Buck Bravo

Duane Bennett started off the season with two solid games, and appeared to be well on his way to becoming the next great Gopher running back.  Bennett was quick, he could break tackles, he was a good receiver, and he was a great pass blocker.  Unfortunately, a knee injury suffered in last Saturday’s game versus Bowling Green will sideline him for the rest of the season.

While Bennett will definitely be missed this year, his injury provides an opportunity for three true freshmen.  Junior Jay Thomas is a talented back, but his durability is a question mark after having both of his knees reconstructed.  My prior post on Thomas can be viewed here.  I would not be surprised if either Shady Salamon, Deleon Eskridge, or Kevin Whaley steps up and haves a big season.  Here’s some statistics and analyses on the three freshmen running backs:

Shady Salamon -Salamon is currently the favorite to become the featured running back for the Gophers.  Last year at this time he was the featured running back for Cretin-Derham Hall High School in Saint Paul.  Click on this link for his senior year high school statistics.  Salamon looked solid against Bowling Green with a few powerful runs and sound technique.  I’ll agree with other analysts and reporters that Salamon is the favorite to win the starting job.

Deleon Eskridge - Juniper Serra High School’s all time touchdown record was held by NFL Hall of Famer Lynn Swan until Deleon Eskridge came along.  From the videos I’ve seen, Eskridge is an excellent open field runner with experience against talented competition.  Click on this link for his senior year high school statistics.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back up Salamon along with junior Jay Thomas.  Here’s a link to a video of Eskridge in high school.

Kevin Whaley - Whaley was a first team all-state running back at Virginia’s Salem High School.  He rushed for 1661 yards and 25 touchdowns his senior year.  Whaley is definitely the underdog to become the starter, but with the numbers that he put up in high school don’t be suprised if he sees significant playing time.  Whaley is smaller than Salamon or Eskridge, but is very quick and makes great cuts on the field.

All three of these freshmen running backs have an opportunity to become regulars in the Gopher box scores over the next four years.  If any of them could have a run versus Montana State similar to the following video of Knowshon Moreno, expect the new featured running back to have arrived: