We have Ford and Phillips returning as WRs
Bucky and Cline at TE
Then there's a crowded back field of Rogers, McMillian, Edmunds, Shai, and Marshawn.
I recall French saying that Fuente uses an H back a lot, but only for blocking, and the natural H back of the bunch is Rogers, but he's as fine of a ball handler as any.
Who wins, who loses?
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Historically, Fu throws a little more so there may be fewer carries overall. If Rogers can play H-back, that is a benefit to him. If McMillian can play some slot receiver, that is a benefit to him. Peoples may suffer unless he can move to tailback...where I'd like to see him regardless. RB's with the most patience and best instincts probably prevail.
Memphis ran the ball 563 times last year (55%), passed 465 times (45%). They ran 86 plays per game. Their leading rushers had 144, 87, 77 and 58 carries. Their leading receivers had 66, 47, 44, 27 and 19 catches. Memphis was sacked 17 times. Memphis gained 6.16 yards/play, averaged 4.1 yards per carry.
VT ran the ball 545 times last year (58%), passed 394 times (42%). We ran 78 plays per game.
Our leading rushers had 200, 61, 48 and 47 carries (removed Motley's 88 carries). Our leading receivers had 75, 49, 40, 21 and 16 catches. VT was sacked 34 times. VT gained 5.33 yards/play, averaged 3.8 yards per carry.
Not a lot of clear patterns. Maybe more even RB distribution. More plays per game would equal 50 yards per game in itself.
Damn that's a lot of sacks for one guy to take. (well twoish but you know what I mean)
I think Glennon was sacked 57 times in 2006. (and if I recall that number with an accuracy of +/- 3, I really should stop paying so much attention to VT football)
54, but it was 2007.
http://www.hokiesports.com/football/stats/2007/?season
No way that all those sacks were Glennon.
Nope, definitely not. He got a lot of grief from the fans, but the O-line was atrocious. There were times he wasn't even fully into a three-step drop and he had a D-lineman or linebacker on top of him. His pocket awareness left something to be desired, but he was hung out to dry a lot.
He was part of the Rebel Alliance and a Traitor, take him away.
During my time on campus I heard hushed rumors that he really "lost the locker room" as they say. Even though it sounded like he only lost the O Line.
The team lost and made people unhappy when they could not protect Glennon.
TyroneTyrod came in, punished the teams with his feet if they over rushed, we started winning, and the back up quarter back was the most popular guy in the locker room as well as out. Glennon got a bad hand, between the o-line and play calling. I would think in hindsight we can all see that.TyronTyrod is good enough to overcome that. I would think in hindsight we can all see that. I'm glad Glennon was a Hokie. He Earned his ACC championship rings. We would have had some coaching changes much sooner ifTyrofTyrod had not been here as a freshman.Tyrone
Tyron
Tyrof
...
Tyrod?
Damn. Was typing while drinking my first cup of coffee, and did not bother to get my reading glasses. but that was bad.
I think there might be more than just coffee in that mug...
But Glennon was slower than a slug on Valium.
His 10m time was pretty hot. Having been honed by running for his life as a result of FB hiring comfortable guys to be OC, OL. Suffice to say, Glennon was used to running from bears.
Welcome to the new Hokie football, where protecting a QB is a job not just for the feet of the mobile QB. Where a QB is not judged solely on play extending capability. Wait til we get a QB in the draft that can read defenses, progress on reads, and extend plays. Its gonna get a little crazy round here when that happens.
Who will VT draft?
I don't know about you, but I usually choose Yuengling or Guinness, unless a craft beer on special sounds interesting.
I'll never forget the comparison from the CT my senior year that "Sean Glennon has the mobility of a coffee table".
a Mahogany coffee table (how often does anyone get to use that word?)
He ran under a 5 second 40. I timed it during my time there. He just wasn't our typical running QB.
