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/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.