OL and QB thoughts

[dudenate]

That's what scares me. Morris was awful, yet Williams apparently was not an option, even when Morris was awful and injured.

True. But in the little time we saw RW vs usf...he looked good. Granted, usf sucked. But it was still regular season game time. Even if healthy, RW isn't (or wasn't) gonna light the world on fire, but he can't be any worse than SteMo. If this years starter can deliver the short and mid throws better, I'd be happy. Te long ball is great...but we relied on it too much.

 

[SmokeyRone]

Morris was not good at the long ball anyway. Overthrew and underthrew so many wide open recievers. It was his only strength, but relatively, it was not a strength, just the least of his weakness.


I said Morris was awful and no starting QB in 2010, BTW.

 

[OldManCane]

I think the biggest issue with the Oline the last few years is that they struggle with the stretch run and similar plays due to their shear size. Teams that run the zone blocking schemes have smaller more athletic lineman. I also think our lack of RB talent outside of Duke was another contributing factor.

I don't know why we called so many of those stretch plays to begin with. Against FSU, we were pounding it right up the middle on them with a lot of success. Should have kept doing that and if they load the box.... boom play action.

Tried to get too cute with it.

That's a play calling issue, not an issue with the offensive line IMO.

 

[OldManCane]

That's what scares me. Morris was awful, yet Williams apparently was not an option, even when Morris was awful and injured.

Golden, for whatever dumb reason, favors playing seniors over playing the best player sometimes. Not sure if it was to thank them for sticking with the team during "the cloud" or whatever, but you can't tell me that AJ Highsmith and Jimmy Gaines were better than the kids behind them either.

This. I don't understand the logic of "Williams didn't play therefore Morris is better than him." It has nothing to do with Morris being better or worse than Williams. Golden's loyalty to his seniors that stayed with him during the tough times coupled with the fact that he wasn't about to bench a player who was a preseason 2nd round pick is the only reason Morris kept playing. While I don't agree with it, I don't blame him for it.

I think Williams skill set fits our team better and it's a shame we won't see a fully healthy Williams this season. Unfortunately, I predict a QB carousel. Olsen getting the first two starts or so and plays terribly. I think Heaps then comes in for another game or two until Williams is healthy enough. Williams then gets injured again and we go with Kaaya for the rest of the season. However, I do hope that Kaaya gets the start from the beginning.

I'm hopeful our O-Line is more consistent and I think we see Flowers emerge as a first round draft prospect (I know there's a lot of hype locally but I think he gets NFL scouts to start realizing he is a 1st round talent). I think our inside guys will start to maul people the way they should have last year. Oline, RB, and Wr will be the brightest units for our team.

I have to see how well Gadbois does before I say anything about next year's line. I do think Isadora will do fine but I hope Gadbois has the footwork honestly.

For QB, I think Heaps wins the job for the rest of the season if he beats Louisville. If we have a QB controversy mid-season that's just poor coaching and not acceptable.

All the love in the world for Ryan Williams, but Heaps is a better QB in my opinion. You're not entitled to a starting job at the University of Miami. I feel bad for him and his injury, but if it's my team and Heaps plays well against Louisville, then that's gonna be my starting QB for the season.

I'm also not throwing a true freshman in to the fire. I predict that in a couple weeks, this will be a two-man race between Heaps and Olsen, Kaaya won't even be in the picture to start.

I agree with your take on the QB situation. Williams was the clear cut starter at QB until he got hurt. We brought in Heaps as a veteran QB once Williams got hurt and the coaches saw that Olsen wasn't ready to be the guy. With 2 of our first 4 games on the road against solid teams, I think that it would be shocking to see us go with a true frosh at QB. I think unless Heaps really, really struggles AND Olsen really shines, Heaps is the guy in game 1. Just read what Golden had to say about those 2 guys, citing Heaps's maturity, readiness, etc, while saying that Olsen is moving in the right direction. None of Golden, Duke or DP had anything positive to say about Olsen, even though they all know how unlikely it is for Williams to be back for game 1.

If Heaps plays well in game 1, I think it takes a whole lot to get him replaced by Williams. I think once Williams comes back, Heaps and Williams will be 1-2, with Olsen a clear 3rd and the 2 freshmen hopefully redshirting.

That's how I see it going down too.

 

[Canesfan1899]

In his defense, once Duke and Dorsett were lost it hamstrung the entire team. But he did a horrible job moving the chains all year, threw backbreaking picks all year, he was complete ****. How we won the UNC game in spite of him I'll never know.

I agree with you, but he was so brutally inconsistent it was painful to watch.

 

[RohanMotor]

Our OL play has been one of the biggest mysteries and disappointments over the last few years, and that's saying a lot. In the past few years, it seemed like, when looking at the roster, that OL should be our strength and yet it seems like we've been unable to get the tough yards when necessary. There's been lots of talk about zone v. man blocking schemes and what our guys are best suited to do. This year, I think there are probably more question marks than before. Flowers is set at LT and McDermott at C, but otherwise there are a bunch of questions. Who will play RT? If Gadbois or younger McDermott aren't ready, then Feliciano will have to play out there (not his best position), with probably Isidora and Gall at the guards. Who will provide depth? I think this group will be solid, but the lack of depth and lack of proven RT are both scary issues.

The QB position was a huge question mark when we thought Williams was going to start. Would a game manager be better than Morris's desire to always go for the homerun. Would we use the middle of the field now that the deep ball wouldn't be as available (without a guy with a huge arm)? Without Williams, we're left with a 5th year transfer who has to learn the system and who hasn't been great at his prior stops, a RS Frosh QB who by all accounts still is immature and not ready to lead and 2 true freshmen. Can one of these guys be better than Morris? Sure, but it's definitely a huge question mark, only made bigger by having to play on the road at Louisville and at Nebraska in the first 4 games. I'm ready to see our QB play more consistently and be someone who gets the ball to our playmakers, but RW's injury really complicates things.

A lot of that last year was on the running backs.

Sorry to say, but Dallas Crawford was not a good running back, and Gus Edwards wasn't a good running back last year. Duke was good but a little light to be a short yardage back, and Eduardo Clements was good but was injured or something.

I still do not understand why we didn't use Hagen more. He would have gotten us those short yardage conversions.

 

[sitzee]

You want to knock Morris for his lack of short to medium passes it's justified but nobody throws a prettier long ball. He didn't throw it up there & have his receiver run under it, he threaded the needle. The pass against FSU to the corner of the end zone was a thing of beauty

 

[[]_[] swag]

Morris sucked. Hopefully we get an improvement but i doubt it.

The OL single handedly won us the UNC game last year, dallas crawford looked like a heisman RB tht game cuz of the holes he was getting

 

[TommyCanes]

As long as we have a QB who can complete the intermediate passes and avoid INTs, we should be fine.

 

[UMFarArcher]

Morris was awful last year. Simply awful. His numbers were inflated somewhat the year before but he regressed into something really bad last season. He was short-hopping throws against UVA. He played his worst game against L'ville. It won't take much to improve on his output.

He only really regressed in three areas; pocket presence, passing and mobility.

Yeah, that's not too bad.

So I'm really looking forward to QB play this season, and Smoky and Whoop, I'm starting to feed off your enthusiasm. I'm feeling it.