Progress?

Football Insider Board
#1

Right now 2 and 10 looks probable. Have we seen progress?

Offensive line: Actually for the talent we have which ain’t much they have shown slight progress from beginning to now

Wide receivers: None at all, this group is biggest disappointment on team.

Running backs: Yes. Emergence of Boyd is only positive w this group.

Tight end: Yes. Ogrady has really shined. The others, running in sand

Qb: We just have no talent at this position. If I were Conner Nolan I would concentrate on baseball. Hopefully Bryant will come and Jefferson can mature a year before taking over the reigns.

Defensive line: No. Watts has surprised, Ramsey has played ok at times. I like Guidry but he can’t stay healthy. Agim needs to be inside.

Linebacker: I’ll say no. They make lots of tackles but are pitiful in pass coverage. They had a horrible game against Vandy

Secondary: Pulley and the freshman corner have shown promise and curl is trying to make up for rameriz mistakes. I say little to no improvement as a group.

Special teams. Fg team has improved but the rest, kickoff, kickoff return, punt and punt return you just pray they don’t kill you. Better now than early on but still not an asset to the team.

We haven’t improved that much We need a signing class of 60.

#2

Why do you want Connor to just play baseball?

He loves football and is excited about the future of the program whether the fans are or not.

#3

Our best linebacker played five plays today. That’s got to leave you vulnerable, and it did.

We don’t have enough depth to overcome injuries, and we’ve had a bunch of them. DL, OL, linebacker, etc., etc.

Special teams are a lot better. Nobody has been killing us on returns lately, which was a serious problem early in the season, and we haven’t had any more kicks blocked. Punting has improved too. Its not a team strength but at least it’s no longer a huge weakness.

Pass rush is better but run stopping has either gone downhill or Auburn has the worst running game in recent SEC history.

QB ain’t great. Ty is tough but he isn’t good. That blogger who doesn’t think KB would be a huge upgrade over TS would have to be buried in a shoe box if you gave him a good dose of ExLax.

#4

Because I think Jefferson is the heir apparent. He has a future in baseball. He might make it to the league. I don’t think he had that upside in football. Hope I’m wrong. Plus we’re very good in baseball.

#5

That blogger whoever he may be needs to have his his head examined.

#6

I think I see some progress from the beginning of the season to now. I see a semblance of an offense against SEC teams. The special teams are better. The defense is not good. I don’t know if that is coaching or athletes or both.

Progress will be gauged, though, by what Arkansas does the next couple of seasons. Bielema had an awful team his first season just like Morris, then he went to three straight bowl games. Can Arkansas make a bowl next season? That’s a must in my mind, especially given the non-conference schedule.

#7

Agree 4-0 in non conference is a must next year. Also, MSU and Ole Miss will be down next season. Lots of losses on both of those teams.

#8

Here’s his Twitter feed. See for yourself.

https://twitter.com/justinnails

#9

I would agree before today. Today was a real gut punch of an embarrassment.

#10

It’s all about the Jimmy’s and the Joe’s and we just don’t have enough right now. recruit!!!

#11

How do we know that Jefferson is the heir apparent? He sounds like he’s got great wheels and a great arm, but there’s no guarantee. Even if KB chooses to come here next year, Noland could very well be the starter as a redshirt sophomore. And I know stars mean nothing but K.J. is a three-star and Connor was a four-star. Let’s not rush him to baseball before he thinks it’s time.

#12

Swine that is a funny line…

#13

on Conner. just seems to me that two sport athletes have a hard time excelling in either sport. good yes, excelling, I’m not so sure. if he is with the baseball team, how can he go through spring practice? and when with the football team, he misses fall ball in baseball.

i sure hope the kid can do it, but seems like playing both sports limits practice time and development for both sports.

i wonder what his upside is for either sport. i think it is easier to get into the league in baseball rather than football. of course oklahoma has one playing qb right now, maybe Conner can follow that path. hope so if he chooses to play both.

#14

Connor has everything you need to be a great QB. he is just missing getting more reps with the 1st offense.
I think Connor will be a great QB one day just a matter of time unless he decides to go only Baseball.

