'11 CA ATH George Atkinson III (Signed Notre Dame LOI)

[DomeLover3]

Maybe they thought wood would be a better blocker for Cam than Atkinson

 

[STLDomer]

 

[greyhammer90]

All my reps.

 

[woolybug25]

So much awesome

 

[BleedBlueGold]

IrishIllustrated.com - Opportunity awaits Atkinson

For Atkinson to hold down the starting job he believes it will take more than just hitting the weight room and the playbook. He said he must improve his route running first, which Riddick used to produce 36 catches for 370 yards and one touchdown this fall.

“I think I’m very close,” Atkinson said. “This year was very much a learning experience for me, a stepping stone for me. This season showed what I can do and showed my flaws. I’m going to focus on that and get better.”

The lessons learned during the loss to Alabama don’t figure to fade after watching Crimson Tide running backs Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon combine for 41 carries, 248 yards and three total touchdowns in the 42-14 rout.

“The biggest lesson is Alabama, how they play,” Atkinson said. “How we’ve got to duplicate that in order to win a national championship because that’s what it’s going to take. We’re going to take that, use that as motivation to get to that next level.

“(They play) with a physicality, with a dominance, just with confidence. That’s how we’ve got to take the field in every snap, every game.”

Atkinson will be a big part of that attitude adjustment next season as Notre Dame attempts to pick up the pieces from the championship game and reassemble them into a team more capable of hanging with the Crimson Tide.

“We’ve been here before. You can say that now,” Atkinson said. “We expect nothing less but to get back and finish it right.

I fully expect George, to hit the weightroom, put on some pounds and become that big, powerful, shifty, fast back we need. I love how the championship game isn't discouraging anyone, but being used as motivation. Alabama sets the bar in college football. I think it's great that ND got to experience what they're all about. Time for the guys to step up and do the same.

 

[STLDomer]

Freaks List: The 20 craziest athletes in college football - NCAA Football - CBSSports.com News, Scores, Stats, Schedule and BCS Rankings

 

[Riddickulous]

If he can fix his pad level, the sky is the limit.

 

[BGIF]

Freaks List: The 20 craziest athletes in college football - NCAA Football - CBSSports.com News, Scores, Stats, Schedule and BCS Rankings

By Bruce Feldman
5/21/13

14. George Atkinson III, Notre Dame, RB-KR: The reserve Irish running back has good size at 215 pounds to go with blazing speed. Last year, he ran a 10.36 100-meter dash at the Big East track championships. Even though it was a wind-aided time, it wasn't much over the legal-limit and shows a gear Notre Dame football fans hadn't seen much of in a few years.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

OFD's Eric Murtaugh (aka IE's Rocket89) just published a film breakdown of GAIII's technical problems:

A lot is made about Atkinson running upright and not being the power back he perhaps should be at 210 pounds. Those are certainly legitimate critiques but in my opinion his difficulty making decisive cuts and working in small areas are his biggest issues. He's simply not a natural runner. He has tight hips, is below average at juking, and often panics when he's not in open space. If he can't fix these issues it won't matter if he's lowering his pads or not.

That sounds like there's little hope for Atkinson but the good news is that he's shown flashes of running like a natural tailback. He may never be a fluid and dangerous runner in all areas of the game but the question will be how much of those awkward instincts he can overcome.

His default mode in running outside zones and when lanes are blocked is to stutter, decelerate, and cut back in a different direction. This is a death knell for someone with elite speed. Even if he's not reading blocks perfectly and doesn't have the best vision GA3 is best suited planting his foot and getting up-field with authority. With his combination of size and speed the power will be there---always lowering his pads is simply fine tuning, grinding out a couple more yards, and preventing injury.

If he can improve his footwork and decisiveness---and I think he has from freshman to sophomore seasons---Atkinson will remain an integral part of the Irish running game. If it continues to be a problem and GA3 can't take advantage of his speed on a consistent basis he may forever remain just a backup with home run ability.

I wasn't holding out much hope that GAIII would suddenly become a featured back in 2013, but this article really highlights how unlikely that is to ever happen.

 

[Emcee77]

OFD's Eric Murtaugh (aka IE's Rocket89) just published a film breakdown of GAIII's technical problems:



I wasn't holding out much hope that GAIII would suddenly become a featured back in 2013, but this article really drives highlights how unlikely that is to ever happen.

