For a team that finished 3-9...

[SoBristol]

That's Spring practice. They had a whole Fall camp together. I think that's really stretching it in order to give him a pass.

By "a whole Fall camp", you mean August, right, one week of which was at Ft Drum? It is hardly enough time for Joe Adam's influence to mess up that high performing OL unit.

 

[Crusty]

OK boys, sundown in front of the livery stable.

 

[RF2044]

OK boys, sundown in front of the livery stable.

Nah, in the spirit of the holidays, I'm going to take it up a level, since the facts speak for themselves. And given the earlier exchange, I see no point in getting dragged further into an argument.

Anomander stated: "There were 2 or 3 games where the OL was completely decimated. The rest of the time we weren't more injured than your average team"

Here are the actual numbers, broken down by position [and please keep in mind that a few of these guys had to play multiple positions this year to account for injuries]:

RT
Ivan Foy—started 6 games, only played in 9, MISSED THREE GAMES DUE TO INJURY

Omari Palmer – started 9 games, played in 10—played most of season out of position at RT due to injuries, MISSED TWO GAMES DUE TO INJURY


RG

Nick Robinson--Started and only played in 8 games, was injured first 1/3 of the season, MISSED FOUR GAMES DUE TO INJURY

Michael Lasker – only played in 9 games despite entering season as a key reserve, MISSED THREE GAMES DUE TO INJURY



C

John Miller – started 10 games, MISSED TWO GAMES DUE TO INJURY


LG

Rob Trudo – started 11 games, could barely walk in the other game and gutted out suiting up for emergency depth purposes only, MISSED ONE GAME DUE TO INJURY


LT

Sean Hickey—was the only offensive lineman to start all 12 games for the Orange, despite being significantly hobbled in 2


So first of all, this was clearly not a "2 or 3 games" problem--it was something that impaired the team from the first game of the season where we were down two starters, and significantly compromised depth throughout the entire rest of the season. I'm not sure that we actually were able to field a full 8 player rotation the entire year, given the injury situation.

Second--and this is an important point to keep in mind--this was not an issue where all of the games missed due to injury coincided--we generally had 2-3 key players from what began the season as our 8 player OL rotation missing games any given Saturday, which was a major problem.

Third, nobody disagrees with Anomander's point above that all teams experience injuries, nor that teams need to field an 8 player rotation at OL. The issue is that many games, our 8 player OL rotation [including Emerich] we were only able to field a 6 player rotation due to injuries. ONE GAME WE EVEN WERE DOWN TO HAVING ONLY FIVE HEALTHY OL.

So with all due respect, the claim that this was only an impactful situation for 2-3 games is false. The magnitude of injuries had a sustained negative operational impact on the play of our OL the entire season.

Against Villanova, we were down two experienced starters--Foy and Robinsion, our entire right side of the line--who'd started the entire previous season, and we had two players making their first starts. The results were subpar. Miller in particular struggled in this game [much like how Mackey struggled in his first career start against Wake Forest], but then settled down and became much more solid from his second start on, until injuries derailed his season. Lasker--who'd played well the year before--struggled most of the year. Foy never got on track and looked like he never fully shook the effects of his injury. Stalwarts Trudo / Hickey weren't immune to the injury bug, either--and both played several games where they had to tough out starts despite being hobbled, because our depth was so impaired with other players being out that we simply couldn't afford for them not to play. Kudos to them for that, btw; both Trudo and Hickey were playing on one leg for the better portion of at least two games.

I know that none of the above data fits with Anomander's narrative about Adam being a problem, and that he should be a prime candidate to have his head roll due to the offensive performance in 2014. No doubt, the offense stunk in 2014, and I concur that a shake up of the staff is necessary. I just don't know that we can point to Adam as being a problem or claim that his coaching aptitude is subpar due to the FACT that the unit was so thoroughly ravaged by injuries that completely gutted depth at best in some games, and at worst often forced us to field a depleted unit with virtually zero depth in several other games.

Its easy to point at the OL, bitch that they were subpar, and point the finger of blame at Adam. I think it is fairly obvious that the injury factor was the problem underlying the unit's performance all season long.

But the news isn't entirely bad. Jason Emerich got thrust into the starting lineup out of necessity at Center and he accorded himself reasonably well. Alex Hayes, a redshirt frosh, was forced into the lineup late and through his struggles gained valuable game experience. Despite the depleted depth, the coaches didn't burn redshirts on key prospects like Denzel Ward [the odds on favorite to replace Sean Hickey at LT] or Aaron Roberts. And we're bringing in a HUGE class of OL prospects to help build depth for down the road.

