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Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - AthleticsDynasty - 08-09-2013

I know right now the talk is RB by committee but I think Wilkerson could take over the position. Hopefully the OL can blast holes open the way they did in 2009 and 2010. Anthony Wilkerson is bigger, has better speed and acceleration than Taylor. But doesn't have Taylor's vision or leg drive. Taylor was perfect for last year but I think Wilkerson might better this year

Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - Bruce Wang - 08-09-2013

Kid who worked for me a couple summers ago played against Wilkerson in high school.  He said Wilkerson was "untackleable".  Of course that was back in high school and Wilkerson was the Orange County running back of the decade.  Anyhow, I do think injury has held him back and he will have a great season along with Gaffney.

Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - washingtonismoney - 08-09-2013

I think Gaffney will end up shouldering the lion's haul of the carries.

Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - dabigv13 - 08-09-2013

I want Wilkerson to have a breakout season, because I think he has the most prototypical blend of size and speed on our roster. Taylor's gift was that he could hit the hole fast when he needed to, or he could be patient when he needed to. Wilkerson doesn't quite have that calculus down yet.

Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - StannyBoy - 08-09-2013

(08-09-2013, 03:21 PM)washingtonismoney link Wrote:I think Gaffney will end up shouldering the lion's haul of the carries.

I agree. He's bigger and faster than Wilkerson so I'm hoping he finally has his breakout year now that he's done with baseball. But I do love Wilkerson and I think his upside is as high as Gaffney's.

Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - needle - 08-10-2013

Can he stay healthy? That's the biggest question I have about Wilk, and Gaffney as well.



Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - GoodGrief - 08-10-2013

(08-09-2013, 05:30 PM)dabigv link Wrote:I want Wilkerson to have a breakout season, because I think he has the most prototypical blend of size and speed on our roster. Taylor's gift was that he could hit the hole fast when he needed to, or he could be patient when he needed to. Wilkerson doesn't quite have that calculus down yet.

Totally agree. It seems to me that Stepfan and Toby had the patience to wait an extra moment for the hole to develop and then make their move. Wilkerson always seems to be in a hurry, and sometimes seems like he's right on the blockers' heels. But you take his speed, size, and quick acceleration, and he could be really special. I've been a big fan of his since his frosh game against ASU. We were up 4 points with 1:30 left in the game; Wilkerson broke free for what could have been an easy touchdown run, but instead he sat down on the 4 yard-line so that we could control the ball and run the clock out. I'm really hoping Wilkerson gets to be The Man this year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnHo7thDmNc


Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - Bruce Wang - 08-11-2013

(08-10-2013, 07:38 PM)GoodGrief link Wrote:We were up 4 points with 1:30 left in the game; Wilkerson broke free for what could have been an easy touchdown run, but instead he sat down on the 4 yard-line so that we could control the ball and run the clock out. I'm really hoping Wilkerson gets to be The Man this year.

I didn't see this game and did not know about this.  Thanks for posting.  Heady play and he got a well deserved sideline response.  There are grown ass men who play the game professionally that don't have the sense to do the same thing ability to follow instructions in the situation.

Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - fullmetal - 08-12-2013

I remember that game...that was the same one where Luck threw a deep, deep completion while falling to his knees, right?

Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - FarmBoy - 08-12-2013

Quote:I remember that game...that was the same one where Luck threw a deep, deep completion while falling to his knees, right?

That's the one. It was the tightest game of the year, outside of the loss to Oregon and the game against US.C that came down to the final drive. The ASU D played tough and made a difficult day of it for Luck and the offense.

Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - oman - 08-12-2013

I was at that game.  I had to scratch my head for a bit and my wife was furious (she is a run up the score kind of gal).  The ASU alums in the box I was in just kind of gave a little "yeah, you guys are smarter than us" grin and started saying their goodbyes.

Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - JohnR34231 - 08-12-2013

(08-11-2013, 07:10 AM)Publius link Wrote:[quote author=GoodGrief link=topic=8206.msg65499#msg65499 date=1376188716]
We were up 4 points with 1:30 left in the game; Wilkerson broke free for what could have been an easy touchdown run, but instead he sat down on the 4 yard-line so that we could control the ball and run the clock out. I'm really hoping Wilkerson gets to be The Man this year.

I didn't see this game and did not know about this.  Thanks for posting.  Heady play and he got a well deserved sideline response.  There are grown ass men who play the game professionally that don't have the sense to do the same thing in the situation.
[/quote]

Not to belittle Wilkerson's savvy, but IIRC he said after the game that he had been told by Harbaugh to do this.

Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - TreeWeird - 08-12-2013

(08-12-2013, 12:37 PM)JPRI link Wrote:[quote author=Publius link=topic=8206.msg65509#msg65509 date=1376230240]
[quote author=GoodGrief link=topic=8206.msg65499#msg65499 date=1376188716]
We were up 4 points with 1:30 left in the game; Wilkerson broke free for what could have been an easy touchdown run, but instead he sat down on the 4 yard-line so that we could control the ball and run the clock out. I'm really hoping Wilkerson gets to be The Man this year.

