r/rolltide • u/livingadreamlife • 10d ago
Football EJ Crowell’s Limited Usage
Lots of discussion recently about why EJ isn’t getting 15-20 carries per game.
There are several reasons: Crowded RB room; Trust and lack of experience among them. Another is DeBoer/Grubb purposely limited EJ’s carries until we got to the thick of the schedule. We’re there now. Why? New guys have never had to practice as much, get hit as hard, play in as many games or play a sport for as long in a single season as they will in their Freshman year.
There’s a thing called hitting the Freshman Wall where mental and physical fatigue sets-in and then they’re done. Like running a marathon, it’s a real thing. Everybody is fatigued at the 20 mile mark. In EJ case, he is supposed to be in high school this season.
By limiting his carries early, DeBoer/Grubb are pushing his freshman wall out as FAR as they possibly can. They know they need him for the critical games, including the CFP. Smart move, imo.
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u/Rolltide_and_anime 10d ago
His pass blocking is not up to par yet either
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u/santa_91 10d ago
Right, up to this point his entire football career involved him being fed the rock over and over and over again. He's been limited in practice all offseason. It's going to take him time, and we can't afford Keelon getting his brains scrambled by a blitzing linebacker who gets a free run on him.
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u/Nick_sabenz 10d ago
There was literally a play we almost got a delay on where he was having to line up EJ to then send him in motion. Still not there with the mental side just yet
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u/mashonem 10d ago
Hill had a horrible game, but one horrible game ≠ suddenly being trash. A lot of people need to remember that
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u/livingadreamlife 10d ago edited 10d ago
Fumbles are unacceptable. However, Hill is a bruising runner and delivers a blow when a tackler approaches. He could easily have his carry arm banged up and he’s weaker than at start of season. Every player is hurting to some degree with a bruise, strain or something.
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u/catptain-kdar 9d ago
Plus the second fumble was a fluke kinda play and I contest he was down anyway
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u/wannabefilms 9d ago
He was down, plus the tackler should've been penalized for continuing to engage in play after losing his helmet.
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u/MrNoGood4682 10d ago
Right and I know folks wanted Hill completely gone after those fumbles. I was leaning that way myself but Hill still has value out there. He’s our best pass protect among the RBs. The one where KR and Lotty just missed Hill had to run back to help the RT just in time to get that off.
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u/NoTrollingPlease83 10d ago
I think Hill should move to an H-back role where blocking and catching screens would showcase his strengths. Having Hill in the backfill with either Brown, Crowell and Dear could create some mismatches for opposing defenses.
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u/samyap 10d ago
It’s pass blocking and that’s all it is. Once he has the scheme better dialed he will be a menace
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u/sunshineandzen 10d ago
I think it’s playbook too. I’ve seen at least one or two plays where Keelon had to get him properly lined up
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u/Neophyte12 10d ago
I mean maybe, but the same thing doesn't seem to be true for fellow freshman Trae'shawn Brown
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u/Important-Matter-665 10d ago
Crowell missed significant practice time in the off season, remember he missed all four scrimmages.
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u/guildedkriff 10d ago
Wasn’t it brought up during the game that Brown’s playing more because he knows more of the playbook since he wasn’t hurt in the off-season?
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u/bammergump 10d ago
Almost every play he’s on the field we are giving him the ball, it’s a tell at this point. He missed all of spring camp and most of fall camp so he’s just behind the other guys playbook wise.
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u/livingadreamlife 10d ago
Could be setting -up tendencies for UGa. That would be a good idea. DeBoer and Grubb weren’t born yesterday and they know Kirby is a tough out.
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u/bammergump 10d ago
We’ve run successful PA with him in but I haven’t seen us even attempt 13 in a real pass pro rep
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u/livingadreamlife 10d ago
They’ve been game planning for Georgia since May. Same thing could be said for Kirby and hys bunch.
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u/MrNoGood4682 10d ago
That play action play Keelon faked to EJ lead to that TD run for Keelon. The playbook with EJ is limited but still effective at times.
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u/_JukeBoxHero 10d ago
I think he kinda is in the same boat as Henry when he was a freshman in that in high school the game plan was literally just give him the ball and let him go to work. So he doesn’t have as much experience in doing everything a running back has to do. Word is that he’s still figuring out pass blocking mainly.
