Loading ...
« CBS changes the face of fantasy college football | Main | Debuting our NFL Fantasy coverage with Fantasy Quants »
Notes From the Margins v4
By Jason Roberts | July 31, 2008
In this week’s edition, we identify the snubbing of Josh Freeman of Kansas State by the Davey O’Brien Award committee (and the bizarre inclusion of Notre Dame sophomore quarterback, Jimmy Clausen by that same committee).
We also discover that Wisconsin’s Lance Smith has been suspended from the team yet again.
And we get to cry out loud in joy with San Jose State’s Dick Tomey on the return of Yonus Davis to the Spartans backfield in 2008.
Before we get to those highlights, let’s first take a look at the conferences in alphabetical order:
ACC
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Rattle and roll at Georgia Tech . . .
From the Tallahassee Democrat for Wednesday, July 23, 2008, comes news of a potential freshman starter at tailback for Paul Johnson’s Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket offense.
Notes Sam Hinchee of the Democrat, new head coach Johnson has been looking for a versatile young running back to incorporate into the Yellow Jackets’ option-driven offense. He may have just found the answer with incoming freshman recruit, Richard Watson, out of Florida A&M High in Tallahassee.
Originally recruited by schools such as Florida State, NC State, Georgia, LSU, and yes, even Ohio State, Watson is a solid physical back. He is 6′1″ and 220 pounds, brings plenty of size and strength, but not at the cost of quickness. The youngster, after all, has been clocked at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash.
As such, Watson should be a solid candidate to start in the backfield for Georgia Tech at some point in the 2008 season, though sophomore Jonathan Dwyer appears a surer bet to top the Yellow Jackets depth chart coming out of fall camp.
Big XII
Kansas State Wildcats
Hardly feeling fine and free in Manhattan . . .
Readers of this column may want to leap ahead to the section on Independents and our tirade on the naming of Jimmy Clausen of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to the Davey O’Brien watch list for 2008 before reading the following story . . .
That being said, we can’t help but agree with the article written by Jeff Martin and released by The Wichita Eagle on Thursday, July 17, 2008. He questions the reasoning of the O’Brien committee in not naming sophomore quarterback for the Kansas State Wildcats, Josh Freeman, to the award’s preseason roster.
Freeman, readers may remember, started 2007 as a true freshman. Although he had his challenges adapting to coach Ron Prince’s system on offense, he played remarkably well and threw for over 3,300 yards with 18 touchdowns (11 interceptions).
Freeman was particularly solid toward the end of the year, this despite a four-game streak of losses to Big XII foes Iowa State, Nebraska, Missouri, and Fresno State from the WAC. In those four games, the freshman quarterback threw for 300 yards or better twice while limiting interceptions to only three. He also passed for a total of seven touchdowns during that same period.
This being the case, we think that the O’Brien Committee should reconsider its nomination of Clausen and strongly suggest that in his place they add Freeman as the much more deserving candidate.
Big East
South Florida Bulls
A team built Ford-tough?
From the Sarasota Herald-Tribune from Friday, July 18, 2008, comes a prediction by sportswriter Alan Dell that this season might just be the year that sophomore tailback for the USF Bulls, Michael Ford, finally establishes himself as the primary ball carrier in the Bulls’ backfield. And the evidence for just such an event seems to be growing by the day.
Dell, for instance, writes that one NFL scout recently told him that Ford is “good enough to get 20 carries a game” in the pros and is without a doubt “a Sunday kind of back . . .”
The Sporting News in mid-July also identified Ford as one of the eight players in FBS college football prepared to have a breakout season in 2008.
Ford exhibited many of his skills as a true freshman in 2007. At 6′2″ and 225 pounds, the USF back provided an excellent blend of power and speed, a combination which aided Ford in a campaign that saw him finish second for most carries on the team behind Matt Grothe (138). In totality, he accumulated 645 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. Two back-to-back 100+ yard days also came toward the end of the season against Syracuse (134) and Louisville (140).
For all the talent Ford put on display, the question arose several times last year why Ford wasn’t utilized more. This despite head coach Jim Leavitt’s claim that never before had the Bulls used the talents of a true freshman to the degree they did Ford in 2007.
Part of that answer lies in the fact that with the numbers and talent present on the depth chart at USF, Leavitt strongly believes that having a fresh pair of legs on the field at all times yields bountiful numbers in the Bulls’ rushing attack. And to that point Leavitt is correct; USF finished 2007 second in the Big East for average yards-per-game earned (193.1), trailing only the West Virginia Mountaineers - a team they beat at home last season.
But there is another more important matter that factors into the equation as to why Ford wasn’t on the field more last year. Leavitt admits in the article that the freshman tailback hurt his ribs badly in mid-season, a factor which greatly limited his ability to carry the ball for extended periods of time until toward the end of the year, when he had huge games against the Orangemen and Cardinals.
