EmeraldIngot

Let's get it to 40 first. I'd rather trust the backups to make some plays. Worst comes to the worst, you can always put the 1s back in. Thinks that pretty sh**ty for the confidence though. If the backups aren't putting up the points to stay ahead of the other team, their confidence is already going to be down. I can only hope that they're not too high mantainence to put the team ahead of their own pride when the 1s go back in.

Let's get it to 40 first. I'd rather trust the backups to make some plays. Worst comes to the worst, you can always put the 1s back in.

Yeah, need to start the second half with Fyfe and Wilbon in the backfield, get them some quality game time now that we're up big.

Nice to see a power counter trey. Especially one that broke for a big gain.

Thanks for the write-up. Despite a few hiccups, it looked pretty good. As the year goes on a lot of those hiccups will be ironed out and the offense will get better. My biggest gripe with the running game is that the RBs need to be more decisive. Make that cut and accelerate through the hole. Better to get 4 or 5 yards than to dance around looking for a home run and get stopped for a short gain or a loss.

We don't have the Linebackers for a 3-4, but without a true rush end, we have the d-line for it. I personally favor a 3-4 front seven and a cover 4/quarters secondary. In a pinch, you can drop 8 into coverage, 4 over top and 4 underneath. You can put 9 in the box by either blitzing the corners or dropping the safeties into the box. Its versatile, has the potential for literally everything you can think of defensively. It can hold the running game to short yards, it can smother the passing game, and if you coach it right, you can adjust it on the field to stop any formation without substitutions, even a 5 WR look. Its weakness is a well coached power run team unless you're run blitzing your LBs and dropping your safeties in the box, but that leaves you vulnerable to screens and play action.

When they're done cougar hunting, they won't have to worry about whether they've caught some horrible disease.I got a disease from your mom last night. Oh snap! Well, considering my mom has been dead and buried for two years now, in sure that exhuming and fornicating with her dessicated corpse would lead to you catching some kind of horrible disease...

Interesting fact, below another interesting fact, neither will help BYU in a week. As such, all objects free fall at the same rate regardless of their mass. Because the 9.8 N/kg gravitational field at Earth's surface causes a 9.8 m/s/s acceleration of any object placed there, we often call this ratio the acceleration of gravity. BUT THAT'S ONLY IN A VACUUM Forgot about that vacuum thing. What brand do you recommend? 9.8 m/s^2 is the specific acceleration due to gravity on earth. That means that things fall to earth and accelerate towards the center of the earth and increase their velocity by 9.8 meters per second. This happens anywhere in earths gravity well, though the strength of the gravitational acceleration decreases the farther from earth you go. In the atmosphere, a falling object continues to be accelerated at 9.8 meters per second squared, but atmospheric friction slows a falling object. Terminal velocity is that perfect balance between atmospheric resistance and acceleration due to gravity. The reason I brought this up is that we are going to kick the Cougars asses so hard, they will break orbital velocity and the entire teams next mission will be to the moon.

Me too. I think that our offensive snaps per game will go down as a lot of the up-tempo no huddle will be gone. Maybe not, TO's teams routinely snapped the ball with 15 seconds on the clock. Sending a play in with a WR can be faster than looking to the sideline and interpreting signals. TA will still be looking to the sideline getting the play call. A WR will not be running in with the play. This isn't high school football. Keep It Simple, Stupid applies here. If it's simple and it works, who cares if it looks like high school ball? Besides, it would cut down on miscommunication.

