Biggest Surprise So Far O/D

[Trueblue25]

Welcome to bye week.

who’s your biggest surprise so far on offense and defense?

Offense: I’ll deviate from the player I’m sure everyone will choose. Going to go with Elmore, seeing as 90% of the board thought the game 1 depth chart had him listed at starting liability. Our OL has not been solid consistently, but I think Elmore’s holding his own a lot better than most had anticipated.

Defense: Mikel Jones

Yes the freshmen all look good. Yes Cisco, Trill and Iffy look great. Thank god Bears back etc. etc.

My man Mikel’s been ALL OVER the field making plays and causing chaos. Two int’s, tied for the conference lead, and laying hits with his added weight. Plays his man and sticks him. I think we’ve found our qb of the defense, imo that should always be an LB

 

[721Comstock]

My biggest surpise(s) for the O are sadly, both things that are missing:

Jawhar Jordan getting the ball in space, and the TE's getting the ball AT ALL.

It's like Sterlin Gilbert was not allowed to watch tape of any of them from last season, and isn't aware that they are all very good at football.

Please throw to our tight ends!
And let Jaguar loose in space, especially now that Tucker can be RB1.

Agree that Mikel has been A MAN on D.
And the other young'uns at LB like Stefon, Linton, and Wax are playing solidly too.

 

[RMH44]

My biggest surpise(s) for the O are sadly, both things that are missing:

Jawhar Jordan getting the ball in space, and the TE's getting the ball AT ALL.

It's like Sterlin Gilbert was not allowed to watch tape of any of them from last season, and isn't aware that they are all very good at football.

Please throw to our tight ends!
And let Jaguar loose in space, especially now that Tucker can be RB1.

Agree that Mikel has been A MAN on D.
And the other young'uns at LB like Stefon, Linton, and Wax are playing solidly too.

Agreed. I love our young LB's and DB's. Both units appear to be 3-deep at almost every position. Hanna really surprised me against GT. Carter has been great. Same for Williams and Nunn. It will interesting to see if Labrosse gets any run once he gets back.

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

Offense: I’ll deviate from the player I’m sure everyone will choose. Going to go with Elmore, seeing as 90% of the board thought the game 1 depth chart had him listed at starting liability. Our OL has not been solid consistently, but I think Elmore’s holding his own a lot better than most had anticipated.

I'm with you here. The line's got issues, but Rhino ain't the biggest problem by any stretch.

 

[PAcuse]

Surprises, only going with good things as we all know we've had way to many bad surprises:

Offense: Rhino being able to hold his own has helped but Tucker is the biggest surprise to me dude looks like a MAN running with the ball and was a huge key to Win number 1

Defense: The tri of G. Williams, Carter,& Hannah are showing our pipeline of DBs is going to be solid for years to come. These kids have made play after play and stepped huge with the injuries we had. These kids allow our defense to be more aggressive and really get after the QB.

 

[PhatOrange]

Agree with Elmore because he hasn't been a liability. He and Tucker are at this point the only bright spots there.

Defensively I have to go with Garrett Williams. I NEVER expected him to be as good as he is. I don't want to get ahead of myself but he might be as good a cover corner as I've seen in a long time at Syracuse. He's a baller and has a chance to be an All-time great here. He's been sticky in coverage and has 3 pass breakups, plus he tackles.

His emergence is maybe what allowed us to shift Trill and Cisco around.

2nd I have to go with the freshman JaHad Carter. He's second on the team in tackles with 18 and added an INT. I think he had some coverage issues at Pitt (the TD pass) but he's been a pleasant surprise and we really haven't noticed the absence of Coley. Seems to be getting better with every snap. I can't list him as my 'surprise' player though because I had him as one of my preseason dark horses. He was a recruiting steal much the same as Tuazama was. When he committed to VT in 2018 rvls had him a high 3 star with offers from Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina. We'll have to keep up with these blue chip academic kids in preps schools (Jireh).

 

[Keger03]

Stefon Thompson!!! Playing on the Dline as a true freshman and handling those big men really well. Think he is only going to improve.

 

[Redrum]

Yes rhino deserves a lot of credit very selfless player thank you rhino

 

[Mareiniss]

My biggest surpise(s) for the O are sadly, both things that are missing: ... and the TE's getting the ball AT ALL. ... Please throw to our tight ends! ...

I'm surprised Luke Benson hasn't gotten the ball. The guy is 6'3 / 230 and has sprinter speed. But he has only 1 catch for 1 yard to date.

A pleasant surprise - Sean Tucker. After the first two games, it's more than a surprise, maybe even shocking, to see a true freshman get over 100 yards rushing with this OL.

 

[OrangePA]

Elmore has surprised me - he is obviously a great athlete and has great strength.

