T Hunt is going to light it up

[JoeSU]

I think Lester is no dummy and he has experience, albeit on a lower level. He will probably not ask Hunt to do more than he can and he will rely more on backs to run the ball. He will not ask hunt to be a spread passer.

I hope you're right, Crusty.
The Patriots beat the Ravens, Colts, and Seahawks without a vertical passing game and not much of a ground game (how deflating!). OK, Hunt isn't Brady, and the Pats offense relies very heavily on match-up problems that Gronk creates for opposing defenses. But I think everyone is so enamored with the wide-open, spread offenses run by Oregon, Baylor, TCU, etc., that they forget it's possible to mount an effective offense using a ball-control, short passing game that keeps moving the chains. In this regard, I think Hunt's mental development (which hopefully was aided by the time he spent with Lester in the booth) will have as much to do with his development this season as improving his throwing accuracy in the IPF.

 

[Ringostar57]

Hopefully our "weapons" have been upgraded from water pistols to 30 mm. Maybe we also drop a few bombs too.

 

[SU68]

I wish Hunt well, but he still has to show me that he can consistently throw the ball in the ocean if it's more than 10 yards away.

 

[ImperialOrange]

Wanted to second the point on Hunt's running threat giving defenses another thing they've got to deal with.

He obviously won't rip off any 50+ yard runs but he can move the sticks if we need 5-10. More defenders will have to watch him and stay home. My biggest gripe with last years OC is he never challenged passing defenses in the middle of the field.

My expectation is that this years OC will freeze the LB's, move the safeties, and pop TE seam routes to TD. If the safety stays home run a post over and dig under to AC. A lot of conjecture on my part but reading that we are now running more routes that our receivers like gives me hope. AC can work underneath in in traffic, we should use him as such. TD has enough speed and size to dust lb's in the seams, we should use him as such.

We don't need 28 routes in our wr route tree, we need 10 we do well. The receivers can master them and the qb will be comfortable throwing them. If we go KISS technique instead of being too cute with things we can do good things on O this year.

 

[xc84]

Heck of a player but im sticking with my prediction. I have a feeling that Hunt is going to lead the team and have a heck of a year

That was very cutesy.

 

[TheCusian]

I wish Hunt well, but he still has to show me that he can consistently throw the ball in the ocean if it's more than 10 yards away.

Thought the opposite this year. His short throws were bad. The intermediate throws to WR's were better.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Thought the opposite this year. His short throws were bad. The intermediate throws to WR's were better.

I agree with that. Looked more comfortable putting some air under it or throwing an intermediate strike. Horrible wobblers on short slants.

Kind of weird.

 

[djorange1989]

If the O-line holds up(big if) then there is no reason why Hunt can't be the Hunt from the end of 2013. While our "weapons" are still very questionable, they are better than 2013 just by having Ish. Running game is going to go a LONG way towards determining what Hunt we see.

 

[tep624]

These types of threads are what makes posters come off as overly negative.

Agree 100% on that one.

 

[tep624]

I agree with that. Looked more comfortable putting some air under it or throwing an intermediate strike. Horrible wobblers on short slants.

Kind of weird.

Yeah the 5-10 yard passes that were 15 feet over guy's heads..

 

[money3189]

The way he played the last half of his soph. season there's no way he should have been that inconsistent the games he played in this past season. We have to keep in mind that he had an OC that hindered his progress. I know Hunt has some defecienceies but he can be productive in a stable system.

 

[KaiserUEO]

I agree with that. Looked more comfortable putting some air under it or throwing an intermediate strike. Horrible wobblers on short slants.

Kind of weird.

its actually not weird.

its the trait of a lousy QB.

the short slants take talent. its a skill, youve got to have the timing and the accuracy to get it done. they get overthought and are not thrown unconsciously.

the intermediate throws provide a little more space and a chance for a hard throw, accuracy is still a problem, but theres a chance for a WR to make a play.

on the deep throws, well thats just something we all can do at the tailgate. drop back and let'er rip. he will look good, the throw will look good...where it lands?? well, good luck.