The West Coast Offense, like pretty much any offense these days, is more about a philosophy of attacking the defense. Its primarily seen as a 'dink and dunk' or 'Nicole and dime' kind of offense, mostly short quick passes, screens, bubbles, slants, in and out routes, but also some smash and levels concepts, all focused on stretching the defense horizontally. Its where the term 'spread' originally came from, because it spreads the defensive secondaries out, which opens holes in zone coverage, and the sharp cuts in the pass routes allow receivers to get open against man. Now, something that everyone needs to understand is that literally EVERY offense has run some elements of the WCO since 1990. Yes, even Tom Osborne ran some of the same pass patterns. Because it was so effective against the defenses of the time. The pure WCO still works, but less so than it used to because defenses have adjusted to counter it. 409 had a scheme that was murder to the pure WCO. Now, the high flying offenses of Baylor, Oregon, tOSU, Auburn and so many others use elements of the WCO to spread defenses horizontally, and elements of the Air Coryell system to stretch them vertically, all in the same play. The blending of the two combined with a zone running offense and some read option and some speed option have become the current trend in high octane offenses, and its very effective because defenses have to literally account for everything every play. From sideline to sideline and from the LOS to the end zone has to be accounted for. Now that your understand that, think about this: HCMR has run elements of all of this (save for zone read and other option attacks) all through his college career. He has run deep attack systems when he had a QB with a strong arm. He has run a zone based running attack when he had a shifty RB. He has run a dink and dunk WCO when he had a quick, accurate passer (most recently, Sean Mannion) He can combine wrinkles like jet sweeps, middle screens, bubble screens, tunnel screens, and play action passes as needed to counter whatever a defense is doing. All he needs to do it is blend in some read option (which, according to some early interviews and what I saw in the spring game makes me think he already has) and we have the potential for an offense that will look more like a spread option attack like Oregon, like Ohio State, like Baylor and Auburns and so on. While Tommy needs more polishing on his short routes for certain, this new staff will build him up and adjust the playbook to what Tommy does best. We have the RBs to run zone well, we have DPE and others on jet sweeps, we have Carter for pass routes both short and long, we have other TEs and FBs for blocking and short yardage packages... This year, I believe, is shaping up to be something special, with the only worry I have being the OL due to inexperience. All the pieces are there. The staff and players just have to put it together, crank the ignition, and roar to an 11-1 regular season.

I think if we go out there and execute in every game, every quarter, every play, we will have a pretty good season.

To a certain extent I agree, but you have to consider that Rose-Ivey is healthy *knocks on wood* Banderas looked much improved during the spring game, and Marcus Newby is an athletic standout. We have some decent backups, and those 4 true frosh look talented enough to be solid backups. Yes, its a little thin, but only in numbers. I think it'll be in the late game when our guys are tired that they'll get exploited, but keep in mind we have some top notch safeties that can help.

To be honest, I think that, to a casual observer, our offense won't look much different than last years. Formations will be similar, we will still run read option plays (though less than last year), and our running game will still be mostly zone. What we will see is an improvement in pass routes. Early on there was some talk of moving to a passing tree. That means about 10 standard routes that are drilled every day, that the WR and QB know like the back of their hands. So fewer 'miscommunications', and even if Tommy isn't right on the money with his throws, it will be enough in the general directions of our talented receivers that they'll be able to adjust and make a grab. I think we will see more passes to and receptions by the TE, especially in red zone situations and as check downs. I expect the running game to struggle a little early as whoever gets the starting spot settles in, but it should be serviceable enough that our offense won't be one dimensional. And, of course, there will be the occasional under center heavy or jumbo set for short yardage, goal line, and the occasional play action situations. Our defense will look similar enough, as we will still be running primarily as 4-3, nickle and dime formations as needed. Expect cover 2 and cover 4, with the occasional rotation into a cover 3 or cover 6. I expect more zone coverage than man coverage. I expect the front 4 to be much more aggressive, spilling the play to the outside a lot, so expect LBs, CBs, and Safeties to record a lot of tackles in run support. I expect more blitzing in pass situations, especially zone blitzes from the LBs and DBs. I expect special teams to be more of what we saw last year, and maybe some improvement in field goals and kick returns. Considering all this, my belief that Tue new staff will fix and improve a lot of the players fundamentals, against the adjustments the players will have to make, and I see 10 or 11 REGULAR SEASON wins. BYU and Miami will be tough, but winnable. Hill and the BYU offense will really test our defense, but I expect the simpler system which is designed to allow our athletic defensive players to shine will hold them to 28-35 points. BYU always has a solid but rarely exceptional defense, but I expect our improved passing game and zone running to allow us to score enough to win, though the margin is anywhere from 3-10 points. Miami will have some tremendous athletes, and Brad Kaaya WIPO be much improved. I expect them to put up 250+ passing yards on us. Their RB should only be serviceable, and get at most 100ish yards. I see Miami scoring 28-31 points. Tommy will have to be accurate in his passes against Miami's D, because they have some tremendous athletes that can jump routes really well. If we don't turn the ball over more than twice, we should be fine. The big question will be the running game. If Newby or Taylor (depending on who starts) can make one cut in the backfield, hit the most wide open gap, and get 5 yards up field on most running plays, we should be good for 100-120 yards on the ground, and add another 50 from QB scrambles and read options. The O-line will have to do a tremendous job up front, but if they live up to my expectations, we should be fine. We will be at worst 3-1 going into Big 10 play, but I expect 4-0. The only two games I feel we will lose in the regular season are Wisconsin and MSU. For Wisconsin, I don't expect their passing game to have improved too much, so 200 yards tops, and that's if our DBs are sleeping. Corey Clement, their RB, is good. He's big, heavy, and fast, but doesn't seem to have the same shake and bake that Gordon had. On the other hand, our D-line and LBs will be much more aggressive, which should limit them to a 4 ypc average. Depending on how well the new staff adjusts to what Wisconsin is doing on O and D, we should win by 10-14 points at best, or lose by 7-10 at worst. There's a lot of unknowns on either side here. MSU will be a tough one. Their D is always good to exceptional, so it will take either Tommy, our RBs, or both to really step things up to pull off a win. Their O is solid but not exceptional. I see this one being a 3-7 point win or loss, it could go either way. I think it will go to OT. Should be a thriller. All in all, I expect a 10-2 or 11-1 regular season with a trip to Indy to play against Ohio State. That game, save for a few turnovers going our way and some exceptional play by all phases, should be a 14-17 point loss. We will play a major bowl and, win or lose, be riding high going into the off season. Of course, any team can win any game any week. There's no such thing as a sure win in football. And I could be way off. We could lose to BYU, Miami, Wisconsin, and MSU and be 8-4 or (with some bad luck) 7-5 going into the post season. But in the end, with as many factors accounted for as I possibly can, I believe that the most likely situation will resemble what I wrote above.

