Korliss Marshall to stay on offense..per Bielema

[HogInFlorida]

Tim after watching Walker at RB last year , i think he either stays at RB or splits time . during the game when he got the chance , he was tough to stop. He and Marshall both stood out in that game . if you can go back and watch walker . He was much faster and  more explosive than in the past. ONLY way i can see him at FB is if we run the FB  more ALA Barry Foster . You would have to put in a package for him

Walker will primarily be FB I believe. And since we had plenty of run packages for Kieri (even a wildcat) then I think that'll be the case for Walker even more so.

As for Marshall, Im stoked he's staying on offense. He's got the most explosiveness of anybody since Wright and Adams.

[rude1]

Well with this news I expect we will see him get tons of touches this season. No doubt he's talented...obviously the coaches feel he will help more on offense.

Like someone else eluded, only way this could be construed a mistake is if he were to ride the bench majority of year AND we continue to struggle at safety. If that were the case it would seem like a waste.

My thoughts on this is where are the extra touches everyone wants to see KM get come from? Do we want to see JW or AC touch it less? Or do we actually want to see us throw it less so that KM can get more touches? The extra touches have to come from some place.

[tophawg19]

My thoughts on this is where are the extra touches everyone wants to see KM get come from? Do we want to see JW or AC touch it less? Or do we actually want to see us throw it less so that KM can get more touches? The extra touches have to come from some place.

that's easy. more first downs , equals more carries and more offensive plays . helps the defense by keeping them off the field to. plus the big play scores will let them play with leads rather than from behind . we really missed having those quick strike TD'S last year

[Hoggish1]

Collins..Williams. .Marshall. ..Evans....wow..

Could we be looking at four guys close to 1K yards?  This O is going to run the ball very well and the play action is going to be big because of it...

[Hoggish1]

Then when we get the ball back trailing, LSU immediately sends pressure on Allen and forces a turnover – that's how you play defense. I'll never understand what Ash was thinking there

Fortunately we won't have to concern ourselves with what Ash did, once upon a time.

[LZH]

Yep, he has "that gear."

Got any idea how fast he is?

[Wildhog]

Got any idea how fast he is?

real fricking

[LZH]

I looked around, and 24/7 had him listed in high school at 4.30.........

[The Boar War]

Crap man. We need a big time safety in the worst way. Does anybody remember being up on LSU and letting them go 99 on us with a freshman QB with a minute and change left in the game?

Do you remember Korliss being behind those safeties on the depth chart?

[Chief Mac]

Then he'd better get a LOT of touches.  I don't hate this, but we can't afford to miss on any of our S signees. 

This....at some point we're gonna have to put dynamic athletes on defense if we want to improve our defense

[pfrg999]

Well after careful ponderization... I just want the dude on the field...He looks like a big play waiting to happen every time he touches the ball..

[HogWildBison2011]

Premium link.  Source is Bret Bielema.

He gave a lot of updates at pro day.

You are correct sir. I was able to see CBB's interview and he did state that! +1 for being ahead of the game.

[Tim Harris]

No, the HV logic was, we have a couple of good/quality, can start for most any SEC team RB's, the same can't be said at safety. We need more speed at safety, it just seems spring practice would have been a good time to see what he could do back there. We may have guys coming in, but to count on them early is a little foolish.

I would say counting on guys coming in is the same a counting on someone wh has never played the position.

[ricepig]

I would say counting on guys coming in is the same a counting on someone wh has never played the position.

Never?? What position did he play on defense for Osceola, wasn't he working there some during the fall? Wouldn't he have the 15 spring practices, wouldn't you put that ahead of a kid going to prom?

[Hog Fan from Camden]

Did Korliss not play safety in HS?  I thought he did.

[Tim Harris]

Never?? What position did he play on defense for Osceola, wasn't he working there some during the fall? Wouldn't he have the 15 spring practices, wouldn't you put that ahead of a kid going to prom?

If you want to count scout team reps as experience then so be it.

[CDBHawg]

Good.

[Boarcephus]

I just have to wonder if they'd tried him at safety in practice and felt his future was at RB.  I bet he just wants to see the field more than he has and felt his best chance was at Safety and the coaches vetoed it.  Just sort of thinking out loud.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

I've said for a while he had to stay on offense regardless of what was said elsewhere.  Many fans have him as an All SEC safety even though he has never played the position at this level.  It would be a major gamble to move him. He has proven he can contribute at RB and our numbers aren't as good there as they need to be when you are going to run the ball as much as we do.

