2022 Recruiting - Football

OrangeClad said:
Don't disagree with anything you wrote, Duke. I do think that Sanders was more proven at the college level than Davis, but I also expected more from Davis. Is he coming back in 2022? I thought he was a one year deal, but perhaps I am incorrect on that. Sanders was starting and looked pretty good until he got hurt, and was replaced by a younger guy who unexpectedly turned to be 'all-world'.

I am hoping Ewers is an exception. He should be, but he has yet to prove anything in college. And of course, OL, WR and LB. Complete whiff to this point.
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Thinking both Davis and Thornton were one and done.
 
Pomspoms said:
Maybe he is crazy like a fox.
Angling for NIL money.
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Yes, you are likely correct on this. I don't tend to immediately factor in NIL like I should. Maybe I am still trying to get my head around the idea that handing a 17 year old teenager a couple hundred thousand to a million dollars is going to end up being a good for the kid.
 
OrangeClad said:
I will assume this is sarcasm or humor, since we all know that a good TE doesn't stop multiple DL from running through the OL like water, doesn't suddenly solve the problem of 5 OL not being able to block 3 DL, doesn't back up the safeties from run support because they are afraid of deep routes by speedy receivers. Dedicating 7 players (5 OL and 2 TE's) to block 3 or 4 DL leaves the offense playing 4 against 7 or 8 defenders. How many completions is the QB going to get from his one fast receiver and one slow receiver against those odds?
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Being serious. Bijan at RB, Worthy at WR and a good receiving TE like they have every year at Iowa St. If defense uses 3 to defend receivers, the TE is likely open. If defense cheats to stop the run, Worthy is open. If defense uses 4 to defend the pass, then it’s a running play with Bijan. Run a set with 2 TE and use JWhitt as an extra WR. My scheme simplifies the pass options so that less time is needed to make a decision by the QB. Two TE eliminates rush from the outside. QB only worries about inside rush. As young OL develops, use less TE and more WR.
 
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mchammer said:
Being serious. Bijan at RB, Worthy at WR and a good receiving TE like they have ever year at Iowa St. If defense uses 3 to defend to receivers, the TE is likely open. If defense cheats to stop the run, Worthy is open. If defense uses 4 to defend the pass, then it’s a running play with Bijan. Run a set with 2 TE and use JWhitt as an extra WR. My scheme simplifies the pass options so that less time is needed to make a decision by the QB. Two TE eliminates rush from the outside. QB only worries about inside rush. As young OL develops, use less TE and more WR.
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All I know is most successful teams both college and pro these days seem to consistently and effectively utilize a well-developed tight end as a major part of their offensive passing scheme....
....and we don't.
 
RainH2burntO said:
All I know is most successful teams both college and pro these days seem to consistently and effectively utilize a well-developed tight end as a major part of their offensive passing scheme....
....and we don't.
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And this has pissed me off for a long time.
 
I like the scheme mc, but going they those reads when options 1 and 2 might be covered will take an OL. We need an OL that works to be good on offense - imo.
 
RainH2burntO said:
....and we don't.
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If we still aren't using the TE in Sark's offense with a functional o-line in place, I'll be more concerned. I'm not so sure the reason we didn't use the TE much last year was a) our best receiving TE wasn't going to stretch a defense beyond 10 yards or so, and b) pass protection was all hands on deck most of the time. At least that was my impression.
 
mchammer said:
Being serious. Bijan at RB, Worthy at WR and a good receiving TE like they have ever year at Iowa St. If defense uses 3 to defend to receivers, the TE is likely open. If defense cheats to stop the run, Worthy is open. If defense uses 4 to defend the pass, then it’s a running play with Bijan. Run a set with 2 TE and use JWhitt as an extra WR. My scheme simplifies the pass options so that less time is needed to make a decision by the QB. Two TE eliminates rush from the outside. QB only worries about inside rush. As young OL develops, use less TE and more WR.
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You forgot Whittington as the slot, if he can stay healthy.

He is a good possession receiver.
 
RainH2burntO said:
All I know is most successful teams both college and pro these days seem to consistently and effectively utilize a well-developed tight end as a major part of their offensive passing scheme....
....and we don't.
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Yes, but not instead of having a serviceable OL. Having a good TE is great if your OL can pass block well enough to force blitzes and long enough for the QB to read the defense and get the ball to the receiver. We did not have that on a consistent basis or against good defenses in 2021. You can put Gronk in there and it would not make a difference if you can't block the DL long enough to throw to him and he can't block 3 or 4 DL at a time. Saying you don't need a solid OL if you have a good TE is, well, I'll refrain from using adjectives.
 
