I think it’s pretty clear at this point that Whaley just isn’t ready for primetime yet. And it’s not like we need him, Rawleigh Williams has been a workhorse for us. We basically just had one workhorse back last year in Alex Collins, and that worked out just fine. And y’all do realize Williams was rated almost as highly as Whaley was coming out of high school, right? But y’all act like Whaley’s the second coming of Darren McFadden, which he isn’t. I’m sure he’ll get more playing time as warranted, but I don’t think the fans or coaches should be so quick to force him into action when he’s not ready. And Williams has done nothing to show that he can’t carry the mail all year if necessary, and that would be an even better story, considering he’s coming back from a career-threatening injury.
How can you be clear from something you haven’t seen? The reason why more people want to see Whaley is two fold. 1. Kody Walker is a darn FB. KW should not be getting more carries than Whaley. 2. You don’t start giving this kid a chance he will transfer. It’s one thing to have that caliber of a back from high school and he has gotten plenty of carries and doesn’t look good. But it’s another to not give the kid enough ample opportunity to show what he has on the field. All we keep hearing from the coaches how great he is in practice and from the media…If he is so great in practice why not give him more carries??? No one is saying start him but give the kid the rock. Again, you don’t know rather the kid is ready or not. One thing I know about BB is he likes to hold kids back and let the upper classman play. Forget that…give the kid the rock.
I have not heard it. Regardless Whaley is playing some and will play more as he gets more experience. Whaley may play a lot this next game, especially if Arkansas can move the ball on the ground and runs a lot.
How do you know that he is not the next??? This kid was ranked in Texas and balled out in the highest classification in the state, so that along tells me that he has the skill set to play big in the SEC. and Rawleigh, did not have the offers that he had coming out of HS, so let’s just sit back and let the kid get a chance
Actually, we do need him. Collins did great last year, but it would have been better for the team if JW could have shared carries. IF AC went down, both he and AR would have been in trouble. The SEC schedule is brutal, and as happened with RWII last year, a good back is only one hit away from serious injury. We need to be able to spell these guys. Their bodies need it.
Whaley will get his carries and he is not transferring. KW is a bruiser that is pounding the defense. The running game is coming along better than expected. I’m sure a lot of us had doubts about RWIII coming off that bad injury but he is running like the back we had hoped. Also expect Hammonds to get some carries. This game will be a run ground and pound . they may score is 2:00 but that will put their defense out on the field again for another 10 play 5:00 drive. I expect AA to attempt 15 passes off play action.
If e practices better, he will play. Young players tend to struggle in pass pro. The last thing we need now is another weak link in pass pro.