So I realized I can’t do any more previews for position groups because I just don’t know the roster or players well enough. “How can you write a blog about the Beavs and not know this stuff, Angry!?” I can hear the anti angry crowd now.
Well, because I couldn’t watch Mike Riley football anymore, so I lost most of last year. Miss one year, and you are pretty much unable to review positions. QB, RB, WR are all easy. But do I know the health status of a bit player like Kellen Clute? Nope. So I can’t even review the TEs. I do love Nall and Smith, but they both need to toughen up (I’d also like to see Nall double as a LB).
Based on the official site’s roster, on the offensive line I like Harlow, Andrews, Clarkson, Seumolo, Stanton, and I guess after that Mitchell and Delp. Brandel, Lucas, and Fifita should all be in the mix as true freshman, imo, if they can help right away. I think all three are good looking prospects. Regarding the OL, I don’t know if the guys I listed are all healthy, and I don’t know much about the other guys listed on the roster. I’ll be following all of this closely under GA, but I was just so done with Riley that I couldn’t watch games and lost touch with the roster. I asked readers to help out with an updated list, but nobody had one. So, that’s my O-line review.
LBs I like are Luchien and Willis. Bright Uqwoegbu is interesting. I’m not at all a fan of Songy, Saulo, or Mageo. Thin position, and Ryan Nall hopefully helps out here.
DTs: Grimble. Peko and Aydon are intriguing. The rest of the guys I don’t know much about.
DE: Extremely thin. Fuimaono (the C.C. transfer) should play right away and help out. I’ve always liked Lavonte Barnett, but the rumblings I’ve heard are that he doesn’t have passion for football. I’d pencil in these two guys as the starters. Jashwa James is probably the reserve.
CBs: I know some of these guys (Hunt..who else? Isn’t Hayes gone?) on the official site aren’t on the roster anymore. Anyway, there’s some depth at CB. Scott will obviously start; Okonoko is a guy I like. Irvine could compete right away. There are some other options like Crawford who some people like, though I am not a fan of his.
S: Justin Strong, and a bunch of other guys. Arnold was once considered a top prospect. Does he get his act together? He doesn’t seem like a GA type of player. Shawn Wilson is a good looking “athlete” who could wind up at safety. Noland-Lewis is…maybe serviceable. Not a whole lot to get excited about here other than Strong.
That’s all I’ve got. Tell me who you like and why? Or someone I forgot, etc.
I’m surprised you don’t like Songy. He’s a GA type of player and he’s a lunatic (personal experience). Isn’t that what we want at linebacker? He’s gonna start anyway, so get used to it. Kyle Haley might contribute as well. I think Ugwoegbu, Songy, Willis, Saulo/Mageo probably get most of the snaps.
Don’t leave out DeCoud at corner. I think he starts opposite Scott. He’s big and can make plays on the ball.
At DE, Luke Hollingsworth will get time. So will Titus Failauga. On the D-line, we have Barnett, Grimble, Peko, James, Hollingsworth, Aydon, Failauga for 3 spots. At least that should be most of it.
And Nall should stay on offense. He is between H-Back and RB but he is a weapon we need to use. We didn’t hear too much about him defense-wise during the spring.
I expect some freshmen to play, but only like 5 or 6 max. Collins, Paul Lucas, Elu Aydon, Ricky Liuchan, maybe one more defender at safety.
I have no clue about that O-line, but there’s a couple players in there you’re missing. Just look at the recruiting class and our current roster for OL, I don’t think there’s been any defections.
I’m with you, Angry, on Strong. I expect him to do very well this season; nose for the ball, takes very good angles, and seems to have a sound tackling technique.
I do disagree on Mageo. That rugby background and what he showed last year leads me to see him as a tough customer. May not make the headlines that Strong will, but I think he will be solid.
Overall, I am hoping for this D to really clog the middle. Coaches gave Peko a lot of reps in spring and I’ve heard they are all over him regarding academics. I’m counting on him and guys like Mageo to force some opponents to go outside or over the top.
Mageo might be tough, but I don’t think he is bright or athletic enough. I hope I’m wrong, buddy. They need him to be good.
