What I'm looking for
Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 11:43 am
I know that I'm a little more pessimistic than most when it comes to the outlook of this team. Still, I cannot help but be pretty excited for the start of the season. So as the weather starts to cool off, and the team gets set to kick off their 2007 season, what things am I looking for on Saturday?
The most important thing that we must see improvement on for this team is probably Special Teams. It's been well documented how poor we were in that aspect last year overall. I don't expect a complete 180* turnaround in one year, but I do want to see some signs that they're being better coached. For starters I'd love to see a standard punt formation instead of that spread thing that just doesn't make any sense to me. From what I've heard we should be going back to a standard formation, I hope that is the case. In the kicking game I'd like to see our new kickers just consistently hit the ball; be it a good solid punt or a good solid FG attempt (no low liners; no quackers). On kickoffs I just want the ball to be kept in play and go deep. None of that pooch style kickoffs, and you have to keep the ball in bounds. The coverage needs to get better too...I want to see players staying in their lanes and playing disciplined rather than breaking off their assignments to improvise.
Offensively, I think the key to the season rides on the right arm of Tyler Sheehan. We've given him the keys now let's see if he can drive. The most important things to me that I want to see from him are good, quick decisions, and accuracy. I know he's got the arm strength, and we've heard that he's improved his accuracy. Hopefully that is the case because we cannot afford to turn the ball over due to erratic throws. I don't expect him to be perfect, he's still a young player, but I would like to see some signs that he's improving as a player.
I want to see a good mix of Bullock, Geter, and Ransom carrying the load. This team will be a run team first and foremost, and I want to see these guys get their carries. We must commit to the run. I'm anxious to see the talents of the two new comers, but we must not forget that Bullock is proven as a D1A ball carrier, and he should get his totes as well.
I want to see a willingness to go downfield with the ball. Passes of 5 yards & less will not cut it if they're you're entire passing game. Stretch the defense vertically to help open up some rushing lanes for our aforementioned RBs. I want to see us hit at least one pass play of 20+ yards downfield in the early stages of the game...put that thought in their head.
I want to see improved playcalling. Committing to the run does not require bland, dull playcalling that we saw last season. If the RBs are having success I want to see us do some passing off playaction, take advantage of that running game to open up the passing game. Most importantly, I want to see offensive balance, and some creativity. It seemed like we only ran 10 plays all of last season.
On Defense I want to see the DL rotation. We keep hearing that we can go 10 deep on the front 4, and that will be huge for keeping those guys fresh, especially against a Big 10 OL. We need somebody to show that they can get to the passer other than just Briggs; one of those guys must step up or he'll be double teamed all year long.
I want to see improved fundamentals in tackling, and less gambling overall. The defense gave up a lot of big plays last year, in large part, because of a tendency to gamble. Hit, wrap, and drive through the ball carrier. I don't care if you make it on ESPN, take down the ball carrier. We need discipline in our pass coverage, not biting on pump fakes, quick moves, etc. Minny's passing game should struggle to start the season; make them earn their way downfield, don't give it to them in big chunks.
I want to see some aggression on defense as well. While we don't want to give up those big plays, we cannot sit back in base afraid of them the whole game either. Mix in some blitzes and let some of our LBs/DBs make plays behind the LOS. We have athleticism on that side of the ball, let's use it.
I think that if we see enough of these points we'll be vastly improved over last season. More importantly, they'll give us a shot to see what we all want to see more than any other: Wins.
The most important thing that we must see improvement on for this team is probably Special Teams. It's been well documented how poor we were in that aspect last year overall. I don't expect a complete 180* turnaround in one year, but I do want to see some signs that they're being better coached. For starters I'd love to see a standard punt formation instead of that spread thing that just doesn't make any sense to me. From what I've heard we should be going back to a standard formation, I hope that is the case. In the kicking game I'd like to see our new kickers just consistently hit the ball; be it a good solid punt or a good solid FG attempt (no low liners; no quackers). On kickoffs I just want the ball to be kept in play and go deep. None of that pooch style kickoffs, and you have to keep the ball in bounds. The coverage needs to get better too...I want to see players staying in their lanes and playing disciplined rather than breaking off their assignments to improvise.
Offensively, I think the key to the season rides on the right arm of Tyler Sheehan. We've given him the keys now let's see if he can drive. The most important things to me that I want to see from him are good, quick decisions, and accuracy. I know he's got the arm strength, and we've heard that he's improved his accuracy. Hopefully that is the case because we cannot afford to turn the ball over due to erratic throws. I don't expect him to be perfect, he's still a young player, but I would like to see some signs that he's improving as a player.
I want to see a good mix of Bullock, Geter, and Ransom carrying the load. This team will be a run team first and foremost, and I want to see these guys get their carries. We must commit to the run. I'm anxious to see the talents of the two new comers, but we must not forget that Bullock is proven as a D1A ball carrier, and he should get his totes as well.
I want to see a willingness to go downfield with the ball. Passes of 5 yards & less will not cut it if they're you're entire passing game. Stretch the defense vertically to help open up some rushing lanes for our aforementioned RBs. I want to see us hit at least one pass play of 20+ yards downfield in the early stages of the game...put that thought in their head.
I want to see improved playcalling. Committing to the run does not require bland, dull playcalling that we saw last season. If the RBs are having success I want to see us do some passing off playaction, take advantage of that running game to open up the passing game. Most importantly, I want to see offensive balance, and some creativity. It seemed like we only ran 10 plays all of last season.
On Defense I want to see the DL rotation. We keep hearing that we can go 10 deep on the front 4, and that will be huge for keeping those guys fresh, especially against a Big 10 OL. We need somebody to show that they can get to the passer other than just Briggs; one of those guys must step up or he'll be double teamed all year long.
I want to see improved fundamentals in tackling, and less gambling overall. The defense gave up a lot of big plays last year, in large part, because of a tendency to gamble. Hit, wrap, and drive through the ball carrier. I don't care if you make it on ESPN, take down the ball carrier. We need discipline in our pass coverage, not biting on pump fakes, quick moves, etc. Minny's passing game should struggle to start the season; make them earn their way downfield, don't give it to them in big chunks.
I want to see some aggression on defense as well. While we don't want to give up those big plays, we cannot sit back in base afraid of them the whole game either. Mix in some blitzes and let some of our LBs/DBs make plays behind the LOS. We have athleticism on that side of the ball, let's use it.
I think that if we see enough of these points we'll be vastly improved over last season. More importantly, they'll give us a shot to see what we all want to see more than any other: Wins.