Cig hasnt touted Cuono a lot, just indicated he had improved and was doing well. Sort of surprises me, I thought Cuono had potential.
I still have my fingers crossed on Beebe. Never know, off injury. Looked good last year early though.
I couldn't believe he went third round. Happy for him!
Hemby was good, but by the final third of the season and through the playoffs, I was often hoping we were giving it to Black. Black had pulled ahead in my mind.
Hemby had slightly more ability to juke and a bit more big run potential, but was also less likely to get that extra yard on those runs that we mostly used. Black if he got tripped would launch and still get a bit through the air, heh, where Hemby would go down a bit sooner. Hemby ran hard though too, and fought for yards. Great duo.
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You're right about Black "pulling ahead". He was definitely the type of 'run you over back' IU needed as the season wore on.
Regular Season Carries - Hemby 163 / Black 124
Post Season - Hemby 67 / Black 60
Hemby ended up out carrying Black by 44 on the season but the carries started to even out in the post season. That 44 number doesn't seem like that much but Hemby was never really known as the run it down your throw type of back with his taller build and thinner base. Black is shorter, stockier and much more muscularly built. I think Hemby's 3 years starting at Maryland and 840 career touches (including 174 in '24) might have started to catch up with him during a much longer season than he was used to. Black only has 495 total touches and had just 50 of those in '24, so he came in much more fresh.
In digging into some numbers, they were remarkably similar even though it didn't totally feel that way at the end of the year...
Black - 30 missed tackles forced / 3.47 yards after contact per attempt / 26 10+ yard runs / 16 15+ yard runs / 51 first downs
Hemby - 37 missed tackles forced / 3.36 yards after contact per attempt / 26 10+ yard runs / 14 15+ yard runs / 57 first downs
Really excited for both Black and Hemby and hope Hemby can catch on with the Raiders. IU doesn't really throw to their backs much but Hemby had 111 catches his final three years at Maryland. That's pretty elite in this day and age. His pass protection wasn't that bad either so maybe he can carve out a 3 down back type role.
@hoosier-clarion Agreed.. But thats also assuming Beebe is fully recovered, and protects the rock. The only fumble we lost last season was a Beebe fumble
Im still so bummed we didnt get to see Beebe with that team last year. I thought he was our RB1 through the first few games, that dude is electric to watch as a pure runner.