Days Til Football: 52.
Who did it last year? "Starting superback" is sort of an oxymoron, because it's a position that means multiple things and requires a decent amount of depth, especially considering that goal line sets will often have three of them, one as a fullback and two as tight ends. But, Josh Rooks and Brendan Mitchell both caught TD passes in goal line sets as tight end-y superbacks, while Mark Woodsum appeared out of the backfield a lot as a blocker.
Who will do it this year? Because this post just wasn't boring enough, pretty much the same guys. The only difference is the addition of Drake Dunsmore, who showed flashes of good athleticism as a true freshman before missing last year with an injury. He strikes me more of a RB/WR cross than a FB/TE cross superbacks are supposed to resemble, but he's a "superback" because he's too big to be a regular running back and probably too slow to be a regular wide reciever, but he's got the speed and catching ability that hopefully can make a difference out of the backfield, especially with our confusing RB situation. I'd expect everybody mentioned so far to get some playing time, with Rooks acting more like a true tight end and Dunsmore maybe more like a fullback/second running back, with everybody else getting in on goal line sets.
Song that this position inherently reminds me of due to its name: Included due to the Toto incident in last week's O-Line post. Today, here's Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly", from the movie of the same name, which, incidentally, told the story of a young Mark Woodsum (played by Ron O'Neal) and his life as a cocaine dealer. It's a pretty great song/album, with a really mediocre movie.
Who else we got?
Senior Brendan Mitchell has already been mentioned, but I feel the need to point out that as a beat writer, I noticed that for whatever reason, he's consistently the loudest supporter at any given NU softball game. Your guess is as good as mine.
RS Freshman Brett Nagel was a high school quarterback, which makes me wonder why he isn't playing wide receiver for us like every other high school quarterback in the United States. He was also a highly touted linebacker, but, hey, superback.
John Plasencia is not yet a freshman, but is already a TPD legend as the GTEOATU19.
So, yeah. From here on out, it's football time.
This will certainly be a solid unit. How they're going to be incorporated into the Kafka-led offense, we'll just have to see.
ReplyDeleteIf it's any indicator, Josh Rooks is one of only two current wildcats to have caught a Mike Kafka TD, it happened on a goal line play against Minnesota last year. Probably should've mentioned that in the post.
ReplyDeleteAnd hey, thanks for ending like a two-week long commenting drought.