No need to start my own thread so I'll add on to this well constructed Businesslawyer post.
1) I have always looked for the IT factor in a QB. A guy who can take the game over and lead us to victory when it is winning time. Danny O had it, Tyler Lorenzen had it and I thought Cochran and Bryant Shireffs had it. Zergiotis might have it but right now he is at a Cody Endres level.. He has a lot to learn as he was slow reading the D and that caused some sacks. We don't know if he can run because he kept it simple. That said, he has a rifle for an arm and is very accurate. More work with the 1s will help with routes and timing. More looks at Defenses will help him with his reads. I also think some semi rollouts will make it easier for him as he will only need to read half the field. RE made the right call starting him next game- let's see if he can develop and stay healthy. If not, Beaudry will be back and maybe even Leon or Krajewski.
2) I think Mensah is workmanlike, but he hasn't show the ability to make people miss at the second level and turn 4-6 yards into 11+. Thompkins had a bad game overall on Saturday, missing blocks, fumbling a kickoff and mindlessly not going after another kickoff. Illinois was keying on him and the next step is to get him in space or use him as a decoy. That said, we need to use Black or Donevin O'Reilly because Mensah and Thompkins will be burned out by week 6.
It's been a while since we had a good group of fast young receivers. We have had a Geremy Davis, a Kashif Moore, a Noel Thomas or a Hergy Mayala, but not a 3 some like this. Drayton and Ross are exciting and are Freshman, Ardell Brown is really good and Hairston Maurisseau, et al will have time to develop. Happy for Donovan Williams and Jay Rose- they have had lots of adversity and its great to see them productive.
Defensively, it is night and day from the last 2 years. But there is so much more room to grow. Travis Jones is a beast- when he learns to get off the ball quickly, those 1 and 2 yard gains he stops will become no gain and tackles for a loss. Pace, Uguak, Thomas, et al will get bigger and better. Dillon is going to get better and better and Kevon Jones off the edge has the ability to be a play maker.
The LB's - Morgan had a heckuva a game. The sack strip and recovery was awesome to watch. Gilmartin improved a lot from game 1 to game 2 and he showed us a lot. Omar Fortt better step it up or we could see a Swenson, Ganyi or Mitchell get some of his reps.
The DB's are better. Keyshawn Paul, penalties not withstanding, competed really well and is now our top corner. Herring-Wilson had a horrible game and my hope is if he doesn't improve, we have someone ready to take his spot. By the way, Harrell and Coyle are good safeties. Harrell needs to work on his angles and I still think Coyle could impact the game more, but they are a strength right now.
The biggest area of improvement is on the special teams- Kick off coverage has been putrid for 2 games. Watch for the runners going to the middle and bit to the right- our left side isn't staying in their lanes and are creating creases over and over again. We haven't really done anything on the return game and I would take Thompkins out of that unit to save him moving forward. Migliozzi looks like he is trying to not outkick his coverage and that has affected his kicks. They have been too low and short. Young made his debut this week and only put one in the end zone. I want him putting them all in the end zone and that would cover up the deficiency in kick coverage. Harris had done nothing wrong since he took over the job. No complaints here. Remember, RE used to have great special teams, we won't be fully back until all three phases are humming.
The last phase is the O line. You saw next years line after losing Peart and I thought Niederowski battled well but was overpowered too many times. Illinois loaded the box and dared us to throw. That is one reason the running game was anemic. The other is that there seems to be a blown block at a key time in each run. Thompkins blew a block that would have sprung Mensah for 6. Guys aren't getting to the second and third levels to make a key block. These are all fixable.
This is long so I will leave it at this- my parallel for this team is 2002. It looked bad at 2 and 6 and then the light went on and they finished 6 and 6 and took off the next year. The parallels are similar and now that we have a freshman qb who appears to have an upside, it is remarkably similar. This team first had to get into close games and then they need to learn how to win them. 1 TD versus a field goal, not throwing a bad pick at the end of the half resulting in 3 points and now you have a totally different ending. They are little things that a team getting blown out by 30 at the half knows nothing about. I still think we win at least 4 and the fans will start to come back slowly but surely.
Finally, something has to be done about the student section. They can't leave a half time. Just can't. They need to be the back bone to fan support and something has to be done. Maybe make attendance a 3 credit course with class time talking about being a cohesive fanbase. Requirements - full game attendance at football and other UConn sports. Hardcore out.