I think we need to reserve judgement on Joe Adam for another year before running him out of town with torches and pitchforks.

 

[anomander]

Nah, in the spirit of the holidays, I'm going to take it up a level, since the facts speak for themselves. And given the earlier exchange, I see no point in getting dragged further into an argument.

Anomander stated: "There were 2 or 3 games where the OL was completely decimated. The rest of the time we weren't more injured than your average team"

Here are the actual numbers, broken down by position [and please keep in mind that a few of these guys had to play multiple positions this year to account for injuries]:

RT
Ivan Foy—started 6 games, only played in 9, MISSED THREE GAMES DUE TO INJURY

Omari Palmer – started 9 games, played in 10—played most of season out of position at RT due to injuries, MISSED TWO GAMES DUE TO INJURY


RG

Nick Robinson--Started and only played in 8 games, was injured first 1/3 of the season, MISSED FOUR GAMES DUE TO INJURY

Michael Lasker – only played in 9 games despite entering season as a key reserve, MISSED THREE GAMES DUE TO INJURY



C

John Miller – started 10 games, MISSED TWO GAMES DUE TO INJURY


LG

Rob Trudo – started 11 games, could barely walk in the other game and gutted out suiting up for emergency depth purposes only, MISSED ONE GAME DUE TO INJURY


LT

Sean Hickey—was the only offensive lineman to start all 12 games for the Orange, despite being significantly hobbled in 2


So first of all, this was clearly not a "2 or 3 games" problem--it was something that impaired the team from the first game of the season where we were down two starters, and significantly compromised depth throughout the entire rest of the season. I'm not sure that we actually were able to field a full 8 player rotation the entire year, given the injury situation.

Second--and this is an important point to keep in mind--this was not an issue where all of the games missed due to injury coincided--we generally had 2-3 key players from what began the season as our 8 player OL rotation missing games any given Saturday, which was a major problem.

Third, nobody disagrees with Anomander's point above that all teams experience injuries, nor that teams need to field an 8 player rotation at OL. The issue is that many games, our 8 player OL rotation [including Emerich] we were only able to field a 6 player rotation due to injuries. ONE GAME WE EVEN WERE DOWN TO HAVING ONLY FIVE HEALTHY OL.

So with all due respect, the claim that this was only an impactful situation for 2-3 games is false. The magnitude of injuries had a sustained negative operational impact on the play of our OL the entire season.

Against Villanova, we were down two experienced starters [Foy and Robinsion] who'd started the entire previous season, and we had two players making their first starts. The results were subpar. Miller in particular struggled in this game [much like how Mackey struggled in his first career start against Wake Forest], but then settled down and became much more solid from his second start on, until injuries derailed his season. Lasker--who'd played well the year before--struggled most of the year. Foy never got on track and looked like he never fully shook the effects of his injury. Stalwarts Trudo / Hickey weren't immune to the injury bug, either--and both played several games where they had to tough out starts despite being hobbled, because our depth was so impaired with other players being out that we simply couldn't afford for them not to play. Kudos to them for that, btw; both Trudo and Hickey were playing on one leg for the better portion of at least two games.

I know that none of the above data fits with Anomander's narrative about Adam being a problem, and that he should be a prime candidate to have his head roll due to the offensive performance in 2014. No doubt, the offense stunk in 2014, and I concur that a shake up of the staff is necessary. I just don't know that we can point to Adam as being a problem or claim that his coaching aptitude is subpar due to the FACT that the unit was so thoroughly ravaged by injuries that completely gutted depth at best in some games, and at worst often forced us to field a depleted unit with virtually zero depth in several other games.

Its easy to point at the OL, bitch that they were subpar, and point the finger of blame at Adam. I think it is fairly obvious that the injury factor was the problem underlying the unit's performance all season long.

But the news isn't entirely bad. Jason Emerich got thrust into the starting lineup out of necessity at Center and he accorded himself reasonably well. Alex Hayes, a redshirt frosh, was forced into the lineup late and through his struggles gained valuable game experience. Despite the depleted depth, the coaches didn't burn redshirts on key prospects like Denzel Ward [the odds on favorite to replace Sean Hickey at LT] or Aaron Roberts. And we're bringing in a HUGE class of OL prospects to help build depth for down the road.

