He played very well in the Broncos' loss today. He had one ridiculous run on 4th down that should have resulted in a 5 yard loss, that he turned into a first down. He did come up an inch short on the final drive, on a 4th and 8 reception.

But as I was watching him it reminded me of how good he was at Cal, although he didn't get as many carries as he probably deserved. He seems to have slimmed down and is actually better in the NFL than he was in college, but he might be the most under-appreciated running back of the Gould era. I found this highlight video - filled with great plays, great effort and extremely tough to bring down. I kinda forgot how good he was.

grandmastapoop;842437077 said:

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He played very well in the Broncos' loss today. He had one ridiculous run on 4th down that should have resulted in a 5 yard loss, that he turned into a first down. He did come up an inch short on the final drive, on a 4th and 8 reception.

But as I was watching him it reminded me of how good he was at Cal, although he didn't get as many carries as he probably deserved. He seems to have slimmed down and is actually better in the NFL than he was in college, but he might be the most under-appreciated running back of the Gould era. I found this highlight video - filled with great plays, great effort and extremely tough to bring down. I kinda forgot how good he was.

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CJ and maybe Igber and Echemandu? CJ is showing against the best just how good he is.

He was probably underappreciated by Cal fans, in large part because he was underused by the coaching staff. I'm so glad he's making it at the next level, and not because it's another feather in our cap.

chazzed;842437098 said:

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He was probably underappreciated by Cal fans, in large part because he was underused by the coaching staff. I'm so glad he's making it at the next level, and not because it's another feather in our cap.

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Could not understand why CJ didn't get more carries at Cal. Likewise receptions for R. Rodgers. Broncos fans do appreciate CJ. Many Tweeters expressing it, saying he's one player who really played with heart today.

didn't CJ rush for over 1000 yards?
seems like the reason he didn't get more carries is because he shared the backfield with another great back (who also rushed for over a 1000 yards)

slobear;842437107 said:

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Could not understand why CJ didn't get more carries at Cal. Likewise receptions for R. Rodgers. Broncos fans do appreciate CJ. Many Tweeters expressing it, saying he's one player who really played with heart today.

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HoopDreams;842437117 said:

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didn't CJ rush for over 1000 yards?
seems like the reason he didn't get more carries is because he shared the backfield with another great back (who also rushed for over a 1000 yards)

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Looks like CJA ran for 790 and Isi ran for 757 yards in 2012.

what years were CJA and Jr and Sr?

pingpong2;842437120 said:

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Looks like CJA ran for 790 and Isi ran for 757 yards in 2012.

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HoopDreams;842437127 said:

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what years were CJA and Jr and Sr?

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2011 and 2012.

slobear;842437107 said:

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Could not understand why CJ didn't get more carries at Cal. Likewise receptions for R. Rodgers. Broncos fans do appreciate CJ. Many Tweeters expressing it, saying he's one player who really played with heart today.

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He was a transfer, and wasn't ready at the start of his first year, then he was fighting nagging injuries for most of his second season.

I don't think he was underused at Cal. I just don't think he was nearly as good as he is now. If he was this good back then, he would have gotten every single carry.

golden sloth;842437183 said:

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He was a transfer, and wasn't ready at the start of his first year, then he was fighting nagging injuries for most of his second season.

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Yes.

Plus Isi wasn't exacly a slouch either. He didn't have NFL size or speed, but he was the toughest mofo on the team and he was very technically sound. CJ just hasn't ready to be a full time player his 1st season and second season was a bit frustrating for him with a few different things.

I had been thinking this year that Lasco's play reminded me of CJ. Hope he has a big senior year.

Jamestown76;842437188 said:

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I don't think he was underused at Cal. I just don't think he was nearly as good as he is now. If he was this good back then, he would have gotten every single carry.

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I disagree, and submit his TD run @ 2:14:25 in the game below as a piece of evidence.

Jamestown76;842437188 said:

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I don't think he was underused at Cal. I just don't think he was nearly as good as he is now. If he was this good back then, he would have gotten every single carry.

