Ok.
#1- We don't have a running back named Frederick. So I'll assume you're taking about Strickland.
#2- There were no good running backs statistically speaking. That especially includes Elmore who averaged the lowest ypc of the bunch. Even Rex Cullpeper had nearly identical rushing stats as Elmore. So why not make Cullpepper your RB? Elmore is just not athletic enough, or fast enough, or running backy enough to play running back. Maybe in a big package on the goal line...but that's it. William Perry was a fat boy who could score from the 1 yard line too...but there was a reason he never played RB beyond that. Same here. He was placed at RB as an experiment, and out of need.
#3- Despite all that, Strickland actually averaged a pretty hefty 5.05 ypc over the last 4 games.
#4- Strickland played a better game vs. Miami than Clemson rushing for 105 yards on 14 carries.
#5- Dino Babers has coached football at one of the highest levels for 39 years. He's been good enough to always have a job for nealy 4 decades. The man knows football to a level you and I can't even comprehend. If he feels Elmore has no business playing RB this year, then he's right.
You need to keep in mind, that a lot of our pain in the running game, especially in the first 7-8 games, had as much to do with line play as the capability of the running backs. We don't have the kind of RB's that can produce yards despite poor blocking. Our backs are more than capable however, when given some running lanes, as evidenced by the improvement in line play over the last 1/4 of the season.