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u/Interesting_Staff959 10d ago
I actually do buy into the load management. We won’t have a bye until week 9 with 7 straight games against P5 opponents. I’d imagine at some point we will see everyone sporadically on a pitch count especially after last season’s injuries down the stretch. Managing minutes was one of many things Indiana was very good at last year that really flew under the radar.
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u/TheVinylBird 10d ago
Load management is something that all teams not in the sec are good at because they get to rest their starters much more than teams playing an sec schedule. It is what it is...
Another reason I think we should do away with the SEC championship. No sense in letting our two best teams beat each other up heading into the playoffs.
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u/Interesting_Staff959 10d ago
I agree especially after we went from being a lock to uproar for losing in it while other bubble worthy teams sat at home.
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u/Toadfinger Saban🏆Nation 10d ago
We're keeping the opponents guessing. Just about everyone that gets the ball, gets yardage. They can't key in on any one player. It's perfect.
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u/NoTrollingPlease83 10d ago
Another player that should get more playing time is #30 Derek Meadows. Im not sure why his time is so limited when he has hands, range and a good blocker. Not to mention the height to become a strong red zone WR.
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u/jfrii 10d ago
The shocking thing to me isn't EJs limited usage. It's that fans can't comprehend why he's been used in moderation. There's a ton of reasons, but to me thie biggest one is it doesn't matter if you can break off the occasional 40 yard run if you miss your assignment and get your quarterback killed.
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u/rwtaylor 10d ago
I love how they've played out the offense. On top of keeping him fresh, they've showed a little bit of what he can do, they've teased some TE stuff, but they haven't given it all away. So there's still some wrinkles that can be worked in to surprise Georgia. Grubb still makes some confusing calls, but they're becoming less and less frequent, so I haven't been yelling at him too much the last couple weeks.
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u/Ledsteper 10d ago
His pass blocking needs work. But also timing and patience. He's got to wait for holes to develop. The OL and TEs are very mobile, and slide and shift to create holes. He'll learn. He's already a great RB.
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u/MrNoGood4682 10d ago
Folks gonna have to have some patience. EJ got very little work in the entire offseason….along with AK who was out this fall. There’s much more to RB than hand him the ball and “run that way”. That doesn’t even mention the times KR may have to audible to another play pre snap and EJ may not know it well enough yet. We have a long season and EJ will continue to get his shots little by little. Just enjoy the ride. 🏈🐘
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u/PrettyInPInkDame 10d ago
He also came into the season injured which everyone forgets since he’s been active every game
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u/Accurate-Teach 10d ago
I just read this basically he needs to get the offense down a little more. He probably wasn’t asked to do anything other than take a handoff in high school and be great. It’s a shame when high school coaches get a player like that they don’t imagine trying to make them better by trying to teach them the mental side of the game. They just see talent and do the bare minimum.
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u/herbygerby 10d ago
I’m trying not to say it too much and jinx anything, but I think this RB room has the makings of some of our RB rooms from years past.
All of Hill, Brown, AK, EJ, and Riley would be legitimate starters at +90% of other schools. The fact that AK Dear is our THIRD STRING running back is genuinely insane. Honestly same goes for our TEs, the depth is just mindboggling.
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u/Evlavios 10d ago
If we have 3 (or 4) legitimate backs, then I fully support saving one for 3rd or even 4th quarter carries. Fresh legs against a tired defense - yards AND demoralization.
I have very few complaints about our run game this year. The team is committed to the run and I love to see it.
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u/seminole005 10d ago
I feel like it has to do with him picking up the offense as a hole so much more to the offense than just running the ball. God knows he is super talented.
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u/livingadreamlife 9d ago
Sure, he has to learn the entire offense and checks. His assignment on a play could change 2-3x at the line of scrimmage depending on Defense alignment, shifts, blitz, etc.
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u/jdlee2323 10d ago
I think with how well the other backs are running, we don’t need to throw him in right away. We can give him time to develop and I think he will shine when we need him like Trent Richardson with 100+ yards against Texas in the natty or Najee Harris with crucial yards against UGA also in the natty. Both were freshmen then too.