RB preview

Our last unit preview brings us to the Running Backs or lack there of.

Last year KU lost some games because they couldn't run the ball and they didn't know who to give the ball to.

The Joc Crawford experiment ended with him running a teammate over with a car and him coming roughly 1,800 yards short of his goal of 2K.

So who's left after Angus Quigley moved to LB.

Well...
Jake Sharp-
Coming off back to back 800 yard seasons and the best shovel pass catcher in the nation, Sharp will shoulder the load for the first time.
That he got 800 yards at all last year is a shocker considering he lost carries to Crawford to Quigley early on but in conference play he was amongst the best and gets some blogger brownie points for playing against the slavers with broken ribs.

Assuming he stays healthy he should notch 1,000 yards and be an occasional threat in the passing games with shovel passes and wheel routes.

Toben Opurum-
Chose KU over Notre Dame and others and fits the bill of the big back to a T.
If he can come in this year, as a true FR, and grasp the play book and work hard he'll up the wattage on KU's bright future.
Another major benefit of getting a 4 star guy like Toben is the fact that he didn't take a lot of hits in HS so he comes to Mt. Oread very fresh.
I'd look for him to play a lot in non conference and if all goes well be the guy that is counted on to spell Sharp.

Rell Lewis-
The former WR turned Spring game breakout RB (he played the spring game on a partially torn ACL and had surgery afterwards) showed he can play a bit.
He was recruited as an ATH and you can tell when he has the ball in space.
The big questions for him are his health and experience. I don't think he is a 'big' back per se which is preferable to compliment Sharp but somebody else is going to get carries and it very well could be him.

Deshaun Sands-
Other than being the son of Tuxedo Tony all we really know about him is he is small.
I doubt he sees the field this year but after a RS year he could be a Jake Sharp like back.

While this unit is thin and inexperienced I think its an upgrade from last year.
Sharp is going to be looking to have a strong senior year and get drafted while Opurum is going to try his best to be a faster B-mac (he's wearing 35 too just so the LJW doesn't have to work too hard for an easy story).
Look for this unit to produce this year and make TR5's job even easier.

Rock Chalk
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