 

[RF2044]

Offense

• Positive Surprise -- Elmore, agree with everything above. This guy is playing his FOURTH position in four years, at a key position that he's [a.] too short for, and [b.] where everyone else has spent their entire career working on technique, and he's holding up. Kid is a major team player for doing whatever the coaches ask, throughout his career.

• Negative surprise -- That the coaches were so intent at trying to establish the inside run with Jawhar Jordan. Wrong guy to use in that capacity. Not only does it neutralize his strengths -- i.e., speed and elusiveness, he's too "small" to run inside with a line that hasn't opened many holes. I get that some of it might be RPO decisions by the QB, but they had to get away from that. And it looks like they have, now that Tucker seems to be the bell cow.

Defense

• Positive Surprise -- How well the young talent is playing on the back 7. We are STOCKED at both LB and secondary for several years -- and it shows how well the staff has identified athletes in the last couple of classes, with so many guys -- even true frosh -- who are capable of contributing at a high level. Some of those guys aren't optimized in terms of size / strength yet, but you can still see how well they are stacking up. Glad that our coaching staff has decided to take advantage of this year not burning a year of eligibility to get those guys on the field.
• Positive Surprise #2 and #3 -- I'm very impressed with how quickly our staff / players hit the ground running with the 3-3-5. Kudos to them for not needing a transition year [or two] to start using it effectively. And a big part of that is them not giving up big plays anymore -- how many quick scores did we give up the first couple of years under Babers, and last year? Glad that's been cleaned up.

• Negative surprise -- How poor we are against the run. I believe [hope?] that some of it is technique based, and that we'll do a better job tackling as the year goes on. And I recognize that the 3-3-5 gives up something inside, being down one D-lineman inside. But we have to do better.

 

[SU94]

Welcome to bye week.

who’s your biggest surprise so far on offense and defense?

Offense: I’ll deviate from the player I’m sure everyone will choose. Going to go with Elmore, seeing as 90% of the board thought the game 1 depth chart had him listed at starting liability. Our OL has not been solid consistently, but I think Elmore’s holding his own a lot better than most had anticipated.

Defense: Mikel Jones

Yes the freshmen all look good. Yes Cisco, Trill and Iffy look great. Thank god Bears back etc. etc.

My man Mikel’s been ALL OVER the field making plays and causing chaos. Two int’s, tied for the conference lead, and laying hits with his added weight. Plays his man and sticks him. I think we’ve found our qb of the defense, imo that should always be an LB

Garrett Williams
Listed at 5-11, but he plays much bigger than that.
Equal parts aggressive, physical and savvy.

 

[Mareiniss]

... Defense

• ... Negative surprise -- How poor we are against the run. I believe [hope?] that some of it is technique based, and that we'll do a better job tackling as the year goes on. And I recognize that the 3-3-5 gives up something inside, being down one D-lineman inside. But we have to do better.

Agree with this. I was surprised at how often GT's running backs were able to turn the corner on end runs. Our LBs are smallish, but presumably fast. I would have guessed that the 3-3-5 would be better suited to stopping end runs.

 

[Chip]

Offense is Tucker. A natural RB changes everything.

Defense is the amount of youth playing. They're everywhere, and if an All American gets hurt, another freshman pops up and makes plays.

 

[Crusty]

Welcome to bye week.

who’s your biggest surprise so far on offense and defense?

Offense: I’ll deviate from the player I’m sure everyone will choose. Going to go with Elmore, seeing as 90% of the board thought the game 1 depth chart had him listed at starting liability. Our OL has not been solid consistently, but I think Elmore’s holding his own a lot better than most had anticipated.

Defense: Mikel Jones

Yes the freshmen all look good. Yes Cisco, Trill and Iffy look great. Thank god Bears back etc. etc.

My man Mikel’s been ALL OVER the field making plays and causing chaos. Two int’s, tied for the conference lead, and laying hits with his added weight. Plays his man and sticks him. I think we’ve found our qb of the defense, imo that should always be an LB

Amen on Mikel.

 

[Trueblue25]

Amen on Mikel.

He keeps this up, it’ll be like watching one of my top 5 favorite Orange Cam Lynch all over again but better

 

[reedny]

Offense:
Surprise: Tucker by a mile (Antwon Bailey 2.0?); HM to the 3-3-5 and coach white.
+'s: Plucky Rhino; OL coming around; TD settling down. Queely flashing; Long Bombs for TD's!
Sleeper: N. Cooney (48 yard average last game) booming punts and KO's.
-'s: Matador blocks by the RB's; Coaches struggling with personnel (JJ) and not utilizing TE's.

Defense:
Surprise: Garrett Williams (sticks to WR's like Alien Tape).
+'s: Carter; Wax; M. Jones; C-Arku.
Sleeper: Hanna
-'s: DL pushed back/locked up on run plays; DE's breaking contain on run plays; LB tackling.

