[h2]Major Questions Going Into Fall Camp [/h2]
by
DrB on
Aug 2, 2010 7:00 AM EDT in
FUTBAW 10 comments
Mark Crammer - AP
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Iwanted to state first, like I try to every spring and August, that nomatter what you hear, don't raise your expectations based on all thereporters' hyping of each player each day of practice. I know we're allstarved for football information and we tend to hang on every nugget ofinfo that comes out like "Steele ran mostly nickel today"...whichbrings out questions like "Do you think Steele will run Nickel allseason?"....or "
Brandon Clearcaught 7 passes and 3 TDs today"...which makes people think he'llsuddenly take off once the season starts. In other words, there arealot of guys who are practice stars and spring stars, and yet never dosquat. Kelvin Grant and
Rendrick Taylor being prime examples. Wait a couple weeks then react to what you hear.
The first two weeks of fall practice are usually all installation.They run new plays and re-install everything so everyone has theformations and alignments down pat before they really start preparing,so don't react to every snippet that comes out. Just because thereports say we're running all I-formation in the first week doesnt meanwe'll run all I-formation in Week 1, for example. It just means theyare installing and repping plays from that formation. But there is onebig question I have about Billy Napier that touches on that issue.
The Offensive Identity? What is it?
You all saw us in the first few games of last season. You had CJSpiller, who was already injured by Maryland and it dragged on allyear, not getting 25 carries per game. You saw us line up in morespread formations and constantly running heavy motion and notestablishing the run game, and so we were unable to really generate theoffense that we were capable of doing.
Then after Maryland, we went to our strengths. We decided to stopsending out 4 receivers who couldn't catch passes, and just send outthe few guys that could (Palmer, Ford, Spiller), and began establishingSpiller in the running game. I am certain, though they denied it, thatsome other coaches were putting their fingers in on playcalls andoverriding Billy. After that loss we went to what Billy Napier ran atFurman.
Now we have 4 OL returning, 2 RBs who can really play (and I thinkthe 3rd can too), a FB who can knock your teeth in, and our QB. Thestarting WRs are the same as last year, except for Marquan, and none ofthe 3 did anything. What would you do with that?
You run the @%#+ out of the ball. Line up in the I-formation and MANUP on the line for the first time in years. No complicated blockingscheme, just hat on a hat. Run Andre til he's tired and then put inJamie til he falls over. Then, you run play-action and find out whichWR wants to step up before you really start opening up the passing gamedown the stretch this season when they start to stack the box. Run toset up the pass and find out which WR has decided to play ball.
If Clemson goes out there against NT and PC in trips right/left anddoubles shotgun all day, they wont be playing to their strengths and wewont win at Auburn.
Wide Receiver
Going into the fall camp we have this depth chart, which doesnt include any thoughts on redshirts.
Terrance Ashe is suspended because he was present in theCumbie incident and "wasn't being a leader" according to Dabo... he'sin trouble for not stopping Cumbie from beating up Philip Prince II.Regardless, he'll likely be on the field for North Texas, so we canexpect the top 3 across the board there to play. Ashe is not astalented as Jaron Brown, who we are pretty high on, so can Brownfinally produce and take the starting job? If he doesn't, Hopkins willtake it.
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But what about Marquan? Will he ever produce like we know he can?Bryce McNeal caught a lot of passes in the spring practices I saw andthe spring game, and now that his weight is up to 180-185 he's ready topush Jones. Joe Craig is just too raw to play and I expect a redshirt.
I doubt Clear takes the starting spot from Dye, and Ford is someonethat comes to mind as a possible switch to a receiving TE position.
Position Changes to Look for...
Both Demont Buice and D.J. Howard were talked away from otherschools because they wanted a chance to play RB. Buice was recruited asa LB by others and Howard a DB. We've got 3 guys on the chart now inEllington, Harper and Rod McDowell who will get nearly all the snaps,and while I do believe Buice and Howard will RS, I would not besurprised if you saw a position change from one or both of them oncethey see the guys in front of them. They'll get a chance to play RB forsure, but by next year, knowing that Lane and Bellamy (assuming we holdthem) are coming in, at least one will move.