I think we need to reserve judgement on Joe Adam for another year before running him out of town with torches and pitchforks.

OK what does this prove? Everyone knew there were injuries, but there were only 2 or 3 games in which we were down multiple guys. The injuries were spread out.

And Ivan Foy played in the Villanova game so not sure where your coming up with that? He got injured in the Notre Dame game.

 

[RF2044]

OK what does this prove? Everyone knew there were injuries, but there were only 2 or 3 games in which we were down multiple guys. The injuries were spread out.

And Ivan Foy played in the Villanova game so not sure where your coming up with that? He got injured in the Notre Dame game.

This is the last time I'm going to state this, since you seem to be intent on ignoring the pattern yielded by the data-there were NOT only 2 or 3 games in which we were down multiple guys. We were down multiple guys in at least 6 games, and probably more. Being down 2 or more players from an 8 player rotation constitutes a significant compromising of depth at a position--especially when 5 of them start.

It wasn't a minor issue, it was a major problem throughout the entirety of the season. We had OL problems pertaining to compromised depth at the beginning of the season. We had games in the middle of the season where we had significant depth constraints due to injury, and we had games at the end of the season where we were forced to limp toward the finish line at OL due to having multiple players not able to go due to injury. It was a bad problem that hit us in the mouth at the beginning of the year and never got appreciably better throughout the ENTIRE course of the season. And in several instances, we had guys who were playing while injured due to the magnitude of other injuries at the position, which padded the # of OL we had playing in a handful of games.

You are significantly understating how big of a problem it was, and misrepresenting it by claiming it was "only 2 or 3 games." That is not factual.

 

[Millhouse]

Pitt and BC, we had injuries. Villanova, the offense sucked--largely because our QB got thrown out of the game, and we weren't able to just ram it down their throat because they didn't fear our ability to pass. After that game, the OL performed much better until the unit got decimated by injuries. You are putting too much emphasis on the opening game without paying attention to what transpired in that unit afterwards.

Hunt wasn't kicked on the first possession. It wasn't great with him

 

[RF2044]

Hunt wasn't kicked on the first possession. It wasn't great with him

After a poor first quarter, we had two scoring drives twice in a row with him, and were driving for a third score that got derailed by Hunt getting tossed. And we were getting the ball to start the second. So if Hunt doesn't do an impression of that guy who sucker punched Snooki, I think we roll Villanova without having to white knuckle out a win.

What I do know is that down a few starters on OL and with Miller struggling in his first start, we weren't able to just run it on them like we should have been able to on paper. Which is the point being debated in this thread. The OL got better after that poor performance in the first game, but then regressed due to sustained injuries that compromised depth the entire year.

 

[Toga]

https://video.search.yahoo.com/vide...mr&age=0&fr2=p:s,v:v,m:sa&fr=yfp-t-477-s&tt=b

 

[Chip]

Hunt wasn't kicked on the first possession. It wasn't great with him

I still say it's only the first quarter and a half of the season. If the bubble screen offense wasn't running at full steam by then, I can't really judge the QB too harshly. He also doesn't get any stat help from a 65 yard TD run, which I think ended up being our only RB rushing TD of the season (now that's sad). Another drive was derailed by a backwards pass call, that was thrown just fine, but dropped and recovered for a 10 yard loss.

 

[anomander]

This is the last time I'm going to state this, since you seem to be intent on ignoring the pattern yielded by the data-there were NOT only 2 or 3 games in which we were down multiple guys. We were down multiple guys in at least 6 games, and probably more. It wasn't a minor issue, it was a major problem throughout the entirety of the season. We had OL problems pertaining to compromised depth at the beginning of the season. We had games in the middle of the season where we had significant depth constraints due to injury, and we had games at the end of the season where we were forced to limp toward the finish line at OL due to having multiple players not able to go due to injury.

You are significantly understating how big of a problem it was, and misrepresenting it by claiming it was "only 2 or 3 games." That is not factual.

Here is who was out for each game.