OrangeClad said:
Yes, but not instead of having a serviceable OL. Having a good TE is great if your OL can pass block well enough to force blitzes and long enough for the QB to read the defense and get the ball to the receiver. We did not have that on a consistent basis or against good defenses in 2021. You can put Gronk in there and it would not make a difference if you can't block the DL long enough to throw to him and he can't block 3 or 4 DL at a time. Saying you don't need a solid OL if you have a good TE is, well, I'll refrain from using adjectives.
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The o-line did a hell of a lot better than most give credit for. We scored a whole lot of points in most games. It was our defense that was the culprit.
But when the defense did make stops, the offense couldn't score. We were a disjointed mess.
Seems like for some reason we lost our will to win in the 2nd half.
We need leaders on offense and defense.
Also the timing needs to get better between the QBs and WRs so that the QB isn't holding the ball too long. I blame the coaches for that.
 
Pomspoms said:
The o-line did a hell of a lot better than most give credit for. We scored a whole lot of points in most games. It was our defense that was the culprit.
But when the defense did make stops, the offense couldn't score. We were a disjointed mess.
Seems like for some reason we lost our will to win in the 2nd half.
We need leaders on offense and defense.
Also the timing needs to get better between the QBs and WRs so that the QB isn't holding the ball too long. I blame the coaches for that.
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Our OL was very weak against quality opponents and they were a complete mess after Okafor went down. Once the D made adjustments, were were done. I can't begin to count how many times a 3 man rush would blow up our plays with a QB sack, rush or hurry or push the flow of the play RB in the wrong possession. If you re-watch the games and study the OL, even on successful plays they had unblocked DL, busted double team blocks and blitzers coming in hot constantly and we got lucky. That happens sometimes with every team, but it happened with most plays play with us, successful or otherwise. D adjustments by our opponents ruined our effectiveness over and over.

Our D also had numerous issues and we have very weak spots all over it. However, the biggest killer to the D all season was the O shutting down, having entire quarters and halves of 3 and outs and the imbalanced time of possession. The D was barely hanging in there, but had nothing left in the tank by the 4th quarter of most of the games.
 
OrangeClad said:
Our OL was very weak against quality opponents and they were a complete mess after Okafor went down. Once the D made adjustments, were were done. I can't begin to count how many times a 3 man rush would blow up our plays with a QB sack, rush or hurry or push the flow of the play RB in the wrong possession. If you re-watch the games and study the OL, even on successful plays they had unblocked DL, busted double team blocks and blitzers coming in hot constantly and we got lucky. That happens sometimes with every team, but it happened with most plays play with us, successful or otherwise. D adjustments by our opponents ruined our effectiveness over and over.

Our D also had numerous issues and we have very weak spots all over it. However, the biggest killer to the D all season was the O shutting down, having entire quarters and halves of 3 and outs and the imbalanced time of possession. The D was barely hanging in there, but had nothing left in the tank by the 4th quarter of most of the games.
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ALOT of people here grossly underestimated the impact of the loss of Okafor. He was a projected late round draft pick most thought would rise on the year (even as high as rd 2-3)...and when he went down the impact was immediate. We aren't deep nor talented enough on the line to lose an experienced starter.
 
I’m all for waiting to see how our offensive line looks/performs this year before pronouncing them as a clusterf**k.
 
I think we’ll be a lot better up front next year. Still not where we want to be, but a lot better.

My observations is that last year we were largely ok at C and G. The problem was our OTs — especially whomever we lined up on the opposite side of Kerstetter (and it was not just Karic)—they simply could not handle the speed rushers. Our QBs rarely had time and it was mostly coming off the edge. We could turn an average speed rusher into an All American. True, we also need much improvement picking up the blitz and handling the stunts. We’ll be better up front next year. Flood will earn his keep.

:bevo::bevo::bevo::bevo::bevo:
 
Chop said:
I think we’ll be a lot better up front next year. Still not where we want to be, but a lot better.

My observations is that last year we were largely ok at C and G. The problem was our OTs — especially whomever we lined up on the opposite side of Kerstetter (and it was not just Karic)—they simply could not handle the speed rushers. Our QBs rarely had time and it was mostly coming off the edge. We could turn an average speed rusher into an All American. True, we also need much improvement picking up the blitz and handling the stunts. We’ll be better up front next year. Flood will earn his keep.

:bevo::bevo::bevo::bevo::bevo:
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I see three things:

1) We are going to be a very young team. It's been a total rebuild if you look at our wake. But that young team is very talented.
2) We have a coaching staff that hasn't proven anything yet. Can they mold these young players? We'll see.
3) As fans we have to be patient; ONCE AGAIN. We have to accept Sark's ups and downs until we have four years of talent on the roster similar to what is happening with this class including the transfers.
 
From the article posted by Badass:

upload_2022-1-18_8-26-44.png


One more visit to The U.
 
:miami: = Linebacker U ???

Yeah, maybe a long, looooooooong time ago. Even then, Penn State was the one they called Linebacker U back in those days...
 