I didn't see this game and did not know about this.  Thanks for posting.  Heady play and he got a well deserved sideline response.  There are grown ass men who play the game professionally that don't have the sense to do the same thing in the situation.
[/quote]

Not to belittle Wilkerson's savvy, but IIRC he said after the game that he had been told by Harbaugh to do this.
[/quote]


Reference to JH's instructions here:  http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Stanford-has-devil-of-a-time-but-wins-17-13-3166430.php

Loved Wilkerson ever since.  How easy it would have been to get caught up in the moment.  Great discipline.  The article linked above reminds me how Wilkerson's discipline revealed a great contrast with a team (Dennis-Erickson-coached ASU) whose star defensive player seemed incapable of showing discipline (Vontaze Burfict) in this game and otherwise.






Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - Rando - 08-12-2013

I think Wilkerson has great talent physically, I think he might be bigger, faster,  and stronger than Taylor. But so fat Taylor just has proven to be better at following blocks and gaining yards.

This is going to be a rough year for some of our running backs. Not everyone will be happy with the amount of carries i imagine. Gaffney, Wilkerson,  Seale, Wright, Sanders all seem to have starting capability.

Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - rudruff - 08-12-2013

Hopefully it means they stay healthy.

Recruiting RBs seems to have changed a bit over the last few years. Players understand the health risks with being the only guy. Getting to the NFL while splitting the load is a lot more appealing than getting their with chronic injuries.

Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - FarmBoy - 08-13-2013

SFGate has an article on the RB position going into camp

I didn't realize Gaffney was still part of the Pirates. I wonder what his future prospects in baseball are if he's taking this time off. Shaw seems to think Gaffney is an NFL prospect:

Quote:He remains a valued prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates' organization.

After Monday's practice, Shaw said, "I think Tyler always knew there would be an opportunity for him to come back. I personally thought it would take two years before he made that decision, and he played well in baseball, very well. But when it's all said and done, he's going to play football for pay in the future."

Quote:Shaw hinted that the No. 3 man on his depth chart would be senior Ricky Seale

And since Sanders HAS to be discussed whenever RB comes up:

Quote:Wilkerson was a bit more expansive. "Seen a lot of good stuff from Barry," he said. "Honestly, he's just like his father. He jukes like his father. There's an awful lot of talent around here."

Personally, I used to be rooting for Wilkerson to win the starting job after Toby left, as I thought he showed more signs of big play ability than Taylor. But I've given up on rooting for specific players to win the starting role and am just excited to see who emerges and what Shaw does to maximize the talent on the field.

Yeah, it was a shame... - Redrum - 08-13-2013

...that Stanford's all-time rushing leader stole time from a more worthy Wilkerson,  depriving him of the chance to really show what he could do.  Well, Wilk,  showtime is now.  You're healthy.  Behind what looks to be a better OL than last year.    As far as speed goes,  is Gaffney really faster than Wilk?  My impression was Gaffney's gifts were ability to read, use his blockers and find space inside...plus the strength to take hits and get tough yards when it looked like the play was closing down.

Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - GoodGrief - 08-13-2013

(08-12-2013, 08:10 PM)Rando90 link Wrote:so fat Taylor

I'm pretty sure that this is the first time in history that Stepfan has been described thusly (I know it's just a typo, but it's an amusing one)

Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - StannyBoy - 08-13-2013

(08-13-2013, 05:32 AM)FarmBoy link Wrote:SFGate has an article on the RB position going into camp

I didn't realize Gaffney was still part of the Pirates. I wonder what his future prospects in baseball are if he's taking this time off. Shaw seems to think Gaffney is an NFL prospect:

Quote:He remains a valued prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates' organization.

After Monday's practice, Shaw said, "I think Tyler always knew there would be an opportunity for him to come back. I personally thought it would take two years before he made that decision, and he played well in baseball, very well. But when it's all said and done, he's going to play football for pay in the future."

Quote:Shaw hinted that the No. 3 man on his depth chart would be senior Ricky Seale

And since Sanders HAS to be discussed whenever RB comes up:

Quote:Wilkerson was a bit more expansive. "Seen a lot of good stuff from Barry," he said. "Honestly, he's just like his father. He jukes like his father. There's an awful lot of talent around here."

Personally, I used to be rooting for Wilkerson to win the starting job after Toby left, as I thought he showed more signs of big play ability than Taylor. But I've given up on rooting for specific players to win the starting role and am just excited to see who emerges and what Shaw does to maximize the talent on the field.

Gaffney is a better pro prospect for football than baseball. Corner outfielders with minimal power aren't valuable.

Re: Can Wilkerson be better than Taylor? - needle - 08-13-2013

Gaffney has impressive agility and balance. And remember the USC touchdown?

A little bit of a stealth statistic is that Stepfan Taylor caught 41 passes last year, most by a Stanford running back since???? I couldn't find the answer.

Wilk? He caught none.

Gaffney will catch at least 20 passes this year. (He caught 12 in 2011. If you're curious, Wilk caught two that year.)

http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/stats/_/id/24/year/2011/stanford-cardinal