Nova - Robinson(out) Started: Foy Trudo Miller Lasker Hickey
CMU - Robinson (out) Started: Foy Trudo Miller Palmer Hickey
Maryland - All healthy Started: Foy Trudo Miller Robinson Hickey
Notre Dame - Trudo (out) Foy injured during game Started: Foy Palmer Miller Robinson Hickey
Louisville - Foy (out) Started: Palmer Robinson Miller Trudo Hickey
FSU - Foy (out) Started: Palmer Robinson Miller Trudo Hickey
Wake - Foy (out) Miller (out) Started: Palmer Robinson Emerich Trudo Hickey
Clemson - Foy (out) Started: Palmer Robinson Miller Trudo Hickey
NCST - Foy (out) Started: Palmer Robinson Miller Trudo Hickey
Duke - Foy (out) Robinson (out) Miller (out) Started: Palmer Hayes Emerich Trudo Hickey
Pitt - All healthy Started: Foy Palmer Miller Trudo Hickey
BC - All healthy Started: Foy Robinson Miller Trudo Hickey


So tell me all factual one in how many games were we missing more then 2 starters? In the Wake game were were missing 2 starters, and in the Duke game we were missing 3 starters. Like I said we were only decimated in 2 or 3 games. But don't let FACTS get in your way of a good argument.

 

[anomander]

There is this neat thing for cool facts and stuff. Gee it even lists a participation report.

http://www.cuse.com/cumestats.aspx?path=football&year=2014

 

[kcsu]

There is one fact that is difficult to pass over. Joe Adams has never coached an OL in his life. Never

 

[TheCusian]

Here is who was out for each game. Nova - Robinson(out) Started: Foy Trudo Miller Lasker Hickey CMU - Robinson (out) Started: Foy Trudo Miller Palmer Hickey Maryland - All healthy Started: Foy Trudo Miller Robinson Hickey Notre Dame - Trudo (out) Foy injured during game Started: Foy Palmer Miller Robinson Hickey Louisville - Foy (out) Started: Palmer Robinson Miller Trudo Hickey FSU - Foy (out) Started: Palmer Robinson Miller Trudo Hickey Wake - Foy (out) Miller (out) Started: Palmer Robinson Emerich Trudo Hickey Clemson - Foy (out) Started: Palmer Robinson Miller Trudo Hickey NCST - Foy (out) Started: Palmer Robinson Miller Trudo Hickey Duke - Foy (out) Robinson (out) Miller (out) Started: Palmer Hayes Emerich Trudo Hickey Pitt - All healthy Started: Foy Palmer Miller Trudo Hickey BC - All healthy Started: Foy Robinson Miller Trudo Hickey So tell me all factual one in how many games were we missing more then 2 starters? In the Wake game were were missing 2 starters, and in the Duke game we were missing 3 starters. Like I said we were only decimated in 2 or 3 games. But don't let FACTS get in your way of a good argument.

I'm not gonna get between you two - but for many of those games we had guys playing out of position. And one or two wher a guy started but couldn't go past a drive or two.

Side note: we had one game all year at full strength QB and Oline - and we put up near 600 yards.

 

[anomander]

I'm not gonna get between you two - but for many of those games we had guys playing out of position. And one or two wher a guy started but couldn't go past a drive or two.

Side note: we had one game all year at full strength QB and Oline - and we put up near 600 yards.

It's right there in front of you. Palmer and Robinson are basically a toss up for starting guard. We were only missing more then 1 starter in 2 games. The only guy out of position was Palmer, and that's because Lasker went backwards in his development. And the game we had 600 yards we still couldn't find a way to put it in the end zone when we got to the part of the field where it mattered.

 

[RF2044]

Here is who was out for each game.

Nova - Robinson(out) Started: Foy Trudo Miller Lasker Hickey
CMU - Robinson (out) Started: Foy Trudo Miller Palmer Hickey
Maryland - All healthy Started: Foy Trudo Miller Robinson Hickey
Notre Dame - Trudo (out) Foy injured during game Started: Foy Palmer Miller Robinson Hickey
Louisville - Foy (out) Started: Palmer Robinson Miller Trudo Hickey
FSU - Foy (out) Started: Palmer Robinson Miller Trudo Hickey
Wake - Foy (out) Miller (out) Started: Palmer Robinson Emerich Trudo Hickey
Clemson - Foy (out) Started: Palmer Robinson Miller Trudo Hickey
NCST - Foy (out) Started: Palmer Robinson Miller Trudo Hickey
Duke - Foy (out) Robinson (out) Miller (out) Started: Palmer Hayes Emerich Trudo Hickey
Pitt - All healthy Started: Foy Palmer Miller Trudo Hickey
BC - All healthy Started: Foy Robinson Miller Trudo Hickey


So tell me all factual one in how many games were we missing more then 2 starters? In the Wake game were were missing 2 starters, and in the Duke game we were missing 3 starters. Like I said we were only decimated in 2 or 3 games. But don't let FACTS get in your way of a good argument.

