Wanted to get a couple thoughts out there before I disappear again in a few days...
I’m not big on season predictions, too many variables in play with 18 to 23- year olds. I’ve seen to many talented teams nationwide stumble to 7-5, 6-6, 4-8...
With that said I am high on this team and I am especially high on the talent. I’ve said on here a number of times, this team has the most defensive talent and depth we have had in my 48 years of experience.
This Dauran McKinney is more of the same. As most of you know there are several write ups already out there about the spring practice finale and he was singled out as another CB that has shined. Apparently Hankins, Brents and OJ all set out & McKinney and Moss both looked excellent.
Coupled with the Terry Roberts buzz coming out of spring, that’s potentially 6 dependable CBs That’s remarkable!.
This team continues to find great defensive talent on the recruiting trail and D back in particular. McKinney wasn’t committed until Mid-December and was a mid-3 star and here he is as an early entry freshman making waves. We appear to have 3-deep talent most everywhere on D.
As long DJ Johnson stays healthy at the “cash” & builds on what has apparently been a very good spring that position looks solid. Hopefully we build some depth there.
We have a Glutton of what seems to be pretty high level linebackers and it’s exciting to hear about them experimenting to get them on the edge to keep them engaged.
It sounds like Gholston had an awesome spring, of course AJ and it sounds like Lattimore & Rieff did as well & Nixon, Shannon & Schulte have all been singled out at some point in time.
As long as VanValkenberg shows up ready to Rock & this edge-linebacker experience comes to fruition and pans out I think our defense may be better.
It also sounds like they’ve got a close eye on this running back situation to see if it’s more a blocking problem or a running back problem. At worst we have average to slightly above average running backs and possibly better if we can get this line blocking like we hope.
It also sounds like our wide receiver situation has the potential to improve dramatically!!!
Outside of the 2008 to 2010-ish range when we recruited pretty poorly in my opinion..this staff has slowly upped their procces and talent evaluators and we are seeing the fruition of that the last three or four years in particular.
We will have top 10 Talent and depth on the defensive side of the ball. As as long as the offense continues to build off of what was actually a fairly efficient year offensively (despite what the critics suggest ) we have a chance to be pretty dang good.
Now to temper the enthusiasm with some potential pitfalls. I think it’s worth noting we still have plenty of youth and inexperience and with that comes mistakes. Even some of our better Veteran players have made mistakes so it would be unfair to not expect it to happen with some of these youthful guys.
By that I mean this… We often times like to lambaste the coaches for having a guy “we think” isn’t qualified to be out there.
A guy can be supremely athletic and talented and he is still going to make mistakes. In fact every player makes “some” mistakes. It’s especially going to happen in tense moments when he hasn’t played enough yet. And the only way those moments go away is if the kid plays.
Too many times I see fans, not just ours, ALL fans critique a guy as being “un-athletic” when the reality is a wrong read or a false step or a stumble at the point of contact means the difference between success or failure. The only way to improve those scenarios, is by being in them in the first place.
I do think we have enough competition & iron sharpening iron that those should be somewhat mitigated. We have to hope they’re not in the wrong moment at the wrong time; to greatly impact our outcomes.
As a final thought...as I’ve said before. I’m sure I’m in the minority, but I’m convinced these early entries are going to help us long term.
I believe it increases our profile with recruits as a place to get to the NFL and that it may come sooner rather than latter.
I believe it increases the awareness of depth building three and four deep.
It ultimately increases the engagement level of those players three and four deep.
And as a result should increase competition and team chemistry. Which ultimately improves the teams focus and morale.
Which ultimately improves our consistency and ability to withstand injuries and keep winning.
I’m not big on season predictions, too many variables in play with 18 to 23- year olds. I’ve seen to many talented teams nationwide stumble to 7-5, 6-6, 4-8...
With that said I am high on this team and I am especially high on the talent. I’ve said on here a number of times, this team has the most defensive talent and depth we have had in my 48 years of experience.
This Dauran McKinney is more of the same. As most of you know there are several write ups already out there about the spring practice finale and he was singled out as another CB that has shined. Apparently Hankins, Brents and OJ all set out & McKinney and Moss both looked excellent.
Coupled with the Terry Roberts buzz coming out of spring, that’s potentially 6 dependable CBs That’s remarkable!.
This team continues to find great defensive talent on the recruiting trail and D back in particular. McKinney wasn’t committed until Mid-December and was a mid-3 star and here he is as an early entry freshman making waves. We appear to have 3-deep talent most everywhere on D.
As long DJ Johnson stays healthy at the “cash” & builds on what has apparently been a very good spring that position looks solid. Hopefully we build some depth there.
We have a Glutton of what seems to be pretty high level linebackers and it’s exciting to hear about them experimenting to get them on the edge to keep them engaged.
It sounds like Gholston had an awesome spring, of course AJ and it sounds like Lattimore & Rieff did as well & Nixon, Shannon & Schulte have all been singled out at some point in time.
As long as VanValkenberg shows up ready to Rock & this edge-linebacker experience comes to fruition and pans out I think our defense may be better.
It also sounds like they’ve got a close eye on this running back situation to see if it’s more a blocking problem or a running back problem. At worst we have average to slightly above average running backs and possibly better if we can get this line blocking like we hope.
It also sounds like our wide receiver situation has the potential to improve dramatically!!!
Outside of the 2008 to 2010-ish range when we recruited pretty poorly in my opinion..this staff has slowly upped their procces and talent evaluators and we are seeing the fruition of that the last three or four years in particular.
We will have top 10 Talent and depth on the defensive side of the ball. As as long as the offense continues to build off of what was actually a fairly efficient year offensively (despite what the critics suggest ) we have a chance to be pretty dang good.
Now to temper the enthusiasm with some potential pitfalls. I think it’s worth noting we still have plenty of youth and inexperience and with that comes mistakes. Even some of our better Veteran players have made mistakes so it would be unfair to not expect it to happen with some of these youthful guys.
By that I mean this… We often times like to lambaste the coaches for having a guy “we think” isn’t qualified to be out there.
A guy can be supremely athletic and talented and he is still going to make mistakes. In fact every player makes “some” mistakes. It’s especially going to happen in tense moments when he hasn’t played enough yet. And the only way those moments go away is if the kid plays.
Too many times I see fans, not just ours, ALL fans critique a guy as being “un-athletic” when the reality is a wrong read or a false step or a stumble at the point of contact means the difference between success or failure. The only way to improve those scenarios, is by being in them in the first place.
I do think we have enough competition & iron sharpening iron that those should be somewhat mitigated. We have to hope they’re not in the wrong moment at the wrong time; to greatly impact our outcomes.
As a final thought...as I’ve said before. I’m sure I’m in the minority, but I’m convinced these early entries are going to help us long term.
I believe it increases our profile with recruits as a place to get to the NFL and that it may come sooner rather than latter.
I believe it increases the awareness of depth building three and four deep.
It ultimately increases the engagement level of those players three and four deep.
And as a result should increase competition and team chemistry. Which ultimately improves the teams focus and morale.
Which ultimately improves our consistency and ability to withstand injuries and keep winning.
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