I’m not sure what you would base any like or dislike for Mageo on considering you say you didn’t watch any play last year. He played like a frosh, but so did the rest of our D… every year for the last several years. He only played the first three or four games for extensive time. Then it was spot duty beyond that. The play he did take part in, he took good angles between blockers anticipating RBs’ positions in the backfield. And he was very tough sticking his nose in the A gaps and smacking any forward progress back. He may be green, but he has a great first step, great vision and great hands. I’m a little excited to see what good coaching and a non-bonehead scheme will do for him and Strong.
I watched some of last year and saw him play, but not enough to stay in-tune with every roster move. I saw an interview with him a few years ago where he speaks very slowly, too, so I think part of his play on the field is not grasping schemes. Maybe I am wrong, but I don’t think so.
[looked it up]
It looks like part of that could be a language barrier: http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2014/09/rommel_mageo_overcomes_steep_l.html
But in the interview he did seem slow, and from what I saw of his play he has little feel for the game. So, I draw conclusions from all of it. Maybe as he acclimates more he gets better, but at this point I don’t consider him a good pac-12 player. I’m hoping I’m wrong.
Definitely wrong. Mageo reminds me a lot of (Pa’ aluhi) Bubba. Similar athleticism, tenacity and nose for the ball. He could have all conference potential with the right coaching and growth.
He had a good coach in Bray.
Speaking of whom, here is Bray coaching him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwFKcipYgX8
Mageo looks clueless and Bray is all over him.
This is the interview I was talking about
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP0_Xsb6bNQ
He thinks “it’s all about hitting”, and that’s how he plays, with no intelligence or concept of scheme, where to be, etc. This is all due to language barrier and bad coaches? I thought we all agreed Bray was one of the best on staff.
Pa’ aluhi was a very good player, and that was obvious watching him. I don’t see that here.
It’s not about Bray. It’s about Banker’s scheme. Bray can only do so much with the scheme. Mageo was a frosh thrown into the mix due to injuries. He played like it sometimes. But when he was “uncoached” he took good angles and managed to avoid the block in order to get to the ball and “hit” with his shoulder on the hips with a wrap. It seemed as he was asked to think more about the scheme he was being taught to engage the block then get off it and redirect instead of scraping and tackling. He started taking softer angles and being passive instead of redirecting with the angle itself. In other words, he started looking like a Banker LB.
The scheme and assignments will change drastically this year. He’ll be asked to use his feet first again. He’ll be asked to scrape or meet blocks on angles instead of squared up. And he’ll be asked to redirect by being aggressive instead of waiting for the cut and trying to disengage the block from there.
The same could be said of Strong from one season to the next. He went from good aggressive angles to being passive and waiting on the cut to tackle or redirect. The new scheme should allow him to go back to shooting the gaps and either taking options away or tackling.
I will be happy to finally see “good angles” be downhill instead of the lateral or backward angles that were so common in Banker’s scheme.
I like Fred Lauina on the OL, should get more time this year, dude is huge.
I think the starting five O-line should be pretty decent even if Seumalo does not play and will benefit from fresh coaching and the emphasis on the running game. Too much pass blocking the past few years. Even though we will have the bodies for some depth, they will be very young and inexperienced. Hopefully the coaching staff has a zero tolerance for mental mistakes and we are not forced to endure the dumb penalties of the last few Cav years. Delp and Lauina have the potential to be maulers. I like the hire of Ogelsby as a QC coach. Badgers do now how coach OL.
know….damn iPad
> I’m not at all a fan of Songy, Saulo, or Mageo.
That’s a bit harsh of Songy, he was suspended last year. He looked solid as a freshman on special teams.
All in all, it’s just difficult to tell who was bad and who was bad but had the potential to be good on defense, since the coaching wasn’t particularly good over the last few years.
I’m sorry, I don’t see a whole lot to like at any of these spots. Compare these kids to any of the top 2/3 of the rosters in the conference…
For this upcoming season, the goose is cooked.
2/3? I’ll give you 1/3 (except at QB… I’ll concede that one). If we still had Riley, I’d give you the top 5/6 of the rosters in the conference.