 

[djorange1989]

The way he played the last half of his soph. season there's no way he should have been that inconsistent the games he played in this past season. We have to keep in mind that he had an OC that hindered his progress. I know Hunt has some defecienceies but he can be productive in a stable system.

absolutely. While McDonald's offense was not exactly a machine in 2013, it was set up to highlight our strength(running game, Hunt's mobility) . Last year, completely different story

 

[julaw]

I'm just glad the bubble screen nightmare is finally over...

 

[bevosu]

AJ Long...thought he was redshirting this year.

?

 

[Scooch]

These types of threads are what makes posters come off as overly negative.

Yeah, I'm not exactly clear on what "discussion" a thread like this is supposed to cause.

Basically some people go "Amen!", and others say "I disagree". And the former complain about how the latter are negative.

Townie alluded to this in another thread, but people should think about postings things in a way that creates discussion. Starting with a declarative statement usually just leads to confrontation.

 

[xc84]

Yeah, I'm not exactly clear on what "discussion" a thread like this is supposed to cause.

Basically some people go "Amen!", and others say "I disagree". And the former complain about how the latter are negative.

Your forgot to add: And the latter complain about how the former have "orange colored glasses" and are disqualified from having an opinion.

 

[anomander]

I'm interested to see what Lester does on offense. I don't think we can win if we have to rely on Hunt's arm. I would think he would rely on the run, but Morris, and McFarlne have yet to show they can handle the task. Lester is going to have to be very creative, because I can't see us running it down anyone's throat, and I can't see Hunt throwing the ball all over the field.

I also have concerns about the OL, which is a bit ridiculous. This unit should be a lot better then it was last year, even with the injuries. This same unit was the strength of the team in 2012, and 2013. Sure Pugh, Mackey, and now Hickey are gone, but we've got some guys with a ton of experience. This will be Trudo, and Foy's 4th year starting, and Robinson's 3rd. Palmer will also have 3 years of experience. That's 4 of the 5 guys with 3+ years of experience. There is absolutely no way this unit should be anything worse then average. Maybe it was injuries, but Trudo's worse year was last season. Same for Robinson, and obviously Foy's season was a wash because he got injured in game 4, but even up until then it was probably his worse year too. I think there is a lot of pressure on Adam to get this unit to perform. There is too much experience, and good enough talent for this unit to be a liability once again.

 

[bcubs9497]

I'm interested to see what Lester does on offense. I don't think we can win if we have to rely on Hunt's arm. I would think he would rely on the run, but Morris, and McFarlne have yet to show they can handle the task. Lester is going to have to be very creative, because I can't see us running it down anyone's throat, and I can't see Hunt throwing the ball all over the field.

I also have concerns about the OL, which is a bit ridiculous. This unit should be a lot better then it was last year, even with the injuries. This same unit was the strength of the team in 2012, and 2013. Sure Pugh, Mackey, and now Hickey are gone, but we've got some guys with a ton of experience. This will be Trudo, and Foy's 4th year starting, and Robinson's 3rd. Palmer will also have 3 years of experience. That's 4 of the 5 guys with 3+ years of experience. There is absolutely no way this unit should be anything worse then average. Maybe it was injuries, but Trudo's worse year was last season. Same for Robinson, and obviously Foy's season was a wash because he got injured in game 4, but even up until then it was probably his worse year too. I think there is a lot of pressure on Adam to get this unit to perform. There is too much experience, and good enough talent for this unit to be a liability once again.

Agree.

 

[Hoov50]

I hope you're right, Crusty.
The Patriots beat the Ravens, Colts, and Seahawks without a vertical passing game and not much of a ground game (how deflating!). OK, Hunt isn't Brady, and the Pats offense relies very heavily on match-up problems that Gronk creates for opposing defenses. But I think everyone is so enamored with the wide-open, spread offenses run by Oregon, Baylor, TCU, etc., that they forget it's possible to mount an effective offense using a ball-control, short passing game that keeps moving the chains. In this regard, I think Hunt's mental development (which hopefully was aided by the time he spent with Lester in the booth) will have as much to do with his development this season as improving his throwing accuracy in the IPF.

