David Hale, one of my more preferred writers over at the big 4-letter word, just posted his 2015 preview for Hokies football. The highlights:
His best-case scenario has the Hokies making a run at a playoff berth. Even more surprising, his worst-case scenario has VT as an 8-win team.
I would love to see a 9-win season, but I'm surprised at the threshold Hale set, as we have seen the past 3 seasons with good talent but not great production. All in all, I like Hale's review. He also lists Tim Settle and Chuck Clark as players to watch this season.
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
Oh, wait, that's Alan Hale...
I don't want to come across as an apologist here but 1: we haven't had the talent for all of the last 3 years. 2: Brewer barely knew the playbook and played hurt most of last year. 3: Offense lives and dies by the OL and by all accounts this year's line is supposed to be the best we've had in recent history
we were never going to have great production with a porous OL and inexperienced QB/WRs/RBs despite the fact they have talent. I think it's cherry-picking a bit to say that "well, we've had talent for the last 3 years but the production hasn't been there so therefore I don't expect any uptick in production this year"
that's not a fair assessment nor do I think it's accurate. Everyone seems to forget that our entire offense was in such disarray under the old regime that we knew it would take years to rebuild.
Should have left that sentence out, as I didn't want to go down that rabbit-hole on this thread. Long story short, I just think there were some losses that shouldn't have happened based on the talent that we did have (see: Wake Forest) but I didn't mean to trash any of the teams from the past few years.
Offseason Optimism is high everywhere...
Saw the post's title and was wondering where David M. Hale High School was and what recruits were coming from there. I am not a smart man.
Ha. I had to do a double take too.
If our players remain healthy, I agree with that worst case.
If we see last year's rash of injuries again, I have a hard time seeing us make a bowl.
I think last year was the worst case scenario. Hard to imagine things going worse to be honest.
*insert the following GIFs*
[Lana NOOOOOOOOPE]
[Don't you put that evil on me!]
[NO! GOD NO!]
[*Guy flipping papers on his desk with captioned, "F*** this, F*** that"]
Did I miss any?
I was thinking of throwing in a gif from Sin City (loved that movie) but am trying my best to cut back on gif output.
"It's catching up with you but good."
" Maybe I oughta look at him. He doesn't look too good."
"He's hale and hearty, Tammy. See?"
"He's the picture of health."
You shut your mouth. Things can always get worse.
*totally not superstitious at all as I go around touching every piece of wood I own.......giggity
I think Hale has this team pegged pretty well, barring a pile of injuries or the loss of Brewer, I would expect a strong showing by this team. Nobody in the ACC is looking like a world-beater, so maybe it's our turn this year. (oh please, oh please, oh please!)
I am still of the opinion that Brewer shouldn't have received the bulk of the criticism for our offensive woes last year. Here's why:
1. He came to the Burg late, and therefore didn't have much time to get accustomed to Lefty's system as well as his teammates playing style.
2. He played injured for most of the season...which leads into:
3. The offensive line was abysmal. He had 0 protection. I'd like to see any QB do well under the circumstances at VT last season. Granted he isn't an Elite QB, but IMHO he's well above average.
Just my 0.02
People - especially OSU fans - have been quick to point out that Brewer played "the game of his life" against OSU last year and there's no way he could do that every game. However, I'm becoming more and more convinced that THAT Brewer - the healthy Brewer - is closer to the real Brewer than people think.
I know its been talked about here before, but I looked it up and statistically he played a pretty average game in the 'Shoe that night. I'm of a similar mindset but I'll add that he also seems to have a knack for the big spots. Hearing that he and Ford practiced together pretty much all summer makes me giddy.
this! I'll never forget seeing Brewer come off the field and puking behind the bench (in game 2?). My hunch is that he was "concussed" for most of last season. how could have healed with the weekly beatings he was taking?
choo chooooooo!
Yet he still turned it over three times including an ill advised out cut and not protecting the ball on a sack (by an all american). He also was hit so hard and so many times that it likely affected his play.
I agree, that's who he is. He will make a handful of gutsy plays, be a good scrambler and play his balls off. He will also force balls with less than preferable velocity, get overwhelmed in the pocket, and frequently get hit hard enough to fumble or be injured.
He's like 3/4 of a Brett Favre.
I'm definitely hitting the optimistic phase of my offseason now.
I feel that if Brewer's protection is better than last year, his heart-attack-crossed-with-an-aneurysm-inducing plays will decrease. I'm not saying he'll be LT3 vs '11 Miami every week, but he also shouldn't feel like staying in the pocket for the extra second for a better pass means meeting up with this guy.
The fact that he mentioned Chuck clark as a player to watch, and not just Fuller/Facyson, makes me think that he has actually paid attention to our team.
Nice article, better than I expected. Thanks for sharing