I've got a funny feeling that Martinez is going to get surgery and physical therapy, get back into football shape, and give it one more shot. When he's healthy, he has too much pure athletic talent to not find some kind of skill position for him. Even if that position is not QB. Now whether or not anyone is going to sign him is another argument...

What are you reading/hearing? http://deadspin.com/something-weird-is-going-on-with-randy-gregory-1701010088 So, he uses marijuana, possibly as a form of self medication for mental issues. I, personally, don't care either way about the marijuana use, except that its still federally illegal and against NFL policy. The gist seems to be that he's combatting some kind of anxiety, not anxiety as a mental disorder, but just generalized worry about the future. There are most likely three things he's worried about in regards to his potential NFL career: 1.) Build. His projected spot is DE, but he's under ideal weight for that spot in the NFL. He could be worried about bulking up. 2.) Utility. If he is unable to achieve the required bulk for a DE spot, he may be moved to LB. While he could be very successful in that position, he would have to do a lot of retraining to gain a starting spot. Even if he does get that spot, though, there's the chance that his income would be much lower than it would be as a DE. DE is a marquis spot, like QB. It pays higher on average than most other defensive positions, save for CB, maybe. His income as a LB will be less than as a DE. 3.) Injury. Its a fear of every player that their career can be ended by injury, so it stands to reason he'd be worried about it. Any NFL player would. Or some other unspecified worry. My personal conjecture, not backed up by any evidence (save for his general demeanor during a couple if interviews he's done on BTN, but that's just my opinion...) Is that he's gay. Not in the typical effeminate type of gay, but a more masculine demeanor. I only say this because his general demeanor is less machismo (except on the field) than most players, and while he's a mentally tough individual in his own right, he's got a slightly softer disposition. It reminds me of how Michael Sam acted in his public interviews, and how my openly gay father and his friends and acquaintances act. Not effeminant, but not macho or rough around the edges. If this is the case (though again, its entirely conjecture on my part) on top of his other worries, he will have to worry about his draft stock falling if he comes out publicly, and worry about locker room issues and whether or not teams would even want an openly gay player. I firmy believe that Michael Sam probably would have gone higher in the draft if he wasn't openly gay. Possibly even 3rd round. Im not saying he was cut from teams because he was gay, but because he couldn't perform at the level asked of him. I don't think any of us doubt Gregory could be a top 5 pick (without these unspecified issues and failed drug tests...). There's no doubt that these unspecified issues are causing his draft stock to fall. Again, I'll say I don't know what they are, I'm only theorizing. But if Gregory is gay, on top of other well founded worries and its causing him to self medicate, it would certainly cause his draft position to be effected the way it has. Edit: Gregory goes #20 to Eagles. Abdullah goes #60 to Cowboys.