Korliss Marshall does exhibit that ability to shift gears to a higher speed when he breaks free, the trait that only the better RB's seem to have. Jonathan Williams also seems to have this ability to some degree. Alex Collins, for as shifty as he seems to be and as good as he is, hasn't exhibited this trait so far. Hope that changes, I would love to have a triple threat that teams have to plan for ahead of time.

[ricepig]

If you want to count scout team reps as experience then so be it.

Guarantee it's better than 4A ball.

[Ben Steiger]

I agree, we need guys at safety, and he also said that he would be at RB for spring practice, didn't speculate further on.

I seem to remember this dude named D-Mac, whom people talked about moving to safety.

Worked out pretty well for us.

[Tim Harris]

Tim after watching Walker at RB last year , i think he either stays at RB or splits time . during the game when he got the chance , he was tough to stop. He and Marshall both stood out in that game . if you can go back and watch walker . He was much faster and  more explosive than in the past. ONLY way i can see him at FB is if we run the FB  more ALA Barry Foster . You would have to put in a package for him

Bielema said today he would split time similar to how Kiero did last year. I remember very few times that Kiero was lined up at RB but it did happen. Add in that he was listed as the 2nd team FB at the end of the year it seems pretty clear where he will play.

[Melorock089]

Korliss has stated he wants to be on defense correct? That's where all this safety talk came from?

I think it's good hes on offense. He should do punt and kickoff returns for sure.

[Tim Harris]

Never?? What position did he play on defense for Osceola, wasn't he working there some during the fall? Wouldn't he have the 15 spring practices, wouldn't you put that ahead of a kid going to prom?

Did you realize how few reps anyone not in the 2 deep get during fall practice?  Also he was playing scout team RB some as well until they put him full time at RB.

I'm not saying he would be a terrible S but then again we don't know. We do know he can contribute at RB so why not leave him there.

[ricepig]

Did you realize how few reps anyone not in the 2 deep get during fall practice?  Also he was playing scout team RB some as well until they put him full time at RB.

I'm not saying he would be a terrible S but then again we don't know. We do know he can contribute at RB so why not leave him there.

As I stated earlier, I'm for putting the best out there. If they don't think he's a safety fine, I just know we have to have better play from there this year to even remotely have a chance to be better.

[WayneHawg]

Hogville logic: this sucks. We need him at safety, not at runningback.  He would have made a great safety...because he was so good at runningback.

The guy is a game changer and with a full year under his belt he should be even better

[The_Bionic_Pig]

Hopefully this equates too no Arkansas RB having no More than 25 touches a game to keep them fresh fir 14 games.

[ricepig]

Hopefully this equates too no Arkansas RB having no More than 25 touches a game to keep them fresh fir 14 games.

We losing in the semi-finals?

[braxhog]

I would imagine you will see a little more wildcat with Collins, and jet motion with Marshall. They were really vanilla with what little wildcat they used last year. I think they will open that up more this year. Gives us a chance to get all 3 backs on the field at the same time. I hope so anyway lol.

[PygmalionEffect]

I just hope the decision to play Korliss at RB was influenced more by the coaching staff's belief that we have a couple other guys ready to step up at safety and not influenced by the fact that we whiffed on recruiting a healthy RB that could play as a true freshman as that 3rd or 4th back.

Marshall had very few carries last year behind Collins and Williams, but if one of them gets hurt, that would obviously change in a hurry.

People forget that Marshall was recruited out of H.S. as a DB.  It was a surprise to see him on offense last year and it was a pleasant surprise.

But no more than he'll get to play this year if the first two stay healthy, I would have liked to have seen him tried at safety in Spring ball, just to see what he could do.

We always put all our best athletes on offense, but hey it's worked out great for us the last two years hasn't it?

Why would somebody on here think he couldn't play safety?

you think he's not smart enough?  what?

[onebadrubi]

Why do posters think Korliss would be a great safety?

I'll be honest, after I saw him lay a shoulder on his first kick return and level a guy, I wanted him on defense.  Am I knowledgeable of what makes a good defense?  Sure, grind a keyboard. I'll still say if love to see him with a full off season of practice at the S spot and then a few games, but Bielema and his staff are making large money that is warranted because of their resumes to make decisions like this!  I'll support it, but still can say I'd love to see what the kid could do, quick, strong, lateral speed and closing speed, quick first step, good eyes/vision, above average hands, and just an all around great athlete.  We need 3-4 more of these! 

[secneahog]

Watch out for denzell evans. 

[CDBHawg]

Watch out for denzell evans.

Expound.

[LZH]

We losing in the semi-finals?

Yeah that got my attention, too.....ha ha.  Sounds good to me.

