He's the backup to Toliver's position (Y receiver I believe). So if we have a slot guy in the game (Z) then that won't be Randle, it will be Mitchell or RJ Jackson. Maybe in 4 wideout sets he will be that 4th guy. And of course he will sub in for Toliver probably about 35 percent of the time as time goes by. So that ultimately should put him into about 45-50 percent of the pass formations.
You clearly don't know what you're talking about. How is a guy who didn't play receiver at all in high school gonna be the #1 RECEIVER in the nation smart guy? He made his mark his sophomore and junior season as a receiver on two state championship teams. As far as "fearing" Benton, you've got that all wrong as well. We got the better guy. Rueben can do everything DLo can do. DLo can't do everything Rueben can do. The situation was handled poorly, but it had nothing to do with fear. DLo knows that as well. As bad as it was on signing day, this was better for him. He knows that too. And I didn't say anything about taking anyone's job either. What I'm saying is from MY experience with these kids, if you're a coach whose holding kids back because of typical freshman issues (butterflies, physical readiness, can't handle pressure), these kids aren't typical freshman because they've been battle tested beyond the football field. I wouldn't say the same about the next wave of Bastrop talent because they haven't experienced the same adversity. Furthermore, I wasn't just talking about Rueben. Or just LSU guys for that matter. Bastrop has about 15 kids playing college ball somewhere right now. Six are true freshman and all six played Saturday, including DLo for Auburn and Jones for the Hogs. This is not praise singing or saying their gonna be great wherever they are. This is just saying, this particular group of kids are more seasoned because they had to be.
I would hope this isn't always true. If I see Mitchell out there I expect a run or a bubble screen or something requiring good blocking. That's his advantage right now. I would hope designed pass plays (not screens or short hitches and curls or anything like that) would have the three biggest threats. I'd bet that's JoJo, TT, and RR. Just like last year when we saw a lot of JoJo, Byrd, and TT on pass plays. Did it seem to anyone else that JoJo was pissed at JJ on his touchdown catch? Looked like JJ went up to congratulate in the end zone and JoJo layed in on him. Lack of touches?
I think Jimbeaux took that page out of the playbook when he left, and copyrighted it. I would love to see this play come back with Shep. We have big physical wide receivers who can block on the edges, and i think this would be really effective.
Agreed! FSU used in bunches Monday night. I'm sure everyone remembers when Skylar Green was the bubble screen machine. The beauty of it now is, there are several guys who have Skylar Green agility to run that play.
I guess I'm not understanding what you are getting at here, nupe. What was happening at Bastrop that makes Randle or any of these kids immune from the problems that traditionally dog freshmen?
Lafell actually played more slot than Mitchell last game. Mitchell is said to be the best deep route runner on the team and Lafell feels the most comfortable in the slot role but we will see them mix up inside and outside all season.
Thanks for asking Red. The reason I say what I say is because aside from having one of the biggest a-holes walking for a coach, any of the kids at Bastrop from 2004-08 had to grow up fast because of bad decisions by adults. Adults made the decision to skirt the rules to get some high value Katrina evacuees on the team...none more important than Randall Mackey, an Ole Miss commit but because of grades he's at a JUCO right now...and won Offensive MVP of the league his first year. Once those decisions were made, the pressure cooker that is Northeast Louisiana football judged those kids...not the adults that committing the wrongdoing. So they had to deal with doubters and naysayers who were not shy about making their opinion known. They weren't telling Bradshaw. These folks were posting in forums like these, newspaper sites, calling homes, stopping in the malls, Wal-Mart, anywhere they could be seen or heard and pretty much telling these kids they were nothing without the Port Sulphur kids from 2005. They won a championship on the field in 2005 and had it stripped. Again, they faced the criticism, not the coach...but Bradshaw is very good at deflecting blame. He came out just fine. Two assistants were suspended and the players lost the championship they very likely would've won anyway. Sure, Bradshaw lost the championship too, but that wasn't worth crap to him as long as he had his job. So they won championships again in 2006 and 2007 with much of the public against them. They had to adopt this us against the world mentality to succeed. If that wasn't enough pressure for a bunch of teenagers, they had the 2nd longest winning streak in the nation (behind South Panola in Mississippi) which of course the court of public opinion tells these kids they didn't earn. I don't have a problem with the opinions, but tell it adults. These are teenagers who had nothing to do with that. That may not sound like much to you Red, but that's a lot of adversity to put on a group of teenagers. But if you speak with them they'll tell you how that experience made them grow and made them adverse to pressure. The fact that its a good program that prepares them very well physically is just lagniappe. With that said, I wouldn't say the same for any of the kids their now. They weren't around for all that but there is still the Bradshaw factor. I cannot stress how horrible this man is for such a good coach. The kids that stick around learn to love him for what he is. But I've been around a lot of coaches and I've never seen anyone talk to teenage athletes the way he talks to those kids...and the assistants for that matter. He could make a drill sergeant blush. If any of them are stars, and there are a couple who are or will be, I'd put them more in the mold of Marshay Green of Ole Miss...a typical freshman. He was physically gifted but not mentally ready for the college game. Two redshirts later and he's a pretty good corner and return man for Ole Miss.
