Welcome to Hogville!      Do Not Sell My Personal Information

2018 Arkansas WR's, QB's, TE's and RB's Depth Chart

Started by MuskogeeHogFan, February 08, 2018, 11:23:47 am

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

MuskogeeHogFan

Quote from: Tejano Jawg on February 13, 2018, 04:37:49 pm
Muskogee, great job putting these depth charts together. I keep coming back to look at this one and see what everyone is saying.

The thing I'm sorta stuck on...while the depth is certainly evident, because of what we saw in 2017, do we really know what we have?...do we have an absolute go-to WR? Nance maybe, and Cornelius returns. Who are the top 2 RBs? I keep thinking about not having Rawleigh last year, then I wonder what a difference he would have made, given everything else (o-line, etc). A little?...a lot? Can another QB emerge to challenge Kelly? We sure have a good variety of shapes and sizes at that position.

I know a lot of this will get worked out in the Spring. Morris has a big box of toys to play with.

In a nutshell...the "quantity" is good, and I think the "quality" is good. But are there some guys who are great?

I think that we have some talent. Maybe better talent than we think by being utilized in a different scheme that may offer receivers a better opportunity to be open. As far as the receivers go, I'm not sure if Morris is more of a "run your pattern exactly" guy, or more of a "Petrino-like, run your pattern exactly but then break it off between (and adjust on the fly to) coverage levels", kind of guy. Obviously a timing pattern is a timing pattern and is more disciplined in its design where the ball is to be placed at a certain place in a certain amount of time, but I just don't know how much they will deviate from that on some patterns given down distance and field position. I believe we have some speed that can take advantage of our opponents if it is schemed properly. We will see.

I also think that the difference in scheme will help our O-Line with better blocking angles and perhaps open better holes/seams for our RB's. Whaley is better than what he showed last season. His YPC last season were off a full yard from the year previous. Hayden accounted for 13.2% of the total carries and had 16.2% of the total yards. Hammonds accounted for 6.9% of all carries but contributed 13.0% of all yards. We have talent at RB and we are adding more. Just need to get the blocking assignments cleared up and executed and we could be back to being a 2,700-3,000 yard rushing team. Do that and the success in the passing game, both short and longer, will come along.
Go Hogs Go!

Tejano Jawg

Quote from: bennyl08 on February 13, 2018, 06:04:42 pm
Define great? Let's assume great means drafted in the top 3 rounds of the draft.

That's a fair question. And kinda hard to always quantify.

But yes, one way to say it—worthy of being drafted in the top 2 or 3 rounds would mean a lot. Beyond that, and beyond the numbers they may put up—pardon my stream-of-consciousness rambling—is what you see watching them in real time. Are they game-changers? Do they make plays that can be breathtaking?

Take DMac and Felix (this is an easy example)—sure their numbers were huge, sometimes unreal, but seeing what they could do on the field made you understand. They could alter a game in an instant. Contrast that with Joe Adams and Drew Morgan, whose stats may not be eye-popping if you're just reading the sports page. But I always think about the fight in them, their productivity when it mattered, and how those 2 may be the most furious run-after-catch guys I can remember in a long time. Great can take several forms.

Another way to look at it, what do other coaches think? Who do they talk about? When they pass out scouting reports, are these players circled with a star by their number? Take a defensive stud like Billy Ray Smith Jr. (first guy I thought of), forget all the All-conf and All-American lists he made. Think about how every gameplan by the opposing OC had some unique strategy drawn up to try and keep him off their quarterback. When you are constantly in the head of the other guys, you're probably great.

Or something like that. But that's what i'm looking forward to this Fall...who will be the next guys to emerge, and be the topic of conversations for the next week?
Between McAfee being obnoxious and Corso decomposing before our eyes I can't even watch GameDay anymore. —Torqued Pork

 

MuskogeeHogFan

Quote from: Tejano Jawg on February 13, 2018, 11:00:33 pm
That's a fair question. And kinda hard to always quantify.

But yes, one way to say it—worthy of being drafted in the top 2 or 3 rounds would mean a lot. Beyond that, and beyond the numbers they may put up—pardon my stream-of-consciousness rambling—is what you see watching them in real time. Are they game-changers? Do they make plays that can be breathtaking?

Take DMac and Felix (this is an easy example)—sure their numbers were huge, sometimes unreal, but seeing what they could do on the field made you understand. They could alter a game in an instant. Contrast that with Joe Adams and Drew Morgan, whose stats may not be eye-popping if you're just reading the sports page. But I always think about the fight in them, their productivity when it mattered, and how those 2 may be the most furious run-after-catch guys I can remember in a long time. Great can take several forms.

Another way to look at it, what do other coaches think? Who do they talk about? When they pass out scouting reports, are these players circled with a star by their number? Take a defensive stud like Billy Ray Smith Jr. (first guy I thought of), forget all the All-conf and All-American lists he made. Think about how every gameplan by the opposing OC had some unique strategy drawn up to try and keep him off their quarterback. When you are constantly in the head of the other guys, you're probably great.

Or something like that. But that's what i'm looking forward to this Fall...who will be the next guys to emerge, and be the topic of conversations for the next week?

I didn't mean to not answer this question about who might be "great". I think that you hit on the one thing that determines who is considered to be "great". It isn't what we think, it is what opposing teams think about our players and their match-ups with those players, particularly as it relates to this thread.

