Spring Football arrives in two weeks; what's at stake

[goldenbrahm1996]

17 hours ago, The Great 8 said:

I can't imagine Battle is really in the running.

RB might be a mediocre RBBC.

Secondary is losing a lot, but is able to replenish. I'm not more worried about them than the front seven. For me the concerns are LB > Line > Ends > Secondary.

Special teams wise, we have nothing returning at ... returner. Johnson and Fullwood have been the bell cows. They're gone. I expect someone good to emerge, but concerning nonetheless.

TBH, RB is the starting position I’m the least worried about, besides maybe CB. Cronkite is the real deal and as long as he stays healthy, we’ll be set. However, I’m not overly thrilled with the way we’ve recruited the position over the last couple years and I think the lack of depth at the position shows. 

[lotsofbull99]

Will find out if CCS can develop players, no Bridgewaters on this team 

[Orlando Bull]

I expect the defense to be well ahead of the offense in the spring. I think we'll see a shift back toward the CJL days when we won games with defense. You just can't bank on having a QF leading your offense year in and year out.

The ball control offense we played last year will look much more appealing this year. It comes down to the trenches. Can the OL open up holes to consistently pick up first downs?

[CousinRicky]

58 minutes ago, Orlando Bull said:

I expect the defense to be well ahead of the offense in the spring. I think we'll see a shift back toward the CJL days when we won games with defense. You just can't bank on having a QF leading your offense year in and year out.

The ball control offense we played last year will look much more appealing this year. It comes down to the trenches. Can the OL open up holes to consistently pick up first downs?

I can't remember a time when we ever did that. We've been around since '03.  Remember Andre Hall getting stopped more and more as the season went along and teams game planned for him. We'll need a passing game to keep teams honest since I don't see any QB making lemonade out of lemons like Q did.

[Apis Bull]

30 minutes ago, Bourbon Bull said:

I can't remember a time when we ever did that. We've been around since '03.  Remember Andre Hall getting stopped more and more as the season went along and teams game planned for him. We'll need a passing game to keep teams honest since I don't see any QB making lemonade out of lemons like Q did.

Presumably, both Kean and Oladokun are better passers than Q.

[NewEnglandBull]

Even with changes in players, our defense will be dominant this year. We won't need many points from the offense.

[Bull Dozer]

5 minutes ago, Apis Bull said:

Presumably, both Kean and Oladokun are better passers than Q.

If the true (which this is a huge assumption)  the question is are they good enough to offset Q's escapability with the difference between their passing and Q's.   Especially when we lose our two best OL in the interior which is the pressure that's the hardest for less mobile QB's to avoid.   While Q isn't Josh Rosen or Baker Mayfield throwing the ball I think the difference between his passing ability and the back ups is less of a gap than some here assume while the mobility gap is as apparent as we all assume.  The difference between Q and the other 2 was far from glaring last spring game, i'd say Q was more efficient than the other two in that game as well.  

Lots of people are making an Asianti Woulard level leap about the difference between the passing ability between Q and the back ups....  We all know how that turned out with the assumed better passer.....

[Bullrush33]

21 hours ago, Gatorbull325 said:

I heard Marlon Gonzales moved to the offensive line. Can anybody confirm that? My impact players for 2019. 

QB - Kean shall start

RB - Cronkite, Sands, Ford

DT - Kelvin Kegler/Pickney, Waller, Leacock and homie from Duke. 

DB - Jaymon Thomas goes super saiyen. 

WR - McCants, Solmon and suprise receiver Clerveaux (good hands) 

Is Kevin Bronson swiss cheese now?

[Gatorbull325]

10 hours ago, Bullrush33 said:

Is Kevin Bronson swiss cheese now?

My list is much bigger. But these are a few players, i think will take advantage of their new opportunities the most. 

[Orlando Bull]

21 hours ago, Bull Dozer said:

If the true (which this is a huge assumption)  the question is are they good enough to offset Q's escapability with the difference between their passing and Q's.   Especially when we lose our two best OL in the interior which is the pressure that's the hardest for less mobile QB's to avoid.   While Q isn't Josh Rosen or Baker Mayfield throwing the ball I think the difference between his passing ability and the back ups is less of a gap than some here assume while the mobility gap is as apparent as we all assume.  The difference between Q and the other 2 was far from glaring last spring game, i'd say Q was more efficient than the other two in that game as well.  

Lots of people are making an Asianti Woulard level leap about the difference between the passing ability between Q and the back ups....  We all know how that turned out with the assumed better passer.....

100% agree with this... how many times did Q's legs allow him to make a pass (good or bad) when another QB would have been sacked. Also, "passing" is great, but, give me <good decision, errant pass> over <bad decision, ball on the money but intercepted> pretty much any day of the week. There are a lot worse things a QB can do than throw an incomplete pass.

Q also had an uncanny ability to elevate his game in pressure situations. I don't care if he was 1-for-12 passing, when we needed a score, he got it done. If we have a 75% passer that folds under pressure, what good is his completion percentage. Note, I haven't seen enough of any of these QBs to believe that will be the case, but, I also haven't seen enough to trust that it's not going to be the case. Not picking on Kean, but, against Temple in 2016, pressure situation, he threw a pick-6 and got sacked for a safety I think. I don't think that is necessarily who he is as a player, but, it's the sample size we have of meaningful snaps in the last 3 years by anyone other than Q.

So many unknowns at the QB position. We'll need to rely on a running game. No, we can't run on every down, but, if we can have success on the ground, the windows open up for passing.