Not a whole lot of difference in terms of the overall distribution but I think he is going to evaluate the talent and where they are in terms of ability to contribute, injuries, etc and go from there. If we have bigger leads in the game, there is no reason for not to use more Running backs. I'm sure MacMillan will be the main guy barring injury but I can see him using Trey, Marshawn and Shai. I'm still missing DJ Reid and DeShawn Mclease but we'll see how he rotates them. I'm not worried about the wide receivers at all. Once the QB situation is set, Ford, Phillips and once new comer will get a lot of carries. Sam Rogers I think will be Involved, he can catch the ball out of the H-Back Position.
Sobering.
Good stuff!
Don't forget that Memphis won more than 5 games by 3 scores or more. That's a lot of garbage time, and a lot of carries for someone who isn't the feature back (don't want to risk injury).
You gleaned that from the fact they won five games by 3 scores or more?
I think "maybe" or "perhaps" is missing from your statement.
huehuehuehuehue
Whea..ton!!!
What a great beer. It was on tap at Rivermill a few months back for about $6 and you got an entire pint! At 13.8% I was definitely having a fun night.
It was great. Had it on tap at Smitty's. Got one comped to me for swapping seats to give a group room to sit together. (tip - sit at a middle seat if going to bar alone, and ask for a beer when you are asked to slide over). Not a full pint though. I had to buy the other one. I'd love to see them bring it back sometime.
Offensive ones at that...
Who has the most to gain?
Everyone on VT's offense
Who has the most to lose?
Everyone on the opposing defenses
Rogers will be an Hback. I think he can be comparable to Alan Cross, although Cross was an excellent route runner and a more physical blocker. Ford is going to be good, and I think Fuente will make sure to establish the run to set up play action passing. That means more deep balls for Ford.
You may have answered this elsewhere, but what do you think will happen to Peoples?
I agree that he'll be in the Cross role, but in my opinion Rogers has much better playmaking skills than Cross. Durkin and Cunningham are solid fits at H-back, too. It's a real shame that J. Haskins is about to get away.
I want to make a couple of things clear:
1. French is the man. One of the main reasons I've been a long -time reader & recently upgraded to joining the conversation.
B. Samuel F. Rogers is the man. One of my (& a TON of other Hokies') fave all-time Fighting Gobblers. Mr. Effort. Unparalleled desire to win. LOVE me some SR45.
With that said, though...
When I think of an H-back, I'm thinking bigger. Physically bigger. More, shall we say, Durkin-sized. Not clear on how he catches the ball, but judging from the way he runs, I'll bet he can block with great vengeance and furious anger.
PLEASE do not take this as a dig on Sam. But anyone else think an H should be more like a TE and less like a FB?
I agree with your thought but Sam's effort and knowledge make up for a lot of size issues. With everything he brings to the table I can't imagine there isn't a role on the team and H-Back seems to fit the bill. That being said Fuente has said he will form his offense around his personnel so maybe we will see some sort of FB role this season.
Also when Sam was being created, he was made to be a bit smaller in the interest of fairness.
I'm interested to see if we go with more short quick passes over the middle of the field. Now that our qb (whoever it may be) can see over the linemen, I feel like we are going to see a lot more of that to counter blitzes like we did with LT3.
IMO it depends on who wins the QB job and how much improvement we see in the O line. Hopefully a lot. But with Fords numbers this past year I think JFu gives him plenty of opportunities to outdo this years numbers.
the overall distribution of the ball is going to force opposing Ds to give LBs responsibilities
leading to fewer sacks
kinda like French's write up on the bowl game
you can stack the box but they you leave someone uncovered... you can cover everyone but then its more even at the LOS
IMHO from the small amount of tape I watched last year, our RBs had a very hard time in pass pro and our OL was much better
Either way I see fewer sacks just based on scheme and a taller QB who can make a team pay for blitzing
Although I've long been an Edmunds supporter, I think that based on his playing time the second half of 2015 indicates that he'll be an odd man out next season. Shai, Marshawn, and Trevon are all more talented.
I don't think it is a guarantee Marshawn will even play again next year
How so?