Ford showed up to spring practice this year in the best shape he’s ever been, which is a clear indication he is focused for the upcoming season. Should he continue on this track, Dell’s assertion that Ford could be on the verge of an outstanding season this year may not be too far from the truth. The Bulls host a number of returning starters along the offensive line and should they remain healthy, could be one of the best units in all of the Big East.
Still, don’t forget to factor in the presence of senior tailback Ben Williams and Jamar Taylor; both of which Leavitt assesses as starter-grade backs and should see plenty of time carrying the ball in 2008.
Big Ten
Indiana Hoosiers
According to the Indianapolis Star for Friday, July 25, 2008, head coach Bill Lynch for the University of Indiana has told reporters that redshirt junior quarterback Kellen Lewis will have to earn the starting quarterback job heading into the Hoosiers’ upcoming fall camp.
Lewis’ main competition will come from redshirt sophomore, Ben Chappell, who is a more traditional drop-back type passer. He has also been the mainstay for the Hoosiers during spring practice, as Lewis was sidelined while serving a four-month suspension for undisclosed reasons.
Many within and outside the Indiana football program are questioning the verity of Lynch’s statement, claiming it would seem foolish not to go with Lewis who in 2007 passed for over 3,000 yards and netted an additional 736 yards on the ground.
So is the announcement made by Lynch a statement of truth or just a shady attempt at a media ploy to draw attention toward Indiana’s football program?
That remains a difficult question to answer. However, as previous articles on Chappell have discussed, he’s been a solid presence in the midst of Lewis’ absence from the team and has one heck of an arm on him. He’s well prepared to take over the team if Lynch in fact makes the call to name Chappell the starter. The offense will lose its effectiveness to a certain degree without having Lewis’ ability to confuse opposing defenses with his elusive agility and speed on the ground. The offense still retains plenty of talent in the backfield and at receiver to support the sophomore quarterback if he takes over as starter coming out of fall camp.
Ohio State Buckeyes
From the Central Illinois paper, The Herald & Review, for Friday, July 25, 2008 comes an interesting tidbit regarding the possibility of freshman hotshot QB recruit for Ohio State, Terrelle Pryor, getting a shot at the starting role under center in the upcoming football season.
Speaking to reporters at this week’s Big Ten media conference, head coach Jim Tressel had the following to say regarding Pryor’s role as a quarterback with the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2008:
On August 4, he gets to start practicing and he will be incorporated into this offense on that day,” Tressel said. “He has a lot of things to build on as part of his foundation, including a communications system and the way we do things.
But he’s the kind of guy who wants to know what’s going on. He loves to train. He loves to compete. He has great ability. From Day 1, I would think he’ll be a guy who people will take notice of.
Much speculation has surrounded the possibility of Pryor getting the call to start by the end of the 2008 season, this despite the fact that OSU has a solid passer in fifth year senior Todd Boeckman.
Boeckman seems to have fallen from the good graces of OSU alumni and fans in the midst of the rabid infatuation which the press has set squarely upon Pryor and his decision to come to Columbus over schools like the University of Oregon and dreaded Big Ten foe, the Michigan Wolverines.
Such circumstance is sad. Boeckman has admittedly had his problems (will fans ever forgive those three interceptions thrown in the shocking loss to Illinois last November?), but for the most part has quietly served as an efficient game manager and a player who put up some pretty impressive statistics.
Last season, his first full year starting for the Buckeyes following the departure of Troy Smith to the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, Boeckman threw for 2,379 yards, 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Six of those picks were thrown in the last three games that OSU played in 2007, including the loss to the LSU Tigers in the National Championship game in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Those kind of numbers weren’t Curtis Painter-esque, nor were they as impressive as Northwestern’s C.J. Bacher. Yet Boeckman’s stats were enough to propel OSU to the Big Ten title and land the OSU quarterback a conference-leading quarterback rating of 148.9 (for quarterbacks playing all 13 games of the season).
This being the case, why the rush to see Pryor take over Boeckman’s role as a freshman? Sure, Buckeyes’ faithful are highly intrigued by the nation’s top quarterback recruit, but his time will come soon enough. Let him learn the system and, on occasion, take a few snaps to get a feel for the collegiate game. Not all players, after all, are Tim Tebow…yet, even Tebow was broken in during his freshman year behind veteran Chris Leak, a scenario which undoubtedly played a major role in Tebow’s Heisman Trophy campaign of 2007.
Wisconsin Badgers
Fantasy owners of P.J. Hill and Zach Brown, take note… according to Madison, Wisconsin’s The Capital Times, junior running back Lance Smith for the Wisconsin Badgers has been suspended from the team yet again. This time, comments head coach Bret Bielema, for failing “to meet certain requirements relating to the first-offender program he was placed in last fall.”
