'23 MO RB Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame Signee)

[ulukinatme]

It’s my understanding that he is on a pitch count that was discussed between Marcus and Love’s family. O’Malley has mentioned it several times.

Yeah, I seem to remember there some talk that Freeman is looking out for the players, specifically RBs, that plan on playing at the next level. They want them to get the NFL's attention, but they don't want them broken and used up by the time they're drafted.

I hope we see more Williams next year getting snaps with Love, I'd put them in 2 back sets and then look at moving Love to Slot on some plays. I wouldn't increase Price's snaps beyond what he's currently getting, not until he shows improvement in blocking/blitz pickup along with an improvement to his running. He needs more patience following his blocks and to find the hole better. I've mentioned it before in the Williams thread, but he's too much feast or famine.

 

[NDPhilly]

Breaking: J Love to try a backwards hurdle at some point next year

 

[CANONIZEFATHERSORIN]

Yeah, I seem to remember there some talk that Freeman is looking out for the players, specifically RBs, that plan on playing at the next level. They want them to get the NFL's attention, but they don't want them broken and used up by the time they're drafted.

I hope we see more Williams next year getting snaps with Love, I'd put them in 2 back sets and then look at moving Love to Slot on some plays. I wouldn't increase Price's snaps beyond what he's currently getting, not until he shows improvement in blocking/blitz pickup along with an improvement to his running. He needs more patience following his blocks and to find the hole better. I've mentioned it before in the Williams thread, but he's too much feast or famine.

But think about how many carries saquon had in college

 

[NorthDakota]

But think about how many carries saquon had in college

Hes got a different build. He's a big dude

 

[Irish4life]

But think about how many carries saquon had in college

Just a different time in CFB. You want to have a rotation at RB. And frankly, the RBs (should) want it too.

 

[Veritate Duce Progredi]

J Love is the best argument for people constantly clamoring for more top 100 talent. Unicorn-level athleticism is so much fun to watch.

I'm someone who decries all the weird goalposts people put up for the staff but I hope the coaches can continue adding players like this.

 

[ViewsFromTheDome]

Just a different time in CFB. You want to have a rotation at RB. And frankly, the RBs (should) want it too.

Michigan didnt have much of a rotation. Corum was a workhorse

 

[DomeFieldAdvantage]

Michigan didnt have much of a rotation. Corum was a workhorse

And what has he done in the NFL so far?

 

[ViewsFromTheDome]

J Love is the best argument for people constantly clamoring for more top 100 talent. Unicorn-level athleticism is so much fun to watch.

Wasnt he a 3star when ND 1st offered?

 

[ViewsFromTheDome]

And what has he done in the NFL so far?

I don't care about the NFL

 

[NDFAN2008]

I wonder how the RB room shakes out with Seider. Im guessing Love gets 13-15 Carries a game, Price 8-10, Williams 5-6 but also involved in the passing game. I think Young will be your 3rd down back getting 5-6 carries a game

 

[IrishLion]

J Love is the best argument for people constantly clamoring for more top 100 talent. Unicorn-level athleticism is so much fun to watch.

I'm someone who decries all the weird goalposts people put up for the staff but I hope the coaches can continue adding players like this.

It turns out that having a skill player that’s a total freak of nature (a mutant, as Shane Gillis says) is actually pretty cool.

They should try grabbing one of those Ohio State caliber freak WR’s next.

 

[Irish#1]

Whether a team splits the carries or relies on one back to be the guy, depends on RB depth. If the drop off from 1st string to 2nd is noticeable, 1st string is going to get the bulk of the carries. If you have a backfield like ND's, you're goin to split the reps to keep everyone fresh for the 4th quarter and later in the season.

 

[DomeFieldAdvantage]

I don't care about the NFL

But the running back recruits do

 

[CANONIZEFATHERSORIN]

i wouldn't expect the same from Love next year. He's already proved his worth in CFB. 2025 for him should just be about maintaining his stock and staying healthy. he has little left to prove

Wouldn’t he want to go in the first round

 

[ulukinatme]

I wonder how the RB room shakes out with Seider. Im guessing Love gets 13-15 Carries a game, Price 8-10, Williams 5-6 but also involved in the passing game. I think Young will be your 3rd down back getting 5-6 carries a game

I need to see more from Price before I give him 10 carries a game. Too inconsistent, and not a complete back. I would give more to Love and Williams for the time being. There's Payne to consider too, if he's healthy and back to 100%. I'm guessing someone transfers out come Spring.