Your perspective is weird. You can at least try to claim that the talent is inexperienced and will take one unfortunate year of ugly play to come together. At least that sounds reasonable.
Inexperienced or not, what I’m saying is that I see very little “talent” across the board.
It is the unilateral lack of talent I’m referring to. Don’t get me wrong, the beavers will field a team. The players will be able to run, tackle and score touchdowns.
Just not at the level of the majority of the conference teams, and will be surprised if that puts the team even among the middle of the road teams in power 5 conferences.
When the grades given to the players on your roster more closely resembles Portland State than it does even a Cal or Washington, it’s going to be a tough row to hoe.
There’s always the occasional diamond in the rough who finds a way to outperform the form chart. But with a roster full of rough, it’s going to be foolish to expect them all to be able to compete with the teams with bigger, faster, and all around better players.
There’s a reason Portland State can’t compete against better teams. There’s a reason Georgia State and Chattanooga lose by 70 when they play Georgia or Alabama in late November.
Outside of often injured players like Seumalo and journeyman like Grimble and unknowns like Peko, I can’t find hardly any players that were even on another p12 teams radar in recruiting.
That’s the problem. And so is hitching the wagons to a coach who is known for flip flopping more than Todd Graham, and was last seen on the sidelines getting his teeth kicked in by 59 points with a Wisconsin team roughly 3-4 times more talented than what he has now in Corvallis.
Too much hyperbole. You don’t give any parameters for what you think is good talent. If it’s what I think it is, then you must throw out the argument that no other Pac or P5 teams were chasing the younger talent on our roster. That’s why I throw out the inexperience card. I would put our O-line (8 deep) up against every other in our conference except Stanford. I would put our D-line in the top four. Our WRs and TEs are top half easily. There’s enough experience at the RB position that even a perceived lack of talent should be mitigated.
And no, GA has not flip-flopped more than Graham. That was a dumb thing to say. Even better, Graham not only did it more and without setting roots at two places. But he also had the nards to say that each and every place was his dream job.
And if you’re saying that GA isn’t as good as Urban Meyer, then I have to go get my “no shit Sherlock” shirt and put it on. Others who are obviously not as good as Meyer despite having as much as or close to as much talent on their rosters as him include Nick Saban and Mark Helfrich.
“There’s a reason Georgia State and Chattanooga lose by 70 when they play Georgia or Alabama in late November.” Last time we played a cupcake in November we won by 70 as well (Nicholls State in 2012, 77-3). Not an excuse to losing to a D2 school (Pac-12 team should never lose), but there a big difference between week 1 and week 11. I bet if you looked at the SEC the average score of their cupcakes in September is much closer than November.
And they play one in each of those months as well. It kills me that any “expert” looks at an SEC schedule and sees the eight conference games as something killer. Almost every SEC team has a guaranteed four wins from cupcakes. And all of them have two cupcakes who wouldn’t dream of winning much against the NDSU’s or Montana’s of this world, let alone a P5 team not led by Mike Riley.
Now that the Big 12-2 has gone to a nine game slate I respect them much more than I did when all tey had to do was beat their division and only half of the other division. Imagine the scheduling that occurs in an eight game slate when your division is seven teams and you don’t have to play the good teams in the other seven team division… but they’re still considered “good” since everyone in your conference has a guaranteed four wins.
Obviously, the better teams get to play some good non-con teams for TV purposes. But that’s rare. If the NCAA were to actually have a tourney of eight teams which only included conference champions, then we would get some really good football games played early in the season… like it used to be way back when.
Sancho esta cocinada. Talent or no, these guys will be pumped and motivated. Expect a surprise or two along the way, both good and bad. You guys need to project rather than think how the individuals performed under Riley. Different expectations and performance, different results under the previous Old Man River style system. This team has something to prove. It will win or battle to the death. Gentlemen, and ladies, the sum of the parts…
Scotty ya esta esperando for you to tell me how my life would be better had the quacks won the football championship ;)
Ready to hear a couple more nice recruits have verbally committed to Oregon State. Culture needs to take that next step forward of confidence and dynamism. Andersen and Sitake should be able to sell the vision and get the momentum churning. May be the lull before fall camp right now but this is still important time in the building of a hung ho program.