Smith, readers may recall, was arrested in July 2007 after a dispute with his girlfriend, a charge he plead guilty to last October. He was suspended from the team shortly thereafter, but had that suspension lifted by Bielema the first day of last season’s fall camp. UW Athletic Director entered into the ensuing debate over the judgment of such a call and ultimately succeeded in seeing that Smith was suspended for all of Wisconsin’s road games for 2007.
Despite not being able to play on the road last season, Smith still managed to accumulate 429 yards and three touchdowns on 71 carries. His 6.0 yard-per-carry average was a team best for 2007.
Smith, as Jim Polzin of the Times writes, was expected to play a major role in a backfield which might be considered one of the deepest and most productive out in the Big Ten in 2008. Coaches had also tinkered with the idea of lining the junior up at wide receiver periodically to get him on the field more.
Independents
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Don’t tell me there’s no such thing as the luck of the Irish . . .
From Michigan’s Niles Star for Friday, July 18, 2008 comes the baffling news that Notre Dame sophomore quarterback Jimmy Clausen has been nominated to the 2008 Davey O’Brien Award preseason watch list.
Clausen, one of several quarterbacks used by head coach Charlie Weis during a painful campaign for the Irish last year, passed for 1,254 yards with seven touchdowns and six interceptions thrown. His presence on the field in 2007, as the article points out, made him the earliest debut of any Notre Dame quarterback in the school’s history, with his first start coming against Penn State in the Irish’s second game of the year.
Clausen, in our humble opinion, played as if this were the case; it’s what you would expect from an inexperienced freshman passer.
This being the case, Clausen’s naming to the O’Brien watch list wouldn’t be such a difficult item to come to terms with if it didn’t seem that his nomination was as a result of some form of pro-Irish favoritism on the behalf of some sitting on the award’s nominating committee. The fact that Clausen was named, but the following first-year starters at quarterbacks were not causes us to question the methodology used to identify potential candidates for the 2008 season; we’ve also included the academic year for each player for purposes of comparison:
Andy Dalton, TCU - Freshman
Josh Freeman, Kansas State - Freshman (see above section on Big XII)
Colin Kaepernick, Nevada - Freshman
Kellen Lewis, Indiana - Freshman
Tyler Lorenzen, Connecticut - Junior
Kevin Riley, California — Freshman
Andrew Robinson, Syracuse - Sophomore
Blake Szymanski, Baylor - Sophomore
The above is by no means meant to be an exhaustive listing; we also understand that the O’Brien Award is given to the quarterback who most exhibits excellence both on and off the football field. That being the case, names like Lewis and Smith aren’t included taking into consideration the troubles both athletes had in 2007 and in the recent off-season with their respective teams and head coaches.
But Clausen, as is well-documented, is no humanitarian gem himself. In August of last year, the freshman was cited for transportation of alcohol as a minor, a misdemeanor offense in the state of Indiana; not a major charge, admittedly, but then again not exactly exemplary behavior for an incoming recruit favored to take the starting role at Notre Dame heading into last year’s fall practice.
Lack of Clausen’s judgment aside, however (he was a freshman, after all . . .), the now-sophomore quarterbacks numbers don’t speak to the picture of a young quarterback on the verge of a breakout season in 2008. After a throwing-into-the-fire experience last year that earned him some much needed game-time experience (not to mention, a strong dose of reality and tempering of what some viewed as an arrogant overconfidence), Clausen hardly appeared to shine in scrimmages earlier this year either. In the team’s annual spring game, he went 10-for-27 for 183 yards and also called two rather untimely timeouts in the heat of the contest.
Weis may claim that Clausen “got good zip on the ball” during the spring and was making throws he could “never make” last year; but does that translate to Clausen’s being named to the 2008 O’Brien watchlist?
We think not.
WAC
San Jose State Spartans
From the Las Cruces Sun-News for Friday, July 24, 2008, comes the announcement by head coach of the San Jose Spartans, Dick Tomey, that tailback Yonus Davis has been granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA and is cleared to join the Spartans in fall camp in preparation for the upcoming season.
Davis, a former second-team All-WAC selection in 2006, ran for over 1,000 yards as a junior but carried the ball for San Jose State on only three occasions in 2007 due to a severely sprained ankle he suffered on the Spartans’ first offensive possession of the season.
The decision to grant Davis a sixth year of eligibility was regarded as “welcome news” by Tomey and will certainly help address what was last season least productive rushing attack in the FBS,. San Jose State averaged just over 83 yards-per-game on the ground.
Topics: College Football, Jason Roberts, Notes From the Margins |
Comments are closed.
