A few thoughts as I begin to prep for college season. First is--do I keep this thread going or make a new one? Either way I can do it. I know, its not even the regular season, and no; I'm not thinking about the draft. I am a college football fan and am beginning to lay out what I want to watch for regarding the bears as the season goes, and just watch players in general. Part of me feels like a douche for bringing it up so soon. But CFB season kicks off in a week. First I'll be watching quarterbacks, and I really dont care to because ESPN and CBS are beating off to a certain group in particular. But there's the big 4 in John Goff, Cardale Jones, Connor Cook, and Christian Hackenberg. I'm quite skeptical of Goff, though I'll watch him. Everyone raves about his arm, talent, etc. He reminds me of Colt Brennan--a CFB stat machine who never made it. People liken him to Rodgers, partially because of size, partially because of his school (Cal). Big difference, Rodgers ran a pro style offense at Cal and Goff runs a spread/air raid under Sonny Dykes, who took over as HC 7 years after Rodgers left. Cook to me looks like the best but there's just something I don't like about Michigan State quarterbacks. They never turn out anything other than average at best. Stanton, Kirk Cousins, Nick Foles (before transferring to Arizona after losing starting position) Bryan Hoyer, Jeff Smoker, a few nobodies, and then Jim Miller. Sometimes its about the situation they're put in, and that will be key if the bears look to move on from Jay Cutler. Like the offense they run/have run under Dantonio, pro style with I formations. He lost a lot of weapons this year, we'll see how he fares. May have shot himself in the foot; dude could have been a top 20 pick this year. I saw Northwestern peckerslap Penn State all over the field last year in front of 103,000 fans in Happy Valley. Disclaimer: I'm a NU fan and NU was disappointing this past year. Hackenberg looked useless and like Jay Cutler 10x on a bad day. I literally have no idea why he's so valued right now. He apparently has size and worked on his accuracy this past offseason. Cardale Jones I need to see more of. Played 3 games then the championship game. Compared to Cam Newton. I wonder if he has more heart than Newton? Also wonder if he doens't throw off of his damn back foot like Newton. Always watching linemen. Offense and defense. But mainly right tackle. Something tells me the bears are going to need one. Or 4. DBs. Safeties are still patchwork, and I really don't like what I see in Fuller/Jennings combo thus far in preseason. And fuck it, why not, WRs. Kidding. TEs though I will be. Kind of getting sick of Donte Rosario looking useless all over the place. Bear Pascoe isn't an answer either.
Nice write up Patg. Right now, I'm not wild about any of those QB's right now, I have to see how these guys and others play this season. QB's have become a complete crapshoot with a top notch NFL starter coming along once every 5 years. The Bears have so many needs, all you have to do is find the best players at any position. Hopefully Pace will focus on lineman and LB's this season. You are right about the RT position, that is absolutely dreadful at this point with Leno and Mills. On a side note, I know you were a fan of him going into the draft, as was I, David Johnson the RB from Northern Iowa. I saw him play Saturday for the Cardinals and he did extremely well. Granted it was only one game but he really ran well and fans are raving about him down here.
Great write up Pat! Why don't you keep your thread right here. It's already sticky so it's easy for everyone to see
Nice right up pat. I'm looking forward to the updates. Aggie if you get a chance watch Nick Chubb Georgia RB this kid will make bulldog fans forget about losing Gurley.
Chubb is fantastic. But has to play this year and 2016 before becoming draft eligible (2 years plus RS or 3 years.) This year is all about Ezekiel Elliot from Ohio State.
Tuna, I'm a big UGA fan after my time in Georgia. Love Nick Chubb, stepped up big time last season and I'm sure will be even better this year. Gurley was one of the best college football players I have ever seen play, he is special, just hope the knee injury didn't wreck his career.
Would you agree this is linked to more and more college offenses running spread systems rather than pro systems? Seems to me the step-up from college to pros is hard enough without asking these kids to play in systems that they're just not used to. That can apply to most positions on a football field i would guess, with QB having the biggest impact of all.
I agree but the problem I have is that there are all these camps and "gurus" who get paid tons of money to make these kids better but the majority of them suck. What a rip off these guys are. Need to build the offensive line and develop a running game. It is a lot easier to find good RB's than it ever will be to find a good NFL QB. The NFL went pass happy but I think it will come back around with the lack of QB's out there available to run these systems. The Seahawks have the formula but you need to be able to draft well to implement it. I don't think Russell Wilson is worth the money they paid him and it will end up being the downfall of that team as they start to have to cut guys and lose key pieces in other areas. Your offense can't be hot garbage like the Bears were under Lovie but rather good enough to take advantage of what the defense gives them.
