More on strickland

[Chip]

I don’t think this staff is worried about LB.

I'm sure there's a short term worry, but probably not long term. They're re-stocking the shelves.

I think even Nick Saban would worry a little if 90%-95% of the LB snaps weren't returning.

 

[PhatOrange]

Nobody has ever been high on Josh Thomas' play and Zaire has had his issues. Sure they have a lot of game experience and obviously Zaire's leadership can't be in understated but I'm not 'that' worried with these losses. I think Bennett is the biggest loss of the three. That kid is literally all over the field, is great in coverage and has a lot and TFL and hits like a truck to.

Even with all the snaps they get, the backups, Guthrie and Armstrong are getting a ton of snaps and experience to, they won't be totally green. From a physical standpoint if Richards is the guy in the middle, he's as big, a lot taller and a lot faster than Zaire. We'll see.

 

[TheCusian]

I'm sure there's a short term worry, but probably not long term. They're re-stocking the shelves.

I think even Nick Saban would worry a little if 90%-95% of the LB snaps weren't returning.

Agreed - I should have said "not as worried as us" ... They know what they have, mostly. Just lacking experience - I think that's why we see some of them from time to time.

 

[SWC75]

Give the Jordan Fredericks stuff a break. It's been said multiple times. LAZY.

People bemoan a lost recruit, a transfer, an injured player or a guy who jumped to the pros until his position is adequately filled. We're not there yet.

 

[NJCuse97]

It was Terry Morris, the former fullback. Joe thought he could beat him, at roughly 2 am, from one end of the street to the other. They lined up on the other end, I stood at Archie's (RIP) with a couple players. The race started. Morris finished, we went in to grab some pizza, have a few laughs. Walked back outside just in time for Joe to finish the race.

I used to hang out with Terry Morris. Great guy.

 

[SWC75]

Maybe not ready in the sense that he gets his shot and immediately coughs up the ball.

I mean, there's a possibility here that Pierre is a player that needs time to develop, and the guys coming in next year are ready. For their warts (and they have them) Strickland and Neal can handle a pass out of the backfield. Maybe going to the ground just isn't going to be successful right now and that's the best we've got.

I think we do need an infusion of talent. I think it is coming.

It's too bad we blew his redshirt and now we won't give him a second chance. Maybe we'll see more of him as the season progresses.

Or maybe he's in The Fredericks Zone!

 

[OrangeTarheel]

Zaire Franklin wanted to beat NC State so badly -- that kid has tons of heart. To see him leave it all in it there on the field ... love that guy. Wish we could bottle his attitude.

 

[CIL]

Wrong!

Come on man, his body looked like a bag of milk.

Best of luck to the kid but clearly he didn't exactly put in the offseason work necessary to impress the new staff.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Come on man, his body looked like a bag of milk.

That's cold.

Just like a bag of milk.

 

[kcsu]

Come on man, his body looked like a bag of milk.

Best of luck to the kid but clearly he didn't exactly put in the offseason work necessary to impress the new staff.

Not true

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Just did a quick search. I know that these are different eras, different offenses and different opponents, but I just wanted to see the difference for myself.

Junior year yards per carry:

Dontae Strickland 2.7 ypc

Robert Drummond 6.7 ypc


Imagine getting an extra 4 yards every time your halfback was handed the ball. It takes 37 attempts to go 100 yards at 2.7 a carry compared to only 15 attempts at 6.7.

 

[RMH44]

Another thing to think about: was the offensive line from 2000-2005 THAT much better than the one that's in place now?

Maybe it was. I don't know. I guess Terry and Ojinnnaka did have stints in the NFL. Just doesn't seem like it was significantly better.

Don't forget Kevin Sampson who had a nice run in the NFL.

 

[upperdeck]

space is your friend.

 

[SWC75]

Come on man, his body looked like a bag of milk.

Best of luck to the kid but clearly he didn't exactly put in the offseason work necessary to impress the new staff.

Somehow he still managed to average 5.0 yards per carry to Strickland's 3.5.

 

[CIL]

Somehow he still managed to average 5.0 yards per carry to Strickland's 3.5.

