| 08 July 2010
I think we are on our way to a class of about 23. I think the staff could find a way to fit 25 if needed but those last two will only be used in this class if number 24 and number 25 were the kind of players you don't say no to. We are at 17 now. It makes me look at a couple of situations.
How many inside players are we going to take? We have four verbals. What if we get Mangiro? Are we going to take six OLs? Mangiro says he is going to make his decision before the season starts. Aundray Walker just said he is taking all five visits. That means we are taking six, or we are going to say no to a Glenville player. All of them are odds on the be inside players, guards or centers. I am all for taking six OLs, but six players whose best position is guard? Six players who are going to be out of position playing tackle? It is that simple. Jim Bollman likes versatile linemen. Tackles can play inside but few inside lineman can
play on the edge. We have seen it play out right before our eyes.We tried to play Steve Rehring at tackle. Look at those results. We tried to play Bryant Browning at tackle. Not any better. Even with Alex Boone, who was a lot better than he was given credit for, we tried to play a right tackle at left tackle. It is asking too much of them. Linemen are just not that interchangable. Finally, when has this staff taken six OLs. This is not about the decisions the staff is making. This is about whether we take Walker or not, should Mangiro comes onboard. He is a take no matter what lineman. He is better than any OL we have committed. He is right up there with Bennett and McReynolds. We are not going to say no to him and we are definitely in the mix. It is likely to come down to Ohio State and Penn State. I am not really a fan of Walker so trading Mangiro for Walker could not be a better scenario as far as I'm concerned.
Something to think about. With no real opportunity to grab a left tackle this year, there are so few and we are not in on any of them, you have to believe that we will have another attempt to make a guard into a tackle with this lot.
Shane Wynn = Trindon Holliday?
That is what always comes up with the Shane Wynn discussion. Supporters point to LSU's tiny so-called weapon for validation. If you want to point out his return totals, that is an argument. It is one that I used to reject but have warmed to, but that is as far as I can go with it. I will not oppose offering a player who is primarily being offered as a kick returner but I will not support it either. Back to my point. One of the biggest mirages in college football in recent years is the impact Trindon Holliday had on the game. He touched the ball a total of 121 times from scrimmage in four years. He scored a grand total of four touchdowns from scrimmage in four years. Go four years down the road then look back. Would 121 touches and four touchdowns be totals that would satisfy you? That we got everything out of that scholarship? Also consider that he accounted for 844 total yards from scrimmage. He had 55 of those touches in one year, his sophmore year. He didn't know what he was doing as a freshman but figured it out as a sophmore, then defenses figured him out as a junior and senior. He was going to do one thing and one thing only, that is run to the sideline and try to turn the corner. If he didn't do that he was going to run out of bounds. They were not going to throw him the ball. The seven catch total in four years shows that he either could not catch or could not run a pattern, or both. He averaged 5.4 yards a rush as a junior. Take away a 39 yard run and he averaged 3.75 yards a carry. As a senior he carried for an average of 4.9. That is not the impact you want out of a so-called big play player.
The fact is, the Trindon Holliday comparison is more an argument for people like me who do not see a place for a player this small.
The reason I bring this up is Wynn did not look like the same player in camp this year. I have several reports that he did not look as quick, as fast, as elusive, as the player we saw last year. I wonder if the offer would be made now if the staff had waited. I think they would have chose to wait until after the season if the offer was not already on the table.
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