 

[NDFAN2008]

I need to see more from Price before I give him 10 carries a game. Too inconsistent, and not a complete back. I would give more to Love and Williams for the time being. There's Payne to consider too, if he's healthy and back to 100%. I'm guessing someone transfers out come Spring.

Price averages 6.2 yards per carry that would be 17th best in college football

 

[ulukinatme]

Price averages 6.2 yards per carry that would be 17th best in college football

And yet Love had 6.9 YPC and was much more consistent. I pointed this out in the Williams thread, but Price is often feast or famine. There's a few games that show this, A&M is one. He had 8 carries for 44 yards, a respectable 5.5 YPC...but when you consider he had a long of 47 yards that means 7 of his carries went for a total of -3 yards. Price isn't super patient when it comes to following his blockers like Love and Williams are, he has a tendency to bounce it outside or cutback if there's not a hole right away. Sometimes this leads to big gains, other times it goes very badly. Price struggles in pass protection too, he's not on the same level as Love and Williams there.

 

[GoIrish41]

I need to see more from Price before I give him 10 carries a game. Too inconsistent, and not a complete back. I would give more to Love and Williams for the time being. There's Payne to consider too, if he's healthy and back to 100%. I'm guessing someone transfers out come Spring.

If Love wasn’t on this team Price would have had 1500 yards and 15-20 TDs this season I don’t know what you need to see. The guy averaged over six yards a carry as the second option behind a patchwork OL and made game-breaking plays throughout the season.

 

[ulukinatme]

If Love wasn’t on this team Price would have had 1500 yards and 15-20 TDs this season I don’t know what you need to see. The guy averaged over six yards a carry as the second option behind a patchwork OL and made game-breaking plays throughout the season.

But Love IS on this team, and he's a more complete back in all facets compared to Price. Williams is also a more complete back than Price, he follows his blockers well, he handles pass protection beautifully, and he's effective in the pass game. I haven't seen anything from Price that shows his consistency to warrant more touches, I think he should stick with his current load, if not give some up to Love and Williams.

 

[LifelongFan]

Price's current load is exactly what he should have. Just enough for him to break a few big ones with Love and Williams being there to do the little things while still being solid backs.

I think Young somehow finds time this year too. I think this team will do anything it can to not deal with a Love injury in December and January again.

 

[ulukinatme]

Price's current load is exactly what he should have. Just enough for him to break a few big ones with Love and Williams being there to do the little things while still being solid backs.

I think Young somehow finds time this year too. I think this team will do anything it can to not deal with a Love injury in December and January again.

Honestly, the more I think about it, and the fact Price struggles following blockers and providing pass blocking, maybe he should be the one getting reps in the Slot? Get Price in the open field more where he can do real damage and not have to worry about DL. When he does have to block he'll be across from CBs and not having to chip bigger LBs or DL guys.

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

And yet Love had 6.9 YPC and was much more consistent. I pointed this out in the Williams thread, but Price is often feast or famine. There's a few games that show this, A&M is one. He had 8 carries for 44 yards, a respectable 5.5 YPC...but when you consider he had a long of 47 yards that means 7 of his carries went for a total of -3 yards. Price isn't super patient when it comes to following his blockers like Love and Williams are, he has a tendency to bounce it outside or cutback if there's not a hole right away. Sometimes this leads to big gains, other times it goes very badly. Price struggles in pass protection too, he's not on the same level as Love and Williams there.

This is such a silly argument. Big runs ARE part of the ge and the goal is score points. We probably lose the a&m game without price popping that big one. Who cares what he did with the rest of his carries.

By this argument, just take away Loves homerun against IU and tell everyone he had 10 yards on 7 carries.
Take away his long of a whopping 9 yards and he had 25 yards on 10 carries against UL.
Take away his long of 10 and Love had 26 yds on 13 carries against GT.

Against Navy that would be 38 yds on 11 carries or 3.4/carry.

45 on 10 carries 4.5/carry against NIU.

61 yds on 15 carries or 4.0/carry against UVA.

Stop trying to make this argument. It doesnt hold up.

 

[Dale]

Love: 162 carries, 1,124 yards, 590 Breakaway yards, 15 Breakaway attempts

Price: 121 carries, 744 yards, 434 Breakaway yards, 15 Breakaway attempts

The result is Love averages 3.63 on non explosive runs. Price averaged 2.92.

