RISHAAD WIMBLEY: On the run
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 11:26 amThe SMU backfield got a little more crowded this week when freshman Rishaad Wimbley, who was recruited as a nose tackle, was moved to running back.
Head coach June Jones said he was inspired to make the move by Reagan Mauia, who came to the University of Hawaii as a defensive lineman but ended up getting drafted by the Miami Dolphins as a running back.
"I have been thinking about it, and I had some success with Reagan," Jones said. "Rishaad has great feet and balance. He's about 290 pounds, but he carries it really well, and he can move."
Wimbley, who said he has slimmed down to 282, said he likes the move.
"It's good," he said. "I played a lot of fullback in high school (at Forney). I liked it."
Wimbley has been on something of a crash course this week, meeting with running backs coach Wes Suan as he begins to learn the basics of his new position.
"I understand what I have to do, but now I have to go do it," he said. "The first thing I have to do is learn how to block. I also have to learn to read a defense, but that should come a little more natural, since I played over there."
Wimbley said that blocking in the Mustangs' Run-and-Shoot offense is entirely different than the blocking he did at Forney.
"In high school, I would just find a linebacker and go knock him out," Wimbley said, smiling. "At this level, you've got to get under control, get your feet right. Nobody is going to run through me, because I'm big, but there's a lot more to blocking than just being big."
That is true — Jones has said since he was hired that blocking is the top priority of any running back in his offense — but the fact that Wimbley already has done 38 repetitions in the standard 225-pound bench press certainly won't hurt.
When told that 38 reps would have tied North Carolina defensive tackle Marvin Austin for the second-highest number of reps at this year's NFL Combine (Oregon State defensive tackle Stephen Paea tied the all-time Combine record with 49 reps), Wimbley said, "that's a long way off, and I have got a lot to learn, but if I make it to the Combine one day, my goal is to do 60."
Jones said the move increases Wimbley's chances of playing this year, and perhaps after his days at SMU are over.
"I told him that if he trusts me on this, he has a better chance of getting to the National Football League," Jones said. "He wasn't going to play (on defense) for us this fall."
Wimbley said that in an effort to become a "complete back," he would like to shed more weight. He already has altered his diet — "I'm cutting back on carbs, and eating way more protein," he said — and has begun running at night, in addition to the running he'll do on the field. He said he hopes to get his weight down eventually to "250 or 260."
At Forney, his job on offense was as a blocker, so Wimbley admitted he isn't sure what he'll look like with the ball under his arm, although he has watched YouTube videos of Mauia and said he likes watching a pair of big backs who won Heisman Trophies as big running backs: Ron Dayne of the University of Wisconsin and Ricky Williams of the University of Texas. Wimbley said that once he starts getting comfortable in his new position, he envisions himself as more of a straight-ahead power runner.
"I can move a little," said Wimbley, who regularly finished among the leaders among defensive linemen during the team's voluntary conditioning running over the summer. "But I don't want to be too shifty — waste of energy."
Head coach June Jones said he was inspired to make the move by Reagan Mauia, who came to the University of Hawaii as a defensive lineman but ended up getting drafted by the Miami Dolphins as a running back.
"I have been thinking about it, and I had some success with Reagan," Jones said. "Rishaad has great feet and balance. He's about 290 pounds, but he carries it really well, and he can move."
Wimbley, who said he has slimmed down to 282, said he likes the move.
"It's good," he said. "I played a lot of fullback in high school (at Forney). I liked it."
Wimbley has been on something of a crash course this week, meeting with running backs coach Wes Suan as he begins to learn the basics of his new position.
"I understand what I have to do, but now I have to go do it," he said. "The first thing I have to do is learn how to block. I also have to learn to read a defense, but that should come a little more natural, since I played over there."
Wimbley said that blocking in the Mustangs' Run-and-Shoot offense is entirely different than the blocking he did at Forney.
"In high school, I would just find a linebacker and go knock him out," Wimbley said, smiling. "At this level, you've got to get under control, get your feet right. Nobody is going to run through me, because I'm big, but there's a lot more to blocking than just being big."
That is true — Jones has said since he was hired that blocking is the top priority of any running back in his offense — but the fact that Wimbley already has done 38 repetitions in the standard 225-pound bench press certainly won't hurt.
When told that 38 reps would have tied North Carolina defensive tackle Marvin Austin for the second-highest number of reps at this year's NFL Combine (Oregon State defensive tackle Stephen Paea tied the all-time Combine record with 49 reps), Wimbley said, "that's a long way off, and I have got a lot to learn, but if I make it to the Combine one day, my goal is to do 60."
Jones said the move increases Wimbley's chances of playing this year, and perhaps after his days at SMU are over.
"I told him that if he trusts me on this, he has a better chance of getting to the National Football League," Jones said. "He wasn't going to play (on defense) for us this fall."
Wimbley said that in an effort to become a "complete back," he would like to shed more weight. He already has altered his diet — "I'm cutting back on carbs, and eating way more protein," he said — and has begun running at night, in addition to the running he'll do on the field. He said he hopes to get his weight down eventually to "250 or 260."
At Forney, his job on offense was as a blocker, so Wimbley admitted he isn't sure what he'll look like with the ball under his arm, although he has watched YouTube videos of Mauia and said he likes watching a pair of big backs who won Heisman Trophies as big running backs: Ron Dayne of the University of Wisconsin and Ricky Williams of the University of Texas. Wimbley said that once he starts getting comfortable in his new position, he envisions himself as more of a straight-ahead power runner.
"I can move a little," said Wimbley, who regularly finished among the leaders among defensive linemen during the team's voluntary conditioning running over the summer. "But I don't want to be too shifty — waste of energy."