Spotlight on TB Ty Isaac
"Isaac, 6-3, 228 pounds, said he was surprised that he got the call on a play designed for a "speed back" but was pleased to hear his number called.
"Everybody got to their assignments and did their jobs," said Isaac, "and it opened up. Just as far as contributing, it felt good. I'd been here for a year without playing and did a lot of practice squad stuff. I know that stuff helps the team, but it feels a lot better when you can put it on the scoreboard and help your team win."
He sat out last season after transferring to Michigan from Southern Cal.
Isaac, who finished with eight carries for 114 yards Saturday, has great potential. He was a five-star recruit, and USA Today named him the second-team tailback on its All-America team."
Source: mgoblue.com, 9/19/2015, Steve Kornacki
http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/091915aad.html
September 21st, 2015 at 12:02 AM ^
You want us to run the ball 45-53 times with just those 3 guys?
Against UNLV those 3 guys had a total of 26 carries. Against Oregon State, those 3 had 30 carries, and even if you add in Green's carries, you'd only get up to 38. They're not going to get 50 carries against BYU.
September 20th, 2015 at 11:23 AM ^
September 20th, 2015 at 11:29 AM ^
No. See my comment above.
September 20th, 2015 at 8:04 PM ^
Well, you've got that last part right, anyway. You are lost.
September 20th, 2015 at 2:05 PM ^
September 20th, 2015 at 7:20 PM ^
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September 20th, 2015 at 11:17 AM ^
Isaac needs to get down the blocking aspect of RB before he can be the starter and so far he hasn't showed he's great at that. There's a reason Smith has been the RB on 3rd downs or the one who stays in to block before slipping out to make a reception even though Isaac is the better reciever. He has great potential but things like that will limit his snaps until he gets them corrected.
September 20th, 2015 at 12:02 PM ^
He did really well on blocks yesterday. I'll take an improving RB blocker with great skill and vision than a bulldozer who won't do much against the stronger competition we have coming up. If we are to be a run-first team, then play the run-first best option.
September 20th, 2015 at 11:17 AM ^
September 20th, 2015 at 11:43 AM ^
he has worse vision and foot speed than Smith and close to no balance. Somebody of his size should be running people over, but that rarely, if ever, happens. He's the #4 RB, Outside of injuries and or a blow out, I don't expect to see a lot of him.
September 20th, 2015 at 12:08 PM ^
To you, he has worse vision and speed, and to others, he does not. Green has no leg drive, but he has much better vision. He cuts, perhaps, a little too much. He has change of direction skills, but less balance, as you state. He's not as good at blocking, and perhaps he is down on the depth chart because he doesn't have the personal, day to day effort that Harbaugh expects.
September 20th, 2015 at 12:08 PM ^
To you, he has worst vision and speed, and to others, he does not. Green has no leg drive, but he has much better vision. He cuts, perhaps, a little too much. He has change of direction skills, but less balance, as you state. He's not as good at blocking, and perhaps he is down on the depth chart because he doesn't have the personal, day to day effort that Harbaugh expects.
September 20th, 2015 at 12:18 PM ^
September 20th, 2015 at 9:52 PM ^
with big running backs that went down easier than Vincent Smith.
Did you forget to watch football for a few years?
September 21st, 2015 at 12:05 AM ^
Dude was a tough SOB. It wasn't his fault that Hoke though it was a good idea to continually run him up the middle on 3rd and 1 into 8 & 9-men in the box.
September 20th, 2015 at 12:16 PM ^
Still think johnson and isaac are the best we have. Smith has a great game agianst the beavers but hes still having trouble finding the holes to run through. We should discuss this again in 4 weeks
September 20th, 2015 at 12:20 PM ^
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September 20th, 2015 at 12:44 PM ^
September 21st, 2015 at 12:06 AM ^
Smith is probably the best at turning a 3-4 yard play into a 7-8 yard play. But his upside is limited. He isn't going to give us many big plays. He's not a home-run hitter at all.
That can be useful, but it's good to have guys who can hit homeruns too.
September 20th, 2015 at 12:21 PM ^
I know this post is about Isaac who looked real good, but man the burst Drake shows is unmatched. I'm cautiously optimistic about our run game going forward
September 21st, 2015 at 9:02 AM ^
September 20th, 2015 at 12:26 PM ^
Start him
September 20th, 2015 at 12:39 PM ^
September 20th, 2015 at 7:18 PM ^
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September 20th, 2015 at 12:42 PM ^
I was impressed with Isaac's speed after the great stiff arm on his TD run. Hopefully that will help when we get him more involved in the passing game. Let's face it, our passing game is going to be centered around short passes, so we need guys who can break tackles and gain chunks of yards after the catch.
