I think outside of finding Backus successor at Left Tackle, the last piece on our offense is a power back. So to start it out, I'd like to start with John Clay. Just seeing him take it no. 1 ranked Ohio State today, and I'm sold.



He's the ideal power back in the upcoming draft. At 6'-1" 248 Pounds, he pounds defenses for yardage and touchdowns.

Here's his game by game stats up to this point.

DATE OPP RESULT ATT YDS AVG LNG TD REC YDS AVG LNG TD FUM LST
9/4 @UNLV W 41-21 17 123 7.2 19 2 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0
9/11 San Jose State W 27-14 23 137 6.0 40 2 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0
9/18 Arizona State W 20-19 22 123 5.6 19 1 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0
9/25 Austin Peay W 70-3 15 118 7.9 17 1 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0
10/2 @Michigan State L 34-24 17 80 4.7 18 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0
10/9 Minnesota W 41-23 21 111 5.3 13 3 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0

At this point he's almost at 100 yards in the half and has 2 touchdowns against The Ohio State Buckeyes.

Only if he isn't Ron Dayne II.

Looked great running through holes the size of dump trucks. I'm not sold on him at the next level, he'll be Ron Dayne 2.0...He didn't look great running the ball IMO, everyone would look good in those wholes. I think his talents would not show up in the NFL where LBers are his size. I'm not sold...

I usually get this thought about any player coming out of Wisconsin.

Since I've always been a fan of the big, powerful, bruising type RBs, I like the idea, but it depends upon where he'll go in the draft. He doesn't seem to me like someone who will go in the first two rounds due to a lack of versatility, but I could see spending a late 3rd/early 4th on him.

I agree with Sly. He'll be a day 2 pick, unless the NFL jacks around the schedule of the draft again and makes it a week long affair.

I'd possibly invest a 3rd, but I'm not sold. Its not a dire need. I think we'd get better production out of another LB. We've had problems running on 3rd and short, but i think its been more about play calling then it has been the personnel. Why is best running on 3rd when the line is stacked? Use Felton or Suh if you have him in the package. If the CB's are lined up off, throw a quick hitch or WR screen.

A power back almost wouldn't fit in the system, unless it was someone that was a serious recieving threat or great blocker. If they became predictable that when he's on the field, we're running, then we're not going to get the 1st anyway. You can't go 2 rbs and 2 TE's unless you only go 1 wide. If they used best in the slot in those situations, it could work though. Its an option, but our defense needs more depth first.

Come to think of it, I've probably seen John Clay about 6 times the last two years and I don't think I've ever seen him catch a pass. I'm not saying that he hasn't, but it seems like he isn't utilized in the passing game at all. If that's the case, he could drop even further.

I just don't know what about him is so special to be honest. White the true freshman was running all over OSU as well. That guy is going to be a BEAST in the Big Ten for years. If anyone watched, Clay wasn't bulling people over, he was hitting the WIDE pen holes created by Wisconsin putting a hat on every defender and winning each battle. The holes were the size of Mac trucks, which you need to get Clay's gut through the hole anyways. He is not going to do much in the NFL and I would be weary of spending a single pick on the guy. I certainly would not support anything more than a 7th rounder (as I feel 7th rounders are a shot in the dark anyways).

I really like Trent Richardson. I wonder where he'll go in the draft. I doubt he'll fall out of the first round but he'd look great in Honolulu blue

If you could grab a talented power back in the 4th, take him. Don't know where Clay winds up, however.

its not gonna matter what you put in the backfield on short yardage when the offensive line gets beat off the ball every time and allows defenders to hit the back as soon as he takes the handoff in the back field.

Exactly. Backus and Raiola were never great run blockers to begin with. A power back won't make that much difference in this offense because there aren't holes for the power back (or the scat back for that matter) to run through.

Agreed.

Wow im kinda suprised at all the Ron Dayne haters. Man, talk about one amazing talent at RB. If John Clay WERE Ron Dayne id definately be more excited about him. Dayne was just never used correctly in new york. it was quite sad i thought. He cold have been a special player. Clay is OK

He tends to get tripped up in "garbage" to much for my liking in a short yardage back. He needs to get those knees up and run through the hole with authority like Bettis,Shon Greene, and even Ron Dayne.