Totally agree with that analysis. GAIII is likely to be a situational back for us, not much more, unless he can break that tendency to "stutter" and "decelerate" and "panic when he's not in open space." Could he make a stunning transformation and become a featured back? Maybe. It's happened before. But he has a lot to show me before I'll start to believe it's happening.

 

[Domina Nostra]

I think he will be much improved next year. Listening to him in interviews, he sounds like a slow learner to me. That does not mean improvement won't come, just that it won't come fast.

So what does that mean? More flashes of brilliance, less flashes of incompetence. He will always be hot and cold, though, because he's probably not capable of grinding it out with that build.

 

[tadman95]

I wish he'd gain another 20-25 lbs and be a fast bruiser. He's kinda of a tweener now.

 

[Bluto]

I'll say up front that I'm kind of biased due to the fact that when I met George he was super down to earth and friendly, plus he's from Cali. Anyhow, looking back not many people had high hopes for Jonas Grey or Theo Riddick. If anybody is going to help George turn the corner I feel it is this coaching staff. The potential is there. We shall see I guess.

 

[alohagoirish]

George has simply been playing behind three very gifted backs in his early career--Jonas-Theo--Cierre---all George needs now is carries---he is big , fast , and tough, his daddy's son remember.

Look for him to get 1000 yards as the lead back and silence a lot of the critics !

 

[Sherm Sticky]

George has simply been playing behind three very gifted backs in his early career--Jonas-Theo--Cierre---all George needs now is carries---he is big , fast , and tough, his daddy's son remember.

Look for him to get 1000 yards as the lead back and silence a lot of the critics !

He better lower his pads and not run tentatively or he will not make it through the season.

 

[Fbolt]

I think he'll learn that after a few games of 15-20 carries. Learning comes easy given significant reps in a real game.

Hopefully the learning will come in practices. I don't want a protracted OJT.

 

[Kak7304]

George has simply been playing behind three very gifted backs in his early career--Jonas-Theo--Cierre---all George needs now is carries---he is big , fast , and tough, his daddy's son remember.

Look for him to get 1000 yards as the lead back and silence a lot of the critics !

I think he might have to share too many carries for this to happen.

 

[woolybug25]

dont see the TJ Yeldon comparisons either, GB isnt that tall. GA3 is more like Yeldon

I thought about this the other day. It's funny how everybody has written off GA3 because of his running style, especially when it's the EXACT same style as TJ Yeldon, who is a great NCAA runningback. See for yourself.

Yeldon
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GA3
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I feel like I am the minority on here that thinks that GA3 will be the main man this year, and will continue to be through the entire year. I think it will be a platoon with GA3 as the feature back. Bryant will play, but he definitely will not become the main man at any point as a freshmen, barring catastrophic injury bugs. That is just my opinion though.

**EDIT - Watch them at the same time. Their styles are eerily identical.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

GAIII between the tackles 10+ times a game concerns me, but I agree he carries too much home run potential to not be a feature back.

Golson out really dings his stock. The ability to slip in option reads, sweeps and misdirections between EG and GAIII would have been awesome.

 

[woolybug25]

Just to clarify my post above, in case the youtube clips didn't make it clear enough, I am comparing GA3 (not Greg Bryant) to Yeldon.

Furthermore, i'm only comparing their running styles, not measurables. If you watch both of those youtube clips and disagree that they both utilize the same running style, then I don't know what to tell ya.

Btw, I think the clarification between "running styles" and "measurables" should be made with Greg Bryant as well. I do see comparisons to a lot of players, but the discussion is a moot point if people are only going to disregard people's opinions because they arent the exact same size. I'm talking about "Running Style", don't know what y'all are talking about.

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

GAIII also didn't have the luxury of the best offensive line in the country grinding defenses down every play. By the time Yeldon gets his significant yards, Bama has mentally and physically beat their opponents.

How did GAIII do while we were physically dominating Navy and Miami? As the third back..

As the featured back with a mostly veteran line, deep with young talent, there should be a huge pop in his YPC and overall numbers.

Also, with Tommy as QB and Amir, Bryant, Cam, Folston and Mahone sharing carries we will never be more offensively shaped like Alabama than this year.

Pound the rock behind our line with Welch/Niklas lined and DD/TJ on the outside. After we've beaten them down, add the slot to the running game and introduce the PA.

What I'm really getting at is that I think GAIII will hold the featured spot successfully AND Bryant will work his way into late game carries with huge gains.

 

[Rocket89]

GAIII also didn't have the luxury of the best offensive line in the country grinding defenses down every play. By the time Yeldon gets his significant yards, Bama has mentally and physically beat their opponents.

