Preseason Positional Breakdowns: Running Backs/Tight Ends
by Owen Kemp on Aug 11, 2009 5:00 AM CDT
in Football
11 comments
Next up on the positional breakdown of the 2009 Kansas Jayhawk Football team is two positions that went through some major transition last year and to some extend might see the same this year.
At the running back position there is one proven back in Jake Sharp but beyond that we'd be purely going off of potential and not a whole lot else.
With the tight ends there is some experience at the top with Tim Biere, but it's hard to say if we'll see a return to the days when the offense regularly featured a tight end or if we're moving to a less than traditional role for the position.
To start things off though let's take a quick look at the starters at each position and then we'll jump deeper down the depth chart after the jump.
At running back we should see Jake Sharp kick off the season as the starter and after being doubted for most of his career he certainly earned the opportunity last season by providing some stability at a position that faced serious struggles through the first few games of the season. In 2008 Sharp received honorable mention All Big 12 honors as well as the Kansas co-Courageous Award.
Sharp finished 2008 surpassing the 800 yard rushing mark for the second straight season with 860. For his career he has amassed just over 1800 yards and 19 touchdowns including 12 a year ago. Another stat that jumps off the page a little bit with Sharp is a career 5.1 yards per carry average through his junior year. Sharp has also provided fairly consistent blocking assistance on passing downs along with 20+ receptions in both 2007 and 2008. While the doubters may still clamor for someone else, Sharp should be the guy from day one and a 1000 yard season could very well be a possibility if he can get off to a faster start this year versus last.
At tight end, at least in it's traditional form, Tim Biere will return after starting at times and seeing substantial minutes as a true freshman in 2008. While statistically Biere doesn't jump off the page at you in 2008, he was one of eight true freshman to contribute and up there as one of the bigger contributors for the freshman class. Biere is up to 6'4" 250 and his size certainly makes him a helpful body as an extra blocker which is the primary role he played in 2008. With only 6 catches for 65 yards in 2008 it's hard to say what Biere brings as a receiving option but with time he should provide a viable threat underneath. One other interesting sidenote, Biere was a Nebraska All State selection as a defensive back his senior year so despite appearance he does bring a good amount of athleticism to go along with his size and that is certainly a big plus for the future.
Complete Positional Breakdown After the Jump...
Moving down through the roster at running back the only other face still remaining at the position from last year is a relative unknown in Rell Lewis. Lewis, standing 5'10" 200 pounds, led the team in rushing during the spring game but minus that he has exactly 0 carries for 0 yards through his first real season with the Jayhawks.
Lewis comes to the Jayhawks from Muskogee Oklahoma where he was an All State performer as a quarterback his senior season. Primarily used as a running threat, Lewis was recruited to Kansas as an athlete and gravitated toward running back during his redshirt freshman season. Despite really being only a few pounds bigger than Sharp, Lewis seems to be a more physical runner and might bring a little bit of that power, change of pace that the Jayhawks have been so effective with in the past.
Splitting time at 2nd team during the opening days of camp are Toben Opurum and Daniel Porter. Starting things off let's take a look at Porter, who joins the Jayhawks from San Mateo Junior College in California. Porter again is in the mold of your smaller quicker backs standing 5'10" 200 pounds. His speed might be his biggest asset with a reported sub 4.4 40 time. Whether that translates to the field is still a question mark. Porter was a very late addition and is definitely a welcome sign in terms of depth having rushed for nearly 1500 yards in his two junior college seasons. The junior college transfer will looked to in order to fill a supporting role in a Jayhawk backfield that is wide open in terms of minutes.
As far as Toben Opurum, we've covered him quite a bit here at Rock Chalk Talk. Standing 6'2" 235 he's definitely the power back to compliment the speed similar to what we saw the Jayhawks work so effectively with in 2007. Opurum accumulated just shy of 1700 yards in his two seasons as the featured back during his high school days. One big positive for him in terms of development is that his Plano East HS team ran the spread so he is used to running, catching and blocking out of the shotgun set. In fact Opurum proved to be an equally effective receiver out of the back field in high school with nearly 60 catches for just over 800 yards in his two seasons. Opurum is probably one of the most intriguing newcomers due to the need for a consistent second option out of the backfield. After being heavily recruited by some big name schools as a fullback, it was ultimately the chance to continue his career as a true back and show all of his talents that brought Opurum to Kansas.
