Davis or Spiller?
By: Roy Philpott
You could make the argument no team in the country has a better one-two returning punch at running back this year than Clemson.
Okay, okay. Arkansas is better. Darren McFadden looks like the new millennium version of Eric Dickerson and Felix Jones can run circles around just about anybody.
Let us say then that junior James Davis and sophomore C.J. Spiller give the Tigers more talent in the offensive backfield at any point in the last 20 years.
The key in 2007, however, rests in how they are used.
In a slight shift in philosophy and in an effort to put his best players on the field more, Tommy Bowden said this spring that Davis and Spiller will be used on the field at the same time more often than at any point last year.
How that changes the flow of the offense or who gets the ball more remains to be seen, but it seems likely that Bowden and offensive coordinator Rob Spence will let Davis and Spiller carry this team as far as they can.
And if you think about it, that makes sense.
As the team breaks in two new quarterbacks in Cullen Harper and Willy Korn, not to mention four new (relatively) starters on the offensive line, shouldn’t you put the ball in the hands of your top playmakers? Shouldn’t that give your team the best opportunity for success?
Absolutely.
With that in mind, here’s a look at expectations for Clemson’s “Thunder and Lightning,” “Shake and Bake,” or “Superman and Flash” (which is their favorite nickname by the way) backfield in 2007:
JAMES DAVIS: I remember visiting Douglass high school in February 2005 to visit with James and his head coach. Walking through the halls that morning, it was clear James was the big man on campus. In fact, nearly everyone that passed us on the way to the football field stopped him to offer some sort of commentary.
“James, make sure you call me this weekend,” said a girl.
“JD, you my boy, make sure you hit ‘em hard up there at Clemson,” said one of his teammates, who also ended up signing with a Division I-A school to play college football.
In all, we probably passed 30 students in the period of five minutes, and only one or two failed to stop James for a conversation or sneak in a word as he passed them by. It shouldn’t surprise you to know that Davis met each one with the same calmness and respect you’ve seen him display on the football field the last two seasons.
Simply put, I could write all day just how good of a running back James Davis is, but if you’re reading this blog, you know that already.
He’s fast yet patient. He’s smooth but tenacious. He’s quiet yet powerful.
Furthermore, his stats have been exactly what you thought they’d be after his first two seasons at Clemson:
2005: 165 carries, 879 yards and nine touchdowns as a true freshman.
2006: 203 carries, 1187 yards and 17 touchdowns as a sophomore.
I guess you could say that James Davis is just about everything you’d want in a starting running back.
But he’s no C.J. Spiller.
C.J. SPILLER: Spiller is everything Davis isn’t. While Davis has power, Spiller has pure speed. While Davis elects to plow through a defender, C.J. Spiller simply makes the defender miss.
The two backs are the perfect combination of thunder and lightning.
However the difference in Spiller is he is equally as big of a threat receiving as he is on the ground. Last year he caught 19 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns, including jaw-dropping touchdowns on routine swing passes against Boston College and Georgia Tech.
Make no mistake, once he reaches the second and third levels of a defense, the race to the endzone is on.
The comparisons to Reggie Bush? All valid.
The talk of being the next Warrick Dunn? Yep- except he's bigger.
C.J. Spiller has moves that would make Bo Jackson on Tecmo Bowl insanely jealous.
The key for Spiller this season, however, is to take what the defense gives him. As he worked his way into more playing time last year, it was clear he became more comfortable with hitting the hole as it opened rather than waiting too long by making an extra move behind the line of scrimmage.
As talented as Davis is, Spiller has the potential to be even better. In fact, in our 2007 Clemson Football Preview edition of CUTigers The Magazine, I have Spiller projected as this year’s offensive MVP.
Assuming he stays healthy and continues to develop that sense in a zone blocking scheme, Spiller is in store for a monster season.
RAY RAY MCELRATHBEY: After making the move from cornerback this spring, Ray Ray figures to play a small role on offense considering he's playing behind Davis and Spiller. However during spring practice in his first major scrimmage on offense, McElrathbey showed the flashes of speed and athleticism that allowed him to ranked as a four-star prospect coming out of high school, rushing for over 62 yards on just six carries. He also showed good running back instincts, even though he admitted to being rusty after playing defense his first two years in college. Bottom line- he’s a good running back that will surprise you when he sees the field this season, but will likely play a minimal role unless Davis or Spiller goes down with an injury.
PAUL MACKO: This gritty walk-on, who was awarded a scholarship last season, figures to see spot duty in 2007 behind Davis, Spiller and McElrathbey. He’s not the fastest back. He’s not the toughest back. But he does show heart and he’s not afraid to run through the line of scrimmage full speed when given the opportunity.