Focusing only on starters is cherry picking the data. But I'm game--let's start by reviewing the data you present above. Because what I see there is that in 9 games, we had at least one starter out. In two other games, we had multiple starters out.

Now, this may come as a surprise to you, but an OL rotation is comprised of more than just starters, despite that being all that you conveniently chose to list. There were numerous games were we were also down Lasker, or Palmer, or Miller, or fill in your OL du jour which took an 8 player rotation down to 6. And 5, in at least one game.

So to summarize: in 3/4 of our games, we were down at least one starter who did not play. In one game, we were down THREE STARTERS. And in about half of the others, we had at least one key reserve injured in addition to having a starter out.

I'm not interested in splitting hairs over your specific interpretation of the term "decimated" -- by any reasonable standard, the issue injuries at OL were significant, and were evident beginning to end of season.

 

[anomander]

Focusing only on starters is cherry picking the data. But I'm game--let's review what you present above. Because what I see there is that in 9 games, we had at least one starter out. In two other games, we had multiple starters out. Now, this may come as a surprise to you, but an OL rotation is comprised of more than just starters, despite that being all that you conveniently chose to list. There were numerous games were we were also down Lasker, or Palmer, or Miller, or fill in your OL du jour which took an 8 player rotation down to 6. And 5, in at least one game. So to summarize: in 3/4 of our games, we were down at least one starter who did not play. In one game, we were down THREE STARTERS. And in about half of the others, we had at least one key reserve injured in addition to having a starter out. I'm not interested in splitting hairs over your specific interpretation of the term "decimated" -- by any reasonable standard, the issue injuries at OL were significant, and were evident beginning to end of season.

Wow isn't that convenient you want to use the top 8. Better make sure Michael Lasker is available to be a turnstile. Let me ask you this. In the 2 years prior when our offensive line was pretty much healthy, how often did we use 8 offensive lineman ? We hardly ever substituted the starters.

 

[RF2044]

Wow isn't that convenient you want to use the top 8. Better make sure Michael Lasker is available to be a turnstile. Let me ask you this. In the 2 years prior when our offensive line was pretty much healthy, how often did we use 8 offensive lineman ? We hardly ever substituted the starters.

Convenient? Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you the one who insisted above that a team needs to be able to field an 8 player rotation at OL [which I philosophically agree with, BTW]? I'm referencing that number because YOU brought it up.

Referencing the rotation is also germane because we had injuries to our reserves in addition to our starters.

The problem that you conveniently fail to recognize is that when Trudo, Palmer, etc. were injured, we were FORCED to play a lesser caliber player like Lasker... who was the proverbial turnstyle that you mention. And you attribute that degraded performance to Adam, when in fact the unit's problems were at minimum significantly impacted by the rampant injury factor that necessitated playing a guy who was a turnstyle because we had nowhere else to turn. Let that sink in for a moment.

Maybe--just maybe--playing Palmer, who is a natural guard, at RT wasn't optimal for the performance of the overall OL unit. And frankly, Palmer did OK there, for being a guy out of position--but maybe it would have been better if he could play at RG for Robinson instead of having to play RT due to Foy mising significant time in addition to Robinson. Maybe being forced to play Hayes significant minutes as a RF also wasn't ideal in terms of the unit's performance--but those were the cards we were dealt.

And for the record, we didn't play 8 in previous years because we basically only had 6 or 7 guys TOPS who could play. Depth wasn't where it needed to be, and we needed those guys to be iron men--and for the most part, they held up [with the exception of a guy like Pugh being injured in 2012; once he returned, the performance went from ok / average to significantly above average]. The thought heading into this season was that the depth situation at OL was supposed to be improved, due in part to both Lasker's emergence last year where he had to fill in for Hickey and Palmer making a push to challenge at either guard spot, and potentially Emerich as the distant but capable 8th fighting for minutes. That on-paper depth got compromised game one, and never appreciably got better over the course of the season.