Most of his carries came in garbage time against the second team defenses.

I wish the kid luck, but if he was so good he'd be playing somewhere other than 0-6 UMass...

 

[SWC75]

Most of his carries came in garbage time against the second team defenses.

I wish the kid luck, but if he was so good he'd be playing somewhere other than 0-6 UMass...

That's still quite a gap and it wasn't far off his average of 5.7 the year before when he was the team's leading rusher.

Jordan was in the coach's dog house but his abilities had not declined below Dontae's.

 

[TheCusian]

It's completely possible to be the best player at a position on the team skill/talent wise, and not be the #1. In fact, this happens all the time when the other deficiencies outweigh the positives or impact the program negatively.

That we don't know why *exactly* JF didn't see the field as the starter is the mystery that is driving some of us batty - but it really is time to move on. Dino has made a metric ton of good decisions. Time to trust his judgement on JF.

 

[SWC75]

It's completely possible to be the best player at a position on the team skill/talent wise, and not be the #1. In fact, this happens all the time when the other deficiencies outweigh the positives or impact the program negatively.

That we don't know why *exactly* JF didn't see the field as the starter is the mystery that is driving some of us batty - but it really is time to move on. Dino has made a metric ton of good decisions. Time to trust his judgement on JF.

I assume Babers had a good reason what he did. We just don't know what it was. It's not in the stats and not in anything the fans can see from the stands. JF was clearly much better than Strickland by those measures.

Again, the talk will stop when the position gets adequately filled.

 

[TheCusian]

I assume Babers had a good reason what he did. We just don't know what it was. It's not in the stats and not in anything the fans can see from the stands. JF was clearly much better than Strickland by those measures.

Again, the talk will stop when the position gets adequately filled.

I’m cool with the first part. I guess I don’t see what complaining about it does other than undermine the HC.

 

[SWC75]

I’m cool with the first part. I guess I don’t see what complaining about it does other than undermine the HC.

I doubt anything on here undermines the HC. Fans talk about weaknesses in a team until they are no longer weaknesses. Then the woulda coulda shouldas go away.

 

[TheCusian]

I doubt anything on here undermines the HC. Fans talk about weaknesses in a team until they are no longer weaknesses. Then the woulda coulda shouldas go away.

That would be true if certain journalists didn't troll these waters for stories and themes. If JF hadn't gotten hurt and he started tearing it up for UMASS, I 10000% guarantee you Bailey and Mink would be all over it.

I don't mind pointing out the weakness, at all. But JF is old news.

 

[SWC75]

That would be true if certain journalists didn't troll these waters for stories and themes. If JF hadn't gotten hurt and he started tearing it up for UMASS, I 10000% guarantee you Bailey and Mink would be all over it.

I don't mind pointing out the weakness, at all. But JF is old news.

Well he's not coming back. I'm looking forward to when his absence becomes old news. That will be when we have a running game.

 

[TheCusian]

Well he's not coming back. I'm looking forward to when his absence becomes old news. That will be when we have a running game.

Disagree. It's not helpful to talk about now - unless someone has more info on "why" I don't care about the "what ifs" at all

 

[SWC75]

Disagree. It's not helpful to talk about now - unless someone has more info on "why" I don't care about the "what ifs" at all

it may not be helpful but the talk will continue as will questions about why we blew Pierre's redshirt and then aren't using him, until we get the running game going. It's just the nature of fans.

 

[GoSU96]

As we have seen with many of our better backs from the past, a redshirt year is often necessary to learn the playbook, protection schemes, and everything else that comes with playing the position.

It'd be great if we could just plug in the most talented player at every position and run them out there at full capacity. But that's not the way it works.

If that was the case, James Mungro would have played as a true freshman. He was the most talented at the time (in my opinion) but it took him awhile.

Here's hoping that's the case for a few of these other guys they're redshirting. And hopefully a couple of the freshmen coming in next year are immediately ready to go.

I’m pretty sure he played as a true freshman but KMac, Dee, and Konrad deserved touches ahead of him.

Whats sad is all four of those guys would be superstars on this team