#15

The offense:

The OL is showing glimpses of improvement. I liked that they benched Gibson and went with Capps for at guard after the first half yesterday. Clary snapped the ball properly yesterday. If the young guys are healthy enough to play I would sure try to get them as much time as possible in these last three games, provided that does not blow a redshirt.

The TEs are doing fine. Gunter I believe got hurt a little bit, but he has done some good things. O’Grady is an emerging star. Cantrell has been a good blocker and occasional receiver. Patton has been hurt, he was on the sidelines yesterday in sweats-I kind of wonder if he puts on a Hog helmet again.

The RBs are also doing fine. Boyd is having a good year. Lost in the misery yesterday was the fact that Hayden appears to be regaining the form he flashed last year. Whaley just needs to get healthy. There was no chance for Maleek to play yesterday with the game situations.

The WRs just have not shown much. They don’t get open early on their own and they don’t block well as a group. Woods has a nice future, so he’s a positive. I am going to be very curious as to how many of the underclassmen come back next year.

QB play is lousy. Ty at his best is a game manager. He does not scare anyone throwing the deep balls or running. That really hurts, because the deep shots and the running chances are there, based on what we’ve seen of the offense to date. When he makes mistakes, as happened yesterday, it’s tough to overcome. I don’t know what we’ll do against LSU, but I hope they will start Connor two out of the last three games, just to get a better idea of where we stand going into 2019.

#16

The defense:

DE: Randy Ramsey makes plays when he can use quickness. He gets swallowed up a lot when you run right at him, and he does not set the edge well on running plays. Gerald is slowly starting to play a bit better. Agim, who they stood up on some plays yesterday, does get around the ball a lot. They play Richardson and Taylor quite a bit, with Bell also getting some snaps, but none have done a whole lot.

DT: Guidry has done a good job when he’s been healthy, and should be a cornerstone for the DL next year. Watts has done well. I think TJ Smith has gotten a little worn down, but generally has played pretty well. Marshall has been pretty solid in the rotation. Agim is generally good inside if you don’t ask him to play too many snaps there, but at times teams have effectively run right at him and Smith some. Except for Watts and Guidry, all these guys have trouble getting stalemates against double teams on running plays.

LB: Harris is generally playing pretty well, but he still over-pursues from time to time. Greenlaw is still too boom or bust as a senior. He makes some really good plays, but for a guy who has played a lot of football he is out of position, a lot. Pool is going to be a very fine LB one day, unfortunately that day was not yesterday. He has instincts and skills, but the game is still going too fast, and he got fooled repeatedly. He just needs reps and time, but his upside looks big.

The OLB/hybrid of McClure and Henry was a train wreck yesterday. They switched those guys up all day, depending on whether we thought a pass or run was coming. McClure did not defend any passes, and Henry did almost nothing against the run. Both missed tackles and were out of position repeatedly. I hope those guys can develop going forward, but right now the help wanted sign is out.

DB: Pulley missed an interception yesterday, and also missed a tackle in the second half that was big. Overall, however, he has done fine. McClellion has been surprising good at the other corner. Buster Brown played quite a bit, and I think he will be fine. CB is not in terrible shape. Curl’s move to safety has been a positive. Ramirez played a lot of snaps without doing much of anything good, which is nothing new. I hope they play the freshman safeties more in these remaining games, and we still need some help.

#17

If Connor was the type of kid to just give up with KB and KJ coming here, then maybe I could see your point.

But again, the kid loves football, has not thrown a single college pitch (although I think he is going to be a great one) and isn’t the quitter you are making him out to be.

Also - as I said earlier - he clearly believes in the program and its future more than you or other fans do.

#18

He and I have talked about this often. He is going to do the same thing as Kyler Murray did. He is on football scholarship and that is his No. 1 priority. He will go through all 15 spring football practices.

If he was going to be an every day player and needed at bats, that would be one thing.

But he’s not. He’s just going to pitch.

#19

my guess is that I have seen KJ far more than him - if he has seen him at all.

#20

Not KJ, Duds. KB. This guy is of the opinion that Bryant is a bad QB (“weak link” of Clemson were his exact words) and that Storey is better.