A Sea Of Red

Sorry I forgot about this gang, but life got rather busy for me the past few months with a new job, but as we get into the heart of the summer, thought I'd get back on track looking at our 2017 team:

Players Lost
Didier Moncion No 2016 stats

Players Returning
Carrington Mosley 144 Rushes 663 Yards 5 TD
Todd Macon 130 Rushes 620 Yards 7 TD
Frankie Hickson 94 Rushes 450 Yards 5 TD
Mitchell Lewis No 2016 Stats (redshirt)

This spot is probably the deepest despite being one of my top 5 positions to watch, despite 2016 opening day starter Todd Macon out for the first third of the year. the other two heads of the running back monster will be back in Mosley and Hickson, with JUCO transfer Kentory Matthews probably taking the third spot in the triumvirate with 2017 signee Frank Boyd probably redshirting, and Lewis getting mop up carries, but he may have something to say about being that third back coming off a redshirt year of his own last year.

Running back may be strongest position we have. Hopefully they will be utilized properly. i.e. play calling

Not sure where you got the projection that Macon will be out 1/3 of the year, but I think that is very optimistic. RB has to be the toughest position to return to off an injury like that, mayber in ANY sport. I'm not counting on him to do anything meaningful this year. I look for Hickson to emerge as our feature back with Mosely getting some carries and Matthews as 3rd down specialist.

ballcoach15 wrote:Running back may be strongest position we have. Hopefully they will be utilized properly. i.e. play calling

Should we just run outside to the right on every down?

Throw the ball early and often, on "any" down. Get defense spread out and on their heels, then run the ball. More football games are lost "trying to run the ball" on first and second down, than any other reason, other than a bad defense.

ballcoach15 wrote:Throw the ball early and often, on "any" down. Get defense spread out and on their heels, then run the ball. More football games are lost "trying to run the ball" on first and second down, than any other reason, other than a bad defense.

I should have added an /s to indicate my sarcasm. I think we establish our rushing game by keeping defenses back. Draw plays are our friend with this offense.

Class of 20Something wrote:

ballcoach15 wrote:Throw the ball early and often, on "any" down. Get defense spread out and on their heels, then run the ball. More football games are lost "trying to run the ball" on first and second down, than any other reason, other than a bad defense.

I should have added an /s to indicate my sarcasm. I think we establish our rushing game by keeping defenses back. Draw plays are our friend with this offense.

We really did not have an offense last season.

ballcoach15 wrote:

Class of 20Something wrote:

ballcoach15 wrote:Throw the ball early and often, on "any" down. Get defense spread out and on their heels, then run the ball. More football games are lost "trying to run the ball" on first and second down, than any other reason, other than a bad defense.

I should have added an /s to indicate my sarcasm. I think we establish our rushing game by keeping defenses back. Draw plays are our friend with this offense.

We really did not have an offense last season.

Offensive Line? Absolutely. Non-existent. And when they did show up, it was with penalty flags. I think that's the bigger issue. I think our skill positions are fine. But a bad OLine that can't make holes or pass block will completely handicap an offense.

Class of 20Something wrote:

ballcoach15 wrote:Throw the ball early and often, on "any" down. Get defense spread out and on their heels, then run the ball. More football games are lost "trying to run the ball" on first and second down, than any other reason, other than a bad defense.

I should have added an /s to indicate my sarcasm. I think we establish our rushing game by keeping defenses back. Draw plays are our friend with this offense.

#briles2018
#stoops2018

Purple Haize wrote:

Class of 20Something wrote:

ballcoach15 wrote:Throw the ball early and often, on "any" down. Get defense spread out and on their heels, then run the ball. More football games are lost "trying to run the ball" on first and second down, than any other reason, other than a bad defense.

I should have added an /s to indicate my sarcasm. I think we establish our rushing game by keeping defenses back. Draw plays are our friend with this offense.

#briles2018
#stoops2018

/s

Here, you dropped this.

oldflame wrote:Not sure where you got the projection that Macon will be out 1/3 of the year, but I think that is very optimistic. RB has to be the toughest position to return to off an injury like that, mayber in ANY sport. I'm not counting on him to do anything meaningful this year. I look for Hickson to emerge as our feature back with Mosely getting some carries and Matthews as 3rd down specialist.

I extrapolated it from a post on ASOR about the Baylor game that mentioned he would be out until October which puts him being out around 4 games which would equate to about a third of the season although on second look, if he is out until October, he misses about half the season not just a third so he would be available after the bye week

Gill said October/November for a Macon return as best case

A Sea of Red wrote:Gill said October/November for a Macon return as best case

Exactly, and then you consider that even if he is cleared to play by then, he will not likely be 100%. Meanwhile, the healthy backs will have established their roles. It would be one thing if Macon were a clearly superior talent. That is not the case. IMHO Hickson was going to get the lion's share of the carries this year even if Todd were healthy.

That's understandable. A bit of a bummer to end a career that way though