Replace Reed at Kickoff Return with Hammond
He seems to hesitate, and with a long stride… Not sure he’s our guy there. Most great kick returners pick a whole and hit it hard.
Agim - That guy’s a beast. He’s playing, but I’d have him playing more snaps.
Whaley - He brings a lot to the table. We need him in SEC stretch. He could be special.
O-line - Pick any number of players at RT.
Btw… Don’t be surprised if this game is much closer than expected. I hope I’m wrong!
Good post. It sure would be nice to have a breather. CBB can’t takes chances if it could bite him in the butt. He knows that.
WPS!!!
Reed hasn’t had a lot of holes to hit on KORs. I thought he hit the hole quite hard Saturday when TCU kicked off from the 20 after the throat slash, and got us the field position that led to the tying 8-pointer. The fascination with Hammonds at this point baffles me. Nobody has seen him do anything; this is all based on some grainy high school video. Arkansas 4A-7 is a decent league, but it ain’t the SEC. Our coaches are not self destructive. They will play the guys who, based on six weeks of practice and two games, are most ready to contribute. Evidently TJ ain’t there yet. He may get there soon. Let’s hope his dad stays off Twitter in the meantime.
Agim has done some good things, he has also made some freshman mistakes. We have a good rotation on DL which came in very handy in the humidity at TCU.
The fascination with Whaley is almost as baffling. He’s gotten out there and is averaging a whopping 2.0 yards per carry. Again, people are drooling based on high school. Texas 5A-22 ain’t the SEC either. By the way, we’ve won a lot of games without people who could take it to the house, and lost quite a few with those types of backs (including the DMac/Felix combo). I’m not saying he’s a bust; he’s a freshman who is running third team right now on merit from what I can see. Again, when he’s ready to get more time, he will. Tomorrow might be his chance, I will say that.
OL – TCU has had a pretty good D over the years, but AA just got sacked once and we scored 41 points. Could the OL, not just the RT, have played better? Sure, but it’s not a huge weak spot. The run blocking is more problematic for me, and that’s not just a RT issue, it’s all of them, including the TEs.
There’s a reason some kick returner’s have a knack for breaking long runs. The best kick returners
ALL have a few things in common.
While Hammonds may not be the answer, given the coaches comments & others, I’d like to see Hammond or someone else. JMO!
Whaley - Again, Coaches, Dudley, and others have commented he’s extremely skilled. Our current 2nd team running back has limitations. We need a talented 2nd team RB. Coach B. Has said he’d like to get him more playing time. We NEED him to be the running back the Coaches and others believe him to be. Rarely do you go through and entire season without an injury to a running back. Hence the reference, “I’d like to see him this week”. If not this week when?
As for Right Tackle… A blind man can see we’re struggling there a bit. Having played football from peewee through college, some players just need a shot at game day. Some are gamers, and the light comes on. Again if not this week… When? Hopefully we’ll play well enough to evaluate the things I’ve mentioned. As Coach B said, “it’s hard to put a new guy in when the game is tight”.
I want to see good work at that RT spot , and want to see Whaley and Hammonds get atleast 10-15 touches a piece…
I would agree on the RBs except for one thing, I wonder if Bielema’s decision on the frosh’s playing time is based more on him just being too conservative worried about a bad play than it is about their ability. Sometimes you have to risk making a bad play in order to make a good play. Yes they may miss a block and cause a sack or an incompletion, but on the next play they may break one with their speed that Walker just can’t match.
You make a good point, Hollywoodbeachhog. I do know that Coach B takes that into consideration. I’ve heard him say that they don’t want to put too much pressure on the younger players too soon. That said, this week might be the chance to let a few of them learn by doing.