I honestly thought he was the best back in 2014. I just love his powerful running style.
Based on the timing of his injury my understanding is it wouldn't be until the second half of next season
Frustrating that he was even rushed back in the first place.
He wasn't. Marshawn didn't play this past year. I also don't understand why he wouldn't be available until the latter part of next year. Typical ACL recovery time is one year, which for Marshawn, was about a month ago. One would expect that he would be cleared for spring ball if his rehab has gone well. Unless there's something we don't know.
Juice had a "setback" in his rehab. Not sure if that means he completely retore his ACL or if he aggravated it slowing his return. He was pushing really hard to get back on the field last year and was trying to do it in 8 months instead of the usual 12.
I think this is something lots of fans on message boards, not necessarily on this site, don't get. They blame the training staff when a guy gets hurt. Then they blame the training staff when the guy hurts himself trying to get back too quickly. Or they blame the training staff when the guy doesn't come back as quickly or as good as he was before the injury. Rehab has as much, if not more, to do with the one doing the rehab as the trainers and doctors working on them.
I remember hearing that, but I didnt know it was that serious. Thats really tough for him. Shai and Marshawn showed so much promise as true freshman. I hope they can come back at some point near 100%.
I found it interesting that he suffered his setback, had to have surgery, and then a few days later he was selling his hoverboard on social media.
So glad those things are now banned on campus...
Edit:http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/notices/011416-vpa-hoverboard.html
Not banned on campus just inside campus buildings because of the fire risk. You can still see them being being used. Per the VT police chief.
My bad...........
My one time on one I felt like my ACL was on the verge of tearing, they are dangerous machines if you don't use them absolutely perfectly.
Santa brought my youngest son one for Christmas.
I have to say, I'm surgical with the hoverboard. I can corner that one turn in the kitchen where the cat is always blocking the way, and somebody has dropped a backpack or whatever at top speed.
I think we'll see quite a bit more of Edmunds.
Most to lose?
Referees.
I don't disregard everyones comments but when I'm in crunch time and need to hurry up I just scroll through and read what French has to say and I'm done with it until I get more time later. Everyone does this right?
I definitely do this as well
If there are losers in the transition I would guess they would be McKenzie and Williams in the backfield just because they are once again coming off of injury and it is impossible to tell right now if either will make it back to 100%.
Most to lose? I'll go with Dwayne Lawson. When he committed, he was Lefty's heir apparent. Now if Evans starts for two years and Fuente finds his own QB of the future, DLaw might never see the field. And that's not even taking into consideration that Josh Jackson might just straight up beat Lawson out after having two years in the program.
Well I would think DLaw has just as good a chance as any QB on the roster to win starting job for Fuente.
Yea it helps that Evans is coming off an injury and is a little out of shape as well
And that's what I'm talking about. In the course of one season, he's gone from being "the guy" to having just as good a shot as anyone.
Kid's not doomed by any stretch, but by framing the question as who has the most to lose on the offense, I can't think of anyone else who was a shoe-in to start at a skill spot who now will have to put in some work to see the field.
I don't think there should be any guys on the team who are shoe-ins. They should all put in the work if they want to see the field. That's what has disappointed me about our receiving corps the past few years. Ford and Phillips put in the work to improve themselves, that's why they were on the field. I understand if other guys did the work but the coaches don't think they have the skill to be out there. It happens. But nobody should be chosen as "the guy" at a position. It's not fair to them because it takes away their need to improve themselves. And it dang sure isn't fair to the guys behind them who are doing the work and becoming better players.
Should it happen? That's debatable.
Does it happen? Unquestionably.
I think Virginia Tech is in a better position now, no doubt.
I've always thought that UVA was a good example of a place where a guy with stars is going to be a shoo-in, but I've always thought that VT at least has paid lip service to the notion of competition and practice performance dictating playing time. Coach Beamer's famous loyalty notwithstanding, I feel like we've generally done that.
If you can lay the hay, you should surely play. No matter how many stars, what class, what was forcast. That's how it should be.