MSU Red Cedar Message Board

There's a bit of homerism going on here. Bell had his share of poor decisions last year. Also, when I think of "physical freak" I think of 250 pound Beanie Wells out-racing the entire LSU D in their NC game. When Bell shows that level of speed, you can put him in that category.

I agree..and actually think that part of that was the UWs fault. They were pushing Wilson from the start, and the Ball for Heisman campaign just kicked in too late.

Sign me up on the list not buying Bell being ahead of Ball. Maybe one day not yet

I'm not exactly sure what point you're responding to, but "poor decisions" is one thing. Getting knocked the fuck out is another, and that is where I see a big difference between Bell and Ball. Overall there isn't a huge gap in talent between the two, but I give the edge to Leveon because of his power. Given the choice between a speed back with decent power and a power back with good quickness, I'll take the bruiser any day of the week.

Probably John Clay.

Ball is probably going to be more productive behind Wisky's o-line and system than Bell is going to be behind MSU's o-line and system (we like to pass a little more), but if the question is who is a better individual talent, I'm taking Bell. You can't teach 6'2" 240. He's also got possibly the nastiest stiff arm in the country. He can run over you and through you. He can pound it up the middle, he can bounce it outside. He can block. He can line up at WR. Only thing he lacks is great straight line speed, but he doesn't even need it to be effective. There is a reason he is already being projected as a 1st round pick by some. Kid is legit.

If John Clay was the best back in the Big Ten over the last five years, that isn't saying much for the Big Ten. He was a bit of a fat, lazy turd who could've been a lot better if he wasn't such a headcase. I'd put Leshoure and Ringer above Clay.

Freak agility and freak top end speed are 2 different things.

Guys the size of Bell have no business spinning without losing speed.

That said Ball is #1 in my book until further notice.

I would say Ball last year was better than Clay ever was.

Bang. I never saw Beanie Wells hurdle a defender. You don't need freak speed to have freak athleticism.

He did that as the #2 option and not establishing himself until the 2nd half of the season. When Toussaints numbers went up Denards went down. This should be Bell's year to shine. He is finally clear cut #1 and should be able to get that 1000 yard season that eluded him in 2010 and 2011. I think the others on the OP list all went over 1000 yards last year. Ball is easily #1 considering his season last year was one of the all time great years in college football history when you look at yards + TDs. If he stays healthy he will be good for 1500+ yards and 25 TDs. Will be hard for anyone to top that. The B1G is loaded at RB this year. Last year it was the year of the QB. The battle will be between Bell, Burkhead, Touissant and Redd plus some yet to be identified wildcard we are not talking about yet for who is #2 behind Ball. There may be 3 or 4 backs that go over 1400 yards this year.

In his two years as feature back, Clay had 2,529 yards and 32 TDs. In his two years (so far) Ball has had 2,919 yds and 51 TDs.

Here's a video with some highlights from last season for those who care, though I'm sure most don't. The one thing that stands out for me is his vision. That, and his additional strength finishing runs and running through arm tackles. Will see what I can find for Bell.

My Top 5

1. Bell
2. Caper
3. Hill
4. Tompkins
5. Langford