The Offense
QB: I like Miles. I don't really trust the other two guys. Miles played well last year against UCLA and OSU. He's an accurate passer, good runner, and I think he's a smart QB. The game seems to come naturally to him. A good OL and strong running game should help out immensely.
RB: D-Wash is my guy. He's too big and fast to not be very good. He showed flashes last year. Coleman got some praise from Riva and Petersen today too. Callier and Cooper are decent back ups, and I'm excited to see what Shaq can do. I don't think they would put him at RB unless he was a difference maker.
WR/TE's: Ross has a lot of potential. We saw some of it last year, but that was just scratching the surface. Mickens is a good, solid WR. I don't think he's great, but he improved last year and had a nice season. Hopefully Kasen is healthy. I'd love to see him have a breakout season, but I expect him to start out slow after the injury. Other options at WR are Campbell and Taylor. Maybe a true freshman can get in the rotation. Probably not the best group in the conference, but there is enough to win. The TE's probably won't have huge seasons, but hopefully Perkins can be reliable for a few catches every game, and Daniels makes a few big plays. Daniels is a great athlete with size and speed. He's a guy to keep an eye on.
OL: I don't think any of these guys are individually great, but they were decent last year. I'm greedy and want much more from them though. We need them to be great if we have any chance of winning the North. Sark and Cozzetto are gone, another reason for increased optimism. There is no reason for this group not to be the strength of the offense. It should be expected.
Which side of the ball do you guys think is stronger? Imo, both the offense and the defense are top 4 in the conference. I think I give a slight edge to the offense. The DB depth is more alarming than any position on the offense. This is a talented team with great balance. Having an entire OL and front 7 returning is unique. It all starts up front.
Comments
-
They're ready to roll
-
Defense is top three in the conference, offense is probably in the 4-6 range. I'm not as excited about it as you are. I think Washington will be another top shelf RB but I don't think we have a true #1 WR, tight end is a question mark and I'm not the biggest fan of Miles. His running brings a nice element we've missed of late but in my limited looks at him he doesn't throw a great ball. Hopefully this staff can coach him up some, but I'm not very optimistic about the passing game. I'm hoping we run, run run.
-
I hate to rain on your parade, but I think you're forgetting Peetamus rewarded a senior offensive lineman by bringing him to media days.
TL;DR: we're fucked on offense and won't be able to move the ball, especially on the road -
Agree about running the ball. The offense should be run oriented, and I think it will. The OL has always been pretty good at run blocking. No excuse for the running game not to be very good and open up the passing game. A strong running game is the main reason why I think the offense will be good. Add in Miles' legs and if the passing game is average, this offense will be more than solid.dnc said:Defense is top three in the conference, offense is probably in the 4-6 range. I'm not as excited about it as you are. I think Washington will be another top shelf RB but I don't think we have a true #1 WR, tight end is a question mark and I'm not the biggest fan of Miles. His running brings a nice element we've missed of late but in my limited looks at him he doesn't throw a great ball. Hopefully this staff can coach him up some, but I'm not very optimistic about the passing game. I'm hoping we run, run run.
I mostly agree with your thoughts on the WR and TE's, but out top 3 WR's are all good players. Ross has the potential to be a game breaker. We've seen glimpses. I think Kasen was misused under Sark. He was ranked wrong by Scout, but he's been a good player and made a lot of big catches. It might be a lot to ask for him to improve after the foot injury though.
I don't think Miles will be a superstar next year, but he's good. I'm curious what you saw last year that makes you doubt him. He played pretty well against UCLA especially considering the circumstances. He played well against Oregon State, although we would have blown them out with any QB. I remember him throwing some good deep balls last year. I will agree that he wasn't as good with the intermediate and short stuff. There was a big difference going from Price to Miles in that department. Miles has a somewhat long release, but I do think he is a mostly accurate passer with enough arm strength.
To me, Miles seemed confident and poised when he played. He wasn't rattled by the rush, and I think he makes good decisions. The 2 INT's against UCLA were both late in the game trying to make an unlikely comeback. At the least, he's more than capable of being a solid game manager with good running ability. -
After press conferences yesterday, dooging is gaining respectability again.
As I'd said a few weeks ago, I'd be disappointed if the offense is as similar to sarkball as some predict. CP's teams were fun as hell to watch, up until 2013. The "no offense, just plays" thing is unpredictable as a fan & as opposing DC. This team has more raw talent in one place than cp ever had at BSU. The difference is these guys are only benefitting from 9 months of his coaching instead of 4 years.
