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Gus Edwards
Junior - RB - 6'2 230 - Staten Island, NY
Ran for 349 yards (5.7 ypc) and 6 TDs (338 yards and 5 TDs as a true freshman).
Has been mostly one dimensional as a power back in his UM career, but a lot of reports have him improving coming into 2015:
Gus Edwards is ready to take the next step. He has added burst and wiggle.
— Peter Ariz (@PeterAriz) June 1, 2015
.@GoldenAl: "Gus Edwards had a really good spring. ...Joe Yearby is also a guy competing for that, although he is markedly diff. from Gus.''
— Susan Miller Degnan (@smillerdegnan) April 22, 2015
With Duke Johnson now in the NFL, will be competing with Yearby as well as true freshman Mark Walton for the starting RB spot.
Edwards clearly has upside:
Summary: Is Gus Edwards a feature back ready to be be a star, or is he still a change pace smash to the dash of Yearby/Walton? A lot of that will depend in whether he can give UM anything in the passing game (as a receiver as well as in protection). We already know he can break tackles, and he has wonderful feet for a big man. But to be a star type player he is going to need to be more complete, and also keep that pad level lower between the tackles. There are rumors that Yearby could be facing suspension to start the season. If that turns out to be true, Edwards will have a golden opportunity to seize control of the starting tailback position. But when Yearby returns (if he even misses time) and with the emergence of Walton, it is tough to envision Edwards as more than a guy who picks up 5-600 yards and 6-7 TDs, which is still not a bad thing at all for UM's offense.
Stay tuned for more player profiles from SOTU as we count down to kick off.