After years of watching Belichick draft, I kind of expect stuff like this. Their valuation of picks certainly is not the same as everyone else's. But after taking a deep breath, I can at least see what they were thinking. They took their guard of the future, after all the OL with first round grades were gone, and it was a reach on paper. But, Strange is insanely athletic - in fact, he has the 7th highest relative athletic score of any O-lineman in the last 35 years. Understandable they didn't want to wait a round and risk someone else grabbing him before he came back around. Their 2nd and 3rd rounders are also incredible athletes - Thornton was the fastest player in the draft, and Jones has the look of an impact ST player and slot corner. I love the philosophy of taking multiple late-round OL, including Stueber as their potential RT of the future. I didn't like grabbing two RBs, given what they have on the roster. The QB seems like a lower-ceiling Mac Jones, but you never know.
Bottom line: they really emphasized athleticism, special teams, and the running game. I wish they'd drafted more defense, especially front 7, at the expense of a RB and/or QB. I also wish they'd be more patient and draft for value, but Bill picks his guys and gets them. Overall it's a typical off-script B- draft for me.
I used to like the relegation concept in college football, but it's untenable with the new transfer environment. Any team that gets relegated would be instantly cannibalized for its best players and prospects, not to mention coaches. Relegation would have an outsized effect for years, and schools might never have a chance to recover.
Thanks for the detailed response! I guess I'm still a bit shellshocked from Villanova. Great to hear your perspective - you can improve shooting more than you can improve athleticism!
Thanks Matt - I love how this class is shaping up athletically; however, do you think it's problematic that no one seems to be a bona fide shooter? I see a lot of guys who are interior scorers and/or playmakers, but to win a title we need some snipers. Curious if you think any of the guys in this class will fit the bill?
Yep! You can restructure your conferences to look how you want them to! Eliminate conference championship games, rename conferences, change conference schedules, etc.
Big Ten - Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan State, Northwestern, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana
Pac Ten - Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Cal, Stanford, USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State
Each division plays a round robin to crown a champion. The two champions play in a conference championship game Jan 1 called the Rose Bowl.
ACC - Clemson, Virginia, Duke, Wake Forest, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Maryland, Georgia Tech
Big East - Virginia Tech, Boston College, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Syracuse, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Penn State, Rutger
Each division plays a round robin and crowns a champion. The two champions play in a conference championship game Jan 1 called the Orange Bowl.
Notre Dame can go to hell, join the SEC, or join with the Big XII leftovers, Nebraska, Colorado, and Mountain West/WAC to form their own super conference.
Yeah, I think Clemson stands to lose the most from this. The ACC has three prime candidates, Miami, FSU, and Notre Dame, who will be strengthened by the changes... I'm not sure Clemson will be *the* ACC team for much longer.
It seemed from your Bigs post that adding Tarris Reed as a C and Yohan Traore as a PF was a real possibility. Do you think this possibility would require a fifth scholarship opening up, or might the staff be open to passing on a true wing altogether and signing a class of Dug, Jett, Traore, and Reed?
Agreed that the OPM breach was so much worse. It put a target on millions of security clearance holders AND their families, and yet the payout was zero, just a periodic email notifying me that something "might" be compromised that I started tuning out years ago.
Exactly. I'm an Air Force pilot and we always brief that after V1 it is the pilot's decision whether to take an emergency airborne or attempt to abort anyway. You can't always continue the takeoff, in the case of a dual engine failure, for example.
I agree that an 8 team playoff is preferable; however, I think it would have the unintended consequence of encouraging teams to schedule non-conference games the way Alabama (and the SEC as a whole) does. Louisville, Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, The Citadel, YGBFSM. But there's no incentive to do otherwise so why play someone good?
If Michigan had, say, played another MAC team instead of Notre Dame, they would have finished 11-1 and most likely made it as an at-large at the expense of Georgia or UCF.
Even a win over Notre Dame would not have helped in this case - 11-1 is in either way. A loss, however, is the only thing preventing Michigan from making the cut.
Thanks for posting. I used to be a more frequent visitor of your site but the content had become fairly infrequent and I honestly forgot. This is a good excuse to start coming back!
I know I'm late to the party, but imagine my chagrin when I finished my pizza and uncorked a bottle of wine, only to discover that the show is not available in my region (Italy). Any idea about whether this may be viewable somewhere else (YouTube, torrent, etc?)
