2018 Team vs. 2017 Team

[Flowers4Heisman]

I've been catching up on the roster and thanks to BullyPulpit and his position breakdowns, this is how I imagine the team will differ from last year.

Philosophically, this is going to be a pocket-passing QB year. I doubt we will see Barnett run for yards like Flowers, unless it's a dire situation and he's making up his own plays.

Running, this is yards on the ground with your traditional plays that we've seen. And the coaches will rotate RBs to keep them fresh.

Q: How good is our OL? Seems like we have a better line than last year at this point in the season with the starters set.

So, it's going to be interesting with no Flowers to bail us out for yards and first downs. Where is the difference going to come from? I think we'll have more accuracy on the shorter passes -and maybe even try a slant pass or two this season! We have really good receivers this year, so that should help. But with no Flower's elusiveness and legs, that's a big transition.

The thing is, we can always put in our mobile QBs and go for that QB-with legs play. Look, at 6-5 Barnett is not going to dodge anybody on the run!

 

Defensively, I really like our maturity at covering people in the secondary. This helps the front guys; it gives them more time. So, this is a "win" for us. I have no idea about the middle and our ability to stop the run. We might have to gamble a bit to do that -bring up people. So, I hope we take more risks and force teams into throwing the ball. When they do that, I think that favors our guys. Running it up our throat, that might be our weakness (I'm guessing here).

Our weaknesses? I'm guessing field goals and stopping the run.

Our strengths? Secondary, receivers, and accuracy when Barnett is in (but he will be a target). Hmmm... Cincy's QB comes to mind all of a sudden. I hope it doesn't turn out that way!

The OL is going to be the make-it or break-it of this year. You take Flowers out and all of that pressure now falls on the OL. We never played this style of football because we've never had OL talent to do it. Fingers crossed!

 

[usfgrad84]

At the beginning of last year I watched some tape of Gilbert’s offense at Texas. I saw a lot of short and 8 to 10 yard routes. Keeps the defense honest. Opens up lanes for the run. 

For whatever reason Gilbert didn’t like to throw to DJ last year. I think we see a lot more short and intermediate throws. We have a very good TE.  I think offense can be even more dynamic than last year’s team. It will just be different than we have had here ever. 

I don’t think Gilbert or Strong were comfortable in letting Flowers do his thing. 

My two concerns are the OL and the receivers catching the ball consistently. It has been a huge problem the last few years. 

I look for a solid running game  this will be The most balanced offense, in terms of play calling and personnel than we have ever had  

 

[TheUpperHand]

I'm still concerned because so far the 2018 team is winless -- on the other hand, they're undefeated, so they're probably pretty good, too.

[Bulls On Parade]

I guess Gilbert didnt trust Flowers intermediate and short passing game and to be fair Flowers really struggled at times with it.  Blake will still get some yards on the ground he has some speed just not any shake like Flowers...but the qb running wont be a big part of offense like last few years. 

If this o line is above avg and Blakes the real deal then this offense could be really good. 

Defense could struggle vs power run teams but luckily we dont face that often....if the d line can get good pass rush the secondary will force turnovers. 

 

 

[IBulleve]

53 minutes ago, Bulls On Parade said:

I guess Gilbert didnt trust Flowers intermediate and short passing game and to be fair Flowers really struggled at times with it.  Blake will still get some yards on the ground he has some speed just not any shake like Flowers...but the qb running wont be a big part of offense like last few years. 

If this o line is above avg and Blakes the real deal then this offense could be really good. 

Defense could struggle vs power run teams but luckily we dont face that often....if the d line can get good pass rush the secondary will force turnovers. 

 

 

The best defense against a power run offense is a high scoring offense. We will be fine against the likes of Ga Tech & Temple if we play each offensive drive aggressively. If we slow down the tempo and try and ground and pound with them, we will be in trouble... See Houston/Stony Brook/Tulsa , 2017 

Edited August 29, 2018 by IBulleve

[LewSFBulls]

Despite CCS saying he believes that's our strongest unit though in terms of talent/depth, I think we really miss Senat and Hector there. Temple still have Sharga?

 

[NewEnglandBull]

2 hours ago, LewSFBulls said:

Despite CCS saying he believes that's our strongest unit though in terms of talent/depth, I think we really miss Senat and Hector there. Temple still have Sharga?

 

Sharga graduated 

[Flowers4Heisman]

After game 1, I think life after Flowers at QB is good. That was a tall order, but I think we are good to go! Amen.

Kicking, that's not looking too bad.

So, it's now up to the defense to pick it up.

But if we can score, the D will have more time to time to work on their improvements.

The season is going to be pretty good.

[Orlando Bull]

16 minutes ago, Flowers4Heisman said:

After game 1, I think life after Flowers at QB is good. That was a tall order, but I think we are good to go! Amen.

Kicking, that's not looking too bad.

So, it's now up to the defense to pick it up.

But if we can score, the D will have more time to time to work on their improvements.

The season is going to be pretty good.

The question remains about QB in my opinion. BB is good, probably better than Q as a QB, but, in crunch time, I've never seen anyone better than Q at any level. Will BB be able to bring us from behind for a tough win? That remains to be seen. 

[Fold FB Invest in BB]

16 minutes ago, Orlando Bull said:

The question remains about QB in my opinion. BB is good, probably better than Q as a QB, but, in crunch time, I've never seen anyone better than Q at any level. Will BB be able to bring us from behind for a tough win? That remains to be seen. 

Not sure about that. If he has time and an open receiver the guy is money. We've never had a guy with this combination of range and accuracy. He's hitting receivers in stride 9/10 times, and these guys shouldn't have any trouble getting behind any defense we play this year. I'm curious to see how well he throws on the run. His poise is not concerning to me.

Granted, Q would have broken all of those scrambles for huge gains.