I agree with you and think a lot of people confuse wide-open offenses with fast paced offenses. If you look at Oregon's offense for example, almost all of their plays are based on one read. It could be a zone read run with the quarterback or running back or it could be a short quick pass, many of which are bubble screens. TCU and Baylor do seem to throw deep a little bit more often, but they too rely on runs and short passes a lot of the time. People seem to think that fast paced, no huddle also means wide-open, which isn't always the case. I have faith in Hunt as long as he gets some help from others, but without the offensive line doing a decent job it doesn't matter what Hunt or anyone else on offense can do.

In addition to the OL which I think is most important to our success, I also think that we need to have some of our guys prove they are dangerous in space and can turn a short catch or interior run into a long gain and have at least one receiver prove to be a deep threat. Seems like it is asking a lot and many will argue that we don't have these pieces, but we don't need to have All-Americans doing these things, just players that opposing defenses have to respect. Give a defensive player a few things to worry about instead of one and the advantage automatically swings toward the offense.

 

[baggerbob]

I hope you're right, Crusty.
The Patriots beat the Ravens, Colts, and Seahawks without a vertical passing game and not much of a ground game (how deflating!). OK, Hunt isn't Brady, and the Pats offense relies very heavily on match-up problems that Gronk creates for opposing defenses. But I think everyone is so enamored with the wide-open, spread offenses run by Oregon, Baylor, TCU, etc., that they forget it's possible to mount an effective offense using a ball-control, short passing game that keeps moving the chains. In this regard, I think Hunt's mental development (which hopefully was aided by the time he spent with Lester in the booth) will have as much to do with his development this season as improving his throwing accuracy in the IPF.

Jamal, Adly, and Trey will be match-up problems for most of the secondaries we face. They should also help in the running game, with down-field blocking.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Summer job with National Grid?

 

[orangencpolice]

The offensive live was just that "offensive". That has to improve for us to win games. We all get that. The other thing is the offensive coordinator (GMac) was in way over his head. I don't think many players, including Hunt had confidence in his offense. It showed throughout the entire season. If you have a coach a team does not believe in, a championship team will not be successful. We will definitely be better than last year. I have to agree with Crusty on this one, Lester will improve this debacle from last year. I just hope he improves it immensely.

 

[orangencpolice]

He obviously won't rip off any 50+ yard runs but he can move the sticks if we need 5-10. More defenders will have to watch him and stay home. My biggest gripe with last years OC is he never challenged passing defenses in the middle of the field.

My expectation is that this years OC will freeze the LB's, move the safeties, and pop TE seam routes to TD. If the safety stays home run a post over and dig under to AC. A lot of conjecture on my part but reading that we are now running more routes that our receivers like gives me hope. AC can work underneath in in traffic, we should use him as such. TD has enough speed and size to dust lb's in the seams, we should use him as such.

We don't need 28 routes in our wr route tree, we need 10 we do well. The receivers can master them and the qb will be comfortable throwing them. If we go KISS technique instead of being too cute with things we can do good things on O this year.

Play calling was "Pop Warner like" last year. So many to choose from but the one that really stuck out to me was AAM on a sweep out of our own end zone. That one gave me an ulcer.

 

[orangencpolice]

I'm interested to see what Lester does on offense. I don't think we can win if we have to rely on Hunt's arm. I would think he would rely on the run, but Morris, and McFarlne have yet to show they can handle the task. Lester is going to have to be very creative, because I can't see us running it down anyone's throat, and I can't see Hunt throwing the ball all over the field.

I also have concerns about the OL, which is a bit ridiculous. This unit should be a lot better then it was last year, even with the injuries. This same unit was the strength of the team in 2012, and 2013. Sure Pugh, Mackey, and now Hickey are gone, but we've got some guys with a ton of experience. This will be Trudo, and Foy's 4th year starting, and Robinson's 3rd. Palmer will also have 3 years of experience. That's 4 of the 5 guys with 3+ years of experience. There is absolutely no way this unit should be anything worse then average. Maybe it was injuries, but Trudo's worse year was last season. Same for Robinson, and obviously Foy's season was a wash because he got injured in game 4, but even up until then it was probably his worse year too. I think there is a lot of pressure on Adam to get this unit to perform. There is too much experience, and good enough talent for this unit to be a liability once again.

Like x 100.