If Mathews is 100% coming back, then the only variable is Wagner. 100% * 50% = 50% chance they both stay, and 50% chance Mathews stays and Wagner goes.
This is their game. Shorten the game, hope the opposition makes mistakes. So far Michigan has. I saw nothing in the first half that made me think Air Force had a legitimate chance to win. But I'm an Academy grad, so I'm used to seeing the Falcons get worn down by better teams as the game goes on.
RB2: Christian mccaffery, dalvin cook, CJ Anderson, Bilal Powell
Flex: kelvin benjamin, Brandon Marshall.
Currently playing Cook and Benjamin, but I like all the RBs.
I can identify. As a fellow service academy graduate, there are bigger things in life. I have lost both classmates and friends. However, for me, this year was different. I was watching the fourth quarter of the Game, when a dear friend from the Academy rang the bell. I hadn't seen her in several years. She is a doctoral student, but while voluntarily serving a 365 in Afghanistan, suffered a stroke, resulting in brain damage. She now struggles to form basic words, which is painful to see in someone whose mind clearly has big ideas it forms, but simply cannot express.
I spent the next few hours with my friend, enjoying every precious moment that brimmed with life and perspective. Yes, it sucked to later discover how the Game ended. I wish it had been different. But win or lose, I wouldn't trade my short time with my friend for anything. Stay strong, treasure the important things in life, and always, Go Blue!
He reminds the writer so much of Clark that he perhaps IS Clark.
"Other comparables include Jarrod Wilson (if Clark is very very boring) and Ernest Shazor (if Clark is shockingly athletic and a touchdown factory for the opposition).
I saw this post and all I could think of was Allen arguing with Terry in The Other Guys.
"Ok, first off: A lion? Swimming in the Ocean? Lions don't like water. If you placed it near a river or some sort of fresh water source, that would make sense. But you find yourself in the ocean, 20 foot waves, I'm assuming off the coast of South Africa, coming up against a full grown 800 pound tuna and his 20 or 30 friends? You lose that battle. You lose that battle 9 times out of 10."
The base at which I am currently stationed has a small Royal Air Force contingent that hosts an annual Battle of Britain memorial event, during which they recount the heroic deeds and sacrifices of those who battled the Luftwaffe over the skies of Britain, and yes, burn a piano. This latter tradition goes back to the era of the world wars in Britain, and served a dual purpose of protesting mandatory piano lessons meant to culture RAF pilots and simultaneously bidding a ceremonious farewell to fallen comrades.
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Just checking this after reading the Cam Goode article today, and noticed that he's not yet included here!
After years of watching Belichick draft, I kind of expect stuff like this. Their valuation of picks certainly is not the same as everyone else's. But after taking a deep breath, I can at least see what they were thinking. They took their guard of the future, after all the OL with first round grades were gone, and it was a reach on paper. But, Strange is insanely athletic - in fact, he has the 7th highest relative athletic score of any O-lineman in the last 35 years. Understandable they didn't want to wait a round and risk someone else grabbing him before he came back around. Their 2nd and 3rd rounders are also incredible athletes - Thornton was the fastest player in the draft, and Jones has the look of an impact ST player and slot corner. I love the philosophy of taking multiple late-round OL, including Stueber as their potential RT of the future. I didn't like grabbing two RBs, given what they have on the roster. The QB seems like a lower-ceiling Mac Jones, but you never know.
Bottom line: they really emphasized athleticism, special teams, and the running game. I wish they'd drafted more defense, especially front 7, at the expense of a RB and/or QB. I also wish they'd be more patient and draft for value, but Bill picks his guys and gets them. Overall it's a typical off-script B- draft for me.
And they talk even less about the time they did it right before Thanksgiving!
Found The_Acknowledge's burner account!
I used to like the relegation concept in college football, but it's untenable with the new transfer environment. Any team that gets relegated would be instantly cannibalized for its best players and prospects, not to mention coaches. Relegation would have an outsized effect for years, and schools might never have a chance to recover.
Thanks for the detailed response! I guess I'm still a bit shellshocked from Villanova. Great to hear your perspective - you can improve shooting more than you can improve athleticism!
Thanks Matt - I love how this class is shaping up athletically; however, do you think it's problematic that no one seems to be a bona fide shooter? I see a lot of guys who are interior scorers and/or playmakers, but to win a title we need some snipers. Curious if you think any of the guys in this class will fit the bill?
