Starting RB broke his hand

I think those kind of situations can be unique, and that discussion should have the parents, kid brought into it. If the parents say "no" ..your pretty much out of luck, and you start the "pray alot" thing for it to heal fast. If the parents and kid say its ok..then I think you have to see if the kid can hold on to the ball well enough to even be a factor. I have played with a running back who had a cast on his hand, and its pretty iffy...even in the best of circumstances. Goodluck with whatever happens..I know it sucks when your RB breaks that hand.

We had our top 3 backs go down in the first two weeks last year- Stress fracture in leg, torn ACL and a broken wrist. The back with the broken wrist was unable to play the first two weeks because of some pins in the hand. When he came back we had to play him, because our backups just could not get the job done.

First game back full time---he probably fumbled the ball 4 or 5 times. The team we played went after that cast on every single play. Very tough game for him and he struggled with the cast the rest of the year.

Sorry about the bad news...but it is definitely something he could have done. He was fine when he got the ball tucked in his healthy hand. It was just that initial contact after the handoff. If he was bumped before he could get it put away...it didn't turn out well. You have to remember that the arm is still pretty tender, even with the cast on. He was a tough kid and probably would have had a great year if it wasn't for that.

On a good note..we saw a team who went to the Shotgun to give the back a little more time to put the ball away before contact. I don't know if that is something you would want to do or not. Also, I played my entire senior year with a broken wrist as a receiver/safety (didn't have a cast, though. In fact, I didn't even know about it). So, maybe he can overcome this, as well.

Best of luck!!