How did GAIII do while we were physically dominating Navy and Miami? As the third back..

As the featured back with a mostly veteran line, deep with young talent, there should be a huge pop in his YPC and overall numbers.

Also, with Tommy as QB and Amir, Bryant, Cam, Folston and Mahone sharing carries we will never be more offensively shaped like Alabama than this year.

Pound the rock behind our line with Welch/Niklas lined and DD/TJ on the outside. After we've beaten them down, add the slot to the running game and introduce the PA.

What I'm really getting at is that I think GAIII will hold the featured spot successfully AND Bryant will work his way into late game carries with huge gains.

You think he's going to improve on 7.1 YPC from last year??

That would be truly shocking. I still think he's an enigma, although I'm mentally preparing for him to average around 4.5 YPC or something like that. I will be surprised if Atkinson is anything more than average against the top 5 or 6 defenses we'll face. I'm sure he'll have nice days against the weaker teams that might boost his averages.

He does run like Yeldon in that they are both upright, but GA3 has a long way to go with his cutting and planting his foot with authority.

OFD Films: GA3 & Running with Decisiveness - One Foot Down

 

[GoIrish41]

GA3 gets too little love. I think he is going to be a standout this year.

 

[Who'saWildManNow]

lol yea probably not. I don't think he'll improve on 7.1 but subtract his handful of long runs and that's what I think will be improved. I fully expect Alford to coach up GAIII to the next level and for our line to improve.

You think he's going to improve on 7.1 YPC from last year??

That would be truly shocking. I still think he's an enigma, although I'm mentally preparing for him to average around 4.5 YPC or something like that. I will be surprised if Atkinson is anything more than average against the top 5 or 6 defenses we'll face. I'm sure he'll have nice days against the weaker teams that might boost his averages.

He does run like Yeldon in that they are both upright, but GA3 has a long way to go with his cutting and planting his foot with authority.

OFD Films: GA3 & Running with Decisiveness - One Foot Down

 

[dublinirish]

TJ Yeldon can run as high as he wants and still look good with that Bama OL run blocking for him..heck he could wear a tutu and flip flops and still look like a star. I think he will get found out when he gets the Pro's though

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Just to clarify my post above, in case the youtube clips didn't make it clear enough, I am comparing GA3 (not Greg Bryant) to Yeldon.

Furthermore, i'm only comparing their running styles, not measurables. If you watch both of those youtube clips and disagree that they both utilize the same running style, then I don't know what to tell ya.

Btw, I think the clarification between "running styles" and "measurables" should be made with Greg Bryant as well. I do see comparisons to a lot of players, but the discussion is a moot point if people are only going to disregard people's opinions because they arent the exact same size. I'm talking about "Running Style", don't know what y'all are talking about.

Wow, you're right. TJ and GA3 are almost identical. Two things that stand out to me though (and I feel both are reasons why TJ is a much better back at this point) are TJ has 10 pounds of muscle on George. That extra size and strength matters when breaking tackles. GA3 breaks his fair share, but TJ seems to do it w/o losing a lot of momentum or balance. Also, George has always seemed to hesitate whenever he has to run up the middle. TJ never does. He hits the holes with aggression. If George can bulk up and continue to build confidence in his style and just GO, rather than hesitate...I think you're right. He should be tough to beat out this year in the rotation.

 

[EuropeanDomer]

TJ Yeldon is another level. He is nature, smooth and runs with elegance. Has great instincs, runs with a lot of power and with a lower pad level. Good at pass protection, can catch the ball.. he is just too good. A lot of Adrian Peterson in him.

 

[woolybug25]

TJ Yeldon is another level. He is nature, smooth and runs with elegance. Has great instincs, runs with a lot of power and with a lower pad level. Good at pass protection, can catch the ball.. he is just too good. A lot of Adrian Peterson in him.

Yeldon does not run with a low pad level. Watch the tape, he runs exactly like GA3. Upright and fast.

 

[EuropeanDomer]

Yeldon does not run with a low pad level. Watch the tape, he runs exactly like GA3. Upright and fast.

He had problems against TAMU (for example) with his shoulders -too high- but in general, he can run low when he wants. If Yeldon runs exactly like GAIII i live in other world..

 

[dublinirish]

Yeldon does not run with a low pad level. Watch the tape, he runs exactly like GA3. Upright and fast.

indeed Yeldon runs like he's on track doing the 200m.