Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Some questions about Vandy football

Sorry for the dearth of posts lately. Been busy, um, working.

Congrats to the baseball team, which barely missed the College World Series. Some Vandy fans are surely complaining that we haven't been to a CWS yet, but as somebody who runs a Vandy football blog, I think the Vandy baseball team is wildly successful and that Tim Corbin does an incredible job.

Some thoughts generated by a recent anonymous commenter's post. Thanks to you, whoever you are, for the thoughtful musings.

1. Why did WR Tray Herndon play so well as a Minnesota freshman and so sparingly as a Vandy transfer sophomore? And is Jordan Rodgers really going to redshirt? And should former QB and Arizona transfer Richard Kovalchek have played more and was he a better quarterback than Nickson and Adams?

Good questions all, and they boil down to one big question: Will we ever have a decent transfer or should we just stop accepting them? Especially wide receivers: The Clemson kid was too hurt to play and the Terance Jeffers-Harris-Jones-Smith was not studious enough. I think Kovalchek was signed for insurance and I do believe that Nickson and Adams were better — Arizona forced Kovalchek to leave, I believe, but could Nickson and Adams have played at Arizona? Don't know. Rodgers isn't the same kind of transfer. DB Bill Alford was a pretty good JC player for us, so maybe Rodgers can be too. Have you heard that his brother is Aaron Rodgers?

2. Should Rodgers redshirt, and who'll be number 2 if he does?

If Rodgers doesn't beat out Larry, then I think he does redshirt. I think coaches are quietly considering this year to be a rebuilding one and would consider the five-win seasons of old to be a smashing success, and then we'll have a ridiculous amount of starters returning in 2011. With no true freshmen quarterbacks on board, I think the staff would feel better about having Rodgers on the team after Larry graduates, which is only possible if he redshirts. And don't forget Charlie Goro, who (1) traveled with the team last season and knows the system, (2) had a pretty good spring, (3) is a tough runner and natural spread guy, and (4) is almost dead even with Larry in our poll asking who will be this year's starting quarterback.

3. Should Jamie Graham play WR or DB?

I think he's primarily a DB. He's not a fast-twitch guy or a burner, but he's a smooth possession receiver and utility skill guy who has a better shot at the next level as a safety or nickel back. Sure, we have a bunch of young guys in the secondary, but I think Jamie should play corner or nickel or even safety and then enter the game on offense for the occasional jump ball in the corner of the end zone.

4. Who else could play receiver for us?

Sure, Wesley Tate's a possibility. He'd be a mighty big receiver, but that's not a negative. Also, DBs such as Eric Samuels, Trey Wilson and Eddie Foster are possibilities, but they're first and foremost defensive backs.

5. Is Walker May as good as he looked in the spring?

Sure, our offensive line has problems and we should be skeptical about any defensive lineman who dominated in the spring. But May has always been fast and he's always been a playmaker and folks who know him rave about him. And now he's added some weight. But he's still light in the pants for an SEC defensive end. I'd like to see him at outside linebacker. But either way, I think he's the real deal and will be tough to keep off the field.

Just my two cents.

4 comments:

Anything but Gatorade said...

Read: Vandy football will not be very good in 2010. While not unexpected, it is disappointing. I know the 'Dores have gotten a couple good recruiting hauls recently, thanks largely to the 2008 MCB. It's the current crop of upperclassmen that haven't quite cut it yet, especially on the offensive line. How the 'Dores' D-line has managed to post the numbers it has for the past couple seasons is nothing short of amazing, but that offense really lags and I don't see any reason to believe that last year's dud isn't a bellwether for this year's. Too bad, because scoring puts the fans in the seats, especially in fickle Nashville. Keep your eyes on the prize though, because the offense will probably be better in 2011 assuming there's some more depth, size, and athleticism on the O-line and maybe the receivers will have finally learned their routes. Go Dores.

Dimon said...

Haven't seen any predictions but I'd imagine all of them will be in the 2-4 win range for Vandy. Can't say that I'd disagree, although we may catch some teams off guard.

But the only projected starters who'll be leaving after this season will be center Joey Bailey and linebacker John Stokes. Well, that's if Chris Marve doesn't go pro. So the Dores need to keep their chins up and focus on signing the best recruiting class they can for 2011.

Anonymous said...

GO GORO

Anonymous said...

Thanks for answering the questions. Good stuff as usual.