Most Devastating Injury this Year

[DC Bee]

<------ This may chum up the waters a bit but here it goes. My vote goes to Tim Byerly.

"But he's just the backup QB" you say.

I love JT. He's awesome. Tim Byerly is not JT and he knows it. He is not as fast and as slick as JT, therefore there is a fundamental difference in the approach to running the system between the 2 players. TB can be fluid running the offense. Many posters have stated their observation that JT is trying too hard to make something out of nothing, and in the process an otherwise 2-4 yard gain becomes a 5 yard loss. Many posters have stated we're not getting the tough 2-4 yards the defenses are giving us. I believe TB would get those tough yards precisely because he's not JT.

I am not wishing that JT would get benched. What I am saying is that if Tim were available, we might have seen some real old style grinding on offense in some of these losses. Even in the admittedly bad years previously, there was some offensive grinding with Tevin. He had no choice but to take what the defenses were giving. We're not seeing it this year because our playmaker is trying to be a playmaker.

If TB was available, do you think CPJ would have put him in against ND to see what would happen? I do. I can't say the end result would be drastically different, but I do think the play on the offense would be more north-south right into the teeth of the defense. Less finesse. More smash mouth.

I think that if some offense drives with TB would translate into some points, it could only help JT to see.

There's my $0.02. Agree or disagree? If not JT, then who gets your vote for most devastating injury? You cannot select a whole position group like, "all the ABs."

 

[B Lifsey]

His injury has been very devastating. I'm not sure we can pin one as the most devastating but his is certainly up there. I wonder if he brought certain cohesion to the O group also that we now are missing.

 

[kg01]

I'd say it's the culmination of all the injuries not one in particular. Sorry for the non-answer, but I just think we haven't been able to deal with having guy after guy out at random.

 

[DC Bee]

C'mon guys. I'm just looking at one player and the possible impact to the game. Like I said, the overall result may not be different (losses), but the impact on the field might (offensive TOP & points).

Quit being such pansies and agree or disagree.

 

[JorgeJonas]

I'm going to cheat and say it was a non-injury. It was Dennis Andrews's dismissal. He was a devastating blocker on the edge last year, and we're missing that desperately this season.

 

[Boomergump]

DC, you may be right and that injury you speak of had more far reaching consequences than you mentioned. For example, if TB is still at #2 then MJ is still helping at AB where we are really hurting for physical play. Also, if TB is still at #2, then our practices may have structured a little differently where we are not protecting players quite as much. That is just supposition on my part, but I can see it happening. We have had so many injuries, and they all hurt, but if I was forced to rank them, I think I agree, TB at #1. That guy, despite being #2 was a steadying influence on the entire roster.

CG being out has hurt a lot too and we don't typically hear much about that. OT play, for whatever reason, seems to have fallen off this season. Another year of growth for him could have made a big difference, possibly enough to hang on to a starters role.

BS and QS both stretch the field at AB. BS is the better blocker, QS is the better route runner with better hands.

How would the entire flavor of the offense and possible structure of the roster look different if CJL was uninjured? That is a huge "what if" too.

There are just so many. I hate to leave people out 'cause they all hurt.

 

[gtg936g]

I think Summers really hurt. He was our 3rd and long goto guy. He also blocked better than RJ.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

It's not just the injuries, it's the departures due to graduation from last year that have hurt tremendously, and not just the army of runningbacks.

Two key losses on defense, ones that most on here just sluffed off as easy to replace, have not been. I'm talking about Nealy at lb and IJ at safety. Those two guys made A LOT of tackles last year, a lot. We are nowhere near as stout against the run as last year.

Also, our play at corner has really regressed too, and that fits right into the same mystery box as the OL. Two positions where we thought we were solid, have not been, not by a long shot. Yeah, we aren't getting any pressure on the qb, but we didn't do that last year and still got better corner play, especially ball skill-wise, not to mention tackling.

 

[GTJake]

Agree ... that TB gave us the opportunity to switch things up but, injuries aside there are a lot of things broken right now with the starting 11 on both sides of the ball.

 

[Boomergump]

It's not just the injuries, it's the departures due to graduation from last year that have hurt tremendously, and not just the army of runningbacks.

Two key losses on defense, ones that most on here just sluffed off as easy to replace, have not been. I'm talking about Nealy at lb and IJ at safety. Those two guys made A LOT of tackles last year, a lot. We are nowhere near as stout against the run as last year.