in today's football, you literally can't run on every down. Even Wisconsin had games where Gordon got stuffed for most of the game last year. Even a run first philosophy that uses the QB in the run game needs to be able to pass. If you're always running between the tackles, they'll stack the box. If you're always running outside, they'll widen the LB and play contain. Sometimes, you've got to throw that WR screen. Sometimes you've got to hit that deep post. Sometimes, you gotta take the chance on a long streak or a fade. It's about offensive balance. Stretching the defense. Even a run-first team needs a pass threat to open up the run game. Even a pass-first team needs a run threat to open up holes in coverage. And believe it or not, Crouch had a decent throwing arm. He was better with his legs, no doubt, but he could make plays with his arm when we really needed to. And sometimes, we really needed to. Armstrong is in that place right now where he can run and make plays with his legs. He can make plays with his arm, too. He's got all the tools to be an elite dual threat QB, but he has issues doing it on a consistent basis. When he throws the ball, you never know I'd it's gonna be on target, or if it's gonna hit the dirt, or if it's gonna sail over everyone's head. If he fixes that (or at least improves) he will be the starter. But right now, Darlington is showing better consistency. Granted, we haven't seen much from Darlington in the run game, but what we have seen is good. He's just more consistent than the other guys on the team. Tommy with more accuracy and consistency will make us explosive. Darlington may not have that same explosiveness, I don't know, we haven't seen enough of him to tell. An improved Tommy will lead us to conference championship, BCS bowl wins, and possibly even MNC. I just haven't seen enough improvement from him yet.

He has been 100% cleared by multiple head trauma doctors Then, as of right now, he should be the #1 guy going into fall practice. And I maintain my position that Broekmeier should be the #2 going into fall as well. Those two are the most accurate, the most polished QBs. Don't get me wrong, I think all the guys we have at QB have talent and potential, and I'd love to see Armstrong or Bush succeed, but until they clean up their inconsistencies, they shouldn't be starting.

I know he doesn't stutter and has been cleared by some of the best doctors around regarding head traumaHope they are right. I would love for the kid to have a great career here but, it's not worth potentially having major problems the rest of his life. Best of luck to him. Agree. My concern is with his safety. Absolutely. I mean, it's obvious he wants to play. But major head injuries are serious serious business. I'd seek opinions from doctors that aren't in any way affiliated with the school just in case, but if every doctor says he's no more at risk than any other player? I'd start him. I'm confident that it's only the history of head injuries that's holding him back.

That's the thing I don't get when people bring up arm strength. How far do QBs usually toss the ball? I mean on a long route you are talking what 40ish yards in the air give or take? I'm positive all of the qbs on our roster can throw a ball that far. I started watching the scrimmage expecting a Bush vs TA battle. Instead I watched Darlington run away with it while everyone else fought over silverIt is easy to forget but before Darlington got hurt, NU got his commitment over Urban Meyer and OSU, the young man can play. He was a highly rated QB and I was highly impressed today, just worried about him taking a hit. He can certainly play. and anyone that Urban wants but we get is a victory in my books. But Darlington's HS highlights show him making long passes, but it seems to be a max of 40-45 through the air. Which is good! Don't get me wrong! I couldn't throw a football that far. I doubt I'd make 30! But when Darlington does make those passes, they're usually underthrowns just enough that the reciever has to adjust and slow down to catch them, which a lot of times means the DBs catch up to and tackle the reciever. Granted, he may have improved since high school, but he may not have. We don't know. That why we question his arm strength and don't just say he has a weak arm.

Broekmeier showed good mechanics, good accuracy, and good ball placement (throwing to open recievers, hitting them in stride, positioning his passes to let his players make plays...), but it was against third string players... but he was playing with third string players for the most part. I think there are questions about Broekmeier, and I'd like to see him take a serious series against BYU to see how he does. Like, at the tail end of the first quarter or the beginning of the second quarter. One good series. Just to see how he does with the 1's against the opponent's 1's. Personally, I think he's got potential. He's shown potential, and a good amound of polished skill. I don't know if he'd lead us to a national championship, but he'd make an excellent backup. I'd let him start if he could prove he has that consistency against a solid defense.

To be honest, we don't have the explosiveness we've enjoyed with Martinez, Burkhead, and Abdullah. Tommy has shown flashes of explosiveness with his long passing ability. But until a RB steps up and gives us explosiveness (or at least play at a high level consistently) in the run game, we are going to need the dink and dunk passing game. The 5 yard passes. The 10 yarders. The ability to move the chains consistantly, every drive. I feel we have the recievers that can get open and turn those short passes into big plays. We don't need to Beck ourselves by shooting for a touchdown every play and end up with 3 and outs. I feel what we need right now is accuracy and consistency in a QB, and Darlington is that QB right now. Tommy has the potential to have that accuracy (and he's shown flashes of it, just not the consistency) but he's not there yet. I hope he gets it by the time fall practice is done, because if it clicks for him, we will have consistency AND the potential for explosiveness. Bush also has that potential, but suffers from the same hang ups as Tommy. But I'd rather play it safe and dink and dunk my way down the field to a steady score. I'd rather have those long, sustained drives to keep the ball out of the opponents hands. Darlington is our man if that's shat we want to do. Hell, right now, I'd choose Broekmeier over Bush or Armstrong if he proved more consistent. Consistency will win games. That's how Ohio State won. It's how Alabama won. It's how Oregon performs at such a high level (though they have good consistency with a high level of explosiveness, an excellent combination). I'd rather have a consistantly good offense than and occasionally amazing but mostly mediocre offense. I'd like a consistantly good defense too. My point is, you don't have to win the game every play. all you have to do is make 4 yards. Thats it. Make 4 yards every play and you'll score every drive (barring penalties or turnovers).