Next on the list is a familiar name in a lot of ways to some in DeShaun Sands. Sands stands 5'9" 182 pounds and is the son of former Kansas back and record holder Tony Sands. Sands is a low to the ground, very solidly built back who recorded over 2700 yards on the ground in his two seasons as the starter for his Florida high school. He committed to the Jayhawks very early in the process and arrived on campus mid year. His experience in spring ball could be a plus in terms of seeing minutes this season and one area of intrigue with him might be his experience on special teams returning kicks.
Rounding out the running back position at the fullback spot is a walk on in Tyler Hunt. Another big back standing 6'2" 235 pounds Hunt came to Kansas in 2008 from just down the road at Lawrence High School. Hunt earned all state honorable mention honors his senior season playing both running back and linebacker for the Lions.
Now we'll move away from the running back spot and back over to the tight ends. The roles of the tight ends after Biere begin to blur the lines a bit. You have players who fit the traditional role and you have players who fall in a more flex role of tight end/wide reciever. My expectation would be to see Biere almost exclusively when we are in the traditional role and beyond that I am sticking by my guns that AJ Steward is in for a bit of a breakout season in that TE/WR role. Obviously it's hard to completely standout when you have to share receptions with Briscoe, Meier and Wilson, but I do have high hopes for Steward in 2009.
Looking at Steward first, who stands 6'4" 226 after summer workouts. AJ Steward came to Kansas as a quarterback and athlete that showed a lot of promise at a few positions due to his size and athleticism. One player on the team described him to me as the hardest working receiver on the team and I'd believe it. Steward was the scout team player of the year during his redshirt freshman season of 2007 and has since been transitioning to the role of receiver/tight end. Again, while his career numbers only amount to 1 catch for 6 yards, this season could be one where Steward capitalizes on his work ethic and breaks into the game plan on a much more regular basis.
Bradley Dedeaux is next on the list and a junior tight end who had a lot of potential coming into his career at Kansas. At 6'3" 255 Dedeaux definitely fits more in the mold of your traditional blocking style tight end down on the line as opposed to flexed out in the formation. Over Dedeaux's career he has seen time primarily on special teams although he did receive his first start at tight end in 2008 for the season opener. With only 3 catches in 3 seasons it's tough to get a real gauge on what he brings to the table in that respect but where he has shown an ability to contribute is in those situations that require some extra blocking help on the line.
Next up is a relative unknown in redshirt freshman Nick Plato. Standing 6'6" 242 pounds Plato is a big target but at times last year it seems there were doubts about his future with Kansas. He came to Lawrence as a mid year so he has now gone through two spring camps and this will now be his second fall camp so experience in the offense and familiarity with the system should no longer be a concern. In his high school days he put up more gaudy numbers on the defensive side of the ball with only 10 catches for 221 yards on offense. This will be a big year for Plato as the tight end position is beginning to become a strength once again for the Jayhawks and time at the position may be at a premium.
Wrapping up the tight end position is a redshirt sophomore walk on in Ted McNulty. McNulty walked on to the Jayhawk football squad in 2007 following his days at Iowa City West High School. He's a big kid at 6'5" 231 pounds and earned himself Scout team player of the week honors in 2008 for the Border War.
That wraps up our look at the runningbacks and tight ends for 2009. There are some pretty strong anchors at the top of the depth chart at both positions but beyond that there is potential but nothing proven. Getting these two spots back to an area of strength as we had in 2007, will go a long way toward making 2009 a successful season.
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10 votes
no comments. Guess I’ll go first. I voted for Rell since at this point he’s the only known commodity. Daniel Porter sounds very intriguing but I think some of us are a little skeptical of JuCo RB’s since Jock Crawford.