September 20th, 2015 at 10:16 PM ^
A few complained that he's slow (I think someone said "slowest 70+ yard run ever" in the game thread), but I think it just looks that way because he's so big - no one was catching him. He might not be a 4.4 burner, but neither are a lot of the big backs. But they can still get plenty of yards.
September 21st, 2015 at 12:09 AM ^
I don't know how slow UNLV is, but it sure didn't look like anyone was gaining much ground on him on that run. He's not Wheatley, but honestly, outside of Biakabutuka, who has been?
September 20th, 2015 at 1:04 PM ^
September 20th, 2015 at 1:13 PM ^
and I probably am, but I would love to see Ty switched to H-back, so we can have him and Smith on the field at the same time. With Drake Johnson getting healthier and healthier, maybe we can see that move?
September 20th, 2015 at 1:36 PM ^
September 20th, 2015 at 7:17 PM ^
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September 20th, 2015 at 9:23 PM ^
big, fast, can motion into the back field as a RB, be used on the field w/ Smith, etc etc...I don't really see a downside of moving him to H-Back...oh and Harbuagh is his coach, so I'm pretty sure he'd find him ways to get him the ball...
September 21st, 2015 at 6:02 AM ^
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September 21st, 2015 at 10:36 AM ^
35 more carries and there's a reason why he's the starter. Don't get me wrong, Isaac had an awesome game and I'm not discounting that he may be better than Smith, but if we can use both of them on the field at the same time? That's where the upside is. There's so many things you can do with both Ty and Deveon on the field at the same time, it would just add another wrinkle, and a highly impactful one, that teams have to prepare for.
September 21st, 2015 at 11:24 AM ^
I wouldn't be opposed to seeing certain packages where they're on the field at the same time, but Isaac shouldn't "move" (a.k.a. change positions) to H-back. That would be silly. And I would rather see Smith lead blocking for Isaac than the other way around.
September 21st, 2015 at 11:49 AM ^
specific packages would make sense. I just love the idea of those two on the field at the same time and given Harbaugh's crazy pre-snap motion, could really confuse a defense with those two
September 20th, 2015 at 1:26 PM ^
September 20th, 2015 at 3:12 PM ^
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September 20th, 2015 at 7:16 PM ^
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September 20th, 2015 at 1:39 PM ^
September 20th, 2015 at 2:13 PM ^
September 20th, 2015 at 2:52 PM ^
And I think that we can see some big numbers for yards gained.
Rotate him with Drake for a different 1 - 2 punch.
Green or Smith to H-back as I think their time is dwindling as feature running back.
September 20th, 2015 at 3:37 PM ^
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September 20th, 2015 at 9:14 PM ^
September 20th, 2015 at 11:20 PM ^
I haven't been able to watch the game yet but I've seen Ty's run and a few other plays. Ty didn't look fast to me on the big run and he hasn't looked fast to me in the previous games. I don't understand people calling him fast and he agrees with me and said so in a very matter of fact way.
I haven't had the chance to see any of Drake's runs yet, but if some of you are right that he has all his speed, burst & moves back then there's no contest between him and the other 3 in my book other than in certain situations when you want a Smith battering ram.
Smith is probably better suited at fullback/H back. However Sione might be better there than Smith because he can probably batter as ram-ishly but also has a quick side step/shift to allow him to keep running sometimes.
But the reality is probably that none of those guys is the best running back on this team. That would probably be Jabrill Peppers.
I saw his punt return, and his kick return last week, and the other guys just don't have what he has. I know what most of you will say, but I think his addition to the offense would far outweigh his contributions to the defense at this point.
The offense desperately needs his game breaking, game changing ability and would see it's effects on every play. On defense, his coverage isn't that solid yet and his big play ability has only shown a couple or three times so far.
The defense is deep and good & would still be good without him. Of course he can still play both ways anyway and if you want to keep him full time on D he can still play some offense too but not full time.
I think between the extra yards, the extra 1st downs and extra TD's I believe he would provide over whatever other back or receiver would be in his place, and how much attention would be paid to him by the defense opening up everything else, it would have a dramatic effect on our point production and time of possession. Those things will help the defense as well.
The dropoff if he wasn't playing D or wasn't playing it full time, wouldn't be as great as the benefits of him on offense, as the offense is currently made up and playing anyway.
It could be the difference in being able to win these next few games. He can always go back to defense when the O is ready to play well enough without him.
September 21st, 2015 at 6:06 AM ^
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September 21st, 2015 at 9:57 AM ^
At least that's what the eyes tell me. Isaac is also one of those guys that just doesn't "look" fast.
Green and D Johnson have good bursts; drake also with top speed. Mike Hart was a good burst guy w/o great top speed.
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September 21st, 2015 at 9:11 AM ^
It seemed like Isaac tried to avoid contact at the start of the season at Utah but is now transitioning into imposing his strength and size on the defense. The team keeps improving week to week and its something we haven't seen in quite some time.
September 21st, 2015 at 9:26 AM ^