Mornin Mates...
Today's Topic = Fall-Off Factor
I'll be heading back to the heat down south tomorrow so will do the "walkabout" now...
I'm very comfortable with our starting players on either side of the ball for this is Graham's best Sun Devil team to date with talent and experience, and I think they are good enough to beat anyone on their schedule and could realistically challenge for a national playoff spot, if they remain pretty healthy, across the board, during the season...
However, with a few key injuries (knock on wood) here and there, there could be problems big enough to diminish those chances for huge success...this is true of almost every other team in the country as well...
With that in mind, let's examine each position group to see where we stand in terms of potential fall-off due to injury and/or some unanticipated attrition...
QB...Berco will be one of the best in the PAC and therefore one of the best in the nation and he has all kinds of offensive weapons with which to score points in droves...however, should he go down (knock on wood) I think the fall-off between him and Manny will be significant, since Manny red-shirted last year and did not play, and since both White and Perkins, although very talented, are true freshman, and that would not bode well for the Sun Devils if they were thrown into the action...the best case scenario would be that, if needed, Manny would do what Solomon did for the Cats last year, after his red-shirt season, when he led the Cats to the South title...Manny knows the offense very well but has a tendency to abandon the pocket sometimes too early, according to the coaching staff...
RB...the Devils are loaded at this position and there shouldn't be any real fall-off if an injury occurred here, so will not spend a lot of time on this...
WR...despite the loss of Strong and C Smith, the Devils appear to have 6-7-8 quality receivers, some of whom are burners, who can get behind opposing secondaries at times, so not too concerned at this position either, in terms of potential fall-off, should an injury or two occur...
TE...Kohl is solid but a tad bit on the smallish size for a TE...Epps hasn't really shown much and Martinez has size issues as well and has been injured...that leaves a couple of true FR who probably need a RS year in order to enhance their chances at this position, so this is an area of concern for sure...
OL...there are both quality and good depth along the line...probably the best OL Graham has had at ASU, so the only question is how do you approach the line, thinking about replacing four starters next season...S McCray, S Jones and Q Bailey will undoubtedly play and letter, as will C Humphreys, who was recently moved from the DL to the OL, where he will play either guard or center...D Goodman will also play some, I would imagine, which leaves both S Miller and Z Robertson, who are true FR and will play a lot in the near future, with the question being whether they will be used this year to get them ready for next year...so, not real worried about much fall-off along the OL...
DL...the Devils are very deep and flexible along the DL so not too concerned about potential fall-off here...
LB...the Devils are also deep along the the LB corps although a Bradford like Devil-backer hasn't been found yet, although Longino, Calhoun, IMR and, perhaps, true FR J Bates may succeed there, and maybe Ballage plays some there as well...aside from that, a loss of Moke would be very troublesome as he has the best instinctual and intellectual grasp of the SPUR position and, when he missed time last season, the defense gave up some big plays, due to missed assignments that led to a couple of losses...so there is some concern in the LB corps, despite the overall talent and depth there...
Secondary...the starters are very good, although it will be interesting to see how the safety positions fare given the loss of Randall...true FR K Orr will play back there and A Perry has shown a lot of promise at safety...the Devils are not particularly deep in the secondary so cannot afford injuries there...
Special Teams...both Haack and Gonzalez are very good at what they do and a loss to either would be crippling...the word is that the Special Teams are much better organized this year under Slocum than they were in the past, which should bode well for the overall play of the special teams...
Have I missed anything about potential fall-off and/or do you have any additional thoughts or concerns about the subject..??
The football season is now only a couple of weeks away...
Not looking forward to the heat but am looking forward to another season of Sun Devil football...
G'day Mates...Championships or Bust...Go Devils!!!
Today's Topic = Fall-Off Factor
I'll be heading back to the heat down south tomorrow so will do the "walkabout" now...
I'm very comfortable with our starting players on either side of the ball for this is Graham's best Sun Devil team to date with talent and experience, and I think they are good enough to beat anyone on their schedule and could realistically challenge for a national playoff spot, if they remain pretty healthy, across the board, during the season...
However, with a few key injuries (knock on wood) here and there, there could be problems big enough to diminish those chances for huge success...this is true of almost every other team in the country as well...
With that in mind, let's examine each position group to see where we stand in terms of potential fall-off due to injury and/or some unanticipated attrition...
QB...Berco will be one of the best in the PAC and therefore one of the best in the nation and he has all kinds of offensive weapons with which to score points in droves...however, should he go down (knock on wood) I think the fall-off between him and Manny will be significant, since Manny red-shirted last year and did not play, and since both White and Perkins, although very talented, are true freshman, and that would not bode well for the Sun Devils if they were thrown into the action...the best case scenario would be that, if needed, Manny would do what Solomon did for the Cats last year, after his red-shirt season, when he led the Cats to the South title...Manny knows the offense very well but has a tendency to abandon the pocket sometimes too early, according to the coaching staff...
RB...the Devils are loaded at this position and there shouldn't be any real fall-off if an injury occurred here, so will not spend a lot of time on this...
WR...despite the loss of Strong and C Smith, the Devils appear to have 6-7-8 quality receivers, some of whom are burners, who can get behind opposing secondaries at times, so not too concerned at this position either, in terms of potential fall-off, should an injury or two occur...
TE...Kohl is solid but a tad bit on the smallish size for a TE...Epps hasn't really shown much and Martinez has size issues as well and has been injured...that leaves a couple of true FR who probably need a RS year in order to enhance their chances at this position, so this is an area of concern for sure...
OL...there are both quality and good depth along the line...probably the best OL Graham has had at ASU, so the only question is how do you approach the line, thinking about replacing four starters next season...S McCray, S Jones and Q Bailey will undoubtedly play and letter, as will C Humphreys, who was recently moved from the DL to the OL, where he will play either guard or center...D Goodman will also play some, I would imagine, which leaves both S Miller and Z Robertson, who are true FR and will play a lot in the near future, with the question being whether they will be used this year to get them ready for next year...so, not real worried about much fall-off along the OL...
DL...the Devils are very deep and flexible along the DL so not too concerned about potential fall-off here...
LB...the Devils are also deep along the the LB corps although a Bradford like Devil-backer hasn't been found yet, although Longino, Calhoun, IMR and, perhaps, true FR J Bates may succeed there, and maybe Ballage plays some there as well...aside from that, a loss of Moke would be very troublesome as he has the best instinctual and intellectual grasp of the SPUR position and, when he missed time last season, the defense gave up some big plays, due to missed assignments that led to a couple of losses...so there is some concern in the LB corps, despite the overall talent and depth there...
Secondary...the starters are very good, although it will be interesting to see how the safety positions fare given the loss of Randall...true FR K Orr will play back there and A Perry has shown a lot of promise at safety...the Devils are not particularly deep in the secondary so cannot afford injuries there...
Special Teams...both Haack and Gonzalez are very good at what they do and a loss to either would be crippling...the word is that the Special Teams are much better organized this year under Slocum than they were in the past, which should bode well for the overall play of the special teams...
Have I missed anything about potential fall-off and/or do you have any additional thoughts or concerns about the subject..??
The football season is now only a couple of weeks away...
Not looking forward to the heat but am looking forward to another season of Sun Devil football...
G'day Mates...Championships or Bust...Go Devils!!!