As for TE, I’ve never given much thought about Steward but to be 6’4" and 226 that sounds like he could have potential as a prototypical NFL receiver. Do we know about his hands, route running and speed?
I've got crazy flipper fingers!
In terms of Steward...
seems like I recall his speed being 4.6-4.7 range but he’s an athlete and has the body to be physical. In terms of hands and route running, those are things that can be taught, practiced and improved upon.
With that in mind I will again reiterate the fact that one of his own teammates told me he is the hardest working receiver on the team. To me that says he’ll have developed those skills over the past year and a half and is ready.
As a follow up to your NFL size comment I have to say that when I was writing my receiver preview I was getting pretty excited at the size we have coming up through the system in the near future.
Next year we’re going to have some big targets. Johnathan Wilson 6’3", AJ Steward 6’4", Chris Omigie 6’4", Erick McGriff 6’4" and even Bradley McDougald measured in at 6’2" which was taller than I expected. Throw in Isiah Barfield who is supposedly having a solid early going in the slot and you’ve got some weapons.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
Backs
I could almost see a lot of these guys getting carries behind Sharp for the first few games. We play Northern Colorado in our first game, which mean we will probably be running the ball a lot in the second half. I see us using a lot of these guys early in order to really find out is the backup. Ultimately, I think the size and talent of Opurum gets him the backup role. I haven’t really seen any of these guys before, but a lot of them sound very similar in size and style to Sharp. Opurum gives us a change of pace.
I'd agree...
last year we certainly saw a lot of options used during the non-conference, fortunately this year that will be to find the backup and not the starter as was the case last year.
In terms of the size I think that’s a great point when it comes to Opurum although I think Rell Lewis is a pretty strong runner so he might bring a little of that if he were to be the 2nd man in.
Right now Sharp and Lewis are running first team primarily, while Opurum and Porter 2nd.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
My opinion:
I’d hate to waste a year of Toben’s talent doing a stint as the backup RB. If Sharp is the Man and Lewis and Porter can back him, give the redshirt to Toben.
Sawin' wood
I'd agree with you if...
our backup RB was truly a second thought in the overall plan. However, I’d say the preference for Mangino and the offense would be to have an attack much more balanced than last year and two backs that share the carries as we saw in 2007. We had a 1000 yard rusher and an 800 yard rusher that year and I’d hardly consider it a waste if our backup was effective enough to put up 800 yards.
That said I don’t see anything wrong with your hope that either Lewis or Porter can fill that role and I think it is a good possibility that one of those more experience guys step up. Regardless though, I’d be a little surprised if we see Toben redshirt.
Some people are like Slinkies...not really good for anything but they make you smile when pushed down the stairs.
Game experience as a freshman
is a pretty important thing, I feel. If we did get Opurum 100+ carries his freshman year, think about the confidence he would have coming in as a sophomore, sophomores are still pretty young.
by I need more Esteban on Aug 11, 2009 12:47 PM CDT up reply actions
Nice write up
I voted Toben because I’ve been pulling for him all along. I think he can be the goal-line, Lendale White, Jerome Bettis (but smaller) kind of RB we could really use.
As for TE, Steward is pretty exciting to me now. That is NFL size and athleticism for a tight end. The Big 12 has also had some pretty damn good TE’s as of late. Pettigrew from OK. St., Missouri’s 2 guys. If he is that hard of a worker, this kid could turn into something special for us.
Wow, can the first game come soon enough. I’m so excited for the 2nd half to watch a bunch of these guys we’ve never seen play.
by I need more Esteban on Aug 11, 2009 12:50 PM CDT reply actions
Toben.
At least by the end of the year.
I’m a big Rell Lewis fan, for whatever reason, and I’m hoping some big-time play in August gets him the nod at the beginning of the year. But Toben is just a stud, and you have to figure his talent will shine through eventually.
I do hope we redshirt Deshaun Sands, though.
I have a vision in my mind
of Freighttrain Toben running over someone into the endzone and then staring them down, a la John Cornish 2006.
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