PARTING SHOT: Davis has proven he can put a team on his back and carry that team to victory. While he doesn’t have the pure breakaway speed of Spiller, if he touches the ball 20 times in a game, chances are he’s going over 100 yards and putting a couple of touchdowns on the board. Meanwhile Spiller doesn’t need that many touches to put up big numbers and he, unlike Davis, is a huge threat through the air. The problem lies in figuring out ways to make sure they touch the football a combined 35-40 times a game, while also not being predictable in doing it. Looking back to last season, it’s hard to put your finger on what went wrong the last five games. As dominating as the Tigers were in a 7-1 start, they were equally as disappointing in a 1-4 finish. Was it poor quarterback play? Did the offensive line not play as well after Roman Fry went down? Was it because of better competition? Did the offense become too predictable? Was it because Davis had a shoulder injury? The Clemson coaching staff has been working on finding the answers to these questions this offseason to make sure last season’s collapse doesn’t happen again.
REMINDER: It’s running backs week on our morning show RUSH HOUR on 104.9 FM The Drive, the flagship station for Clemson sports. All week long we will be looking at the running back situation at Clemson (Monday), the ACC (Tuesday), South Carolina (Wednesday), the SEC (Thursday) as well as the national scene (Friday). Tune from 6 to 9 AM on 104.9 FM in the upstate or on the world wide web at http://www.wccpfm.com.
You could make the argument no team in the country has a better one-two returning punch at running back this year than Clemson.Okay, okay. Arkansas is better. Darren McFadden looks like the new millennium version of Eric Dickerson and Felix Jones can run circles around just about anybody.
Let us say then that junior James Davis and sophomore C.J. Spiller give the Tigers more talent in the offensive backfield at any point in the last 20 years.
The key in 2007, however, rests in how they are used.
In a slight shift in philosophy and in an effort to put his best players on the field more, Tommy Bowden said this spring that Davis and Spiller will be used on the field at the same time more often than at any point last year.
How that changes the flow of the offense or who gets the ball more remains to be seen, but it seems likely that Bowden and offensive coordinator Rob Spence will let Davis and Spiller carry this team as far as they can.
And if you think about it, that makes sense.
As the team breaks in two new quarterbacks in Cullen Harper and Willy Korn, not to mention four new (relatively) starters on the offensive line, shouldn’t you put the ball in the hands of your top playmakers? Shouldn’t that give your team the best opportunity for success?
Absolutely.
With that in mind, here’s a look at expectations for Clemson’s “Thunder and Lightning,” “Shake and Bake,” or “Superman and Flash” (which is their favorite nickname by the way) backfield in 2007:
JAMES DAVIS: I remember visiting Douglass high school in February 2005 to visit with James and his head coach. Walking through the halls that morning, it was clear James was the big man on campus. In fact, nearly everyone that passed us on the way to the football field stopped him to offer some sort of commentary.
“James, make sure you call me this weekend,” said a girl.
“JD, you my boy, make sure you hit ‘em hard up there at Clemson,” said one of his teammates, who also ended up signing with a Division I-A school to play college football.
In all, we probably passed 30 students in the period of five minutes, and only one or two failed to stop James for a conversation or sneak in a word as he passed them by. It shouldn’t surprise you to know that Davis met each one with the same calmness and respect you’ve seen him display on the football field the last two seasons.
Simply put, I could write all day just how good of a running back James Davis is, but if you’re reading this blog, you know that already.
He’s fast yet patient. He’s smooth but tenacious. He’s quiet yet powerful.
Furthermore, his stats have been exactly what you thought they’d be after his first two seasons at Clemson:
2005: 165 carries, 879 yards and nine touchdowns as a true freshman.
2006: 203 carries, 1187 yards and 17 touchdowns as a sophomore.
I guess you could say that James Davis is just about everything you’d want in a starting running back.
But he’s no C.J. Spiller.
C.J. SPILLER: Spiller is everything Davis isn’t. While Davis has power, Spiller has pure speed. While Davis elects to plow through a defender, C.J. Spiller simply makes the defender miss.
The two backs are the perfect combination of thunder and lightning.
However the difference in Spiller is he is equally as big of a threat receiving as he is on the ground. Last year he caught 19 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns, including jaw-dropping touchdowns on routine swing passes against Boston College and Georgia Tech.
Make no mistake, once he reaches the second and third levels of a defense, the race to the endzone is on.
The comparisons to Reggie Bush? All valid.
The talk of being the next Warrick Dunn? Yep- except he's bigger.
C.J. Spiller has moves that would make Bo Jackson on Tecmo Bowl insanely jealous.
The key for Spiller this season, however, is to take what the defense gives him. As he worked his way into more playing time last year, it was clear he became more comfortable with hitting the hole as it opened rather than waiting too long by making an extra move behind the line of scrimmage.
As talented as Davis is, Spiller has the potential to be even better. In fact, in our 2007 Clemson Football Preview edition of CUTigers The Magazine, I have Spiller projected as this year’s offensive MVP.
