floridacorn

True, but Gainsville & the surrounding area is definitely deep south

Quick screens in abundance are fine if the D is off. Hopefully, this trio of WR's offers more of a downfield threat to open space for those plays and gives Frost the confidence of go downfield when they are tight or squatting on everything. That's kind, the RZ efficiency under Frost has been a big problem. My biggest criticism of play calling is that the run/pass games are often not tied together. The short drop back passing game Frost often leans heavily on doesn't compliment the running game imo. I thought the same thing when he was at UCF, but Milton bailed them out of a lot of plays by scrambling.

Virtually all of CF is running some variation of spread, including Saban, who used to rail against it. Even power teams like Stanford & Wisconsin are incorporating more spread into their offense every year. So, I don't see how scheme is an issue. The purpose of spread is to put play makers in space and give them opportunities to make plays. Frost hasn't gotten that at NU to the degree he's accustomed to & that missing element is going to expose some weaknesses in play calling that were often covered up by said big plays when Frost was at UCF.

I've seen this movie, it doesn't turn out the way you think.

These kids pick up the worst habits playing in those 7 on 7 leagues, but I like the fact he's agro, & takes the competition personally

No clue if NU is still in on this kid, but he ran a sub 10.3 100 meters.

I know this young man pretty well & have known him a while, never came up that he was related to Lynum, that's interesting, hope it plays in NU's favor. He definitely plays w/an edge and talks smack non-stop on the field.

LM is more tone deaf than William Hung. He seriously expected to transfer to Louisville AFTER spring ball and be anointed the starter over a 2 year starter? That's ridiculous even if he could throw a spiral.

In my vernacular pro agility = 20 yard shuttle (5+10+5). These are some pretty insane times for that. Williams' would rank 3rd all time at the NFL combine...

Who said white men couldn't jump?

The moral of this story may be that he was 27 pounds too heavy while playing at NU???

Linebackers, Inside, & Outside. This D is potentially legit, but it needs dramatically improved LB play in all phases to take the next step. Smothers - Lamar Jackson wouldn't impress anybody running 7 on 7's, but what does Smothers look like running the offense? If his portion is live, I'm especially interested in seeing it. Who's next level at the LOS? NU has a lot of young talent, guys like Ty Robinson, & Turner Corcoran. Who's actually progressing from holding their own to dominating? Who's getting off blocks and making tackles for loss, who's getting movement on the O-line & reaching the 2nd level?

QB - I'll believe anything other than a Martinez, Smothers, Masker, Haarberg depth chart is beat writer driven speculation when I see it. OL - Austin spoke of having 9 players ready to play, if NU had a game today, I think you'd see Sichterman starting at RG. Banks & Bando as the primary back-ups at G & T, Hixon @ C w/Piper #3, & Nouili/MIller #9 & #10.

I'm hoping they are actually capable backups at the S positions, cuz unless I'm missing somebody, they are it behind Farmer & NPG's next season. Ideally, I would prefer to see NU utilize a situational mix of players at that position ranging from true OLB, S, to CB. I think they are married to the idea of a hybrid Rover, but if Tannor returns next season, I wonder if they still envision him in that spot he was recruited to play? If not, you got a lot of OLB's competing for PT what is actually 1 spot.

I harbor no ill will towards WR & couldn't care less that he transferred, but these quotes lack self awareness. A utility player who doesn't want to be utilized as a returner or out of the backfield...that's new to me. A scout, let alone anyone who understands football shouldn't have to see tape of WR @ X or Z to know what that would look like & if there is a scout alive who actually expressed that, he should be grateful he's getting paid to do a job he's obviously poor at.

Yea, that's basically what Marcus Fleming ran. These 100 meter times translate all over the place to the 40. Nate Gerry ran a 10.3, but a 4.6+. I have a kid right now that runs 10.8 & 4.4. That almost defies logic, but fast & athletic is fast & athletic. I will never understand why these kids w/futures in football continue to train 200+ though...

I would break this season into 3 categories: Can't Lose: Buff & Sela No Lose: OU & OSU Must Win 4: Ill, MSU, UM, NW, Minn, Purdue, Wiscy, Iowa I'm not implying .500 is success, but anything below that is def failure, & NU probably needs 6+ W's w/at least 1 W vs. the Wisky/Iowa combo to put a positive spin on the season.

Interesting that Frost's throwing motion is much looser than when he played and all the QB's have more condensed mechanics similar to him when he played. At least physically, Yant does not look like a true freshman, mid-year enrollee, walk-on.

Unlike McCaffrey, Smothers throws a nice ball. He doesn't have a strong arm, but neither did Milton. I took in some of those UCF practices Frost's last season, I promise you these same individuals would not have been impressed w/Milton during 7 on 7's either. If you watch his highlights from that season, you'll see him lofting balls into open spaces. I doubt he had more than a couple completions as deep as Smothers' under thrown passes traveled in the air all season.

This is such a filthy route! As a former DB, I'm glad this wasn't around when I played.

To your 2nd point, agree, no question. But, when I referred to the short drop back game, I'm not referring to RPO's. To your 1st point, fair enough, true in the sense you are exploiting a more favorable coverage on a run down. Typically, you're talking about a switch from some type of 2 high structure to a 1 high structure like cover 3. I would argue the effectiveness is still maximized in that situation w/a play fake, but that's not the point. When I reference RUN/PASS conflict, I'm referencing the individual defender(s) in that bind, and the slot defender is naturally in that bind versus the spread. W/o some form of play fake however, he's off the hook. Example, in NU's D, Jo Jo is typically flexed out versus a #2 receiver. He's not on the LOS, he's not playing over the #2 receiver, he's off the LOS between the end of the LOS & the #2. He's likely got contain responsibility versus run, flat or curl/hook responsibility versus pass. Play action forces him to read run and freezes him or even forces him to take false steps before he reads pass and gets to his coverage assignment. That's specifically the conflict I'm referring to that the spread creates.

I get it, there are other ways to exploit the leverage of &/or put those same defenders in conflict w/pass game concepts. Philosophically however, if you define yourself as a running team, your not exploiting your tendencies, & you're pushing closer to being an air raid offense. I get that prob comes across as semantics, but there are times when NU's play calling is really disjointed, & grab baggish. I feel it's because their run game and pass game aren't always tied together.

The RUN/PASS conflict the spread creates w/slot defenders is unquestionably it's primary schematic advantage. That's why I've always had difficulty understanding the lack of play action passing in this offense and the frequency of short drop back passing.

A coach I have the utmost respect for (Zack Darlington's father) once said you have to be better or different. This is a guy who won 3 8A state titles in Florida running the single wing. I think Frost long ago fell in love w/the notion of Oregon @ NU. Unfortunately, by the time he got there, that was no longer unique. He's not alone, Kelly & Malzahn have struggled recently & it hasn't been that long since each were in NC games w/QB's who could barely throw the ball. But, nothing stays new forever, the spread isn't the holy grail, & optimizing it for this program & this conference is obviously vital to his future.

Rafdal informed the coaches he was entering the portal prior to spring, he participated in 2 days of spring ball, & Becton referenced him during his post practice presser? Is that accurate? Unless he didn't participate in practice & Becton was just covering until the announcement was formal, that's somewhat bizarre.