 

[anomander]

Convenient? Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you the one who insisted above that a team needs to be able to field an 8 player rotation at OL [which I philosophically agree with, BTW]? I'm referencing that number because YOU brought it up. Referencing the rotation is also germane because we had injuries to our reserves in addition to our starters. The problem that you conveniently fail to recognize is that when Trudo, Palmer, etc. were injured, we were FORCED to play a lesser caliber player like Lasker... who was the proverbial turnstyle that you mention. And you attribute that degraded performance to Adam, when in fact the unit's problems were at minimum significantly impacted by the rampant injury factor that necessitated playing a guy who was a turnstyle because we had nowhere else to turn. Let that sink in for a moment. Maybe--just maybe--playing Palmer, who is a natural guard, wasn't optimal at RT. And frankly, Palmer did OK there, for being a guy out of position. Maybe being forced to play Hayes significant minutes as a RF also wasn't ideal in terms of the unit's performance--but those were the cards we were dealt. And for the record, we didn't play 8 in previous years because we basically only had 6 or 7 guys TOPS who could play. Depth wasn't where it needed to be, and we needed those guys to be iron men--and for the most part, they held up [with the exception of a guy like Pugh being injured in 2012; once he returned, the performance went from ok / average to significantly above average]. The thought heading into this season was that the depth situation at OL was supposed to be improved, due in part to both Lasker's emergence last year where he had to fill in for Hickey and Palmer making a push to challenge at either guard spot, and potentially Emerich as the distant but capable 8th fighting for minutes. That on-paper depth got compromised game one, and never appreciably got better over the course of the season.

I said you should be able to field 8 offensive lineman. Not that all 8 need to play in the same game. The fact is in all but 2 games we had all but 1 regular starter able to go. That's more then enough to maintain some what of a respectable unit. All this other stuff is just extra words you are adding to a pretty simple discussion.

 

[RF2044]

I said you should be able to field 8 offensive lineman. Not that all 8 need to play in the same game. The fact is in all but 2 games we had all but 1 regular starter able to go. That's more then enough to maintain some what of a respectable unit. All this other stuff is just extra words you are adding to a pretty simple discussion.

That's a gross oversimplification. It isn't as easy for us to overcome the loss of an OL starter as it is for many other teams. Also, when the team is down one starter, they have to move a top reserve into the starting lineup, which can both degrade the level of play and further compromise subsequent depth if required to go deeper into the bench. Either situation impacts unit performance, despite what you're trying to pretend.

Being down a starter is a HUGE impact, make no mistake. To say nothing of being down a starter in just about every game, multiple starters a few games, and multiple members of the rotation in most games. And in a few games where we did field the original starting five at the end of the year, our two best OL were both playing on one leg. Other than those issues, how'd you enjoy the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

And since we aren't in a great position from the standpoint of offensive line depth, we were sometimes forced to utilize a player like Lasker who was subpar, to the detriment of the entire unit's performance. Or play Palmer out of position. Or rush a kid onto the field who wasn't ready like Alex Hayes because we simply had no other options. It was worse in games where we were down 2 or 3 players from that 8 player rotation, and forced to cobble together weird lineups of players, where we had no depth, or where we were forced to play several players who were injured but available.

Was the unit's subpar performance attributable to the position coach not having the chops to coach the position, or was it attributable to the cascade effect of injuries?

As Kahneman suggests, when people have a difficult time conceptualizing complexity, they substitute easier questions that are easier to wrap their head's around [i.e., Adam isn't doing a good job].

 

[RoofBeam]

I think RF, Kcsu and Anomander are all correct. Injuries on the O-line played a significant role in the ineptitude of the offense, Adam may be the most formally underqualifed coach in D1 with no previous experience as an O-line coach at a lower level, and a more experienced (and therefore better) coach have possibly found ways to mask the deficiencies of the unit, especially if he were working closely with the O-coordinator.

 

[JackBauer44]

Happy Holidays, everyone!

 

[IthacaMatt]

You mean the year where Jerome Smith was pounding it and defenses probably were relieved when we sent someone else in other than PTG? The year that McFarlane ran for like 50 yards less than Morris, but on 31 less carries?

Again, I hope all of our RBs prove me wrong next year, but I don't have much faith in any of them at this point in time.

Cheers,
Neil

I think that's on the O line. For a group with 4 returning starters, they couldn't run block worth a damn last year. That's on the O line coach - and maybe on the players themselves for being overconfident, not working hard enough.