Stoudermire hardship waiver approved

[Sportsfan24]

Anyone who believes Vereen "struggles" were related primarily to his playing ability is clueless. Not to throw anyone under the bus but, his primary "struggles" were front 7 related.

Not trying to be mean or difficult. Next season folks will be talking about how much Brock has improved.....the fact of the matter is the front 7 will be what's improved and this improvement will manifest in improved secondary play.

When there is a constant pass rush...when the front 7 can contain the run without heavy support from the secondary...when the leading tackler is not a member of he secondary...when those thing occur, that's when the secondary will be at full strength to play the pass. Watch the successful defenses in the big ten; notice how you only SEE 9 players on defense...the other two players (S's) are so deep you can't see them on the TV.

I'm not saying all of the front 7 were bad...but if you look at the numbers you should be able to figure out where the problems were.

 

[Gopherprof]

Anyone who believes Vereen "struggles" were related primarily to his playing ability is clueless. Not to throw anyone under the bus but, his primary "struggles" were front 7 related.

Not trying to be mean or difficult. Next season folks will be talking about how much Brock has improved.....the fact of the matter is the front 7 will be what's improved and this improvement will manifest in improved secondary play.

When there is a constant pass rush...when the front 7 can contain the run without heavy support from the secondary...when the leading tackler is not a member of he secondary...when those thing occur, that's when the secondary will be at full strength to play the pass. Watch the successful defenses in the big ten; notice how you only SEE 9 players on defense...the other two players (S's) are so deep you can't see them on the TV.

I'm not saying all of the front 7 were bad...but if you look at the numbers you should be able to figure out where the problems were.

Yes, our pass rush and run defense also sucked. When your team is as bad as ours was, there is plenty of blame to go around.

That said, Stoudermire didn't have the same struggles that Vereen did. Royston also had a solid season in the secondary. The two players that were constantly abused were Vereen and Lewis. This isn't a secret among Gopher fans.

 

[Unregistered User]

The two players that were constantly abused were Vereen and Lewis. This isn't a secret among Gopher fans.

Vereen played 100% better the last half of the year. I'm ready to give him a little more rope. Really improved his run support, and improved in coverage.

 

[GopherInPittsburgh]

Absolutely agree the front 7 can make a corner look good/better than he really is. Look no further than the NCG. Matheiu got abused. His defensive line made him look great all season. Not saying he is not great, but he definitely did not have his best game against Bama

 

[Parski1]

Vereen played 100% better the last half of the year. I'm ready to give him a little more rope. Really improved his run support, and improved in coverage.

Exactly - Gopherprof must have not watched the last 4-5 games. He also did not read up on Shabazz. He just looks at how many stars he has next to his name.

 

[Gopherprof]

Exactly - Gopherprof must have not watched the last 4-5 games. He also did not read up on Shabazz. He just looks at how many stars he has next to his name.

Oh for the love of God.... "Read up?" You could find complimentary articles about hundreds of players. Do you think you're the only person who follows recruiting and has access to the internet? I'm not going to belabor the point any further. Believe whatever you want, I honestly hope you're right, but it takes a certain type of fan to look at a 3-9 season and think "everything looks great to me!" There is one defensive player, Stoudermire, that I honestly can say I don't have questions about going into next season (sans injury concerns). Beyond that, everyone has to improve if we're going to even be competitive. Ditto the offense.

 

[Parski1]

Oh for the love of God.... "Read up?" You could find complimentary articles about hundreds of players. Do you think you're the only person who follows recruiting and has access to the internet? I'm not going to belabor the point any further. Believe whatever you want, I honestly hope you're right, but it takes a certain type of fan to look at a 3-9 season and think "everything looks great to me!" There is one defensive player, Stoudermire, that I honestly can say I don't have questions about going into next season (sans injury concerns). Beyond that, everyone has to improve if we're going to even be competitive. Ditto the offense.

Hmmmmmm interesting. Nobody said "everything looks great to me". I just don't think you know much about Shabazz or payed attention to Vereen that's all.

 

[zambam]

Absolutely agree the front 7 can make a corner look good/better than he really is. Look no further than the NCG. Matheiu got abused. His defensive line made him look great all season. Not saying he is not great, but he definitely did not have his best game against Bama

Matheiu was never considered a good cover corner, he got all the attention because he forced a lot of fumbles and blitzed a lot. He got a few interceptions but he was better at forcing fumbles.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Hmmmmmm interesting. Nobody said "everything looks great to me". I just don't think you know much about Shabazz or payed attention to Vereen that's all.

