Thursday, October 20, 2011

Vandy picks Rodgers as starting QB, breaks in new left tackle

Looks like Jordan Rodgers is our starting quarterback. He's been a step behind because of his injury. While all of Franklin's talk about Larry being our best option to win has scared Vandy fans, it's clear he's been grooming Jordan all along to have a clear shot at starting.

Because Rodgers missed spring practice because of injury, preseason was kind of like his spring, and his spot duty in the first half of the season has been like preseason. Now he's ready to take the reins and be our starter, very possibly for next season too.

With Stewart suspended for the first half against Army, Franklin said last night that Andrew Bridges will likely get the start at left tackle. That involves just one starter changing his position and it gets Bridges, a long athletic kid who is slowly putting on the weight he needs to play O-line, some prime time snaps against a lighter defense.

"He’s a big, physical guy getting bigger and stronger every day," Franklin said after last night's practice. "He moves extrememly well... This will give him an opportunity to step up — that's what this game is about, it gives us an opportunity to build some depth. It gives us an opportunity to give another guy a chance and he’s got to step up."

It's interesting that Caleb Welchans, a redshirt junior with starting experience in his first two seasons, hasn't gotten the nod yet this season though he's been a fixture on the depth chart and he's seen spot duty late in games and on special teams. That's a sign he may be four and done and not return for his redshirt senior year.

Anyway, after Army game we'll likely have had 21 guys on offense start games for us, compared to 14 on defense. Here's a breakdown:

OFFENSE
Quarterback: Smith, Rodgers
Running back: Stacy
Receiver: Krause, Matthews, Boyd, Tate, Cole, Umoh
Tight end/fullback: Barden, Monahan, Lassing, Johnston
Offensive line: Burrow, Johnson, Brown, Stewart, Fischer, Seymour, White, Bridges

DEFENSE
Defensive tackle: Lohr, Nichter
Defensive end: Fugger, Thomas, May
Linebacker: Marve, Garnham, Strong, Barnes
Cornerback: Hayward, Wilson
Safety: Richardson, Ladler, Marshall

5 comments:

Greg M said...

VU up to # 26 in taeh Rivals.com recruiting poll. Movin on up!!

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/teamrank/2012/all/all

Anonymous said...

Well, this is what we were wanting. I think the attribute that made Jordan the starter is that when things break down, he tucks and goes, where Larry seemed to dance a little, wait another two seconds for it to register, then decide to run. It should go better than the "Why don't they put Goro in?!?!" from last year. What I wonder about, is one Senior Day, does Larry get booed?

Dimon K-H said...

No way Larry gets booed on senior day, unless maybe he returns as our starter. The prevailing sentiment has been "great kid, great student, hard worker."

Another L-M VU alum said...

Looks Good............
Jordan needs to settle in with his team. It will work.

Another L-M VU alum said...

.....Also: Herb Hand coached Pat White (a runnin'QB) while at WVU, so I'm sure (I hope) he can offer Jordan some tips on how to scamper with the ball.....even tho he's an OL coach.