Yep! You can restructure your conferences to look how you want them to! Eliminate conference championship games, rename conferences, change conference schedules, etc.
Big Ten - Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan State, Northwestern, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Purdue, Indiana
Pac Ten - Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Cal, Stanford, USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State
Each division plays a round robin to crown a champion. The two champions play in a conference championship game Jan 1 called the Rose Bowl.
ACC - Clemson, Virginia, Duke, Wake Forest, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Maryland, Georgia Tech
Big East - Virginia Tech, Boston College, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Syracuse, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Penn State, Rutger
Each division plays a round robin and crowns a champion. The two champions play in a conference championship game Jan 1 called the Orange Bowl.
Notre Dame can go to hell, join the SEC, or join with the Big XII leftovers, Nebraska, Colorado, and Mountain West/WAC to form their own super conference.
Anyway, this is how I play NCAA 14.
Beautiful puppy! Ours threw up on the floor and then licked my face this morning. Happy Friday!
Is giving off Drake Harris vibes a good thing for a freshman receiver?
Yeah, I think Clemson stands to lose the most from this. The ACC has three prime candidates, Miami, FSU, and Notre Dame, who will be strengthened by the changes... I'm not sure Clemson will be *the* ACC team for much longer.
Ha, looks like multiple others had functionally the same question!
It seemed from your Bigs post that adding Tarris Reed as a C and Yohan Traore as a PF was a real possibility. Do you think this possibility would require a fifth scholarship opening up, or might the staff be open to passing on a true wing altogether and signing a class of Dug, Jett, Traore, and Reed?
- Only noticed it on my phone, not laptop
- Samsung Internet browser with Galaxy S8
They won their bowl game 70-14 but other than that I tend to agree.
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Minnesota in the Big 10.
Mississippi State Fighting Joe Moorheads to knock off multiple blue bloods and challenge for the SEC West crown.
Yes I would definitely claim that! Sorry to hear about your experience, sounds like a nightmare.
I check Mgoblog 69 times a day and thusly am always appraised of when to expect a match in any of the major sports likely to be viewable from Italy.
Agreed that the OPM breach was so much worse. It put a target on millions of security clearance holders AND their families, and yet the payout was zero, just a periodic email notifying me that something "might" be compromised that I started tuning out years ago.
It's bad, but I admit to being disappointed that my wife's data wasn't compromised...
Technically you need to provide it to the FTC, but I'm not sure that's any better. I figure it's compromised anyway so I'll take the $125.
Exactly. I'm an Air Force pilot and we always brief that after V1 it is the pilot's decision whether to take an emergency airborne or attempt to abort anyway. You can't always continue the takeoff, in the case of a dual engine failure, for example.
And yet in a weird way, they did manage to get Harrison. Chess masters, both of them!
I agree that an 8 team playoff is preferable; however, I think it would have the unintended consequence of encouraging teams to schedule non-conference games the way Alabama (and the SEC as a whole) does. Louisville, Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, The Citadel, YGBFSM. But there's no incentive to do otherwise so why play someone good?
If Michigan had, say, played another MAC team instead of Notre Dame, they would have finished 11-1 and most likely made it as an at-large at the expense of Georgia or UCF.
Even a win over Notre Dame would not have helped in this case - 11-1 is in either way. A loss, however, is the only thing preventing Michigan from making the cut.
... with a VPN... I know cause I live in Italy. Best investment ever.
... Rutger.
Thanks for posting. I used to be a more frequent visitor of your site but the content had become fairly infrequent and I honestly forgot. This is a good excuse to start coming back!
So is it "row" like you do with your boat, or "row" like a fight? Inquiring minds want to know.
Comes
He reminds the writer so much of Clark that he perhaps IS Clark.
"Other comparables include Jarrod Wilson (if Clark is very very boring) and Ernest Shazor (if Clark is shockingly athletic and a touchdown factory for the opposition).
Personally, I vote for Option C: Kam Chancellor.
I saw this post and all I could think of was Allen arguing with Terry in The Other Guys.
"Ok, first off: A lion? Swimming in the Ocean? Lions don't like water. If you placed it near a river or some sort of fresh water source, that would make sense. But you find yourself in the ocean, 20 foot waves, I'm assuming off the coast of South Africa, coming up against a full grown 800 pound tuna and his 20 or 30 friends? You lose that battle. You lose that battle 9 times out of 10."