I think your points on Vereen are accurate in that he definitely played better over the last portion of the season. And on that same token there is a definite relationship between pass rush and coverage. The DB's are already at a major disadvantage at the snap in that they are going backwards and they don't know where the receiver is going. Most skilled guys can cover for a while but if you let the QB sit back and wait for guys to get open bad things are going to happen.

Now as to Shabazz it is great that you are convinced he is going to be a good player for us. I really hope you are right but I don't think Prof is out of line wanting to actually see the guy in action as a Gopher before feeling confident in his abilities. JC kids are very hit and miss some of them turn out to be great some are complete busts. Most JC kids that get a BCS offer looked good where they were at or they would not have been recruited to the next level. Again I really hope you are right about him but can totally understand people wanting to see just how he does once he gets here before buying into the hype.

 

[mkAz]

Great news. I'm not too worried about the CB spot going into next season now (Stoudermire, Vereen, Shabazz, Carter, Wells, Boddy & Baltazar form a pretty solid nucleus) . The DB's on the other hand will need a player or 3 to step up.

 

[highwayman]

Some great news. Wasn't he close to breaking the return yardage record? Always seemed like one guy away from breaking many a KO return. Much needed experience for our secondary.

I believe he broke the record.

The B1G record, not the NCAA one. The NCAA one is held by that kid from Tulsa who got suspended after being charged with embezzlement. He just left the team and the record would be wide open for Troy.

1. Tyron Carrier 3517 2008-2011 Houston
2. Damaris Johnson 3417 2008-2010 Tulsa
3. Kerwynn Williams 3392 2009-2011 Utah State
4. T.J. Graham 3153 2008-2011 North Carolina State
5. Brandon West 3118 2006-2009 Western Michigan
6. Troy Stoudermire 3102 2008-2011 Minnesota

415 off the NCCA record, No. 1 in B1G...

Johnson would be a Senior this year, but "On August 25, 2011, Johnson was suspended indefinitely following questions about his role in his girlfriend's arrest for felony embezzlement. Johnson's girlfriend, Chamon Jones, was accused of ringing up over $2800 worth of merchandise over the course of two purchases at the Tulsa Macy's she worked at, but only charging Johnson just over $13 in total. Johnson was initially questioned and released, but on August 31 Johnson was also charged with felony embezzlement by the Tulsa County District Attorney's office."

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

Yes, our pass rush and run defense also sucked. When your team is as bad as ours was, there is plenty of blame to go around.

That said, Stoudermire didn't have the same struggles that Vereen did. Royston also had a solid season in the secondary. The two players that were constantly abused were Vereen and Lewis. This isn't a secret among Gopher fans.

I do think Vereen struggled early in the season, but I think his struggles are greatly exaggerated. I would hope you saw Vereen get burnt more, Stoudermire was injured most of the season.

You can't compare his season to Stoudermire's, because Troy hardly played (hence the medical RS). Troy is one of the most talented players on our team, so comparing Vereen to Stoudermire is tough anyway, but Troy and Vereen were expected to do very different things. Henderson was Troy's replacement, and you probably noticed Henderson blitzing a lot, moving around, and playing near the line of scrimmage much more often. However, when you need to bring LBs and DBs to apply pressure, you are going to put the non-blitzing DBs on an island. If our blitz failed to work, it was going to make Vereen look bad. If we didn't get a pass rush, it was often going to be Vereen looking bad.

 

[Parski1]

1. Tyron Carrier 3517 2008-2011 Houston
2. Damaris Johnson 3417 2008-2010 Tulsa
3. Kerwynn Williams 3392 2009-2011 Utah State
4. T.J. Graham 3153 2008-2011 North Carolina State
5. Brandon West 3118 2006-2009 Western Michigan
6. Troy Stoudermire 3102 2008-2011 Minnesota

415 off the NCCA record, No. 1 in B1G...

Johnson would be a Senior this year, but "On August 25, 2011, Johnson was suspended indefinitely following questions about his role in his girlfriend's arrest for felony embezzlement. Johnson's girlfriend, Chamon Jones, was accused of ringing up over $2800 worth of merchandise over the course of two purchases at the Tulsa Macy's she worked at, but only charging Johnson just over $13 in total. Johnson was initially questioned and released, but on August 31 Johnson was also charged with felony embezzlement by the Tulsa County District Attorney's office."

Thanks for that info Highwayman. Did not know he was just 415 away. He will get that easily as long as Kill keeps him back there. Nice accomplishment once he gets there.

 

[GoAUpher]

1. Tyron Carrier 3517 2008-2011 Houston
2. Damaris Johnson 3417 2008-2010 Tulsa
3. Kerwynn Williams 3392 2009-2011 Utah State
4. T.J. Graham 3153 2008-2011 North Carolina State
5. Brandon West 3118 2006-2009 Western Michigan
6. Troy Stoudermire 3102 2008-2011 Minnesota

415 off the NCCA record, No. 1 in B1G...