For those who haven't seen him play, try to do it this season. Scooby Wright III for the University of Arizona. Guy is a great LB, fun to watch. All about the team. He didn't want the University of Arizona to put anything up at the school about him being an All-American last season because it was an individual award.
Honestly, it depends on your conference. If I'm a WAC or MAC or smaller conference, I'm going air raid unless I'm in Buffalo, then I want nothing but workhorse running backs because over half of my season is played in rain or snow. Big 10 you need balance. Many teams go spread, some go the goofy spread/pro hybrid. In college, offensive styles are so hard to gauge because of recruitment. If you're Air Force Academy, Army, or Navy, and you cant have one guy over 250 lbs, you gotta run something out of left field (most go triple option, unlike Air Force, who's gone Air Raid lately.) My team, Northwestern, gets a lot of smurf WRs (6 feet or shorter) until Kyle Prater transferred, and my guy Fitz has no clue what to do with a 6'5 athletic freak who can jump over everybody. Point is, if you got ingredients for a boring tuna casserole, you make it, you dont try to make something that's not there. NU runs a shotgun spread/air raid unless they get truly talented backs, which they haven't had recently, not since Tyrell Sutton and Damien Anderson. NU also has all their linemen under 300 lbs, so they cant take some of the other B1G conference DLinemen, who are some of the best/due to get drafted in the 1st round or 2nd round in the coming 2 years (Shilique Calhoun, Joey Bosa, Josh Perry, Adolphius Washington, Anthony Zettel, and Terry Cochran). NU cant afford to try and sit a QB in the pocket, they just dont have the personnel to. They gotta get creative, get a QB on the move, and hit a smurf WR. Unless they figure out how to use Kyle Prater. Hope they do. Wisconsin breeds offensive linemen who can runblock with the best, but cant pass block for shit. Since Russell Wilson, who made plays with his legs--Wisconsin doesn't pass the ball much. Because its easier to hand the ball off to a 4 star recruit behind 5 star run blocking hog mollies. So it all ties into personnel and recruiting.
I think very highly of him him, like he reminds me a lot of #54. And if I wasn't so damn sure the bears were going QB top 3-5 (yes, its not even September yet and I think the bears are looking at future quarterbacks), he'd be the guy I want. Or Joey Bosa. Who's drawing comparisons to JJ Watt.
I think that is why I'm such a huge fan of Wright is that he does remind me of him. Joey Bosa is a beast as well. I would take either without hesitation over any QB that is coming out this year. Wright is a guy I will be watching closely this year since Sundays are going to be boring again this season.
I never thought of that. The armed forces teams dont have massive guys or blobs. Cos they'd never pass the PT requirements i guess. But how fun is the triple option! I'm not sure ive ever seen that before! Really interesting. Given the initial success of the wildcat a few years ago, is it not surprising that we didn't see a move to the triple option in the NFL? It seems like a natural evolution for a wildcat offense that wants to stay one step ahead. Ready for a laugh? I always thought northwestern was up Seattle way! But i just looked it up and yep, Chicago. Ignorant heh. You're a real local boy aren't you. It sounds like you're saying colleges stick to what they know. I had a friend over from the US last month and we were talking football. I never knew this but when the subject came round to Kyle Fuller he said, oh yeah thats my alma matar, i went to Virginia Tech. He also said VT has a bit of a rep for defensive backs. Sounds like a similar thing to what you're saying.
I was actually thinking of the read option there due to the involvement of the QB but instead wrote wildcat. Woops.
Triple option is a gigantic pain in the ass if you don't know how to defend it. Problem is--defending it in the NFL vs defending it in college are two different things. In the NFL, there's not one QB fast or deceptive enough who can take the hit. Maybe Vick could have when he first came into the league. BIG maybe on Russell Wilson now...... After all, Wilson knows how to cure concussions. With Bubbles. http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/08/rus...-than-to-suggest-a-product-heals-a-concussion So you gotta run a RB, or athlete. And like the Wildcat, complete crapshoot. Defenses are too fast. The fun video you put up, Houston was slow and looked lost and over committed. Everybody went after the QB and clobbered him, and the guy who needed to stay on the RB bit. Great for the back, terrible for a QB in a QB driven league. Defenses are too fast in the NFl.
Patg, I have another LB for you to watch. He is only a Sophomore but is a big kid and fast. Lorenzo Carter #7. Kid is a monster, expect big things from him this year. I know you already know about Leonard Floyd on UGA but Carter really impresses me.
