Here’s a look at the Longhorns by position with my own personal ratings (1 to 5) and comments . Rating system 1= poor (not up to snuff), 5 = ready for the pros now. This is just my opinion. Offense: QB (Rating = 4) Simms can be awesome. He is very accurate and has a very strong arm. As everyone likes to point out, he has some ‘big game’ issues, but I think it is a product of the whole team - not just him. There is only one game I can think of that I could really rest the loss almost entirely on his shoulders and that was the loss to Colorado last year in the BigXII championship game. Otherwise, the big game loss thing can be shared by the whole team. RB (rating = 3) Cedric Benson has the potential to be All American, All World, etc. He’s been nursing a turf toe and has been fairly banged up. He has had flashes of brilliance, but has never seemed quite up to last season’s performance. Selvin Young is a true freshman that sees a lot of playing time and is quite impressive. OL (rating = 2) We have had some serious run blocking issues this year. There are those that claim it’s the scheme, others say it’s the coaching, and others say it’s the young personnel. Regardless, it has been an issue – even against lesser opponents we’ve had problems. This is likely the biggest part of the problem we’ve had with our running game in general. If we can get an improvement here we’ll have a great day on offense in Dallas. WR (rating = 5) Roy Williams would likely be a first rounder this year. Fortunately he is coming back next year. Our other two primary receivers are likely to end up pro also. Midseason they seemed to catch a case of the “dropsies”, but seemed to have rectified that problem by year end. DEFENSE: DL (rating = 4) Cory Redding is great and, when healthy, the rest of the D- line is quite impressive. We have a true freshman named Wright that I think will turn out to be a true dominator in the future. He is so quick and strong it is mind boggling to think that he is only a freshman. LB (rating = 3) I think a lot of Horn fans have some issues with the schemes that we use our LBs in. Personally, I think the schemes are appropriate given their collective tenure as starters. What we do have in this area is speed, speed, speed. They attack the ball and tackle like monsters. Occasionally, all that speed will lead to some over pursuit, but I’ll take that versus a whiplash linebacker who only can watch the RB run by him. DB: (rating = 3.5) Our corners are awesome. Nathan Vasher is future pro material. (Rumor has it that his friends call him ‘ESPN 3’ because he’s a walking highlight reel). Our safeties are young and occasionally it shows. SPECIAL TEAMS: Kickoff (rating = 3) – My kingdom for a kicker that can kick past the goal line consistently. Fortunately we have a great coverage team and as often as not, we end up giving worse field position than a touchback (i.e. inside the 20) Field goals (rating = 3) – Solid inside 40 yards. Only one game that I can think of this year where our FG kicker couldn’t seem to get it done. Otherwise fairly solid. This is just my opinion and just for fun. What are your thoughts on LSU? Good luck in Dallas and be safe…be very drunk, but be safe too.
LSU OFFENSE QB (rating =2) This is the big question mark for LSU. We lost our starting QB for the season due to injuries. Since then the green QB replacement has been inconsistent. This has hurt our receivers, running backs, and defense. RB (rating=3.5) All three running backs have NFL futures. Toefield missed 6 games with a broken arm, and is not 100%. Failure of the pasing game has led opponents to stack the line and has hurt RB stats. But these guys can fly and have power. WR (rating=3) Issues at QB have prevented the receivers from shining. Sophomore Clayton is a future All American. Other receivers are above average. Star Henderson is out with broken arm. OL (rating=3) Big, quick, and talented with 3 HS All Americans, they have suffered injuries all season. They are quite capable running and passing, but not dominating like we expected them to be. LSU DEFENSE DL (rating = 3) Young but talented and have some depth. Also have too many guys playing with significant injuries. Failure of the offense to maintain ball control has left these guys on the field too much. LB (rating=4) Led by All American and Butkis Award finalist Brady James, these guys have a nose for the ball and make a lot of tackles. DB (rating=3) Good man coverage backs with speed, but enough size to play the running game strong. LSU SPECIAL TEAMS Return teams (rating=4) Among the nations leaders in punt and kickoff returns. It's a mistake to kick to Davis. We'll miss Henderson on kickoffs, He was back with Davis and gave opponents no weak return man to kick to. Coverage Teams (rating=4) Have provided good field position all year. Allow very few big plays. Kicker (rating=3) Consistent inside 40 yards, capable of longer ones though. his kickoffs have been kind of short this year. Punter (rating=3) Good long punter (has hit for 86 yards once), but cannot pooch punt for short yards. Also tends to shank one badly now and then. Just my opinion.
What was the name of that incredible reciever y'all had last year? His name slips my mind. Anyway, he was incredible. Sounds like you platoon your RBs more than we do. Typically, Benson is in most of the game while Young comes in for Benson as he needs breathers. I think this game has the potential to be a really good one.
I think red55 summed it up pretty good. RB's and WR's could be rated higher if QB play had been more consistent. Randall has looked better than a "2" vs. South Carolina, Ole Miss, and Arkansas but has looked worse than a "1" vs. AU and Bama. Our place kicker should be a "5" and it was a shock to much of the LSU faithful that Carson Palmer edged him out for the Heisman. We're thinking he'll be the #1 pick to the Bengals.
I believe the original form of the Heisman trophy was actually a placekicker in motion, but it was later changed to that running back stiff-arm design. It was great trophy. It was called the Konoslovinski. The guy had his leg in the air, mismatched shoes, a little pot belly, and scared look on his face. The inscription read "I do not tackle, but I fall down in front of the big man and hope he falls down from laughter".