Thanks! Didn't know the Houston and Utah St kids had jumped up there. Looks like the Aggie player is the only one who'll still be playing next year.

 

[Sportsfan24]

I do think Vereen struggled early in the season, but I think his struggles are greatly exaggerated. I would hope you saw Vereen get burnt more, Stoudermire was injured most of the season.

You can't compare his season to Stoudermire's, because Troy hardly played (hence the medical RS). Troy is one of the most talented players on our team, so comparing Vereen to Stoudermire is
tough anyway, but Troy and Vereen were expected to do very different things. Henderson was
Troy's replacement, and you probably noticed Henderson blitzing a lot, moving around, and playing
near the line of scrimmage much more often. However, when you need to bring LBs and DBs to
apply pressure, you are going to put the non-blitzing DBs on an island. If our blitz failed to work,
it was going to make Vereen look bad. If we didn't get a pass rush, it was often going to be
Vereen looking bad.

Great analysis. I would also add that every time Henderson blitzes, a safety is required to defend the wr on Henderson's side removing said safety from over the top help. Throw in a TE or multiple wr sets and presto, Vereen is one on one with no over the top help and praying that Henderson gets to the QB.....soon.

Every player gets beat on occasion; Brock got beat a lot less frequently than some would believe and was put in some very difficult situations schematic wise.

 

[exiledinduluth]

Praying he doesn't set the record

Sad fact is he close to the record for two reasons. First is he is a good return man. But the primary reason is that we have sucked as a team defensively, giving him a ton of attempts. Does anyone know who has the record for most run back attempts on kickoffs?

I would rather have him set team record for most interceptions next year or punt return yards. If he marches to the record in kickoff return yards it means we sucked again on defense and gave up too many TD's and FG's.

 

[MNVCGUY]

Sad fact is he close to the record for two reasons. First is he is a good return man. But the primary reason is that we have sucked as a team defensively, giving him a ton of attempts. Does anyone know who has the record for most run back attempts on kickoffs?

I would rather have him set team record for most interceptions next year or punt return yards. If he marches to the record in kickoff return yards it means we sucked again on defense and gave up too many TD's and FG's.

He has benefited from extra opportunities because our defense has been so ragged the past few years but there is still no denying that he is very good at returning kicks. The amazing thing is that for all the success he has had and all the yards he has gained he has never taken one all the way back for a TD. Came really close against Illinois in 2010 but he always seems to be unable to make that last move to break free. Maybe this will finally be the year he takes one to the house assuming they have him back there. They may not want to risk it if they feel he is too valuable to the defensive backfield to risk on Kickoff Returns.

 

[Unregistered User]

Sad fact is he close to the record for two reasons. First is he is a good return man. But the primary reason is that we have sucked as a team defensively, giving him a ton of attempts. Does anyone know who has the record for most run back attempts on kickoffs?

I would rather have him set team record for most interceptions next year or punt return yards. If he marches to the record in kickoff return yards it means we sucked again on defense and gave up too many TD's and FG's.

You do realize that the record he broke was held by wsconsins david gilreath who last played in 2010? I don't think they were a terrible team defensively over that time.

 

[Bob_Loblaw]

I think Troy is so important to our defense, i'd probably prefer him not to be out there on kickoffs. The record is nice, but i'd rather not see Troy on returns next season.

 

[Gopherprof]

I do think Vereen struggled early in the season, but I think his struggles are greatly exaggerated. I would hope you saw Vereen get burnt more, Stoudermire was injured most of the season.

You can't compare his season to Stoudermire's, because Troy hardly played (hence the medical RS). Troy is one of the most talented players on our team, so comparing Vereen to Stoudermire is tough anyway, but Troy and Vereen were expected to do very different things.

Kyle Henderson had a much better season too. Just because schematically they are asked to do slightly different things doesn't mean they can't be compared.

 

[exiledinduluth]

You do realize that the record he broke was held by wsconsins david gilreath who last played in 2010? I don't think they were a terrible team defensively over that time.

I don't see that this has anything to do with my post.....how many yards per return for Gilreath, how many for Stoudermire????

I suspect Gilreath held the record on far fewer attempts but that is only my guess

 

[harrys ghost]

I don't see that this has anything to do with my post.....how many yards per return for Gilreath, how many for Stoudermire????

I suspect Gilreath held the record on far fewer attempts but that is only my guess

Poor guess. Gilreath had 134 returns for 3008 yards (22.4 ave.) while Stoudermire has 122 returns for 3102 yards (25.4 ave.). Not particularly close.

 

[Unregistered User]

I don't see that this has anything to do with my post

Really?