my thoughts on the spring game

[kcsu]

If we can find and OL we might just win 6 games. With so many starters out and a split team it was very hard to tell much about the O but here are my thoughts.

Sloan Crume Bromley Boatman and Zion are going to be the strenght of our team and possibly the best DL we have seen in years. Sloan was very impressive and will only get better. Diesel and crew looked solid as well add in the Juco and i think we have one heck of a front four.

Our LB's are going to be pretty dam good as well. They are fast, have good range, and seem to be playing at a much faster level than last year. I was very impressed with Dietab. These guys look the part and will be good. Same with the secondary. Plug Lynn back in and we have four maybe five good corners. Safety is going to be a battle as the young guns are athletic and fast. I think that if we can stay healthy this is going to be our best D in years. I really like this side of the ball.

As to the O it all comes down the Oline. Nassib is solid PTG, Smith, Broyld, AAM can all carry the rock. Sales is a star, Lemon is good, Becket is solid, Kobena looked improved, Flemming should play, West has talent, in short we have some weapons this year if and only if the Oline can hold their own which is a huge if. As to our kicker Ross is solid and for punting i have no idea why dixon doesnt get the nod over fisher who i think is weak at best. Dixon has a great stroke and from what i could tell is a much better punter than fisher atleast he was today.

One other point and this is important. I spent half the game on one sideline and the other half on the other. I can say that the guys on the kinder side of the field all got along really well. I didnt get the same vibe from the nassib side of the field actually found it odd.

My prediction for the year is 5 wins as i think that our Oline problems are going to kill us. I hope that im wrong and that when we get some of our guys back things are improved but from what i saw today we really have a long way to go upfront to be competative.

 

[mgurtz79]

I agree with most of it except I think its hard to evaluate the defensive lineman right now because our OL was so bad. Daniel Anyaegbunam was playing RT and was getting bulled over by Robert Welsh and Donnie Simmons something I don't think either of those guys will do that against most of our opponents. Chibane was playing a great deal of RT as well. At least twice the line performed a stunt and the G/T combo let a guy right up the middle which is just a sign of a lack of communication.

I am also terrified if one of our QB's get hurts. Nassib is clearly the only one who is ready coming out of the spring (Hunt may be but we don't know that now). Kinder repeatedly threw off his back foot, lousy awareness (getting pushed out of bounds for a 7-yard loss rather than throwing it away) and had many problems handling the ball. Loeb was slightly better but I fear if our o-line is so bad he would get pummeled. While Broyld may be the answer I don't think he is getting enough reps to play a lot if needed.

I also think the play calling was limited. The defense blitzed almost every play from one angle or another and the QB's threw deep far more than normal. There were many instances where the secondary dropped deep and the middle was wide open for a player going across the middle (granted there never seemed to be time for that).

I also paid attention to body language but I don't think it was Nassib as much as it was the entire sideline. On Nassib's side he had all the skill position player regulars (Smith, Gulley, Wales, Sales, Kobena) so this game probably was not as big of a deal to them as it was to the guys fighting for playing time. On top of that I saw him talking to players on numerous occasions and on the fumble return for a touchdown he was out on the field high fiving the defense. Relax on Nassib not being a rah rah guy people.

On the positive Broyld is most certainly a player, the fact that he wears the #1 and is so big immediately reminded me of Rhodes but I always felt Rhodes glided and Broyld cut and moved all over the place. He will make some plays this year. Sales clearly has the best chemistry with Nassib and I think if he forces double teams he will make guys like Wales, Broyld and Kobena all that much better. It's hard to get a read on the running game right now. Smith looked solid, runs hard and is not easy to bring down. PTG looked like himself as well.

I think as KCSU said above it will all come down to the OL. Assuming Macky, Chibane and Pugh are locked in can we find guys on the right side who can help us win we could be a bowl team, if not...

 

[OrangePA]

Way to go KC!

Very positive post.

I think the tone is right - we are more athletic - way more than we have been in a while.

As far as Nassib is concerned, I saw nothing unusual - he'll be fine.

Only real complaint for me - I wish we could have watched Terrell Hunt this spring.