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

[GaUSFBull]

18 hours ago, Who'sYourData? said:

With the exception of the UCF game, I'm not sure who that was in Q's uniform, I presume I am a better passer than Q.  

[mjadams]

On 2/25/2018 at 2:48 AM, LunchTimeBully said:

Willie T was very high on Chris O throwing the ball saying he could be a starter as a freshman 

 

unimpressed by kean in games so far 

It should be a good competition. If u were unimpressed by Keans passing you must have wanted to bench Flowers 😁

[raptorcj]

44 minutes ago, mjadams said:

On 2/25/2018 at 2:48 AM, LunchTimeBully said:

Willie T was very high on Chris O throwing the ball saying he could be a starter as a freshman 

 

unimpressed by kean in games so far 

It should be a good competition. If u were unimpressed by Keans passing you must have wanted to bench Flowers 😁

Kean was decent on his passing but iirc his passing under pressure was prone to mistakes. It's that and his lack of speed on the run that would keep him on the bench IMO...presuming CO can run.

[tampatony]

We've done this already but here's what I'm excited about:

Biggest question marks first

Kean vs Oladuken: I personally would love to see Kean win this. He has been great with my son at multiple sporting events. I think CO wins out though. Last year people were saying that he may have been the fast player on the team and he was pretty accurate when he was on the field too when he was out there. I think by now we can all see that Q was not accurate with intermediate passes in which this offense is primarily based. Both of these guys will be a step up there as long as they have time to make the reads.

RBs: Cronkite should easily win this battle, many for the past year have said he was the best RB on the team. Hopefully that comes to fruition and he continues to progress. I'll be interested to see if any youngsters make a difference, specifically Elijah Mack and the true freshman that is the size of a house I don't remember his name off hand though. I think those types of players (Tice like) fit this offense better. Big Backs that can get 3-4 yards up the middle. We'll see if Sands can be a change of pace guy but he may have just got pushed out due to this offense. It's just not set up for smaller quicker guys.

WR: I think you see Salomon and McCants solidify their spots in this offense. Salomon started to really come on at the end of the year. If McCants can slimmed down just a little he could be an absolute terror as a position/deep threat. Dukes will definitely have an opportunity this year much like Salomon and Phillips had last year. This offense is much more WR friendly and could see multiple 1000 yard receivers when it gets clicking (if our coaches don't leave first).

Oline: We lost 2 starters but have 3 returning players. I think that alone will stabilize us. We have some beef up there and with another off-season to transform this line from a primarily zone scheme to a more traditional run blocking scheme I think we'll be okay here and may even see some improvement.

Defense:

LBs: I think we see Sawtelle and Johnston starting with Polk playing as the third LB and McGee as back up with a few younger players stepping up out of pure necessity. I think losing Miller in the recruiting process hurt pretty bad and could've made an impact on day one. When we are losing players to Indiana we're in trouble and shows how the media shoving the P5 crap down our throats is starting to do.

DBs: Although we lose a lot here I'm excited to see what Watts, Hampton, Hoggins (money year), and others can do. I think this group is extremely deep and may even see an impact guy from last years recruiting class come in and shine a little. Culpepper would be my first guess because he got so much playing time last year.

DLine: Inside we should be solid with Pinkney, Bronson, and the other Kevin plus the addition of the two dukies coming in. I think Reeves turns into a monster this year and is that pass rusher that teams can't handle. My hope is that Bronson can be a Senat clone in the inside as well. Sacks and tackles for loss for everyone! We also have 1000 DE/DTs coming in with this recruiting class and I can definitely see guys like Waller, Boyles, and Laing make an impact this year providing much needed depth. I could also see some of those guys transferring to LB too, we'll see.

Special Teams:

I'M DEEPLY SCARED, I do not have confidence in a Strong led special teams unit. His units in the past have mainly been terrible.

[Gatorbull325]

I want more passing and less running from my QB. Somebody who can distribute the ball around so that most of our receiving talent gets to shine. Im tired of our offense always focusing on 3 or 4 players.

[raptorcj]

19 minutes ago, Gatorbull325 said:

I want more passing and less running from my QB. Somebody who can distribute the ball around so that most of our receiving talent gets to shine. Im tired of our offense always focusing on 3 or 4 players.

To do that, you have to have a decent line and we just lost some critical seniors there. That's a question mark for now, so the QB with options will probably be our best bet until the line can prove it can hold.

[Orlando Bull]

23 hours ago, Gatorbull325 said:

I want more passing and less running from my QB. Somebody who can distribute the ball around so that most of our receiving talent gets to shine. Im tired of our offense always focusing on 3 or 4 players.

See... most people want this... I however want a QB that will do anything it takes to win. Run, Pass, hand-off, drop kick, pooch punt. I don't care. Win the game. Go back to the bowl game. How many of you had the same feeling I did when TTU scored? That feeling... "You guys just gave Q too much time". I had supreme confidence that our QB could pull out a win. Didn't care if he did it all with his legs, or, a deep ball, or, several intermediate passes. I knew that he could get it done. We won't have that this year and I'll personally miss it as a fan.

(btw, I felt the same against UCF and will always wonder if Q would have come through again if not for the fumble)

Whoever wins the QB battle has a long ways to go before the fans can feel that way. Back in the CJL days, I wanted our defense on the field with the game on the line. Maybe it will go back to that under CCS. Put them out there with a 2-pt lead and watch them completely stifle the opponent and force a mistake. I'm good with that as long as the result is a W.

[Gatorbull325]

23 hours ago, raptorcj said:

To do that, you have to have a decent line and we just lost some critical seniors there. That's a question mark for now, so the QB with options will probably be our best bet until the line can prove it can hold.

The past 2-3 years we assumed our offensive line would get worse and they seem to do better or the same wvery year. I think our line improves. Especially if the rumor about Marlon Gonzales switching 2 Oline is true

[GaUSFBull]

6 hours ago, Gatorbull325 said:

The past 2-3 years we assumed our offensive line would get worse and they seem to do better or the same wvery year. I think our line improves. Especially if the rumor about Marlon Gonzales switching 2 Oline is true

Q’s scrambling ability hasn’t really given us a true sense of how our O-line would hold up with a primarily pocket passer.  Raptor is right, we’ve lost some stalwarts on the line so it’s an unknown.  In the presence of an unknown like that, a QB who can make defenses be honest with his feet is important.

Also, from an intangible point of view, USF has always had its greatest successes with dual threat QBs.  Our most mobile QBs (Grothe, Daniels, Flowers) have also provided the most entertaining Bulls games.  Why would you want that to change?  

[Gatorbull325]

8 hours ago, GaUSFBull said:

Q’s scrambling ability hasn’t really given us a true sense of how our O-line would hold up with a primarily pocket passer.  Raptor is right, we’ve lost some stalwarts on the line so it’s an unknown.  In the presence of an unknown like that, a QB who can make defenses be honest with his feet is important.

Also, from an intangible point of view, USF has always had its greatest successes with dual threat QBs.  Our most mobile QBs (Grothe, Daniels, Flowers) have also provided the most entertaining Bulls games.  Why would you want that to change?  

I dont want the dual threat element removed, I just want an increase in the passing game to go with it.

Edited February 28, 2018 by Gatorbull325