Also, our play at corner has really regressed too, and that fits right into the same mystery box as the OL. Two positions where we thought we were solid, have not been, not by a long shot. Yeah, we aren't getting any pressure on the qb, but we didn't do that last year and still got better corner play, especially ball skill-wise, not to mention tackling.

Interesting. I think our CBs have played well for the most part. They have covered well even though they may not have played the ball well at the end of certain plays.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Interesting. I think our CBs have played well for the most part. They have covered well even though they may not have played the ball well at the end of certain plays.

Maybe it's just the handful bad plays that stick out in my mind. They seem to happen at critical times where we have a good chance to get off the field. 3rd and long and a jump ball is caught because our corner doesn't get his head around to play the ball. That happened more than once. It doesn't matter if you're step for step with the wr if you don't play the ball. Then there was the dropped pick 6 vs UNC near the goal line that would have been a 14 pt swing.

 

[kg01]

It's not just the injuries, it's the departures due to graduation from last year that have hurt tremendously, and not just the army of runningbacks.

Two key losses on defense, ones that most on here just sluffed off as easy to replace, have not been. I'm talking about Nealy at lb and IJ at safety. Those two guys made A LOT of tackles last year, a lot. We are nowhere near as stout against the run as last year.

Also, our play at corner has really regressed too, and that fits right into the same mystery box as the OL. Two positions where we thought we were solid, have not been, not by a long shot. Yeah, we aren't getting any pressure on the qb, but we didn't do that last year and still got better corner play, especially ball skill-wise, not to mention tackling.

It is somewhat surprising that the graduate losses on D have shown up (shown up?) so glaringly. Many of us would've offered to drive IJ out of town. Good thing none of us are coaches.

Somewhat disagree on the CB play. I think they're making the best of a bad situation. The S position hasn't helped them IMHO. However, I do agree they've had a bad moment here and there.

But what do I know, per @DC Bee I'm apparently a pansy since I didn't agree/disagree with his opening post.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

It is somewhat surprising that the graduate losses on D have shown up (shown up?) so glaringly. Many of us would've offered to drive IJ out of town. Good thing none of us are coaches.

Somewhat disagree on the CB play. I think they're making the best of a bad situation. The S position hasn't helped them IMHO. However, I do agree they've had a bad moment here and there.

But what do I know, per @DC Bee I'm apparently a pansy since I didn't agree/disagree with his opening post.

What's frustrating to me is when we really need a play and we get that chance and don't make it. And when its by guys we're used to seeing make that play.

 

[Skeptic]

What's frustrating to me is when we really need a play and we get that chance and don't make it. And when its by guys we're used to seeing make that play.

I think Thomas was a better QB when Byerly was his backup than when he isn't. Whether that in isolation means anything I don't know. But he was.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

I think Thomas was a better QB when Byerly was his backup than when he isn't. Whether that in isolation means anything I don't know. But he was.

I wasn't talking about qb, but yeah, I agree.

 

[kg01]

What's frustrating to me is when we really need a play and we get that chance and don't make it. And when its by guys we're used to seeing make that play.

Agreed but we've been seeing that on D for a while.

Not to get off topic, but the difference in tackling (which I think is kinda what you're alluding to) between us and high profile teams is staggering. I always assumed it was due to size. However, I looked back at the relative sizes of our guys and other top defenses (MichSt, TCU and the like) and the size difference was IMO negligible. But when we hit a guy he tends to fall forward for 2-3 yards. Not sure how to fix this but I think it's fixable.

 

[Ibeeballin]

Let me try some GT math:

Our blocking + X = Same result

X= any QB in America

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Agreed but we've been seeing that on D for a while.

Not to get off topic, but the difference in tackling (which I think is kinda what you're alluding to) between us and high profile teams is staggering. I always assumed it was due to size. However, I looked back at the relative sizes of our guys and other top defenses (MichSt, TCU and the like) and the size difference was IMO negligible. But when we hit a guy he tends to fall forward for 2-3 yards. Not sure how to fix this but I think it's fixable.

We tackled much better last year, then again, we had Nealy and IJ.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Let me try some GT math:

Our blocking + X = Same result

X= any QB in America

We miss Mason big time. He made the OL work, in more ways than one.

 

[kg01]

We tackled much better last year, then again, we had Nealy and IJ.

Yeah, I think there's a guy or 2 that shouldn't be on the field this year. We really miss the guys you mentioned plus the LB that left for FL who's name escapes me. Always struck me as a solid tackler when he was in there.