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Ok, we've played 5 games, and I have let the proper time pass from that heartbreaking WMU game.
Here are my thoughts, from my seat in 229.
QB - Johnny Mac had a "Welcome to NCAA" moment against Vandy. You could almost see the blinders going on as it fell apart around him. I had no confidence in him. He had no confidence in himself. But he stood up and was a man about it, and you can see that he's a fighter, and I really like his courage. He put that game behind him and has honest-to-god impressed me the past few games. He'll never be Danny O, but he reminds me alot of a poor man's Brian Brohm. By that I mean he can throw the in-cut, the out across the field, and given time will make a nice throw. I like Nebrich, think given a chance he will establish himself in time. Good Presence, think he looks like he belongs. McCummings may want to look at TB or WR cuz he is an athlete. Keron Henry anyone? OVERALL GRADE : C-
RB - I had tempered expectations going into this season, and it looks like my instinct was right. McCombs can really wiggle in the open field, but goes down like an AK hit him every time he is breathed on, and really struggles reading/setting up blocks.Also, for a guy his size, not a blazer. Been caught a few times trying to turn the corner against DEs. Not a great combo, but he has time and has shown some playmaking ability. I remarked to a fellow fan that it looks like McCombs churns out a 15 yard run and you look up and its only 5. JJL, you are quietly earning the MeMe Wylie memorial "dude I wish we gave 20 carries to once in his career cuz i think he would impress". Every time he touches the ball its like 3/4 tough yards, and you know he has a few big gainers in him. DJ Shoemate is a figment of my imagination. Deshon Foxx, I like his speed but he needs to lock himself in a weight room with McCombs for about 18 months. OVERALL GRADE: D +
WR - I really believe that WR are only as good as the ball being thrown to them, so keep that in mind. Isaiah is steady if unspectacular, I think he has the best hands on the team. Kashif really struggles catching the ball cleanly, but he is so fast that he can make plays. He is an NFL slot receiver-good athlete who is really hamstrung by those mitts. Nicky Williams should get like 10 targets a game and he gets 2, go figure. Gerebucky Jonvis (think about it) looks to have some good skills as a combo, and Tebucky in particular seems to ALWAYS be open. Geremy seems to have a good ability to catch the ball in traffic, so I am optimistic about the future. Overall Grade: C
TE - Ryan Griffin is an absolute monster, sometimes. Forget about the fumble, which was unfortunate, he made 2 or 3 flat out GREAT catches during that game, and without those crossing routes our QBs would be struggling even more than they already are. What would we do without him in there. No idea why he "doesn't start". Overall Grade: B+
OL - The players didn't get worse, so I lean towards the idea that they are just not picking up the new scheme well. Given the 2-3 plays a game where there are strait up free rushers on teh QB, that makes sense to me. Running game has been hit or miss. 0 yards or 15, no ability to play smashmouth. Some of that is the RBs, but most has to go to the scheme. We are running much less power this year. Overall Grade : C
Offense Total: C-
DL - Kendall is a monster, and I think we are very, very solid elsewhere. Teddy Jennings has made plays, as has 'Vardo. You look at the ground game opponents have had, and you have to be impressed. At one point during WMU they had 400 yards passing and 390 total yards... -10 rushing. Can't hang this one on the DL, they get a good grade from me. Overall Grade: A-
LB - Sio Moore has been a playmaker all year. Most of the year its been for the Blue and White, but as we saw at WMU he has made some boneheaded plays as well. To be fair I think it is absurb how we are using him. He's a terrific pass defender but that doesn't mean he should always be covering the slot. The poor guy is 25 yards from the LOS at the end of most plays, taken out of the mix. His ability to cover up WR should be used as a weapon a few times a game during blitz packages, not as a routine measure. Sorry for the rant. Smallwood has been steady. Kid will be a player. Jory is Jory. Steady, solid, generally unspectacular but gets the Job done. This unit has been REALLY UP(Vandy) and had its down moments(WMU), but overall has been very solid in their roles. Overall Grade : B