 

[Crusty]

Offense

• Positive Surprise -- Elmore, agree with everything above. This guy is playing his FOURTH position in four years, at a key position that he's [a.] too short for, and [b.] where everyone else has spent their entire career working on technique, and he's holding up. Kid is a major team player for doing whatever the coaches ask, throughout his career.

• Negative surprise -- That the coaches were so intent at trying to establish the inside run with Jawhar Jordan. Wrong guy to use in that capacity. Not only does it neutralize his strengths -- i.e., speed and elusiveness, he's too "small" to run inside with a line that hasn't opened many holes. I get that some of it might be RPO decisions by the QB, but they had to get away from that. And it looks like they have, now that Tucker seems to be the bell cow.

Defense

• Positive Surprise -- How well the young talent is playing on the back 7. We are STOCKED at both LB and secondary for several years -- and it shows how well the staff has identified athletes in the last couple of classes, with so many guys -- even true frosh -- who are capable of contributing at a high level. Some of those guys aren't optimized in terms of size / strength yet, but you can still see how well they are stacking up. Glad that our coaching staff has decided to take advantage of this year not burning a year of eligibility to get those guys on the field.
• Positive Surprise #2 and #3 -- I'm very impressed with how quickly our staff / players hit the ground running with the 3-3-5. Kudos to them for not needing a transition year [or two] to start using it effectively. And a big part of that is them not giving up big plays anymore -- how many quick scores did we give up the first couple of years under Babers, and last year? Glad that's been cleaned up.

• Negative surprise -- How poor we are against the run. I believe [hope?] that some of it is technique based, and that we'll do a better job tackling as the year goes on. And I recognize that the 3-3-5 gives up something inside, being down one D-lineman inside. But we have to do better.

GT killed us on the edge as well.

 

[upperdeck]

when you practice against olines that dont block and against guys who dont turn the corner you see angle issues. you can coach up better angles. but there is only so much you can do for size and if you duck around big guys to avoid some of the collissions you will have angle issues. one good thing about playing so many players is they dont get nearly as beat up and create more depth when guys get nicked.

this style of offense works well for 1 cut/burst runners but you wont get many save the play runs out of our guys.. Jordan isnt the issue its lack of holes.. He got hurt so I still think he is the #1 when we come back. We got shut down the 2nd half which is not a good sign.

 

[AAM62]

Yes rhino deserves a lot of credit very selfless player thank you rhino

Do you think he plays OG all year?

 

[SoBristol]

[QUOTE="RF2044, post: 3527896, member: 40"}
Defense

• Positive Surprise -- How well the young talent is playing on the back 7. We are STOCKED at both LB and secondary for several years -- and it shows how well the staff has identified athletes in the last couple of classes, with so many guys -- even true frosh -- who are capable of contributing at a high level. . . . [/QUOTE]

Some credit to former DC Ward? We also have a strong defensive bunch in the 2021 cycle. Credit to current staff.

 

[Redrum]

Do you think he plays OG all year?

Dakota will be back soon
I assume it would come down to is he better then tisdale or is it close enough that you want to use him in other roles ?
And extreme outside chance bliech wins appeal ?

 

[AAM62]

Dakota will be back soon
I assume it would come down to is he better then tisdale or is it close enough that you want to use him in other roles ?
And extreme outside chance bliech wins appeal ?

yeah knowing the NCAA, there's no shot. I guess Pat Davis isn't good enough to start then or he's out for a while. I'm also not a fan of Veterello.

 

[RF2044]

[QUOTE="RF2044, post: 3527896, member: 40"}
Defense

• Positive Surprise -- How well the young talent is playing on the back 7. We are STOCKED at both LB and secondary for several years -- and it shows how well the staff has identified athletes in the last couple of classes, with so many guys -- even true frosh -- who are capable of contributing at a high level. . . .

Some credit to former DC Ward? We also have a strong defensive bunch in the 2021 cycle. Credit to current staff.
[/QUOTE]

It's both -- so for sure, give Ward [and not just him, but the entire former staff] credit for having brought in the quality components who transitioned easily into the 3-3-5 and were good system fits, before White came on board.

And credit to the current staff, adjusted after last year, for bringing in a solid class of 2020 that included a bunch of defensive players who were ready to contribute from day 1, and for getting the new system implemented / high performing so quickly.

 

[Cusepassion]

Positive Offense: Emergence of Sean Tucker, not much to be said there. Having a true running back will elevate this offense so much.

Negative Offense: Can’t decide between lack of improvement of the OL (yes injuries are a factor) or The lack of a stud receiver. Like what Nykeim and Taj give us but still think we are missing something

Positive Defense: Emergence of Garrett Williams. Never saw it coming the kid is lockdown. Really reminding me of Deandre Baker when he was at UGA but a better tackler.

Negative Defense: DL depth. I am worried about next year as we’ll be graduating all 3, unless they decide to bless us with another year.

Unspoken positive: Nolan Cooney. Kid has a boot! Hardly notice a drop off on punts from Sterlin.