:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/18418931/158917292.0.jpg)
 |
#5 Robert Rose |
Position: Running Back Previous College: None Projection: Second-String Status: Preferred Walk-On |
Robert Lee Rose (b. Feb. 21, 1989) is a shifty and elusive back who will compete for playing time in 2013. He was the star of the spring game with 17 carries for 141 yards and a touchdown for the Purple team.
Rose was a star in the 2012 spring game, too, with 10 carries for 84 yards, but he saw playing time in just three games last fall. He had one carry for 2 yards against Missouri State and three for 7 yards against Miami.
Similarly, he had 11 carries for 48 yards in the 2011 spring game, but appeared in just four games that year, gaining 35 yards on nine carries. He carried five times for 29 yards against Kent State and three times for 5 yards at Miami.
In 2010, Rose saw action in the Texas game, but did not record any statistics. So do strong spring performances herald more playing time? In Rose's case, so far, the answer is not really. But he should be the main backup now.
John Hubert, a Doak Walker Award candidate, has a virtual death grasp on the starting position. But Angelo Pease no longer is in the way. Rose only has to hold off disappointing DeMarcus Robinson and a bunch of freshmen.
He stands just 5-foot-4 and isn't exactly a burner in the traditional sense of the word. But he must be a hard worker to have received the opportunities he has been afforded thus far. There's even talk of a scholarship in his last year.