JeremyCuse
Renowned lacrosse analyst
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- Aug 15, 2011
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5 games into the season a few things are coming clear, our linebackers have played pretty well, our Run D is pretty good, we found our punter for the forseeable future, Jerome Smith is still really good, our Secondary is a gigantic dissapointment and our WR's have been beyond abysmal.
I think it was clear going into the season that the loss of Lemon and Sales was going to be huge for this team. Myself and a few others raised the alarm over the summer that the returning WR core was probably our biggest issue compounded by the fact that the highest rated incoming Frosh (Cooper) was an academic casualty. Unfortunately as bad as I thought the WR situation might be, at this point its reaching Tim Lane/Rice Moss levels.
Losing Flemming now appears to have been a disasterous blow, we simply dont have any WR that can A. Get open and B. Catch the ball in tight situations (outside of Broyld). Based on all that its mystifying why guys like Funderburk, Lewis, Cornelius, and even one of the Frosh hasnt gotten some or more PT.
Right now were playing with a WR core that really has no #1 or even a #2 receiver. Clark has done a nice job as a Juco transfer who really is undersized for the Div 1 level but he was swallowed up in man to man press coverage last week and tends to dissapear for a few games. If Clark has a tendency to dissapear for a few games, Kobena goes MIA for whole stretches of the season. Outside of that one catch at PSU hes been pretty much non existent, even against Tulane and Wagner when Clark was putting on a show Kobena was no where to be found. I know a lot of people on this board were high on Kobena but at what point do we admit its simply not working and try someone else, the Kobena experience needs to end were not getting anyting close to what we need out of a #2 WR. That leads me to the two biggest dissapointments so far this year in the passing game West/Wales - Both of these guys have been pretty much invisible this year through 5 games. Wales might have two catches on the year and West has been held without a catch for at least 2 if not 3 games so far this year, totally unacceptable. To be fair play calling has certainly played a role, we are not throwing many deep passes and when we do we seem to want to throw them to West for what reason I have no idea. But at this point its clear West is not a #1 and that we have totally abandoned any type of medium range passing game that Hackett and Marrone finally went to in the second half of last year. What happened to all the 12-20 yard routes we were running last year? Now its a 5 yard pass or deep pass to a possession WR who is double covered.
At this point we need to see what guys like Funderburk, Cornelius, Moore, and others can bring to the table. Moore tore up NW for two series and then dissapeared of the face of the earth. Why is he not getting at least a couple series a half? At this point its clear were brining in 3-4Wr's next year so why waste a red shirt if Avant or another Frosh can make an impact. Most of all Funderburk and Estime need to play. I dont care how far in the doghouse Funderburk is or if we have to draw the play with a marker on Mackys back in the huddle for Estime to understand the route, we need to get playmakers and talent on the field. 65 yards passing with zero catches by a natural WR is totally unacepptable at any level less major Div 1. I am really hoping Mcdonald and Shafer realize the need to change things up and start showing some fresh faces at WR starting Saturday, I have had more then enough of the West, Kobena, Clark experiment.
I think it was clear going into the season that the loss of Lemon and Sales was going to be huge for this team. Myself and a few others raised the alarm over the summer that the returning WR core was probably our biggest issue compounded by the fact that the highest rated incoming Frosh (Cooper) was an academic casualty. Unfortunately as bad as I thought the WR situation might be, at this point its reaching Tim Lane/Rice Moss levels.
Losing Flemming now appears to have been a disasterous blow, we simply dont have any WR that can A. Get open and B. Catch the ball in tight situations (outside of Broyld). Based on all that its mystifying why guys like Funderburk, Lewis, Cornelius, and even one of the Frosh hasnt gotten some or more PT.
Right now were playing with a WR core that really has no #1 or even a #2 receiver. Clark has done a nice job as a Juco transfer who really is undersized for the Div 1 level but he was swallowed up in man to man press coverage last week and tends to dissapear for a few games. If Clark has a tendency to dissapear for a few games, Kobena goes MIA for whole stretches of the season. Outside of that one catch at PSU hes been pretty much non existent, even against Tulane and Wagner when Clark was putting on a show Kobena was no where to be found. I know a lot of people on this board were high on Kobena but at what point do we admit its simply not working and try someone else, the Kobena experience needs to end were not getting anyting close to what we need out of a #2 WR. That leads me to the two biggest dissapointments so far this year in the passing game West/Wales - Both of these guys have been pretty much invisible this year through 5 games. Wales might have two catches on the year and West has been held without a catch for at least 2 if not 3 games so far this year, totally unacceptable. To be fair play calling has certainly played a role, we are not throwing many deep passes and when we do we seem to want to throw them to West for what reason I have no idea. But at this point its clear West is not a #1 and that we have totally abandoned any type of medium range passing game that Hackett and Marrone finally went to in the second half of last year. What happened to all the 12-20 yard routes we were running last year? Now its a 5 yard pass or deep pass to a possession WR who is double covered.
At this point we need to see what guys like Funderburk, Cornelius, Moore, and others can bring to the table. Moore tore up NW for two series and then dissapeared of the face of the earth. Why is he not getting at least a couple series a half? At this point its clear were brining in 3-4Wr's next year so why waste a red shirt if Avant or another Frosh can make an impact. Most of all Funderburk and Estime need to play. I dont care how far in the doghouse Funderburk is or if we have to draw the play with a marker on Mackys back in the huddle for Estime to understand the route, we need to get playmakers and talent on the field. 65 yards passing with zero catches by a natural WR is totally unacepptable at any level less major Div 1. I am really hoping Mcdonald and Shafer realize the need to change things up and start showing some fresh faces at WR starting Saturday, I have had more then enough of the West, Kobena, Clark experiment.
