Fair critiques of Verduzco, but the answer is I really don't know. The numbers were absolutely better his freshman year, but so was the talent around him. I'm not even sure I buy it, but there's an argument he is better and the circumstances around him have contributed to the poor numbers. And for McCaffrey/other QBs, it's hard to say. McCaffrey probably has improved, but hasn't seen the field much and clearly has a ways to go (as we knew he did when we recruited him). They're high on Smothers, but this was not the year to chuck a true freshman out there.
I'm not sure why saying Mills would discredit me, he wasn't exactly a one hit wonder - he had good games last year too. Not consistent though for sure, but I think a lot of that is injuries and OL. So the answers are no, but with Mills hurt he was pretty much starting over with freshmen who also kept getting hurt. Held is to blame for the lack of depth sure, and that's not trivial. But losing both RBs from their initial class early was unforeseen, so my biggest beef with Held is not getting another experienced guy along with Mills so we had more depth. But I really believe if Morrison, Scott, or Thompkins were healthy through camp and the year we would feel fine about our RBs. Morrison is like Washington if you took a relatively small chunk of his talent away, but in doing so removed his issues as well.
With the year this was, I'm willing to give out Incomplete grades and that's what I'd give Held. Concerning, but with a lot of potential reasons that are a bit out of his control.
