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Had an interesting discussion in the stands today at the scrimmage with some guys. The question came up as to whether anyone could ever remember a single position hit as hard as WR was this offseason for BG where it not only lost the numbers it did at one position, but also the talent for players WITH eligibility remaining. In short, not taking about players who used up their eligibility and didn't return.

No one could think of another example. Lewis and Dieter formed one of the best WR in the entire country, Rhodes was one of the top WR's in high school who finally appeared to have a stage to play on, Landry didn't make it to BG and Michigan transfer Jones didn't either. You could make the argument Landry and Jones shouldn't even be considered which is valid, but they both were expected to be here. Still, when BG walked off the field in Mobile last year, Lewis, Dieter and Rhodes were all slated to be on the field in 2016 and none of them are around. I can't think of losing a trio of players of that caliber with eligibility remaining at any position in all my years of following BG football.

Before you go into sky-is-falling mode, remember that we have Ronnie Moore, who is easily first team all MAC plus a ton of talented guys who have every bit as much or more FBS experience than Landry and Rhodes in Phouthavong, Miller, Dossous, and Redding.
Lewis and Deiter were going to be gone. That was their choice to continue their careers elsewhere. Rhodes also made his choice when he repeatedly broke team rules. Landry is still on roster so if he indeed can't make it this year, that is unfortunate but I'm not worried too much given the talent we already have.
We had Big Ten caliber receivers last year. No way we can get that every year. Now we develop young guys into similarly talented players.

2016 strategy... GET THE BALL TO #5 (early & often - like 15 targets minimum)

Honestly I think this year's strategy probably starts with the run game. Jinks is a running backs coach. He'd rather get the offensive line shoving the front 7 back and wearing those guys out with our backs before getting the ball in the air.

MarkL wrote:Honestly I think this year's strategy probably starts with the run game. Jinks is a running backs coach. He'd rather get the offensive line shoving the front 7 back and wearing those guys out with our backs before getting the ball in the air.

Agreed. But, Ronnie Moore is the best player/playmaker on the roster. I don't care if we throw it to him, run it with him, whatever, just get the ball in his hands.

MarkL wrote:Before you go into sky-is-falling mode, remember that we have Ronnie Moore, who is easily first team all MAC plus a ton of talented guys who have every bit as much or more FBS experience than Landry and Rhodes in Phouthavong, Miller, Dossous, and Redding.
Lewis and Deiter were going to be gone. That was their choice to continue their careers elsewhere. Rhodes also made his choice when he repeatedly broke team rules. Landry is still on roster so if he indeed can't make it this year, that is unfortunate but I'm not worried too much given the talent we already have.
We had Big Ten caliber receivers last year. No way we can get that every year. Now we develop young guys into similarly talented players.

No one knew after the bowl that Lewis and Dieter weren't coming back. Both of them leaving was a surprise. A few months in news started to surface that Lewis was testing NFL waters but that wasn't a done deal. In fact, he was on the fence and didn't officially declare until close to the deadline. As for Dieter, rumors started swirling that he was going to leave after Lewis' decision. Of course, he also did. When 2016 ended both of those guys were expected back without a second thought. Had they used up their eligibility it would have been a completely different story. But they didn't which is how this topic was brought up yesterday. Had these two returned, they are two of our best players for 2016. Period. We've lost some really good players early before like Omar Jacobs (NFL), Anthon Samuel (home, FIU) and Fahn Cooper (JUCO, Ole Miss), but never anything like Lewis and Dieter in the same year that I can recall.

As for Moore, while a tremendous athlete, he's a completely different type of a player and receiver than either of those two and doesn't have anywhere near the hands as either one of them. Had Lewis and Dieter returned, Moore would have been our 3rd best WR. However, he is our #1 playmaker in terms of his ability and versatility to make plays. With Lewis and Dieter, they were rangy wideouts that you could throw it up to and they'd go and get it. With Moore, he's a slot guy who you need to get the ball to on quicker routes or feed him the ball on jet sweeps. Big difference. Rhodes was all hype and no result, but I felt this year we could have seen a productive season from him finally, but now we'll never know. Redding is a monster in practice who hasn't translated it to games yet. Landy was expected to be a Lewis-type of player and isn't coming now. Outside of that, we have a lot of unknown and certainly unproven guys. Point being, we lost arguably the best one-two combo at WR in the country (and lost them with eligibility left). Not in the MAC, not in the Midwest, we're talking in the NCAA. Now for a school like Bama or Ohio State, they've got guys waiting in the wings to replace them. We do not. Make no mistake, we are not going to replace those two. But what we will have to do though is find guys to step up big time and help soften the loss of those two.

So the sky is falling after all.

kdog27 wrote:So the sky is falling after all.

It's not falling, it already fell.

Rhodes was and apparently still is a dumbass...you can't count on anything from a dumbass. I think NIU would call Ronnie Moore a primary threat...after he torched them in in the 2014 MACC. Looking forward to seeing what we have instead of worrying about what we don't.

Deric Phouth...Phouta...that Deric kid and Janarvis Pough are going to shock some people. As will Bryson Denley. in the slot...land Vanel Doussos will not be disrespected even if I didn't spell his name correctly. Sorry to him if I did.

Well folks, the sky has fallen. Might as well call the season quits. No point in seeing the team in action in Columbus because the season is already a failure. No point competing in the MAC because the sky has already fallen.

Now back to reality. I for one cannot wait to see kickoff. Change can be exciting. New, hungry players can be the most dangerous for the opponent because so little is known about them and they have so much to prove. And also speaking of change, I am impressed by everything I hear from Coach Jinks. I am excited to see what shape the team is in and how he coaches his first season.

BGSU33 wrote:

kdog27 wrote:So the sky is falling after all.

It's not falling, it already fell.

Yep, doomsday. Might not complete a pass until October.

What we had is what we had but am encouraged by the size, albeit youth, that we have at wr on the roster. Instead of a couple the size of Roger and dieter we have a stable of them. That will help with those jump balls and if not mistaken a couple posted a. 40 time on hudl etc of around 4.3 to 4.4.we have the physical beings it's up to them to use it. Growing pains? Maybe but they have the tools and the venue. The rest is up to them and the coaches and team to get it out of them.

This is college football, nothing lasts forever, especially at this level. It's extremely short-sighted and somewhat ignorant to write off the receiving corps before they've even played a snap of game action. As Mark put it, change is exciting and new faces should be embraced to continue what this program has achieved in the past three years.

There's still experience in this group. We know what Ronnie Moore can do, Teo Redding has shown flashes of brilliance and Scottie Miller is ready to take that next step. Other guys will fit in where needed and I think we'll be pleasantly surprised with this group. Will there be hiccups? Surely, that's to be expected, but this is still an experienced offense with a ton of upside.

Gotta balance out the optimism. Deric P has a chance to be the next Dieter. Great size at 6'4" 207. WR's will want to come to BG cuz we chuck the ball all over the field. Next class up...

Nope. Going to be a total, 100% s**t show. Life may not go on without Lewis and Dieter. And how will they ever replace Rhodes, he had been so great since getting on campus.