DiLuigi and Unga

Thought it was interesting to compare DiLuigi's first game as the go-to back to Unga's debut.



Unga debuted in 2007 at LES against what was supposed to be a UofA team on the rise:



15 carries, 67 yards (4.5 avg), long run of 16, 1 rushing TD

9 receptions, 127 yards (14.1 avg), long reception of 48 yds, 1 receiving TD.



Yesterday, DiLuigi debuted as the feature back against a UW teams supposedly on the rise:



13 carries, 69 yards (5.3 avg), long run of 18

4 receptions, 83 yards (20.8 avg), long reception of 48 yds, 1 receiving TD.





Needless to say, I like what I saw from DiLuigi, and he seems more than capable to be our guy all season long, and he even proved to be adequate in short yard situations (at least more so than Kariya was). A welcome surprise, and I can only hope he has the same type of season that Unga had in 2007, minus the late season disappearing act.

I was not impressed with DiLuigi up until yesterday's game.



It really looks like he put in the work this offseason and I'm no longer worried about our running back situation this year. He played great.

Raiderboy wrote:
I was not impressed with DiLuigi up until yesterday's game.



It really looks like he put in the work this offseason and I'm no longer worried about our running back situation this year. He played great.

The thing to keep an eye on is ball security. He got a bit loosey-goosey with it on the edges, and his fumblitis is what kept him off the field the past two seasons.

When you compare apples to apples. I like what I see.



J.J. and his ball security-ways always made me nervous in the past. Now those fears are strickly on Chambers, and not DiLuigi anymore. :sulk:

JJ and Di are apples and oranges. JJ started slow but ended up a factor in the end. Experience will reduce fumbles which seem to be in the past. Unga could run over people better but JJ likely outruns people better. He did drop at least one pass. We still need a fullback to step up. JJ should be fine.



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Love JJ. However, get an arm on him and he slows down enough to catch. Give him a clear lane and he will chew up yardage. Harvey would simply run through arm tackles and cut back much better. JJ is what a shade under 200. HU was 247. Big difference. ANyway, yes, JJ will do well and thrilled for the kid.

JJ is awesome. He's toned down the shake 'n bake just enough. I like that he's learned to just lower a shoulder and hold onto the football rather than try and out maneuver a swarm. We'll be just fine at RB.

Curious to see how Quezada looks carrying the rock...but he sure looked good catching it in the back of the endzone!

I don't think DiLuigi vs Unga is a very good comparison, DiLuigi vs Curtis Brown is probably more apples-to-apples and in that comparison I think JJ stacks up pretty well. I don't think there's any question that JJ is faster,more flashy, and generally has more upside, only time will tell though if he has Curtis's intangibles like elusiveness between the tackles, consistency, ball security, etc.

Curtis Brown was pretty awesome. JJ would do well to get to that level.