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He's obviously better now than then, but his senior year he was demonstrably better than Isi. He averaged 6.3 yards A CARRY, nobody here could figure out why CJ didn't get 20 touches a game.

slobear;842437107 said:

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Could not understand why CJ didn't get more carries at Cal. Likewise receptions for R. Rodgers. Broncos fans do appreciate CJ. Many Tweeters expressing it, saying he's one player who really played with heart today.

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The coaches always read our posts to get valuable advice. The problem was, in 2012, the few people who got it right ("Give CJA more carries!") were lost in all the "Give Brendan Bigelow more carries!" posts.

Big C_Cal;842437303 said:

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The coaches always read our posts to get valuable advice. The problem was, in 2012, the few people who got it right ("Give CJA more carries!") were lost in all the "Give Brendan Bigelow more carries!" posts.

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I was on the Bigelow bandwagon. He got 44 carries that year. Not saying he should have gotten 200 carries but certainly more than 3-4 per game.....especially after the OSU game.

jyamada;842437320 said:

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I was on the Bigelow bandwagon. He got 44 carries that year. Not saying he should have gotten 200 carries but certainly more than 3-4 per game.....especially after the OSU game.

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It was because of that one HUGE game against Tosu that people anticipated more of the same from Bigelow, but his injuries did their damage.
2012 was a very confusing and extremely disappointing year and between the losses in both football and especially academics, teddy finally left.
Onward to 2015 and Cal's continuing to provide more fun football. We have a ton of defensive recruits, especially at DB as well as players returning from injury (and hope that "return from injuries" will become less each year).

grandmastapoop;842437077 said:

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He played very well in the Broncos' loss today. He had one ridiculous run on 4th down that should have resulted in a 5 yard loss, that he turned into a first down. He did come up an inch short on the final drive, on a 4th and 8 reception.

But as I was watching him it reminded me of how good he was at Cal, although he didn't get as many carries as he probably deserved. He seems to have slimmed down and is actually better in the NFL than he was in college, but he might be the most under-appreciated running back of the Gould era. I found this highlight video - filled with great plays, great effort and extremely tough to bring down. I kinda forgot how good he was.

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+1

Big C_Cal;842437303 said:

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The coaches always read our posts to get valuable advice. The problem was, in 2012, the few people who got it right ("Give CJA more carries!") were lost in all the "Give Brendan Bigelow more carries!" posts.

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Isn't this the effect that Malcolm Gladwell describes? If you are promoted early in life, you are assumed to be better than those you were promoted over, thus this promotion is propagated over the years creating a self fulfilling prophecy. It was assumed that Isi and Bigelow(four star) was better thus they got the reps based on this assumption. Fortunately, CJ appears to be able to break this cycle.

Just wanted to chime in after the Kubiak hire - CJ is on a great place to have a breakout year in what is his last year of a 3 year rookie contract. Kubiak is a great HC for a RB - running is a part of his philosophy from the days of Terrell Davis, Mike Anderson, then Arian Foster and even Justin Forsett at Baltimore. The radio guys in Devner have been talking non -stop about what is/was going on with coaching and Manning's future. Lot's of tension the last month of the season to playoffs - but it now seems that elway could have been the one who wanted to run more and have manning pass less (not just john fox).

Regardless, Kubiak is a balanced offense sometimes even conservative coach - I think next year CJ breaks out big time. RB's have a limited number of carries and often ever carry in college means about one less in the NFL. (Monte Ball being proof of that too).

the horse head

ColoradoBear1;842441546 said:

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Just wanted to chime in after the Kubiak hire - CJ is on a great place to have a breakout year in what is his last year of a 3 year rookie contract. Kubiak is a great HC for a RB - running is a part of his philosophy from the days of Terrell Davis, Mike Anderson, then Arian Foster and even Justin Forsett at Baltimore. The radio guys in Devner have been talking non -stop about what is/was going on with coaching and Manning's future. Lot's of tension the last month of the season to playoffs - but it now seems that elway could have been the one who wanted to run more and have manning pass less (not just john fox).

Regardless, Kubiak is a balanced offense sometimes even conservative coach - I think next year CJ breaks out big time. RB's have a limited number of carries and often ever carry in college means about one less in the NFL. (Monte Ball being proof of that too).

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What if Kubiak poached Forsett to come to Denver.? Could that happen?