Assuming he stays healthy and continues to develop that sense in a zone blocking scheme, Spiller is in store for a monster season.
RAY RAY MCELRATHBEY: After making the move from cornerback this spring, Ray Ray figures to play a small role on offense considering he's playing behind Davis and Spiller. However during spring practice in his first major scrimmage on offense, McElrathbey showed the flashes of speed and athleticism that allowed him to ranked as a four-star prospect coming out of high school, rushing for over 62 yards on just six carries. He also showed good running back instincts, even though he admitted to being rusty after playing defense his first two years in college. Bottom line- he’s a good running back that will surprise you when he sees the field this season, but will likely play a minimal role unless Davis or Spiller goes down with an injury.
PAUL MACKO: This gritty walk-on, who was awarded a scholarship last season, figures to see spot duty in 2007 behind Davis, Spiller and McElrathbey. He’s not the fastest back. He’s not the toughest back. But he does show heart and he’s not afraid to run through the line of scrimmage full speed when given the opportunity.
PARTING SHOT: Davis has proven he can put a team on his back and carry that team to victory. While he doesn’t have the pure breakaway speed of Spiller, if he touches the ball 20 times in a game, chances are he’s going over 100 yards and putting a couple of touchdowns on the board. Meanwhile Spiller doesn’t need that many touches to put up big numbers and he, unlike Davis, is a huge threat through the air. The problem lies in figuring out ways to make sure they touch the football a combined 35-40 times a game, while also not being predictable in doing it. Looking back to last season, it’s hard to put your finger on what went wrong the last five games. As dominating as the Tigers were in a 7-1 start, they were equally as disappointing in a 1-4 finish. Was it poor quarterback play? Did the offensive line not play as well after Roman Fry went down? Was it because of better competition? Did the offense become too predictable? Was it because Davis had a shoulder injury? The Clemson coaching staff has been working on finding the answers to these questions this offseason to make sure last season’s collapse doesn’t happen again.
REMINDER: It’s running backs week on our morning show RUSH HOUR on 104.9 FM The Drive, the flagship station for Clemson sports. All week long we will be looking at the running back situation at Clemson (Monday), the ACC (Tuesday), South Carolina (Wednesday), the SEC (Thursday) as well as the national scene (Friday). Tune from 6 to 9 AM on 104.9 FM in the upstate or on the world wide web at http://www.wccpfm.com.
posted by Roy Philpott @ 5:44 PM
9 Comments
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9 Comments:
Forgot the debate of who is better. They are both unreal. The point that needs to be had here, is both of these guys need to be on the field most of the game. If Davis lines up in the backfield and Spiller runs the reverse, defensive ends can only curse themselves on what to do. Not to mention the one on one coverage that has to be given to such Speedsters as Ford, etc. Line Davis and Spiller up in the split set, whatever.
My point is it does no good to see either of them on the bench for an entire series.
Go Tigers!
You grossly undervalue Davis ability to catch the football and you make him seem like some sort of pedestrian. He's shown the ability to make big plays in the passing game, as well(see FSU 2006).
He's not nearly as hulking and slow as you make him seem - I know it was just an attempt to create a sense of difference in the two backs, but honestly, Davis isn't lacking for straight line speed. When he burst on the scene in 2005, people raved about his speed as compared to what we were used to.
Coby, you are correct. While I love Davis as a running back, I've never seen him make the kind of plays Spiller did last year on those two swing passes against Boston College and Georgia Tech.
His stats in the passing game were a more-than-respectable six catches for 119 yards- not bad at all.
However, my main point here is that Spiller has the sort of ellusiveness and speed that you only see out of three or four guys backs across the nation.
To have both at the same time is incredible, but inevitably comparisons between the two will be made. Spiller is faster while Davis offers more power.
Davis and Spiller both are outstanding is their own ways. It was clear last year that they, along with Ford, should have been on the field together a whole lot more than they were. I attended one of the annual Clemson meetings where TB admitted as much. I hope the coaches mean what they are saying and get them all on the field together this year, but I have my doubts. I hope I am wrong, but at this time of year talk is still cheap.
The best way to put this is that both backs are AWESOME! Spiller offers better homerun ability while Davis is a true POWER BACK. I wish we could keep them both at Clemson for the next 40 years. The key for the staff will be to make sure they continue to recruit at such a high level at running back after signing 2 guys like this that are so good! GO TIGERS!
I disagree with your characterization of JD's running style. He is not a "thunder"-type back. He is a slasher, with great vision, and balance, and enough speed to out-run most linebackers.
Thanks for the Tecmo Bowl link!!! What an awesome game that was.
ACTUALLY I'D SAY ONE IS EMMITT AND THE OTHER IS BARRY
James Davis + C.J. Spiller = National Title. JD has vision, balance and power, and by the way, he has speed. Vision without speed equals T.J.Duckett. C.J. Spiller is unreal....Coaching staff...find a way. Gooooooo Tigers!
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