What's Turbin's role?

[MLTHawk]

Now that we have Percy Harvin and Christine Michael, I'm curious where that leaves Robert Turbin. If Michael comes in and tears it up, does that leave Turbin as a trade piece, or do we keep him and turn him into a fulback?

I thought Turbin did quite well last year backing up Lynch. I'm sure a lot of other teams noticed as well. Is MRob near the end of his career? If he isn't and can pull a Mack Strong and extend his career, I see no reason why we should keep Turbin. What do you guys think?

 

[DavidSeven]

Turbin is the #2 back until someone comes in and takes it from him. He flashed potential in the preseason and had a 100 yard rushing game in one half of play. I wouldn't be surprised if Pete went by committee this year like he did at USC and like Houston does now. Would be silly to trade him after this year with two years left on his rookie deal and Lynch being one year older.

 

[The Radish]

Change of pace back.

He's better in the broken field department. Makes me think of Shaun Alexander with his downfield running.


That's for this upcoming season. After that just take it as it comes.

:les:

 

[Basis4day]

We started last season with 5 backs (Lynch, Turbin, Leon, Mrob, Lumpkin).
I expect something similar (Lynch, Turbin, Michael, Mrob, Ware).

For roster purposes Harvin is a WR. Just expect lots of different looks.

 

[Tical21]

Turbin is now a #3, 2 carry per game guy.

 

[McGruff]

Turbin looks nothing like Leon, but he's an ideal third down back. Good hands out of the backfield, good blocker, good open field runner.

 

[SirTed]

I read somewhere that Michael still lacked in pass pro, so at the very least he could be a third down back, but I think he'll get his fair share of carries as well.

 

[TheLargentLine]

His role is to hit people with his biceps when he gets the ball, which will probably be on third down most of the time.

 

[onanygivensunday]

We started last season with 5 backs (Lynch, Turbin, Leon, Mrob, Lumpkin).
I expect something similar (Lynch, Turbin, Michael, Mrob, Ware).

For roster purposes Harvin is a WR. Just expect lots of different looks.

I am floored by the depth that we have at RB.

I expect Michael and Ware to both impress during the preseason.

 

[jlwaters1]

Turbin's a great pass catcher and is a decent blocker, I think he's got plenty of value as a 3rd down back. though I think its incredibly premature to think that Michael will unseat Turbin as the #2 back. Part of it is, Turbin played well last year and showed he can produce when given the chance. Also because he's got a year under his belt, that year of experience should be very valuable and I'd expect him to show marked improvement this coming year.

If Turbin takes another step forward and Michael STILL unseats him as the #2 and contributes significantly than that would be amazing. It is my opinion that we're splittling hairs with Michael and Turbin, I don't think 1 will be dramatically better than the other. To me BOTH are good Rb's with the potential to be feature backs.

Moving Turbin to FB would be silly, Ware is there to develop into the FB of the future. Can never had too much depth at RB.

 

[onanygivensunday]

To me BOTH are good Rb's with the potential to be feature backs.

I agree... but the one difference that I saw between their games is Michael is the more shifty/elusive of the two.

Preseason should be a LOT of fun to watch all these guys competing for a roster spot.

 

[Happypuppy]

Turbin is still learning. Last year he started trying to be shifty instead of having faith in one cut and go. Once he got that down he did very well. I think he will be the receiver back and the pounder. He is not like lynch that runs over people he is more elusive. And gets you the 3-5 tough yards

 

[jlwaters1]

To me BOTH are good Rb's with the potential to be feature backs.

I agree... but the one difference that I saw between their games is Michael is the more shifty/elusive of the two.

Preseason should be a LOT of fun to watch all these guys competing for a roster spot.

I respect your opinion. Though I disagree, I think Turbin is just as shifty. I've seen alot more of Turbin than most on here, I seen him play the last 2 years of his college career (much to my chagrin as he destroyed my Idaho Vandals). The dude is a special player.