Yes, but without the injury issues.

Bush needs to improve accuracy and timing. Both of those come with practice and improved footwork. I think his potential is the highest of anyone on the team except for Stanton. He also needs to work on his ability to perform under pressure, both from the D and from the crowd. I think that's why bush saw a ton of snaps on the white team. Really, I could see him as an all conference in two years, an all American in three, and 2nd or 3rd round pick by graduation. Stanton has the highest possible potential of all the QBs on the roster due to his size, athleticism, and how well he throws the ball. That is to say, it spirals as nice as Darlington, has a little more zip, and he can chuck it way down field. He needs to work on timing, ball placement, and pressure. He has the potential to be a top draft pick, but for some reason has almost no confidence, consistancy, or composure in the face of pressure. Broekmeier reminds me a ton of Drew Brees. Accurate, consistent, excellent reads, shorter than the prototypical pro QB... to be honest, I'd like to see him start this year if he can reliably do what he did today against top defenses. Wouldn't go higher than 5th round, but he'd be a bargain, and given some development and a shot, he could be a franchise quarterback... if he can toss it 45 to 50 yards through the air. Darlington performs like a rookie pro. Period. Needs some polishing and experience, but he looks fantastic. The two things that hold him back are size (isn't he only like 5'7"?) and that he hasn't shown great arm strength. Armstrong still needs work. Accuracy is still an issue. When he does get the ball to a reciever, it's usually not in the best place to let a reciever catch it in stride (that is to say, without having to lose any speed). Timing is much better than last year, so his footwork has improved, but not as much as it needs to if he wants to be a pro. His composure is top notch, as is his confidence. He's the closest to being pro ready, but needs work. Two more years of starting and he could be an early round pick. Would be similar to Russell Wilson.

Lol why so worried..I don't think your are too far off from what everyone else thinks...enjoy your steaks worry freeNo flames? Well, I guess I'll have to eat them blue. Still delicious anyway.

I'm probably gonna get some hate for this list, but flame away, I've got some steaks to grill. But first, I'll say that I would be comfortable with any of the guys we saw as a starter, depending on the style of offense. Still... #1: Newby. Showed much more decisiveness this year than I've ever seen out of him. Looks much more comfortable taking and giving big hits. Showed his potential speed, elusiveness, and vision. Hit the hole and took off. He might have some issues against stacked boxes and short yardage situations because of his smaller size and strength. He's not built like Abdullah. But he's faster. Borderline elite speed. it's also good to see that his ball handling has improved. Only two questions, though; can he catch passes consistantly, and can he pass protect? #2: Taylor. He has all the size and strength of Cross, but better at moving laterally. Great elusiveness for his size (but literally every other RB on the roster except Cross is more elusive). With his size and strength, he doesn't need to be as elusive, though, and has shown he can drag multiple tacklers several yards. His straight line speed is nearly as good as Newby's, so close to being elite. I didn't see much pass catching or pass blocking out of him, so there are questions, but his potential is nearly unlimited. He is serviceable as a back out of the spread, but would probably be better in a power set. #3: Cross. But only if we run an I formation or a two TE Ace set. He's a big bruiser, and he has more speed than most on this board give him credit for. But he can't change direction very well without losing speed and making himself an easy tackle. He is a 3 yards and a cloud of dust style of back. Which can be useful, but is not as explosive as I'd like to see out of our running game. Good pass protection though, and I think he can catch a ball... not 100% confident in that though. #4-6 Everyone else. Wilbon, in a year or two, could be the next AA, but it's too early to tell. Showed great flashes, though. Not enough info to confidently crown him the starter, but if he was, i wouldn't complain. Nabity and Nelson looked nearly identical, and both appear to have great potential. Neither are as tough of runners, but they have decisiveness when hitting the hole. Top speed might be an issue with them, but only as much as it was for Abdullah. Neither have elite speed, but they are fast. Against highly talented and athletic defenses, it will be an issue.