Still, I think top 4 pac12 offense is entirely reasonable and maybe higher if that 9 months really sinks in. -
Disagree.RoadDawg55 said:There was a great thread on the defense a week ago, so I thought we could talk about the offense. I'm doogin it up about the offense. It feels strange to be so confident about an offense losing a good QB, outstanding RB, a talented TE, and a good WR. It's not the best in the conference, but it will be damn good and capable of winning some shootouts should UW's secondary struggle in some games. Hopefully that doesn't happen, but some struggles are expected with such a young and unproven secondary. There is a lot of talent and experience for Petersen to work with. He has to be excited about what he can do with this kind of talent. Petersen is a huge upgrade over Sark. Hopefully Jonathon Smith can become a good play caller.
QB: I like Miles. I don't really trust the other two guys. Miles played well last year against UCLA and OSU. He's an accurate passer, good runner, and I think he's a smart QB. The game seems to come naturally to him. A good OL and strong running game should help out immensely.
RB: D-Wash is my guy. He's too big and fast to not be very good. He showed flashes last year. Coleman got some praise from Riva and Petersen today too. Callier and Cooper are decent back ups, and I'm excited to see what Shaq can do. I don't think they would put him at RB unless he was a difference maker.
WR/TE's: Ross has a lot of potential. We saw some of it last year, but that was just scratching the surface. Mickens is a good, solid WR. I don't think he's great, but he improved last year and had a nice season. Hopefully Kasen is healthy. I'd love to see him have a breakout season, but I expect him to start out slow after the injury. Other options at WR are Campbell and Taylor. Maybe a true freshman can get in the rotation. Probably not the best group in the conference, but there is enough to win. The TE's probably won't have huge seasons, but hopefully Perkins can be reliable for a few catches every game, and Daniels makes a few big plays. Daniels is a great athlete with size and speed. He's a guy to keep an eye on.
OL: I don't think any of these guys are individually great, but they were decent last year. I'm greedy and want much more from them though. We need them to be great if we have any chance of winning the North. Sark and Cozzetto are gone, another reason for increased optimism. There is no reason for this group not to be the strength of the offense. It should be expected.
Which side of the ball do you guys think is stronger? Imo, both the offense and the defense are top 4 in the conference. I think I give a slight edge to the offense. The DB depth is more alarming than any position on the offense. This is a talented team with great balance. Having an entire OL and front 7 returning is unique. It all starts up front. -
Needs moar Ossai
-
AZDuck said:
Needs moar
Ossai**gurgle** -
If it becomes clear to Peterman that Miles is the guy, he needs to have a gameplan for the Hawaii game stand-in which includes handing off and handing off some more. For one, you give Washington, Coleman, or whoever a ton of confidence because they should be able to roll all over Hawaii's defense. Secondly, and more importantly, you won't go into week 2 and beyond with a QB controversy. If you've decided Cyler is your guy, the last thing you want is for Williams or Lindquist to throw for 250+ and 4 TDs against a shitty team.
-
QB controversy superiority guy.
-
Ross is tanned, rested, and ready and will be worth 4 wins this year!
-
Pass protection from the OL is a concern for me. As Roaddawg said, the OL has been good at run blocking, and with a run-first offense that should work in their favor. However, I have not seen anything promising in their ability to create a pocket. Hopefully the new coaching will be able to improve this, but until I see it I'm going to have doubts.
-
I think Cozzetto put all of his emphasis on run-blocking rather than pass-protection. Our OL helped Sankey to a school record 1870 yards last year yet that same OL gave up 30 sacks. That should never happen.Dardanus said:Pass protection from the OL is a concern for me. As Roaddawg said, the OL has been good at run blocking, and with a run-first offense that should work in their favor. However, I have not seen anything promising in their ability to create a pocket. Hopefully the new coaching will be able to improve this, but until I see it I'm going to have doubts.
Stausser seems competent enough to coach both run-blocking and pass-protection, so I wouldn't be surprised to see a drastic improvement over last year. The OL at BSU gave up 26 sacks last year, but only gave up 26 in the previous 3 seasons before that. -
I think the offense should do great under an actual offensive minded coach this year. The line on paper should be one of the better in the conference. WR/TE will be good even with String/ASJ (Getting Campbell to stay was huge and I think Perkins could step up and be a solid target this season)
It always hurts when you have to replace your starting QB and RB in a single year but I think the talent we had at those positions was good enough to where it won't hurt us too much.
I think they will be a top 6 offense in the Pac, but I also think they might be in the bottom 6, either way it will be interesting. -
It's tough to predict where the offense will be ranked without knowing what kind of offense they will run, and what pace they run it at. Teams with lesser offenses might gain more yards because they run the no huddle. Other than Oregon and UCLA, what school has an offense that is better going into the season?
-
D Wash is NOT a natural runningback. He'll be a good change of pace but I don't see him as a starter. He isn't fluid and doesn't have the vision nor does he have the hips. You can tell he was a WR convert.
Oh, if Kasen is all that he should be we have thee second best WR group in the conference next to UA or CAL. If String didn't pummel a cunt, we'd have had the best group in the conference hands down.