Love averages 39.3 yards per explosive run, Price averages 28.9

If I would have done the regular season, I’d imagine the gap would be greater. This isn’t really breaking news that Love is better both ways, but I firmly agree Price needs to be better on standard runs to take his game up a level

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

Love: 162 carries, 1,124 yards, 590 Breakaway yards, 15 Breakaway attempts

Price: 121 carries, 744 yards, 434 Breakaway yards, 15 Breakaway attempts

The result is Love averages 3.63 on non explosive runs. Price averaged 2.92.

Love averages 39.3 yards per explosive run, Price averages 28.9

If I would have done the regular season, I’d imagine the gap would be greater. This isn’t really breaking news that Love is better both ways, but I firmly agree Price needs to be better on standard runs to take his game up a level

1000% agree. My point whichwasnt directed at you was more that big runs are part of the game., its not debatable that Love is our best back, but do you have amy statistics on a comparison for what percent of runs first contact was made behind the LOS. I’d be interested to see what that looks like because I could be wrong but I also feel like price had more carries where there was he had guys in his face as soon as he touched the ball.

Regardless both guys need to touch the ball. We need explosives, and those were the two guys on offense who provided them this year.

 

[Dale]

statistics on a comparison for what percent of runs first contact was made behind the LOS

Not exactly but Price did have less Yards before Contact than Love, some correlate this to OL performance (ie. The OL was “worse” for Price). But for a team with a large % of zone runs, I disagree, and I think the eye test would tell you Price hit the wrong hole or danced often. The chance that the OL was weaker for one RB versus the other over a 300 carry sample size seems unlikely

 

[Te'o4Heisman]

The other takeaway here is Price had the same number of “breakaway runs” on not even 3/4 the number of carries as our back that everyone including myself considers the gamebreaker.

We all wanted a homerun hitter when he had a backfield full of guys who grind out 3 yds but couldnt break one until we have a guy who breaks em, then we complain he isnt grinding out 3 yards on every carry. Story of this board for as long as I can remember.

There are also a half dozen other reasons besides Price hitting thebwrong hole or thevline just being weaker on all his runs that could skew that statistic too, and the truth is its probably a combination of all of them.

 

[ulukinatme]

The other takeaway here is Price had the same number of “breakaway runs” on not even 3/4 the number of carries as our back that everyone including myself considers the gamebreaker.

We all wanted a homerun hitter when he had a backfield full of guys who grind out 3 yds but couldnt break one until we have a guy who breaks em, then we complain he isnt grinding out 3 yards on every carry. Story of this board for as long as I can remember.

There are also a half dozen other reasons besides Price hitting thebwrong hole or thevline just being weaker on all his runs that could skew that statistic too, and the truth is its probably a combination of all of them.

Breakaway runs are great, but you don't feed your most inconsistent backs the most carries. You feed your guys that consistently get 3+ yards a carry because they don't put you behind the sticks. 7 carries for -3 yards leads to dead drives. If it was just inconsistency that would be one thing, but Price has been a liability at times in pass protection. Not only that, but he's a non-factor in the pass game with 4 catches for 10 yards. Compare that to Williams, who gets less snaps overall and had 18 catches for 172 yards. Teams probably know Price is going to get the ball when he's lined up in the backfield given those numbers, that's probably why he's more feast or famine than the other two.

Bottom line, it makes more sense to keep Love and Williams on the field for more snaps because they're both complete backs that can do it all. I'm not benching Price, I'm just pointing out the offense is more efficient and effective with the other two getting the lion's share.

 

[Fbolt]

hitting the wrong hole

 

[IAIrish]

I'm with @ulukinatme on this one.

I know I've made some of the same points on Price's own thread. As great as those house calls were, all of those negative runs killed drives as the offense last year couldn't dig itself out of being behind the sticks. Do the long td runs overcompensate for all the negative runs that killed drives that otherwise would've lead to points?

The final verdict for me was in the playoffs when Price was basically a ghost, absent a few good touches vs Georgia. The amount of carries he received when Love was hobbled speaks volumes.

But it's a new year, new line and new coach. Here's to hoping the both look like elite backs and the room goes nuts behind a Joe Moore award winning line and runs wild in the playoffs.