Whoa, everyone needs to take their hand off the panic button

[PhatOrange]

No need to jump off the deep end with the "could be on the sideline all year" talk. That's ludicrous. Lemon and Thomas would be playing if game day were tomorrow I'd bet. Bromley would be 50/50 at this point. Pugh is a known quantity.

No no no no, I didn't mean that literally. I meant we can't point to it as a reason for less than stellar play. Guys are going to be banged up and injured all year long so we have to live with it good or bad.

When the big 4 come back though at least three of them are not going to be at 100%. Bromley is wearing an air cast right now and Thomas' hand was about as heavily bandaged as a hand can be. There is no doubt in my mind from seeing his wrap that one of his fingers was either mashed, broken or dislocated. Pugh when he comes back will be weeks before he's in game shape.

Lemon is hurt again. Flemming is now hurt again and I half believe he'll have a broken ankle. West is out. Hale is out. Thompson is banged up. Curtis is still out. Rene out. These are all guys in the two deep.

 

[kingottoiii]

Didn't the offensive score a bunch of touchdowns ? I thought the paper said there were 5 TD passes?

It may have been 1s against 2s but the rest of kids weren't standing on the sideline watching the game - or were they?

Nassib had a drive from the 20 (TD), two drives from the D's 40 (zero points would have both been punts), and three drives from the D's 20 (2 TDs and 1 FG). I was disappointed in the two drives from the 40 that we didn't even get into FG range against the 2nd D. The first O also went with Loeb vs the 2nd D. From the 20 it would have been punt, from the 40 a punt and a TD, from the 20 a FG and an INT.

 

[PhatOrange]

Nassib had a drive from the 20 (TD), two drives from the D's 40 (zero points would have both been punts), and three drives from the D's 20 (2 TDs and 1 FG). I was disappointed in the two drives from the 40 that we didn't even get into FG range against the 2nd D. The first O also went with Loeb vs the 2nd D. From the 20 it would have been punt, from the 40 a punt and a TD, from the 20 a FG and an INT.

So Nassib’s offense scored points on 4 of 6 drives. 3 TDs and 1 FG

Loeb scored points on 2 of 5 drives. 1 TD and 1 FG.

Combined they were 6 of 11 with 4 TDs and 2 FGs.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

Our RBs may be OK by committee, but we don't have a proven RB other than Smith. Our WRs enter the season with a lot of question marks.

We have some promise in the OL (good size, young guys fighting for roles); pretty much on a par with what we have in other units.

Calling Smith "proven" is an extreme stretch by any sense of the word. He's only touched the ball 38 times in his entire career, for a grand total of about 150 yards.

RB is a huge concern - huge. If we are relying on Smith or PTG to carry the load at RB this year then we will be lucky to win 3 games.

 

[SoBristol]

Calling Smith "proven" is an extreme stretch by any sense of the word. He's only touched the ball 38 times in his entire career, for a grand total of about 150 yards.

RB is a huge concern - huge. If we are relying on Smith or PTG to carry the load at RB this year then we will be lucky to win 3 games.

Only makes my point stronger, but Smith showed something in the one game when he had several carries and per most observers he was our best RB in the Spring.

 

[JrodCuse]

Calling Smith "proven" is an extreme stretch by any sense of the word. He's only touched the ball 38 times in his entire career, for a grand total of about 150 yards.

RB is a huge concern - huge. If we are relying on Smith or PTG to carry the load at RB this year then we will be lucky to win 3 games.

So unknown = 3 wins = pure garbage is what you're saying? God some of the pessimism on this site is overwhelming. Just because they are unproven doesn't mean they are a bunch of can't-get-rights out there. 38 carries for 150 yards is almost 4ypc. Run 3x in a row at that average and you get a first down every time. 9+ wins this season. Book it. Get on the train or find a new team to complain about.

 

[Millhouse]

So unknown = 3 wins = pure garbage is what you're saying? God some of the pessimism on this site is overwhelming. Just because they are unproven doesn't mean they are a bunch of can't-get-rights out there. 38 carries for 150 yards is almost 4ypc. Run 3x in a row at that average and you get a first down every time. 9+ wins this season. Book it. Get on the train or find a new team to complain about.

uh yeah it's hard to get at least 4 yards every time even if it's easy to average.

 

[JrodCuse]

uh yeah it's hard to get at least 4 yards every time even if it's easy to average.

Well duhh. Was trying to explain that the RB situation isn't as bad as people think it is when you factor in Smith, PTG, Moore, Morris, Broyld, Mcfarlane. Just because they're unproven doesn't mean they're garbage.

 

[billsin01]

I wonder if the OL will be the weak link, once Pugh returns. People who say that (and many do) don't seem to compare our backfield to other backfields in the league, or our WR unit to others. Our FBs are untested and not highly recruited. Our RBs may be OK by committee, but we don't have a proven RB other than Smith. Our WRs enter the season with a lot of question marks.

We have some promise in the OL (good size, young guys fighting for roles); pretty much on a par with what we have in other units.

I suppose there's a chance this is correct, but if you're using deductive reason to try and figure out what the the strengths and weaknesses are, this is a unit with little experience, little depth, questionable talent (not bad necessarily, but certainly unproven), and virtually zero track record of success since the end of the P era (thought Browning did a nice job for a year). That's not really the case with other units. Nassib at QB; Lemon and, to a lesser extent, Sales at WR; Stevens as a pass-catching TE; Smith to some extent at RB -- they've all had some success at this level. And, younger guys should have an easier time contributing at these spots so guys like Gulley or Morris or Kobena could chip in with meaningful contributions.

Regardless, if the line is significantly better, that's great. If it's not or if it is and we're still not very productive offensively, my thought would be you have zero choice but to look at systemic changes.

 

[SoBristol]

I suppose there's a chance this is correct, but if you're using deductive reason to try and figure out what the the strengths and weaknesses are, this is a unit with little experience, little depth, questionable talent (not bad necessarily, but certainly unproven), and virtually zero track record of success since the end of the P era (thought Browning did a nice job for a year). That's not really the case with other units. Nassib at QB; Lemon and, to a lesser extent, Sales at WR; Stevens as a pass-catching TE; Smith to some extent at RB -- they've all had some success at this level. And, younger guys should have an easier time contributing at these spots so guys like Gulley or Morris or Kobena could chip in with meaningful contributions.

Regardless, if the line is significantly better, that's great. If it's not or if it is and we're still not very productive offensively, my thought would be you have zero choice but to look at systemic changes.

I agree that we need to improve on offense this season, or start digging into the issues.
My point is that it isn't only the OL and the OL coaches. The biggest failure in the past two seasons (my opinion) is the inability of any of the skill position recruits to have significant impact. West and Gulley have been the best of the bunch. Maybe that changes this season.

 

[billsin01]

I agree that we need to improve on offense this season, or start digging into the issues.
My point is that it isn't only the OL and the OL coaches. The biggest failure in the past two seasons (my opinion) is the inability of any of the skill position recruits to have significant impact. West and Gulley have been the best of the bunch. Maybe that changes this season.

Yeah, that's a true. It certainly hasn't helped. The good news is that that *appears* to be changing. Broyld, Morris, Allen, Thompson, Lewis, Prince -- seems like we've added some athleticism.