Buice has the size to be moved to a FB position, but could also playLB. If Colton Walls doesn't move to FB, I'd bet on Buice doing so. Heprobably has a better chance to play at LB, at the moment, but there isno one behind Diehl. Longterm I just don't see him sticking at a RBposition.
Howard will move to CB or SS, in my opinion. Its just a matter of when.
McDowell may eventually be used more as a slot WR, and a positionchange could be made now or next year. I saw him at Sumter and thoughthe would be a good RB, but his pass-catching skills are good enough tobe more versatile.
Brandon Ford is a guy who has had the size to play a flexed-TE, andif he doesnt push at the outside WR spot, I could see an attempt tomove him inside to a TE position and push
Dwayne Allen. If not, I think Victor Beasley avoids a RS because we have no other receiving TEs.
There is always
musical chairs played up front with BradScott running the show, so at this point I wouldnt be surprised ofanything there. David Smith will probably be asked to play both insideand outside and not master either because of it.
On D, not much seems obvious to me. Gilchrist is one that can movearound and do several things, and is starting out at CB with Maxwell.Linebacker is the question, and where the group of Maye, Willard, andHawkins really ends up. Maye ended spring at Weakside but didn't lockthat down (because of injury) over Tig Willard. All 3 are going to playand Parker may not be ready for the challenge at Strongside to pushChristian.
About those Linebackers...
I know Willard was listed as tied or 1st at Weakside, but theexperience in the defensive scheme will almost certainly becomeapparent in August and Maye will start. I do hope Willard absorbsenough to play significantly and actually let us substitute guys thisyear instead of running the same 2-3 almost all the time. What I sawin spring ball says that Willard will be the better LB if he chooses tobe.
In all seriousness, Maye does need to play better in this schemethan he displayed last season, or he shouldnt start. I think Brandonhas great speed and I like his tenacity, but sometimes he just didn'tuse his head. Like Steele said before MTSU last season, Brandon is more"Ready! Fire! Aim!" than "Ready! Aim! Fire!". If that can be reinedback, he can stave off Willard.
Corico impressed me in the little play he got last year and inparticular the bowl game. In spring he appeared to have that job lockeddown and reads his keys 10x better than Maye. He's undersized, whichcan be a detriment at times, but his technique will save him. Shuey isanother big MLB, but I doubt we see as much of him as Parker, the realwild card in the LB corps.
Parker is not going to be ready on Day 1 to play Sam, there is toomuch for that position to do in this scheme. I'd never pick a truefreshman to start at Strongside unless we were just awful. He's tallenough, but not yet strong enough to take on Tackles and TEs every day.I think Sam is a position he will take eventually, but Steele has saidhe'll start at Mike. There he will learn this defensive scheme thebest. If Scotty Cooper has as bad a year as last year though, or Parkerexcels at picking things up, Steele may cherry pick spots to get Parkersome PT at Sam.
Daniel Andrews is going to be a reserve, but he did show up and play well against Kentucky.
Christian is tall enough to run with the taller TEs and has rangeand good speed, has a year in the scheme, and now has the muscle massto start, though he might need just a few more pounds. On the otherhand, he is still young and his on-field experience is low, so I expectto see Quan on the sideline when other teams run any kind of spreadformation. Steele is going to run a lot of Nickel until he seesproduction at Sam. Its just a question of whether someone steps up hereor in the secondary as to which personnel group you see us in the most.
Which Freshmen will play?
Vic Beasley will play. Kalon Davis almost has to play with
Wilson Norris gone and with the time already in the system.
Justin Parker will play. I currently expect Nuke Hopkins to play. They have stated that Martin Jenkins will play, starting out as a KR/PR.
I think either Garry Peters or Darius Robinson will redshirt, maybeboth. Cornerback is a place where a young guy can play and executeearly. It is one of the few positions where you can be thrown rightinto the fire and succeed.
David Beasley is one I would rather RS but he may avoid RS ifsomething bad happens up front. The rest of them should definitelyredshirt.