The o line will be dominant at times and should have no problem pass blocking. Strausser's Oline' s don't give up many sacks -
My coach is friends with the players on facebook. How can you compete with that?RoadDawg55 said:Other than Oregon and UCLA, what school has an offense that is better going into the season?
-
disagreepuppylove_sugarsteel said:D Wash is NOT a natural runningback. He'll be a good change of pace but I don't see him as a starter. He isn't fluid and doesn't have the vision nor does he have the hips. You can tell he was a WR convert.
-
I'd guess ASU will have a better offense this year than last year. I think Sark is carrying over the up-tempo attack that he used at UW last year and could see an improvement over the average of the season (since the offense under Kiffen sucked). And I expect the offenses to be better for Wazzu, Utah, Cal and Colorado. Oregon State has some OL issues, I'll wait to see how Stanford's new OL is and Arizona still has an unsettled QB and RB issue that's much worse than our QB/RB situation.RoadDawg55 said:It's tough to predict where the offense will be ranked without knowing what kind of offense they will run, and what pace they run it at. Teams with lesser offenses might gain more yards because they run the no huddle. Other than Oregon and UCLA, what school has an offense that is better going into the season?
Polk was a WR convert. If Washington can run like Polk, I'd be more than happy.puppylove_sugarsteel said:D Wash is NOT a natural runningback. He'll be a good change of pace but I don't see him as a starter. He isn't fluid and doesn't have the vision nor does he have the hips. You can tell he was a WR convert.
-
I have to agree with poopylove and say I don't really understand the Dwayne Washington hype here. He looks like he could be pretty good. He didn't do anything against meaningful teams. Had a monster game against OSU but so did Sankey and a guy who basically has 1 leg.
I am in LIPO mode with Washington but I think people are jumping the gun with him. -
He didn't even get a chance against meaningful teams because of Sankey. He might be the best athlete on the team. He was top 5 in every category at the testing event awhile back. Some of the stuff Puppy said about his vision may be true. He's still raw, but with his size and speed he should be good provided he runs hard (which he does).CuntWaffle said:I have to agree with poopylove and say I don't really understand the Dwayne Washington hype here. He looks like he could be pretty good. He didn't do anything against meaningful teams. Had a monster game against OSU but so did Sankey and a guy who basically has 1 leg.
I am in LIPO mode with Washington but I think people are jumping the gun with him. -
people also forget the 2 fumbles he had in the illinois game, that is definitely a cause for concern.
Remember Peterman was a big proponent of downhill power running at Boise so it's possible someone like lavon coleman could factor this season.
Washington will get plenty of carries though.
If we can find the answer at QB before the stanford game I think we're in good shape, that being a big if -
Washington has played behind Sankey for long enough, it's worth seeing the results of using him as the number one back against Hawaii. You have 4 games, mix in Coleman if necessary or just open it up between the remaining 3. I don't think it will come to that though. He's a physical back which I think will be successful against the type of defenses UW will face.
-
Assuming this isn't a whoosh, it's been addressed multiple times here as well. Both of those fumbles were half an inch from being down. We're one inch away from no one even remembering he almost fumbled a couple of times.dhdawg said:people also forget the 2 fumbles he had in the illinois game, that is definitely a cause for concern.
Remember Peterman was a big proponent of downhill power running at Boise so it's possible someone like lavon coleman could factor this season.
Washington will get plenty of carries though.
If we can find the answer at QB before the stanford game I think we're in good shape, that being a big if
IMO we're going to have to see a lot more than that before I get concerned that he has a fumbling issue. And I believe in the coaching he's getting right now.
I agree Coleman could get in the mix, but Peterman as a fan of power running plays to Washington's strength as well, IMO.
-
I'd feel a lot more comfortable with Washington at RB if he didn't have that well-documented fumbling problem.
-
The offense lost a lot on paper but lets remember that its output wasn't reflective of the sum of the parts. In other words, Petersen will get the most out of what he has while Sark did not.
I think by the end of the year Miles will be an upgrade over Price. Miles adds the run threat and will have a better OL than Price ever had and won't have the PTSD from being hit constantly.
I think ASJ will be more of a loss due to his blocking than receiving, in which he was quite underwhelming.
Losing String is big because it puts pressure on Kasen. However, Ross and Mickens give you good underneath guys who are legit deep threats. Campbell will add depth. It looks like the guys who were really hampered by lisfrancs were running backs. I think Kasen will end up being fine.
DW will be very good. I'm not sold yet on Coleman. He doesn't have the burst that Sankey had. I think Coleman will be good eventually but not sure the impact this year. There is good depth as we know.
Overall the offense can be as good as last season and perhaps better due to an improved OL and more efficient play from the skill guys. The loss of Sankey will be counteracted somewhat by DW and Miles' running ability.
