James White

[DeereClone]

I would like to continue to see more and more of James White. He seems to hit the hole harder than SJ, gets vertical, and gets yards. It seems like he breaks arm tackles a little better too. Anyone else agree?

Also, White had about 80 yards and a touchdown called back on holding penalties last night.

 

[Hayes30]

I would like to continue to see more and more of James White. He seems to hit the hole harder than SJ, gets vertical, and gets yards. It seems like he breaks arm tackles a little better too. Anyone else agree?

Also, White had about 80 yards and a touchdown called back on holding penalties last night.

He is the best RB we have. Play him some more.

 

[EddieISU]

Agree and his future looks very bright. Very impressed with his motor when he's running the ball.

 

[Al_4_State]

I think he's a different style than SJ. I think SJ is more explosive, and we need to use both of them a lot.

I really like how James White is coming on, but I think a lot of people are really taking to him and calling for SJ to see less time on account of how hyped SJ has been and how little hype White got. White is a more blue collar, quiet kind of guy and I think has really endeared himself to the fanbase already.

They are both looking like very good backs who should see 15 carries a game, if not more, each.

 

[fatkid1974]

What he has that I didn't realize is break away speed. Not many backs in the country will outrun Texas DB's like JW did on the TD that got called back. I'm all in for more #8.

 

[StPaulCyclone]

I would like to continue to see more and more of James White. He seems to hit the hole harder than SJ, gets vertical, and gets yards. It seems like he breaks arm tackles a little better too. Anyone else agree?

Also, White had about 80 yards and a touchdown called back on holding penalties last night.

Arnaud and others have spoke highly of him and I see why now.

 

[3TrueFans]

We have a great 1-2 combo, but SJ is still the better back at this point.

 

[cyclonespiker33]

White is a great player, but I think that he and SJ need to continue to split the carries like they have been

 

[clonedude]

He is the best RB we have. Play him some more.

I agree. The stats up to the Texas game didn't bear out the fact that he was our best RB, but he just looked like he was for some reason. Last night he proved that he is our best RB IMO.

Shontrelle is very good too, but I like White's game a little better. Shontrelle sometimes makes juke moves when I don't think he really needs to. I think he will learn that over time though. James White just goes north and south more, and quickly. Plus, he does break a lot more tackles than SJ too.

SJ probably has more sheer raw talent than White does, he just needs to learn how and when to use it better.

 

[besserheimerphat]

Shontrelle had some good runs last night against an aggressive, fast flowing defense. There were a number of times he was able to make a small cutback and turn 3 yards into 7 - 10. I agree that Shontrelle runs a little slower* since he's looking for creases and cutting all the time. James sees his lane and explodes through it.

*Shontrelle Johnson is NOT slow but with all the juking he doesn't seem to ever be running flat out in a straight line. If we could get a little bit of blocking on the backside, this would be deadly.

 

[Rickybaby]

People forget in the start of the UT game, SJ did a great job in the first quarter. If it wasn't for the screw ups I have no doubt we would have marched down the field and scored. SJ was getting 5-8 yards on every carry. But its great to have a 1-2 punch. The thing that I like about White is that he moves north/south immediately no no hesitation; he just hits the holes. In a short yardage play that almost guarantees at least 2 yards if the O Line is getting off the blocks and every once in a while he'll break thru for a longer run. SJ sometimes hesitates, fakes, jukes, whatever you want to call it. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. Both RBs are good but in different ways which is a very good thing to have. Did Woody even carry the ball last night? There was some discussion here about Woody not being productive; the coaching staff must have reached the same conclusion.

 

[besserheimerphat]

Official stats for both guys through the Texas game:

RUSHING GP-GS Att Gain Loss Net Avg TD Long Avg/G
Johnson, Shontrelle 4-4 51 257 10 247 4.8 0 27 61.8
White, James 4-0 43 196 21 175 4.1 4 26 43.8

 

[JustRedman]

It is clear that we have two very capable backs. Woody was a big part of our offense last year, but sees very limited action this year which is 100% due to White really stepping up. I will say that I didn't have a ton of confidence that SJ21 and JW8 would be the type of back that could carry the load for an entire season. I questioned their size and durability.
Both have shown that they are incredibly hard to bring down in the open field. James seems to get vertical quicker that SJ21, but SJ is so elusive at the line of scrimmage. I have full confidence now that if the O-line opens even a moderate hole for these two backs, they can get to the second level and turn it into a big play.
I fully understand how Nealy and Standard are redshirting. All the talk was that they were almost too good to sit, but our RBs have not been a problem for us this year and the future should only get brighter. We will have some weapons next year with the addition of all the young guys.

 

[Clones21]

I like what they both bring to the table. Continue to split carries. Use them when they are needed. Let Jantz run this offense.

 

[Judoka]

White is a great player, but I think that he and SJ need to continue to split the carries like they have been

Agree with this. I also wish the would do a better job of not setting Woody up to fail. Right now he only gets the ball in obvious short running situations and the defense just blitzes multiple linebackers right at him.

 

[DeereClone]

When I said I want to see more and more of James, I did not mean take away from SJ, but use SJ in a different way. I want to see James do more of the prototypical RB duty, and SJ do more screens, sweeps, etc.

Both are great backs and both have their place in this offense. It is very encouraging to see what these guys have done so far this year.

 

[Doc]

After this week I'm jumping to the James White bandwagon. I didn't realize he had another gear when he gets in the open field like that! Plus I'm sick of Shontrelle fumbling.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Yeah, I think SJ gives you a better chance to make something happen out of nothing, and White hits the hole incredibly fast and has some serious break away speed. I think we are fortunate to have them both.

 

[JUKEBOX]

Both are good backs.
The only problem with Shontrelle is that he gets injured EVERY game.

 

[CrossCyed]

They are a fantastic duo and will be used as such.