I do see your point as well. We told him he would get to see the field his 1st year while recruiting him and he will get his shot in Spring to work his way onto the field under that assumption in a few different capacities. We also do not know how the depth chart is going to look yet barring injuries and potential transfers. I think he will show he can help the team in one way or another but if Miles thought he would benefit from a redshirt to better his career, I know Shep would understand the coaches' reasons and do what is best for the program and himself without hard feelings . Do we need to? Not as I see it now Would it help the team??? I think so
Well, I look at it like this... Say JJ really comes along and becomes something truly special, like we all hope he does. If he sticks around for his senior year, that would only leave us with one year of Shep if he were to play next year just for the sake of playing. I think the program and its future...and ultimately his future...would greatly benefit from the extra year of eligibility / preparation. To me, that FAR outweighs the minor benefits of having a wicked tricky offense, especially if the defense is back on track like it looks like it will be.
The under armour game is quickly becoming the all star game of choice as i see it they are getting the better players. Now for my thoughts on the game. I was not impressed with any offensive lineman or QB and yes that includes Barkley, i think he has an average arm i was'nt impressed with his arm strength at all he threw a 10 yard slant to brown that i could've thrown. heck the coverage bye kent was so bad how could he not have missed him, oh wait i bet u thought the next touchdown was impressive no he threw into triple coverage and the guy came up with the ball...next i thought the defensive sides were good osh downs was a beast all night he was doubled all night, while his fellow tiger loston was continually de-cleating kids with his hits,that loston gets to the ball with violence in mind... shepard looked aok i know he runs the ball miles should use him in the slot....overall good game was dissapointed with debose going to florida.....i hope like hell we get randle but i doubt it... i think we get mingo and we need to offer the kid from coushata also i wish we would offer sentimore.......
Hell I thought his pocket presence and reaction to pressure was as good as anyone USC already has on it's roster...including Sanchez, and I think Sanchez is a really good QB. That's not to say Barkley is ready to start right now, but he looked good and poised. If Sanchez comes back, and he redshirts, I can easily see him winning the starting job over Mustain and whoever else they have. He suffered from being surrounded by inferior talent this year, and deservedly dropped in rankings as a result. But the kid at the very least passes the eyeball test. We don't know if he has a rocket for an arm yet, but he showed in the skills challenge that he can make good, strong throws. He had a longer throw than Garret Gilbert who supposedly has the strongest arm in this class. He looks like a prototypical USC QB to me, and clearly that's a good thing for them. I'd bet good money he has much better arm strength than Leinart and Booty, and MIGHT have as good an arm as a healthy Carson Palmer.
No way dude. Barkley was the overall better polished QB of any. He was double pumping, looking off primary receivers and threw with great velocity. He may have had a bad senior year with lots of picks but he looked as good as they come last night.
Re: Loston Ready to Play, Jury out on Shep Yes, but this was the first time he's facing a defense full of equally talented players. He'll adjust but it's still a big change from normal high school teams. I'm on the don't redshirt side. Let him play somewhere during some of the games. Barkley? If you weren't impressed,you cannot be impressed. As much as I wanted him to look like a rookie, I can't say he didn't impress.
Just prior to the Rose Bowl, Aaron Corp was moved into the #2 spot ahead of Mustain. He was the #2 QB in CA behind Ji-maaay. He's not a pocket passer, much more of a mobile QB which is something USC hasn't seen since Rodney Peete.