I think the defense will be the strength. The only weakness is safety. -
Don't forget that one of those fumbles in the Illinois game was the result of him getting bent pretty awkwardly at the knees. When I was watching it live I though he might have been seriously injured.dnc said:
Assuming this isn't a whoosh, it's been addressed multiple times here as well. Both of those fumbles were half an inch from being down. We're one inch away from no one even remembering he almost fumbled a couple of times.dhdawg said:people also forget the 2 fumbles he had in the illinois game, that is definitely a cause for concern.
Remember Peterman was a big proponent of downhill power running at Boise so it's possible someone like lavon coleman could factor this season.
Washington will get plenty of carries though.
If we can find the answer at QB before the stanford game I think we're in good shape, that being a big if
IMO we're going to have to see a lot more than that before I get concerned that he has a fumbling issue. And I believe in the coaching he's getting right now.
I agree Coleman could get in the mix, but Peterman as a fan of power running plays to Washington's strength as well, IMO.
The guy is a great athlete, that is for sure. I do have some concerns about him always having some sort of injury though. I think the front runners for the job are him and Coleman (from what Peterman and Riva said about him yesterday). -
He throws a really soft ball for lack of a better word. He has nice touch on the ball but the ball just looks slow coming out of his hand. It was a small sample and I certainly hope I'm wrong, but his throws look like the kind that will get deflected/picked off with pretty high regularity. Lots of people wanted to make the lazy Lockner comparison because he wears #10 and can run but Jack's arm was about 10 times stronger than Miles. Obviously that doesn't mean he can't be better than Jack, but I'm not optimistic he'll be much better.RoadDawg55 said:
Agree about running the ball. The offense should be run oriented, and I think it will. The OL has always been pretty good at run blocking. No excuse for the running game not to be very good and open up the passing game. A strong running game is the main reason why I think the offense will be good. Add in Miles' legs and if the passing game is average, this offense will be more than solid.dnc said:Defense is top three in the conference, offense is probably in the 4-6 range. I'm not as excited about it as you are. I think Washington will be another top shelf RB but I don't think we have a true #1 WR, tight end is a question mark and I'm not the biggest fan of Miles. His running brings a nice element we've missed of late but in my limited looks at him he doesn't throw a great ball. Hopefully this staff can coach him up some, but I'm not very optimistic about the passing game. I'm hoping we run, run run.
I mostly agree with your thoughts on the WR and TE's, but out top 3 WR's are all good players. Ross has the potential to be a game breaker. We've seen glimpses. I think Kasen was misused under Sark. He was ranked wrong by Scout, but he's been a good player and made a lot of big catches. It might be a lot to ask for him to improve after the foot injury though.
I don't think Miles will be a superstar next year, but he's good. I'm curious what you saw last year that makes you doubt him. He played pretty well against UCLA especially considering the circumstances. He played well against Oregon State, although we would have blown them out with any QB. I remember him throwing some good deep balls last year. I will agree that he wasn't as good with the intermediate and short stuff. There was a big difference going from Price to Miles in that department. Miles has a somewhat long release, but I do think he is a mostly accurate passer with enough arm strength.
To me, Miles seemed confident and poised when he played. He wasn't rattled by the rush, and I think he makes good decisions. The 2 INT's against UCLA were both late in the game trying to make an unlikely comeback. At the least, he's more than capable of being a solid game manager with good running ability.
OTOH, Cody Pickett ended up much better than I thought he'd be after seeing him in a small sample, and Nick Montana and Casey Paus ended up much worse, so I'm not locked in on any conclusions on him. But I wasn't a huge fan of what I saw.
Even if he's pretty good I think the lack of a #1 receiver will hurt us. I just can't see KW finally putting it all together after the injury. But maybe he'll respond really well to better coaching too.
-
I bet the Ducks strip the ball at least 4 times.Gladstone said:I'd feel a lot more comfortable with Washington at RB if he didn't have that well-documented fumbling problem.
Kid has butter fingers.
It's why we didn't offer him.
-
I also think the expectations for DW are premature. He's an impressive athlete with the tools to be very good, but he didn't prove it to me yet. I have high hopes though, and I'm confident that, if he disappoints, someone else will step up or the RB by committee approach will be more than adequate.
Miles still has to sell me. He seems to run the offense well but I always favor the guys with physical tools until proven wrong. Lindquist has a stronger arm and more quickness. Williams (reportedly) has the best arm. Miles seems just ok as both a runner and a passer but seems to have the inside track because of his game management which doesn't really excite me. No complaints though if he provides the best chance to win. Either way it'll be interesting.
WR concerns? Meh. Someone will go out there and catch balls and run fast with them. Stringfellow would have been awesome but they'll be fine. Mickens and Ross are sure to provide plenty of exciting moments.
