The Big East's Best: #16 Isaiah Pead

[JasonS]

No. 16: Isaiah Pead, RB, Cincinnati, Jr.

2009 numbers: Ran for 806 yards and nine touchdowns on 121 carries. Also caught 20 passes for 201 yards and two scores.

Postseason ranking: Not ranked.

Making the case for Pead: Running backs rarely drew a lot of attention -- or handoffs -- in Brian Kelly's offense. Pead got half the carries of Noel Devine, more than 200 fewer attempts than Dion Lewis and more 100 fewer than Jordan Todman, Delone Carter or Andre Dixon. Yet he still finished seventh in the league in rushing and his 6.7 yards per carry were better than any Big East regular.

Pead showed what he could do with a steady diet of handoffs in the West Virginia game last year, when he ran for 175 yards on a season-high 18 carries. But there were also seven other games where Pead didn't even get double-digit rushing attempts.

It remains to be seen how much Butch Jones will rely on the running game, and how much he'll give the ball to a tailback instead of quarterback Zach Collaros. But Pead has shown that he's a special talent, and one who's capable of big things if fully unleashed.

Previously:

No. 25: Zach Hurd, OG, Connecticut
No. 24: Derrell Smith, LB, Syracuse
No. 23: Tino Sunseri, QB, Pittsburgh
No. 22: Delone Carter, RB, Syracuse
No. 21: Steve Beauharnais, LB, Rutgers
No. 20: Vidal Hazelton, WR, Cincinnati
No. 19: Jabaal Sheard, DE, Pittsburgh
No. 18: Scott Lutrus, LB, Connecticut
No. 17: Chris Neild, DT, West Virginia

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/id/10082/the-big-easts-best-no-16

 

[psax889906]

Big reason why this year's offense will be better than last years. My prediction: slightly lower scoring average but much improved T.O.P. numbers and a more balanced offense. The fun thing is going to be how Butch accomplishes this as it obviously won't be I-formation 3-yards and a cloud of dust...

 

[JMac84]

Agreed psax. This offense might be more exciting as it will be less predictable it seems. I loved seeing all the wideout screens in the spring game. I like the idea of getting our athletes the ball and letting them make plays, and Isaiah is one of our best athletes, obviously.

 

[Little Danny]

Pead will put up some nice number this season, but I also expect Coach Jones will utilize Darrin William as well. Seems to me that fly sweeps were a part of his playbook up at CMU. Williams might be the right guy to run that play.

I realize Jones ran the heck of his QB up at CMU, but I wonder if it spoke more the issue of the lack of a quality RB and the overall ability and strength of Dan LeFevour. LeFevour also is a lot bigger than Collaros (6'4 220) and is built like a big FB on short yardage situations and down in the goal line. Hopefully Zach will be utilized appropriately, as well as Pead and Williams.

 

[Thegreatone]

Big reason why this year's offense will be better than last years. My prediction: slightly lower scoring average but much improved T.O.P. numbers and a more balanced offense. The fun thing is going to be how Butch accomplishes this as it obviously won't be I-formation 3-yards and a cloud of dust...

Agree 100 percent.

 

[Racinejake]

Pead will put up some nice number this season, but I also expect Coach Jones will utilize Darrin William as well. Seems to me that fly sweeps were a part of his playbook up at CMU. Williams might be the right guy to run that play.

I realize Jones ran the heck of his QB up at CMU, but I wonder if it spoke more the issue of the lack of a quality RB and the overall ability and strength of Dan LeFevour. LeFevour also is a lot bigger than Collaros (6'4 220) and is built like a big FB on short yardage situations and down in the goal line. Hopefully Zach will be utilized appropriately, as well as Pead and Williams.

If the spring game is any indication, I think we'll see DJ Woods get a lot more touches this year outside of just the regular passing game. He has big time speed and I think he's finally going to be getting the ball with some space to work with instead of just catching the tough passes in traffic. I was also very impressed with Williams. He looks like he's really bulked up and showed some explosiveness running between the tackles. I didn't know what to think about him the past couple years but he looks he will be a major contributor before his time is through. We just have so many damn weapons on offense that it might be difficult for Pead to get many more carries than he did last year although I do think he'll be a 1,000 yard back. Not to mention that John Goebel is back and will probably see a good amount of action as well.

 

[swg]

He was a huge get for UC, and should continue to do well with the QB and WRs at our disposal.

 

[psax889906]

With Sanu from Rutgers and Jock Sanders coming in at 12 and 13 respectively... I have to think that the trio of Armon Binns, DJ Woods and Zach Collaros will all be in the top 10... if Woods is left off the list I'll be upset...

 

[Thegreatone]

I almost gaurentee he is left off the list.

My guess:

Armon Binns: 11
Zach Collaros: 4
Baldwin: 3
Devine: 2
Lewis: 1

 

[psax889906]

I almost gaurentee he is left off the list.

My guess:

Armon Binns: 11
Zach Collaros: 4
Baldwin: 3
Devine: 2
Lewis: 1

It's also possible though unlikely, that Derrick Wolfe could be in there around the 10 spot... it does have to do with potential after all...

 

[Little Danny]

It's also possible though unlikely, that Derrick Wolfe could be in there around the 10 spot... it does have to do with potential after all...

I am going to guess Bennett excludes both Woods and Wolfe. Actually, based on things he has posted before, I would not be surprised to see Wolfe get the nod but DJ being left off. Bennett has commented in the past that Wolfe is the most unreplaceable player on this defense.

Get ready to see a lot of Pitt and WVU players in the top 12. Bennett believes they are head and shoudlers better than the other talent in the league and those particular schools get the lion's share of people who post comments. WVU fans in particular get very rowdy over there. I agree Bennett will have the top four in the order that The Great One has indicated.