PJ's Offense

wingsrlevel

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
480
Is this the result we were all looking for and expecting when we heard "wait till PJ gets his players " on offense? Thomas was recruited as a QB, Laskey was recruited as a BB and Waller and company was recruited as WR's. Think about if Green were still on the roster about the depth there would be at the WR position. Smelter was just plain luck to be on the team after baseball didn't work out. AB's were all recruited to play the position with the exception of CP, who was recruited to play BB. All the OL were recruited to play on the OL. Could it be 3 or 4 years to get your offense recruited and another 2 years to get it all to come together on the field (this year)? Thoughts?
 

foggy

Georgia Tech Fan
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24
Not sure if JT was recruited by us but thanks to Saban we have the kid now. Bama sure could use him but that's life.
 

swampsting

Helluva Engineer
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1,825
Laskey originally was a DB, IIRC.
Smelter had a shoulder injury, curtailing his baseball career, IIRC.

And what of Jeff Greene, Laskey's teammate at Starr's Mill? Is he doing anything at the Ohio State?
 

Whiskey_Clear

Banned
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10,486
If JT hadn't been recruited by us he'd be playing somewhere else right now.

We will miss Smelter next year. But if MLD is as good as he appears...this offense will reach new highs next year. Now....back to this year. I think we can score on most defenses. By years end I think only top tier Ds..(Clemson) will really give us headaches. Other than that we just need to minimize turnovers and all will be well.
 

ilovetheoption

Helluva Engineer
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2,803
So, lots of people will probably disagree with me, but I think "his players" largely means "OL and QB"

The scheme is going to get B-Backs and A-Backs yards, depending on what the defense does. Laskey is solid, but unspectacular. He gets the yards the scheme is designed to get him, and he takes them, which is good enough. Is it nice to have a stud back there like Dwyer? Of course, but he's a "system player" and seems to be about what you should be able to reasonably expect to have year in-year out.

Your A-Backs are solid, but unspectacular. In any given year, you'll have a guy like Smith, or Godhigh ,or Jones, or whoever step up as an upperclassman and establish themselves as the best A-Back on the roster. This year, it's probably Perkins, but the A-backs haven't gotten as much action as normal.

Your WR's are good. I think they're probably better than you can expect in any given year, due to Smelter. Waller and Summers are what you can expect.

I think having studs at those positions are luxuries that the system makes harder to recruit, rather than easier. Its no sin to say that ELITE backs aren't going to want to play in this system because A) It doesn't prepare you for the NFL and B) the carries are going to get spread out. You're probably just not going to sign many 4-5 star backs. If you can get one in any given year (like a MLD), it's a successful recruiting year for backs. The majority of guys are going to be the Nathan Cottrells of the world. Guys who aren't studs in ANY system, but you hope they can be studs in YOUR system.

**Edit, LOL forgot to post my point**

The point is, you doing need specific "types" of guys at those positions. Robbie Godhigh is a very different back from Roddy Jones is a very different back from Orwin Smith is a very different back from Anthony Allen is a very different back from Synjyn days. The WR's have been the same way.

You can plug and play guys at those spots, and reasonably expect to have a certain level of success regardless of what "type" of player you have.

Not true at QB and OL. You need a specific type, that can do specific things, and if they can't your offense is going to sputter HARD.

Take Vad Lee. He could do a LOT of things, but he couldn't do the core things of the offense. He'd be better in a lot of systems than he would at GT. Nobody knew that at the time, but he didn't have the specific skillset needed for the QB position in this offense. It appears JT does. It's a little early, sure, but it seems like he is a good fit.

OL are the same way.

So, if he has a good fitting OL and QB, I think the offense will be successful, no matter who you have at the other positions.
 
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Whiskey_Clear

Banned
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10,486
We had trouble recruiting 4 n 5 star backs long before CPJ arrived on campus. Does this scheme make that even harder? Possibly. Who knows what this debate would look like today if Custis was eligible? Fwiw we do have a bit of history turning 3star backs into NFL backs.
 

wingsrlevel

Jolly Good Fellow
Messages
480
Laskey originally was a DB, IIRC.
Smelter had a shoulder injury, curtailing his baseball career, IIRC.

And what of Jeff Greene, Laskey's teammate at Starr's Mill? Is he doing anything at the Ohio State?

Laskey was recruited as a BB but played DB for his FR year because of depth issues. IIRC Laskey was one of PJ's picks as was Zenon the year before. We are lucky baseball didn't work out for Smelter. Greene is playing special teams according to their web site.
 

Eric

Retired Co-Founder
Messages
12,734
Laskey was recruited as a BB but played DB for his FR year because of depth issues. IIRC Laskey was one of PJ's picks as was Zenon the year before. We are lucky baseball didn't work out for Smelter. Greene is playing special teams according to their web site.

Correct...Laskey come in at B back.
He is...about 4th string at WR if I remember right.
 
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