Who Emerged This Year & What Did They Show You?

InsideLB

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This is intended to be a fun, non-argumentative thread that recognizes guys for developing as players.

I appreciate James Grahm. He showed me:
--Will stand in pocket and throw an accurate pass despite being about to be obliterated. Shows toughness, moxy, and vision/sensing he can get it off.
--The most accurate deep balls this year I have seen in awhile. Like his game in this department!
--As the season wore on he ran with more effectiveness, authority, decisiveness, and elusiveness. Backbreaking runs vs NC State in crunch time.
--Made better reads in option game as season went on.
--Struggled at times behind makeshift line and missed a fair number of passes due to not setting feet. Very fixable though, and always came back with renewed confidence.
--Accurrate throws on the run this year. Good arm strength.

Competition is king and we have Yates who will challenge, along with at least Gleason. If LJ stays and can stay healthy it wouldnt be unheard of for him to have a great year either....the arm is definitely there.

This said, I like Grahm's potential. If he continues to develop and the OL does as well then there is serious potential. Potential to be scary on runs and pull-it-down and run plays. Potential to improve setting feet and squaring.

Also proud he got it done in the classroom. We have seen some kids not be able to dig out like that, so kudos.

Who else you got?
 
GTJake

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Jordan Mason is the real deal, going to be a superstar.
On Graham, I agree he has potential, but he needs to improve his consistency, which might come with the added paying time and experience from this season.
And as much as we need to improve in the trenches, I think it's equally (or more) important that we find a QB that fits our offensive scheme ...
 

InsideLB

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To each their own.

I liked what I saw out of the WR group. They are young but making some noise:

A. Brown by definition emerged, tying Calvin Johnson's frosh TD record.

Carter I had hoped to see more out of early, and I was happy to see him get more involved as the season wore on. I can see the potential.

Oliver I felt did pretty damn well after a mid-season switch to WR. Sometimes it takes awhile at a new position, so nice to see some traction. Kudos to him.

A. Sanders also became more 8nvolved as the season wore on. Quick and elusive.

J. Camp, 4* Ezzard, and some highly regarded recruits will join the fray next year. I like Dixon as a coach and feel this position group is on it's way in the transition from the u/c spread option.
 
Coloradojacket

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On Offense:
J Mason. He is going to start putting up huge numbers if we get the O line worked out
A Brown This kid is going to be a superstar

On Defense
Trey Swilling. Played tough all year

Other:
Well we always knew P Harvin was something but he is a weapon. Do you realize how many muffed punts he has created from his howitzer punts.
 

InsideLB

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Minihan surprised me at the start of the year before getting hurt. Wouldnt say he is there yet but he got my attention. Thank God for William Lay...he does not figure to be a starter next year but for a walk on he really got it done and kept the OL from complete implosion.

Those guys fought and IMO punched above their weight considering how depleted our line was due to injuries, not having enough OL to begin with, and being severely undersized. Plus totally new scheme and technique.

Thank God for Key because we are going to need some tr-fr OL to play immediately. I cant say I am terribly optimistic about next year's OL. Zach played a full season and shpuld continue to get better.

We shall see but on the basis of football being a game of the trenches. I dont see us being picked to do much better than we did this year. Just not the cohesive experience and depth on OL that you see on good teams. But I also believe we will punch above our weight in this position group next year. Long term is unclear as we have to see what Key does with the guys he brings in.
 
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InsideLB

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Agree on Swilling, and C. Thomas. Zamari Walton played a ton as a frosh. Took his licks but also made some plays. I think he will end up being a very good player before all is said and done.

Knight is a sick athelete and has a chance to be really good. Has never played LB before, and considering that I think what he did this year was impressive.

I liked what Antwaan Owens did on the DL before he was out for the season. For a frosh J'quon Griffin played well. We will need Clayton to come in and be the real deal. Lots of work to be done on the DL. Praying we get a guy who can provode immediate pass rush.
 
stech81

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MacJacket said:
You serious? Jordan Mason proved that he could play for anyone in the country. I think Knight showed out well.
Click to expand...
Yes I'm serious he did what I expected of him to be good. Could you not tell last year he was good. If the question was who surprised me I would have picked a walk on Lay ( I think that was his name) . sorry at 3 wins no one played better than I thought they would some not as good but I would not list their names.
 
okiemon

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Coloradojacket said:
On Offense:
J Mason. He is going to start putting up huge numbers if we get the O line worked out
A Brown This kid is going to be a superstar

On Defense
Trey Swilling. Played tough all year

Other:
Well we always knew P Harvin was something but he is a weapon. Do you realize how many muffed punts he has created from his howitzer punts.
Click to expand...

I agree with your selections.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Supersizethatorder-mutt

Supersizethatorder-mutt

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InsideLB said:
This is intended to be a fun, non-argumentative thread that recognizes guys for developing as players.

I appreciate James Grahm. He showed me:
--Will stand in pocket and throw an accurate pass despite being about to be obliterated. Shows toughness, moxy, and vision/sensing he can get it off.
--The most accurate deep balls this year I have seen in awhile. Like his game in this department!
--As the season wore on he ran with more effectiveness, authority, decisiveness, and elusiveness. Backbreaking runs vs NC State in crunch time.
--Made better reads in option game as season went on.
--Struggled at times behind makeshift line and missed a fair number of passes due to not setting feet. Very fixable though, and always came back with renewed confidence.
--Accurrate throws on the run this year. Good arm strength.

Competition is king and we have Yates who will challenge, along with at least Gleason. If LJ stays and can stay healthy it wouldnt be unheard of for him to have a great year either....the arm is definitely there.

This said, I like Grahm's potential. If he continues to develop and the OL does as well then there is serious potential. Potential to be scary on runs and pull-it-down and run plays. Potential to improve setting feet and squaring.

Also proud he got it done in the classroom. We have seen some kids not be able to dig out like that, so kudos.

Who else you got?
Click to expand...
The downside of Graham is that he admittedly came to two games unready to play. That cannot happen.
 

takethepoints

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InsideLB said:
Knight is a sick athelete and has a chance to be really good. Has never played LB before, and considering that I think what he did this year was impressive.
Click to expand...
Knight played both ways in high school and played ILB. Pretty good there too.

He's the kind of player I fear Tech'll lose in future as the staff goes "star hunting". Knight showed up at an open camp for Paul. Apparently, he was measured then offered right after his 40 was timed. You just don't find guys that big who run legit low 4.5 40s. Before that, of course, to say he was "below the radar" was to exaggerate. He was buried so far under that nobody at any level was paying him much mind. (Well … he did have an offer from Tennessee Tech!) He would have been good competition for Yates under the old regime. But now he'll probably contend for starting position at ILB.

Query: Will we be as attuned to talent like his (or, say, Kelly Campbell, who was also unrated and unnoticed) in future, with every fan out there gloating about "another four star!"? I hope so, but I doubt it.
 
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Heisman's Ghost

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stech81 said:
Really no one this past year. At best they stayed the same or went down from what I thought.
Click to expand...

Even on a team that has won only three games there are always players that improve...some others not so much. Some of the offensive linemen had to have improved judged by how they were doing at the end of the season compared with the beginning but I am not informed enough on line play to comment on which ones. The aforementioned Mr. Mason is indeed the real deal and took the mandate to improve over the summer seriously. Perhaps Tre Swilling given we went from almost exclusively zone to much more man to man press coverage. Sanders on the receiving corps stepped up and James got noticeably more comfortable at quarterback. All of them will have to improve significantly moving forward because some of those freshmen are coming in to take their spots if they don't.
 
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