some things were more clear. sam keller is a quick thinker and releases the ball with marino-esque speed even though it looks gay. seems the neurons to his brain are a split second ahead of everyone else which allows him an advantage over most. He will be one of those guys who look terrible at a combine but may have a shot to make an NFL roster. prolly not start. then again if Akili Smith was once a starter and also danny woeful... Joseph Addai is faster than anyone on the field with the ball in his hand. Considering the number of touches he gets thats pretty amazing. I've had a mancrush on him for over a year now. Stroke survivor Mike Gottfried made a good assessment for once--JaMarcus seems to be better rolling out. I think it gets his heart going a bit faster and helps him focus or something. the holding of Claude Wroten and many others was as prevalent as I thought when i saw it live. Even moreso the second time. blatant and never called on them i dont think. ASU only punted twice the entire game. that's brutal with the talent we have on defense. jamaal lewis, their TE is a stud. He could not be guarded and has great hands. I saw him week 1 and he looked the same then too. more of a WR than a TE. dale robinson the Manimal, #44 MLB, is a stud and is the heart of their defense. It clearly shows our weakness at linebacker and the difference a great MLB can make. he will play on sundays. speaking of, Cameron Vaughn is completely lost in coverage. obviously he rarely if ever had to do this (drop back) under nick's d but he is a liability. may as well send him every play. that interference not called in the endzone when he levelled lewis as well as face guarding him was brutal. he was forever out of position. all our linebackers seemed to be a liability more than an asset at most times of the game and was a huge reason we gave up so many yards. they need serious improvement. The holes opened up by our O-Line was surreal most of the game. often 10 yards before anyone was touched. ASU will get scored on a lot this year and this will cost them against teams with bruisers like our Alley who pound them into submission. no way they can stop them. One huge worry for me--why was les miles running around asking the coaches whether to go for one or two after we scored to make it 27-24? Surely you know to kick it in all instances. surely makes me wonder about that prozac.
We need to make sure he touches the ball at least 25 times per game. I agree with Buddy that he probably can't run it more than 15-16 to avoid injuries, but I say throw at least 8 passes his way. all of these previous paragraphs tie together and are about basically the same thing, that our linebackers suck arse and need to get it together. if we had a decent LB out there in pass coverage J. Lewis wouldn't have looked so great. We need #11 and #7 out there more than ever. Why aren't we placing LB recruitment at the forefront over skill positions? Hopefully Kuale will be back before the year is out. Can we take a look at Al Jones and RJF at any linebacker spots? I really don't think the C. Vaughns, Jason Spadonis, and Ali Highsmiths can cut it in the SEC but time will certainly tell. Not that I know anything whatsoever..
cam vaughn was the most highly recruited of all. not sure why they arent panning out. Kuale is a HUGE loss it seems and I was afraid it may be. #7 (AH) was burned on the Lewis TD but he shows flashes of brilliance on a lot of plays. I think he will be fine. yes i know it ties in together but i dont wanna tear them to shreds completely given the new system. when is EJ projected to return? agree with passing the ball to Addai more. the more the merrier as far as Im concerned. JV still hesitant hitting the hole. Addai and Shy blow through it before even their speed guys could collapse on the play. no sacks or picks in 56 passing attempts seems almost inexcusable.
Both Saban and Miles recruited the LB position as hard as any other they just weren't able to land as many high quality LB's as they wanted to. Again this year it needs to be a very high priority, we need both quality and numbers Miles knows that and so did Saban.
your guess is as good as mine. initial reports were 4-6 weeks but I haven't heard much since then. someone needs to whack that dude on the head. never seen such a sophomore-junior jinx such as that one. dunno if you caught it but i was making a trev and bradie reference.
Its funny with coaches.. most have a card with scenarios listed to let them know when to go for 2 or not... they really on their cards and playbooks so much that sometimes the common sense goes out of the door..
dandydon posted on tues. that kuale is 2 weeks away from practice, so hopefully he'll be back for UF or Aub. hollis was supposed to be a stud too. only remember hearing his name once. i say give sanders more pt. if things dont change on D, good teams will pick us apart with screens and slants and TE and crossing patterns and draws. but i think things will change. i sure wish we didnt have a bye this week. the def backfield might need a cupcake to practice knowing where to be, or maybe its more the difference between knowing where to be and just being there instintively. if you have to think about it too much its got to slow you down.
I'm not sure what the status of our injuried wr's are but I have always thought we could line up Addai at wr, he is that good at catching the ball and we could use his skills there. That would also give him more touches in the game at least right now and allow our other rb's more pt. JMO for what its worth
