed blocking on power plays. On my TV he was flying on the screen reception. Also, you.tube his run last year against Illinois.

Rice definitely has nice holes to run through for two reasons both are due to Leonard: obviously first of all Leonard's blocking is awesome and secondly the defense can't key 100% on Rice because there is the chance Leonard hit a quick trap (I don't know why Rutgers doen't run the play) or Leonard could catch a pass. Leonard opportunities are in the single back set.

On the next level Rice will be third down back at best he is really tiny for the NFL. He may washout of the NFL and become a productive CFL back.

 

[backrow]

woudln't that be something if Leonard willl get to be a good back in NFL while Rice goes on to be a bust... talk about fate

 

[Kaptain]

Rutgers got their arse kicked by Cincinnati last night. Cincinnati looked incredibly white. Even their RB's appeared to be white. The announcers kept talking about how many local recruits they had - that's generally used as a code word for white recruits. 62 of the 102 roster where "local."Edited by: Kaptain Poop

 

[white is right]

Rutgers got their arse kicked by Cincinnati last night. Cincinnati looked incredibly white. Even their RB's appeared to be white. The announcers kept talking about how many local recruits they had - that's generally used as a code word for white recruits. 62 of the 102 roster where "local."

I thought they would lose to Tech in Tech. This game was true letdown. I did think they wouldn't cover the spread though. Rutgers really isn't a national championship level team. Any team that was truly a top 10 would bury a doormat like Cincy.