[Carl Lazlo]

Rice pig, Chris McWilliams, mike Irwin and a few more, go sit down. I told you boys

[A_R_K_A_N_S_A_S]

So CBB said "offense" not "RB", right? Can KM catch the ball, play WR? Do we need him at S or RB more than WR? How much will we throw the ball next year? Can KM throw the ball in the Wildhog? Is he a "speed guy" that just needs to stay on the field all the time, moving from Wildhog to WR to RB? Does KM's extra gear only kick in when he has the ball in his hands or does he have the extra gear on defense also? Is there another guy that's moving from offense over to defense to help out the safety position? Now that KM has been in the weight room, did something happen in there that changed the coaches minds and keep him on offense?

Soooooo many questions.............

[GoHogs1091]

Maybe this means they are planning on moving Dayvon McKinney to Safety.  I wish they would move McKinney to Safety.  To me, it would be most beneficial to have some upper Classmen players back there at Safety, and Rohan Gaines and McKinney would accomplish that.  If they plan on relying heavily on De'Andre Coley, or one of the new Signees, then that is asking for trouble in regards to not having consistent, high quality Safety play.

[Tim Harris]

So CBB said "offense" not "RB", right? Can KM catch the ball, play WR? Do we need him at S or RB more than WR? How much will we throw the ball next year? Can KM throw the ball in the Wildhog? Is he a "speed guy" that just needs to stay on the field all the time, moving from Wildhog to WR to RB? Does KM's extra gear only kick in when he has the ball in his hands or does he have the extra gear on defense also? Is there another guy that's moving from offense over to defense to help out the safety position? Now that KM has been in the weight room, did something happen in there that changed the coaches minds and keep him on offense?

Soooooo many questions.............

Actually if you listen to the entire interview from yesterday a couple minutes in when talking about position changes he says Marshall is going to stick to RB.

[PorkRinds]

I'd love to see him catch some passes out of the backfield and run a few sweeps. He could also be split out as I've heard he's got decent hands and can go up to get passes. 

[JackJohnson]

Then he'd better get a LOT of touches.  I don't hate this, but we can't afford to miss on any of our S signees. 

Agreed.  Marshall had what 17 offensive touches in 8 games (not counting returns).  Not sure how many actual plays he had where he didn't get the ball but it seemed like when he was in he touched the rock.  Let's say he averaged 5 plays on offense per game.  That means he sat the other 60 or so plays.

If they aren't going to be playing him 20+ plays a game on offense then I would like to at least see what he could do as a full time safety and still get 5 or so plays a game on the offensive side of the ball.  Unless that is we plan on him being the 3rd guy and getting 150+ carries like CBB did in 2010 with Clay, ball and white when they all 3 almost rushed for 1000 yards on 150+ carries

http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/stats/_/id/275/year/2010/wisconsin-badgers

[PorkRinds]

I'm betting this season he gets around 10 carries a game, with some receiving yards mixed in.  Seeing him catch some bubble screens would be amazing.

[PORKULATOR]

Very pleased with Korliss' offensive performance last year. Glad  He's staying put.

[CDBHawg]

This was a no brainer in my opinion.

[wholehog92]

When has Korliss ever been hyped as an all star safety? I just ask because the main reason Korliss wanted to play D was because that's where the coaches thought he could get on the field fastest. Since he started getting touches, it became very clear that he has that breakaway speed none of our other RB's has. I am amazed at all these posts who have Marshall as the 1st Team All SEC Safety after having never played.

I'm a little confused by your post.  You start out by asking when Korliss was hyped and conclude by being amazed by all the hype.

I would prefer him get more reps at safety to be honest.  I love what he does at RB, but he's going to be splitting reps with 3 quality backs.  If he's the 12th best safety in the league, he'd be an improvement over what we've seen.  It's pretty easy to see where the biggest impact on the overall team quality can be had.

No more reps than are available on O, I don't even mind him playing both ways if he can grasp the game plans.  If he's getting less than 10 reps a game, we aren't getting the most out of the available talent.

[wupigsuey]

Is it possible that CBB thinks the better coaching he thinks he brought in will yield better results from the current DB's?

[wholehog92]

Is it possible that CBB thinks the better coaching he thinks he brought in will yield better results from the current DB's?

As opposed to them getting worse?

[wupigsuey]

As opposed to them getting worse?

Right.

[Mike_e]

You've gotta think that CBB being a defensive guy wouldn't sacrifice the D to stockpile the O.  I'm thinking that he believes that we'll be OK at safety.

[ricepig]

You've gotta think that CBB being a defensive guy wouldn't sacrifice the D to stockpile the O.  I'm thinking that he believes that we'll be OK at safety.

Neither Gaines or Turner gives you much speed at safety, hopefully Coley can play.

[Pork Twain]

Why do posters think Korliss would be a great safety?

How dare you...