Roberts is 5'8''. Anderson has struggled holding on to the ball. Shuler has dropped many passes and some punts. Acker is 5'9''. Vault has struggled on the jet sweep and running routes. Vitale has been banged up and has dropped passes as well.
They're talented guys, but all of them have negatives, whether it's measurables or performance.
Are you saying that NU should move to a pro style offense with Roberts or Acker as Jackson's backup at tailback?
Also, are you crazy? This group is not as talented as the 1995 backfield, the 2000 backfield, or the 2002/2003 backfield.
The 2002 backfield had Jason Wright, Noah Herron, Ashton Aikens, Kevin Lawrence, and Mr. Football Ohio, Jeff Backes.
Even 2006 had a good group: Tyrell Sutton, Terrell Jordan, Omar Conteh, and Brandon Roberson.
I'm not sure I know what you are talking about. Over the last few days, I have suggested that Fitz wants a power running game. And, that we are now past the ugly stage and in fact do have a power running game that seems to be fairly successful. I've also said that throughout McCall's history, he has never been a power running game OC where a back gets the ball 30 times a game and leads a conference, much less a nation in touches. So, if we keep McCall, then he needs to take some coaching seminars on how to play to win with this power running offense. And, I have mentioned that we found success with 2 running backs this year, in the backfield at the same time. I think my only suggestion this whole week has been to further develop a 2 back system, AND, that we have the talent to do so with Long....who runs like wright, and catches like herron and blocks like Hardl. Where have we seen this before? Oh yeah, Herron and Jordan were a two back set.
As far as comparing RB depth. You are comparing underclassmen at this point so I don't think any comparison is fair. True, Walker could always get a solid RB to come here. Some who were also in the classes you mentioned but didn't name were Chris Brown, Dan Pohlman, Jordan, Clifton someone. But at the end of the day, Lawrence was ok, Jordan was a hard worker but nothing wow, Backes was moved to defense along with Pohlman, Aikens was interesting but his talent was moved to wide receiver since we were deep at RB's.
That said, the present team can compare competitively to any of those teams without taking anything away from either team.
Jackson is our bread and butter and is running behind the cruddiest OL than Wright, Herron, DA1, DA2 ran behind, and is not only just as big a workhorse but may break all the NU records. So, not sure who will match up to Juice once he is done. Certainly, Juice has had better underclassman seasons that all of those you mentioned. Long is a load, an absolute beast. He is a quicker version of Herron. Barely ever loses a yard, and has the best hands on the team. So, again, not sure what you mean, but give Long 2 more years. Anderson is still a freshman so give him time. You mention Backes, he was really something but the RB's were deep that year so he was moved to D. Similar thing happened with this team. Again, we have Ohio's #1 rated RB, Keith Watkins, who had offers from PAC10, SEC, BIG, Big 8, ACC, etc and definitely could have competed, but he is now a stud on defense. So, I differ mightedly from your opinion, I think we have done just as good as Walker recruiting RB's and dare I say better? Let's not even mention where Moten and Larkin fit in at. Dude, get real! We will have like 6 solid RB's on this roster next year. How many solid wr can we mention??