Question is, what WR do we have right now who has been so dominating in his performance that defenses scheme a part of their coverage to shut them down when we play? Same with RB's, TE's and QB's. We've sometimes schemed to "spy" certain QB's but when was the last time that other teams felt the need to assign a "spy" to one of our QB's?

It is my hope that a new offensive scheme will produce a few players who opponents feel that they have to keep track of lest they make a big play that can turn a game around.
Go Hogs Go!

BoynamedWooPigSooie

It's an another example of Bielema's poor roster mgmt.  When you have more WR than OL yet rarely played more than 2 WR at a time.  That's a basic competency issue.
Hogville's resident uniform designer.

Tejano Jawg

Quote from: MuskogeeHogFan on February 14, 2018, 06:17:11 am

Question is, what WR do we have right now who has been so dominating in his performance that defenses scheme a part of their coverage to shut them down when we play? Same with RB's, TE's and QB's.


Our 2017 offense, as a whole, was so underwhelming it's still hard for me to zero in on a few positions. The biggest problems last year—lack of great quarterback play and poor/inconsistent o-line play. And the combination of the 2. Without the QB clicking, the running backs get keyed on, and certainly the receivers aren't making enough 'chunk' plays.

On the wideouts—Nance did look pretty solid, as was Cornelius in previous years. Maybe we start there, with 2 reliable veterans. Jordan Jones is a curiosity...is he supposed to be the best 'vertical' threat? Because he may have paid the biggest price because of poor/average play at QB. I remember too many times where he'd catch the ball and have no yds-after-catch. (Again the question, what was the problem? Was it him or the QB/ball not leading him upfield?)

Really looking to see Brandon Martin* become a serious player for us. 6-4 and a champion high jumper?...we need him operating at full speed. He needs to be the man. After him is that large pool of Stewart, Warren, Pettway, K Jackson, etc. I've seen a little something from all these guys. Now we just need them to find their place. I wonder if Woods will get any PT...but I do like him. The TEs are fine.

And running back—the mystery continues. I guess Whaley will get the most early looks. I've always liked him, just want him to produce more. (Refer back to o-line problems above.) Hammonds and Hayden showed us some flashes, and gave us all something to debate Sundays through Fridays. And time for Maleek Williams to get into the picture. And finally, Rakeem Boyd thickens the plot. Unfortunately, the best backs we had the past 2 seasons have moved on—Rawleigh W and David W (who I was impressed with last year). So the door is wide open.
Between McAfee being obnoxious and Corso decomposing before our eyes I can't even watch GameDay anymore. —Torqued Pork

MuskogeeHogFan

Quote from: Tejano Jawg on February 15, 2018, 01:20:01 am
Our 2017 offense, as a whole, was so underwhelming it's still hard for me to zero in on a few positions. The biggest problems last year—lack of great quarterback play and poor/inconsistent o-line play. And the combination of the 2. Without the QB clicking, the running backs get keyed on, and certainly the receivers aren't making enough 'chunk' plays.

On the wideouts—Nance did look pretty solid, as was Cornelius in previous years. Maybe we start there, with 2 reliable veterans. Jordan Jones is a curiosity...is he supposed to be the best 'vertical' threat? Because he may have paid the biggest price because of poor/average play at QB. I remember too many times where he'd catch the ball and have no yds-after-catch. (Again the question, what was the problem? Was it him or the QB/ball not leading him upfield?)

Really looking to see Brandon Martin* become a serious player for us. 6-4 and a champion high jumper?...we need him operating at full speed. He needs to be the man. After him is that large pool of Stewart, Warren, Pettway, K Jackson, etc. I've seen a little something from all these guys. Now we just need them to find their place. I wonder if Woods will get any PT...but I do like him. The TEs are fine.

And running back—the mystery continues. I guess Whaley will get the most early looks. I've always liked him, just want him to produce more. (Refer back to o-line problems above.) Hammonds and Hayden showed us some flashes, and gave us all something to debate Sundays through Fridays. And time for Maleek Williams to get into the picture. And finally, Rakeem Boyd thickens the plot. Unfortunately, the best backs we had the past 2 seasons have moved on—Rawleigh W and David W (who I was impressed with last year). So the door is wide open.


This first year may be the greatest indicator of just how good this staff is as a unit. All they have to work with is who we have on campus now and this first recruiting class. Can they take this team, adjust their schemes to the talent on hand and produce a team that is going to be more competitive? I said earlier that I think that we have more talent than we realize. Certainly more potential for success than what we have witnessed the last year or two.

The talent on the team aside, it will be a huge improvement if we just don't blow games in the second half where we are close or leading. That alone will re-energize this team and the fan base and that to me, is the first step. Correct the mental aspect and then we will see what level of talent we really have on hand.
Go Hogs Go!

Mo_Better_Hogs

In looking at MHF's first post again--the position chart--man, we DO have a lot of guys for Morris to choose from. Given that number, wouldn't the law of averages say there are some playmakers in that group?

I was thinking of something else, THIS past recruiting class will be easy to keep up with, since there are only 4 of them!--a receiver, a running back, 2 quarterbacks. Not saying that's good or bad, I just keep forgetting it's that simple.