From anonymous… “BigBeaver fan in Texas”
“I hear the Hopkins kid is going to do great things this year. I think his first name is Will. I fully expect him to dominate the league in any position the coaches choose for him. He is an exceptional talent.”
You don’t know much about QB’s… Didn’t stop you there
Just call your dad and apologize. He’ll forgive you. And if not, at least you’ll have that weight off your chest of wondering what if?
We all make mistakes in life. But establishing yourself as lame internet troll #3,670,886,297 will only make each day much darker and more gloomy than it already is for you.
Sweet username. Sounds like a 1910s ballplayer or blues guitarist.
I thought it was a take on the album by Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard “Pancho & Lefty”.
Always Townes on that one.
Yeah. But Willie and Merle took it to #1 on the country charts.
Current acts are hacking away at 70’s soft rock covers and taking them to #1 on the country charts.
Oregon State should be flattered, I guess, that a Euro Soccer team is ripping off their old logo.
http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/blofieldunited
At least part of it, eh?
Saw the rivals forum the other day. Think jp the beav is Butt nutter or one of the other trolls that lurks around here? He was super hostile for a pretty nice/polite exchange with momma.
Yes, he’s definitely one of them, and absolutely obsessed with me.
D’awww somebutter wubs you <3
That would be hilarious if true. He might just be the angriest beav on this site
Whoa! The dumbest stalker perv in Beaverdom could be one of the dumbest and most boring stalker trolls here… again… and again?
Actually, it would make sense if he were two or three different trolls. Since we know he likes to do this and pretend to be the locals and use intentionally racist and misogynistic language, it would make sense if he was a couple of the trolls here.
OT…Old Topic,
Schnell’s twitter, the gift that keeps on giving!
“When the earthquake hits, first thing I’m doing is eating all the ice cream out of my freezer. It shall comfort me. “
Later she tweeted a photo from the inside of her freezer with the caption “3100 flavors”
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/12/article-2157902-13909363000005DC-306_634x395.jpg
And then there was the company car:
https://ixquick-proxy.com/do/spg/show_picture.pl?l=english&rais=https%3A%2F%2Fs15-us2.ixquick.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Fserveimage%3Furl%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fstephscheersandjeers.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F08%2Ftruck.jpg%26sp%3D8d91d16b1e10de880a72749c127c3f9c
Lindsay is responsible for the economic boom in Marshall, MN.
Shouldn’t “Stormy” comfort her??
Their favorite drink.
Dark ‘n’ Stormy Cocktail Recipe – Allrecipes.com
dark and stormy from allrecipes.com
allrecipes.com › … › Recipes › Drinks › Cocktails › Rum Drinks
Rating: 4.7 – ?14 reviews – ?5 min – ?176 cal
Popular within the sailing community, the dark ‘n’ stormy is also the national drink of Bermuda. The simple mixture of dark rum and ginger beer makes for a great …
Mmmm… Screech and Barritt’s.
I’m sure wherever she lives has to be structurally sound to support her large mass. wow. that sow doesn’t realize she’s just giving us (me) ammo. Have another slice of cake Linds! You’ll feel better
C’mon guys. Dear Lindsay looks to be considerably slimmer in a photo I saw subsequent to her Oregonian days. We (I include myself) don’t like her because she took all she could from OSU, beginning her freshman year; then dissed the town, the campus, the school (nobody wants to go there) whilst keyboarding odes to Riley. Her feature articles were/are ok but any attempt to describe the technicalities of a sport (fb especially) don’t fool even me and that’s going some.
I don’t know if there is a name for this but,when two people – one you like and one you don’t – have the same characteristic/habit, you overlook it in the person you like and criticize it in the one you don’t.
Gina isn’t svelte but she doesn’t appear to be self-absorbed (unlike LS), she works hard, has introduced new features (i.e.,beaver banter) and doesn’t stupid-tweet.
I prefer to get away from the LS plumpness and do more meaningful critiques if so required.
