What has happened to him the last few games? He played a ton when A-Rob was hurt. Now he isn't even on the 2 deeps? Is he hurt or what?
schwartz??
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I heard the quote from Coach Rhoads that he was ineffective, but I'm curious what that means. He certainly will never be the home run threat that ARob is, but I've been pretty happy with his potential.
Rhoads has talked about always wanting the running game to produce not just what the play is blocked for, but also to gain additional yards that move the chains. The additional yards can come from making defenders miss, the use of speed, or breaking tackles.
When healthy, A-Rob has proven to get both the blocked for yards and additional yards in a variety of ways. Schwartz has for the most part achieved the blocked for yards, but hasn't added much on his own. Most defenses are able to bring an extra defender to the box which limits the running game if the RB can't make something happen on his own.
Scwhartz picked up some tough yardage against Nebraska. I don't think we would have won that game without him.
OK fine. It just seems he loves contact so I think if he is not going to be a large part of the offense, he could be very beneficial on the defensive side of the ball in certain situations.
One of the main reasons he came to ISU was because he was offered as a fullback pretty much everywhere else and we were going to give him a chance to carry the ball.
Or maybe he can work on some of his weaknesses and learn from some of the mistakes that he made this year. He's still a RSFR who has 3 years to develop his game to be a more productive RB. The game experience that he has gotten this year can be productive if he is willing to learn from it. The upcoming off-season is his opportunity to make the jump that many are able to do in their 2nd year of competition.
Schwartz will never be an explosive play back. He just doesn't have the skill set. I still think that he should be above Bo Williams, who can't even memorize the play book. Schwartz is valuable third and short back because he can move the pile, while A-rob seems to go down after any contact from the D-line.
What is he going to improve on to make him a better back for this system? He may get a little faster and more explosive, but he won't suddenly turn into a speedster. It just seems to me he is not a fit to play RB in this system, or in any shotgun run-game system for that matter. He has a place carrying the ball, but that place is about 1/4 of the snaps. I just don't think he has the quick step and explosiveness to be an every down back for us. I am sure he can get better by making better read and improving his vision and all other things not related to physical attributes, but there is going to be only so much he can do. I hope he can prove me wrong, but I don't think he will.
There are many running instincts that can be developed and improved on that don't involve speed. Vision, timing, knowing how and where to press the hole at the point of attack, after pressing the point of attack - knowing where and when to look for the cut back lane. One of the reason that the coaches value A-Rob so much is that he is far ahead of most running backs in these areas. These are all skills that take awareness and experience to master, but can make a less athletic back more valuable than a flashy one.
Schwartz has good instincts and hits the hole hard. I think he can be an effective running back just maybe not a feature back. Schwartz gives a nice balance to a quick, speed guy like A-Rob. It's hard for a defense to adjust between a shifty, cut-back runner and a power north-south guy.
Plus it's always good to have a couple productive guys in the backfield who can pace your star running back. You don't want to wear out your starter.
Plus it's always good to have a couple productive guys in the backfield who can pace your star running back. You don't want to wear out your starter.
From my vantage point, it looked like Shwartz missed many, many openings, where if he would have been able to change direction a little bit, a 2 yard play would have been a five yard gain. He runs into the pile (as someone mentioned, pushes the pile) instead of see that cutting right or left will avoid the pile and get an additional couple yards.
I'm sure that the coaches went over this with him, analyzing game tape, and in the speed of the game, he is just unable to see the openings that develop for bigger gains. (Or maybe is unable to make those sorts of change of direction).
I'm sure that the coaches went over this with him, analyzing game tape, and in the speed of the game, he is just unable to see the openings that develop for bigger gains. (Or maybe is unable to make those sorts of change of direction).
None of these increase his explosiveness which is what PR has cited as his weakness. As far as vision, that is something I feel either you have or you don't. As soon as you have to think about it, you're too late.