DB - Oh, boy. Lets just remember that. We knew that this defense type was susceptible to long, big plays. It happens when you match guys up 1:1. But poor Gary Wilburn managed to both give up unlimited 5-10 yard catches AND get beat deep. I was at the game and watched the tape and it looked like at least 23 of those completeions and around 300 yards were directly at him. Yikes. With that said, that game appears to have been an abberation, and I have generally liked what I have seen from the Pass D. However, it was an ENORMOUS aberation. If Taylor Mack is not on his deathbed or Redshirting, there is no freaking reason why that kid should have sat the sidelines. I know many on this board are as perplexed as me, and will be again this week if Wilburn truly plays 60 minutes at the same level. As for the safeties, Jerome Junior just does not have the ability to take quality angles, and my optimism forged by the way he ended last year is fading quickly. Really like Byron Jones, but he needs to get more playing experience under his belt. As for Harris Agbor, let me say this. I really, really didn't like his play last year. Timid, Scared. He is much more aggressive and opportunistic this year. Good for him. Overall Grade C
Total Defense: B-
Specials: I'm not going to expound beyond this: Teggart has not been Teggart, Christen HAS been very Christen(OB), Wagner has NOT been Wagner. All return units are struggling, and coverage has been ok.
Total Specials: C-
Total Team recap: We are just a few points from being 5-0, but those Winning Time moments have really killed us this year. A fumble here(WMU), a INT there(Vandy), and bad secondary play here(WMU) and there (Iowa St) has really cost us. Our offense is slowly growing, learning, and improving. Our Defense shows flashes of dominance (DL espeically)and then loses concentration and gets roasted. We all knew, deep down that this was going to be a transitional year, and had no illusions of grandeur. Still, we have a long schedule to play, and many winnable games at home this year. I really believe we can finish 6 - 6 and keep out bowl streak running, we just need to clean up the D and keep improving the O. Its tough, but it can be done, teh components are there.
Overall Team Grade: C-
Here are my thoughts, from my seat in 229.
QB - Johnny Mac had a "Welcome to NCAA" moment against Vandy. You could almost see the blinders going on as it fell apart around him. I had no confidence in him. He had no confidence in himself. But he stood up and was a man about it, and you can see that he's a fighter, and I really like his courage. He put that game behind him and has honest-to-god impressed me the past few games. He'll never be Danny O, but he reminds me alot of a poor man's Brian Brohm. By that I mean he can throw the in-cut, the out across the field, and given time will make a nice throw. I like Nebrich, think given a chance he will establish himself in time. Good Presence, think he looks like he belongs. McCummings may want to look at TB or WR cuz he is an athlete. Keron Henry anyone? OVERALL GRADE : C-
RB - I had tempered expectations going into this season, and it looks like my instinct was right. McCombs can really wiggle in the open field, but goes down like an AK hit him every time he is breathed on, and really struggles reading/setting up blocks.Also, for a guy his size, not a blazer. Been caught a few times trying to turn the corner against DEs. Not a great combo, but he has time and has shown some playmaking ability. I remarked to a fellow fan that it looks like McCombs churns out a 15 yard run and you look up and its only 5. JJL, you are quietly earning the MeMe Wylie memorial "dude I wish we gave 20 carries to once in his career cuz i think he would impress". Every time he touches the ball its like 3/4 tough yards, and you know he has a few big gainers in him. DJ Shoemate is a figment of my imagination. Deshon Foxx, I like his speed but he needs to lock himself in a weight room with McCombs for about 18 months. OVERALL GRADE: D +
WR - I really believe that WR are only as good as the ball being thrown to them, so keep that in mind. Isaiah is steady if unspectacular, I think he has the best hands on the team. Kashif really struggles catching the ball cleanly, but he is so fast that he can make plays. He is an NFL slot receiver-good athlete who is really hamstrung by those mitts. Nicky Williams should get like 10 targets a game and he gets 2, go figure. Gerebucky Jonvis (think about it) looks to have some good skills as a combo, and Tebucky in particular seems to ALWAYS be open. Geremy seems to have a good ability to catch the ball in traffic, so I am optimistic about the future. Overall Grade: C