RainH2burntO said:
ALOT of people here grossly underestimated the impact of the loss of Okafor. He was a projected late round draft pick most thought would rise on the year (even as high as rd 2-3)...and when he went down the impact was immediate. We aren't deep nor talented enough on the line to lose an experienced starter.
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I agree with you about Okafor. It was a different OL (markedly worse) after he went down (and out). That said, I must admit that the difference really surprised me. I had been closely watching the OL on the DVR and Okafor was getting beaten fairly regularly and appeared to be one of the weaker links. He did much better against TTU, and was struggling, but still doing better against TCU, so I had some hope for him until he went down. I didn't see him getting drafted, but who knows what would have happened if he had not gotten hurt because they had no answer for his loss.
 
HalRex said:
I’m all for waiting to see how our offensive line looks/performs this year before pronouncing them as a clusterf**k.
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That's good. Trust the coaches. Trust that guys who performed poorly up until now will develop a lot. Believe that each of the true freshman will be the one in 2,500 that can play at a high level their first year and that both will be able to come in and dominate Bama's DL in a few months.

I believe the issue at hand isn't "pronouncing the OL a clusterf__k", but watching, (and expecting for $5MM per year) the staff to take available opportunities to solve the problems of the team, which the # 1 problem based upon last season's performance was the OL. My point is that despite the last several months being the THE single greatest opportunity to do that in modern history by having available, proven P5 starters who wanted to and could transfer and play immediately, they chose not to address the problem. I also made the point that Charlie Strong did the same thing when he trusted Tyrone Swoopes would develop into a serviceable QB despite a large body of evidence to the contrary in the previous fall and spring, and Strong did have have the volume of options that Sark just passed on. Now, this is not over yet and there will be more (but far fewer) portal opportunities and I hope they find one and carpe diem with it, but they lost the spring to lessen the learning curve and gel a new OL.
 
Chop said:
I think we’ll be a lot better up front next year. Still not where we want to be, but a lot better.

My observations is that last year we were largely ok at C and G. The problem was our OTs — especially whomever we lined up on the opposite side of Kerstetter (and it was not just Karic)—they simply could not handle the speed rushers. Our QBs rarely had time and it was mostly coming off the edge. We could turn an average speed rusher into an All American. True, we also need much improvement picking up the blitz and handling the stunts. We’ll be better up front next year. Flood will earn his keep.

:bevo::bevo::bevo::bevo::bevo:
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We might all want to go back and re-watch the DVR. Yes, the OT play was atrocious, but opponents DL poured in from everywhere. Our 5 OL routinely could not block 3 DL. I think we had 4 or 5 sacks given up last year to a 3 man rush. I lost count how many double team blocks were beaten by an interior DL. There were missed blocks on nearly every play last year. 40% of the time (maybe more) our RB was getting hit, or having to juke a defender in the offensive backfield, not even getting to the point of wondering if there was an available hole up at the LOS. Bijan was much better than we give him credit for, and we all think he is great, because he would have to juke or break tackles just to get back the LOS. Indeed, there was mass confusion on stunts and blitzes, and hopefully that can improve with another year. But, don't expect miracles from one year to the next, that rarely happens. I also have different expectations than some. I would like to be competitive with Bama next year when we play them. Oh, I don't expect us to win, but I would like to not get stomped. If you think a one-year-improved-same-guys OL is going to keep Will Anderson from lighting up Card or Ewers or Bijan on nearly every play, you really should rewatch our OL.
 
OrangeClad said:
That's good. Trust the coaches. Trust that guys who performed poorly up until now will develop a lot. Believe that each of the true freshman will be the one in 2,500 that can play at a high level their first year and that both will be able to come in and dominate Bama's DL in a few months.

I believe the issue at hand isn't "pronouncing the OL a clusterf__k", but watching, (and expecting for $5MM per year) the staff to take available opportunities to solve the problems of the team, which the # 1 problem based upon last season's performance was the OL. My point is that despite the last several months being the THE single greatest opportunity to do that in modern history by having available, proven P5 starters who wanted to and could transfer and play immediately, they chose not to address the problem. I also made the point that Charlie Strong did the same thing when he trusted Tyrone Swoopes would develop into a serviceable QB despite a large body of evidence to the contrary in the previous fall and spring, and Strong did have have the volume of options that Sark just passed on. Now, this is not over yet and there will be more (but far fewer) portal opportunities and I hope they find one and carpe diem with it, but they lost the spring to lessen the learning curve and gel a new OL.
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I just generally prefer to be on the positive side of things and, hopefully, not unrealistically so. Not sure anyone here expects us to have an OL capable of dominating bama's DL immediately. Do I think our OL will be improved this year? Yes. Do I think the only realistic opportunity for improvement was to snag P5 starters out of the portal? No.
 
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