He's also a very good pass catcher, I think he's better in that aspect than Michael. I know most are swooner over Michael's SO,JR (mostly) tape. He does look very dynamic.

But Turbin has produced and played well in his limited reps last year as a NFL player. So I wouldn't count him out. Then again Michael could be the next Ricky Watters. Only time will tell. I like them both and would like to see both play alot this year. Keep Marshawn around 250 carries to perserve him for the playoffs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6UmX-6m0s8
After watching this highlight vid- It's hard not to be impressed with his speed, acceleration, vision, power and catching ability.

 

[Basis4day]

I think people get too caught up in who is the "starter". We're going to play the players that make sense based on the situation.
I could care less about how the depth chart lines up. It really only comes into play because of injuries. If they want to play Turbin, they'll put him on he field.

 

[sutz]

I think people get too caught up in who is the "starter". We're going to play the players that make sense based on the situation.
I could care less about how the depth chart lines up. It really only comes into play because of injuries. If they want to play Turbin, they'll put him on he field.

This. It remains to be seen if M-Rob has a long term future here. He's a bit long in the tooth.

I think the guy who will get less carries is probably Lynch. We'll want to keep him fresh for the end of- and the post- season. Lynch, Turbs, and Michael have similarities in their physical makeups, but have subtly different toolsets to work with.

We're going to have a dynamic and powerful running game this year.

 

[ImTheScientist]

Turbin is a Michael Pittman clone.

 

[Missing_Clink]

He's in a battle for playing time, no doubt. There's a battle to be the 3rd down back and to be Marshawn's primary backup. I'm sure we will learn his role along with the coaching staff when they see who is out there performing. I'm sure everyone will get a chance to show what they can do

 

[HawkWow]

Turbin didn't wow me last year, but all things considered, I think he ran with purpose and held onto the ball. He was drafted into an organization featuring (arguably) the 2nd best back in the league and virtually, a living legend. Add that to Pete's unwavering demand for ball protection and his was not an ideal situation to showcase himself.

I fully anticipate a more comfortable Turbin to rip off some serious chunks of real estate this year. I predict he will even score ML is not getting any younger and with his back problems, I think it's likely he won't see more than a dozen touches per game. Turbin will carry an average of 8 x per game and Michael will be brought in randomly and situational as he is groomed to compete against Turbin for the (eventual) 1 spot. Ware will be our 4th and 1 /goal line back and if one of the above is to replace MR at FB, I think it will be he.

 

[Osprey]

Both Turbin and Michael's role will be to reduce Lynch's total carries. Given the ComPete mantra, how those carries are split will depend on their performance and scheme fit to the offense game plan of the week.

 

[hawkfan68]

Turbin's a great pass catcher and is a decent blocker, I think he's got plenty of value as a 3rd down back. though I think its incredibly premature to think that Michael will unseat Turbin as the #2 back. Part of it is, Turbin played well last year and showed he can produce when given the chance. Also because he's got a year under his belt, that year of experience should be very valuable and I'd expect him to show marked improvement this coming year.

If Turbin takes another step forward and Michael STILL unseats him as the #2 and contributes significantly than that would be amazing. It is my opinion that we're splittling hairs with Michael and Turbin, I don't think 1 will be dramatically better than the other. To me BOTH are good Rb's with the potential to be feature backs.

Moving Turbin to FB would be silly, Ware is there to develop into the FB of the future. Can never had too much depth at RB.

I agree with most of your post. However, I think the running back position requires the least emphasis on experience. Simply, experience is a little factor for running backs. Just take a look at couple of top rbs last year - Doug Martin and Alfred Morris. Both were rookies and were able to unseat their incumbents (who had more experience than them). I definitely would like to see Turbin get more touches to show what he can do. I believe he deserves that. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out but I agree that it's nice to have a deep backfield like the Seahawks have on paper now. Hopefully it translates to the field once the games begin.