TE - Ryan Griffin is an absolute monster, sometimes. Forget about the fumble, which was unfortunate, he made 2 or 3 flat out GREAT catches during that game, and without those crossing routes our QBs would be struggling even more than they already are. What would we do without him in there. No idea why he "doesn't start". Overall Grade: B+
OL - The players didn't get worse, so I lean towards the idea that they are just not picking up the new scheme well. Given the 2-3 plays a game where there are strait up free rushers on teh QB, that makes sense to me. Running game has been hit or miss. 0 yards or 15, no ability to play smashmouth. Some of that is the RBs, but most has to go to the scheme. We are running much less power this year. Overall Grade : C
Offense Total: C-
DL - Kendall is a monster, and I think we are very, very solid elsewhere. Teddy Jennings has made plays, as has 'Vardo. You look at the ground game opponents have had, and you have to be impressed. At one point during WMU they had 400 yards passing and 390 total yards... -10 rushing. Can't hang this one on the DL, they get a good grade from me. Overall Grade: A-
LB - Sio Moore has been a playmaker all year. Most of the year its been for the Blue and White, but as we saw at WMU he has made some boneheaded plays as well. To be fair I think it is absurb how we are using him. He's a terrific pass defender but that doesn't mean he should always be covering the slot. The poor guy is 25 yards from the LOS at the end of most plays, taken out of the mix. His ability to cover up WR should be used as a weapon a few times a game during blitz packages, not as a routine measure. Sorry for the rant. Smallwood has been steady. Kid will be a player. Jory is Jory. Steady, solid, generally unspectacular but gets the Job done. This unit has been REALLY UP(Vandy) and had its down moments(WMU), but overall has been very solid in their roles. Overall Grade : B
DB - Oh, boy. Lets just remember that. We knew that this defense type was susceptible to long, big plays. It happens when you match guys up 1:1. But poor Gary Wilburn managed to both give up unlimited 5-10 yard catches AND get beat deep. I was at the game and watched the tape and it looked like at least 23 of those completeions and around 300 yards were directly at him. Yikes. With that said, that game appears to have been an abberation, and I have generally liked what I have seen from the Pass D. However, it was an ENORMOUS aberation. If Taylor Mack is not on his deathbed or Redshirting, there is no freaking reason why that kid should have sat the sidelines. I know many on this board are as perplexed as me, and will be again this week if Wilburn truly plays 60 minutes at the same level. As for the safeties, Jerome Junior just does not have the ability to take quality angles, and my optimism forged by the way he ended last year is fading quickly. Really like Byron Jones, but he needs to get more playing experience under his belt. As for Harris Agbor, let me say this. I really, really didn't like his play last year. Timid, Scared. He is much more aggressive and opportunistic this year. Good for him. Overall Grade C
Total Defense: B-
Specials: I'm not going to expound beyond this: Teggart has not been Teggart, Christen HAS been very Christen(OB), Wagner has NOT been Wagner. All return units are struggling, and coverage has been ok.
Total Specials: C-
Total Team recap: We are just a few points from being 5-0, but those Winning Time moments have really killed us this year. A fumble here(WMU), a INT there(Vandy), and bad secondary play here(WMU) and there (Iowa St) has really cost us. Our offense is slowly growing, learning, and improving. Our Defense shows flashes of dominance (DL espeically)and then loses concentration and gets roasted. We all knew, deep down that this was going to be a transitional year, and had no illusions of grandeur. Still, we have a long schedule to play, and many winnable games at home this year. I really believe we can finish 6 - 6 and keep out bowl streak running, we just need to clean up the D and keep improving the O. Its tough, but it can be done, teh components are there.
Overall Team Grade: C-