TheBulldog
Banned
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2014
- Messages
- 161
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 16
I have to wonder how many more guys there are on the sidelines frothing at the mouth and waiting their turn to let loose. Especially guys who are 100% healthy. Kill revealed today why he didn't start Moore earlier in the season when he said "I've never started a freshman center before in my entire career". Well Coach, I love ya, I really do, but you have to open your mind a little wider and utilize all the talent you have sitting there. He also admitted he waited too long on Brooks. Personally, in my little neurotic mind, I believe he's under-utilizing Wozniak's height, Edward's speed and Streveler's enthusiasm/energy/nastiness/confidence. KJ Maye looked a lot more confident in returning punts than James too. Have to wonder why Kill thought James was a better choice. Wish I had one hour with Coach Kill to get my questions answered from the boss. Oh well. Maybe in my next life.
Can't really agree with anything you said, here. From the outside looking in, if I were the ol' ball coach, this is what I would tell you:
James was good before he lost confidence. Last year, he returned 16 punts for 139 yards as a freshman, including 4 for 66 against Michigan, which is excellent. Also, even if KJ were better (which I doubt) you don't want your best receiver getting tee'd off on by gunners on punt return (or spent legs to start a big drive). He's the only receiver this team has that can produce. You lose him to an injury, you're in deep trouble. You thought we didn't have a passing game with him healty?
Edwards was given every chance in the world to produce last year, and couldn't. In fact, he did everything he could to lose games for the Gophers with some huge drops. If he can't catch, you can't play him at WR, and he has three better runners ahead of him at the moment (Brooks, Smith, Williams). He still has plenty of time to put it together, and be a meaningful part of this offense as a RS junior/senior (I don't know if people think he's older than he actually is?).
I'm not ready to say Moore should have been starting over Bobek from day 1: 1) It would have been great to get him through with his redshirt. He'll be much better at 22-23 than 18-19. Possibly giving up a full All-B1G (or better) season for a "pretty good" 6 or 7 games that remain. Those opportunity costs are too high, IMO. 2) Cener is an extremelly difficult position mentally, and mistakes are extremely costly. You don't just whiff on a block and give up a sack or TFL, you probably put the ball on the ground. Bad shotgun snaps turn into defensive TDs. Being slightly out of sync can cause all kinds of drive-stalling penalties. It's a totally different animal than guard. 3) Let's wait a little and see how Moore performs against a defensive line that put up some resistance. It's easy to have an attitude against the Boilermakers defensive front (I think its been drastically underplayed by many just how bad they actually are, and a lot stock is being put into these performances). Is he exciting? Sure. But, I'll go all in on him if he puts up two games in a row (not a whole lot to ask).
Yeah, Wozniak is 6'10", but that doesn't mean he can out-jump someone 6'2" with a 36 inch vertical. Maybe Jerry has seen him locked down in practice by the likes of Ayinde, Johnson, McGee, etc. (2nd-3rd stringers) in practice, and knows he can't do it. I'm guessing (but don't know, personally) that he's not the fastest/most agile creature in the woods, hence the lack of production.
I'm not sure what you want them to do with Streveler. You can't move him to defense at this point and expect him to contribute. He likely wouldn't crack the lineup of this stellar defense if he'd been there for years. Our current RBs are better, and the position is the deepest on the team. They've already been trying him at WR once they established that Croft could back-up Leidner, and he's clearly not liting the world on fire there if he can't get snaps over Melvin Holland, who has been brutally awful. You could likely do some really funky plays with he and Leidner on the field together (Streveler in the slot on jet-sweep pass, or motion into backfield for direct snap, etc.). I think it would be really fun, but it's a two-play per year gimmick.
He's made some poor decisions this year, I'll agree, but I wouldn't opine that any of those are included. In fact, I would probalby say that those should be on the list of good ones.