I agree, better to stick to substance in criticism. People like to pounce on what they can, though, so it’s swimming against the tide.
Not something I can get super worked up over either way…
C’mon, now, it’s off season and low hanging fruit.
I don’t recall ever commenting on Lindsay’s physical appearance, but when when she tweets about: getting bakeries to stay open late, finding taco shops near home, and eating all the ice cream, she makes it too tempting. She wasted a lot of ink telling us OSU couldn’t do better than Riley when an objective observer knew there HAD to be a coach who would do several things better.
Her put downs of Corvallis, its airport and diversity, grated on many. As helmsly said, “Her feature articles were/are ok but any attempt to describe the technicalities of a sport (fb especially) don’t fool (many).” I’d go farther and opine that her “feature” articles were usully quite good; OTOH, her day-to-day articles were seldom worth reading and merely parroted whatever Riley, et al, said in press conferences. Still, it is hard to overlook her attitude toward our school and town.
When things get busier I doubt I’ll be inclined to check her twitter very often……….still,…hmmm…. low hanging fruit.
I have zero respect for her journalistic abilities (or lack of). Her personal slant on OSU is not why I began to dislike her work
Let’s take this recent tweet for example………….
Lindsay Schnell ?@Lindsay_Schnell 14h14 hours ago
Kingsbury gets all the fashion pub, but I appreciate Patterson’s pattern mixing (plaid suit, polka dot tie). @lauren_lanier & I approve.
What in the fuck exactly does that have to do with college football? She needs to stick to her strengths, which are fashion and food and leave the sports reporting up to those that know what they’re doing. I don’t write the crappy shit. She does.
I’d be willing to bet plaid and polka dot are a hipster fad and not good fashion sense. Sometimes defying normal also defies common sense.
Somewhere below there is a link to an Eggers report. In it, you can tell over a series of hours, days, maybe even months or years, this guy has taken notes. Then he followed up on his notes as they became pertinent. Then he looks like he wrote a story based on all the info he derived from meticulous study. And it looks like it was outlined and edited. Although, I’d be willing to bet the outline is ingrained in the membrane by now.
When Eggers stops being a reporter and becomes a repeater, that’s when I turn over to Flash and just stop reading sports stuff. I hope to never read, “Okay, now the links,” or, “what do you think,” or even an opinion.
If you have an opinion, keep your (sorry… yur) fucking mouth shut if you want to even resemble a professional reporter (*cough* anemec *cough*).
I have zero clue what Lindsay’s problem is. I think you’re right. I think she couldn’t understand a clue from Blue if it had anything to do with sports. But I also think the laziness of the current news media has something to do with it.
Not sure about her food strengths either. Bakery,taco place, ice cream. This world has lots of chemical formula bread, tacos with fake cheese, and ice cream with no cream. She doesn’t differentiate there any more than she does with why A, not B, is playing defensive back.
Of food – if you missed this John Oliver piece. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8xwLWb0lLY
I immediately lost respect for her when she started reporting while wearing her Paris Hilton glasses. First time I saw that was when we painted Prothro field blue in prep for the Boise St game in 2010, but I couldn’t find that old video. Here’s another for those who want a flashback.
http://videos.oregonlive.com/oregonian/2012/09/audible_lindsay_schnell_john_h.html
Way OT:
Is there any news in the Gary Payton assault allegations/law suit? The last I remember, he was sued for assault and then suspended from Fox S1 indefinitely, in April I think.
If the Glove don’t fit, you must acquit.
OT:
It’s been confirmed that Elliott Cary has had Tommy John surgery. That could be a big loss, good news is that he is not a pitcher, a little quicker recovery time so he could still play next season.
That’s gotta be the first time I’ve ever heard of a non-pitcher actually getting that surgery.
Luck O da Beavs!
http://www.fangraphs.com/community/the-effects-of-tommy-john-surgery-on-batters/
Statistical analysis of 15 MLB position players who had Tommy John surgery and returned to the major leagues. Conclusion is that there was a modest but measurable post-surgery loss in BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play), in Slugging Percentage, and in HR/FB ratio (two standard measures of power).
http://www.overthemonster.com/2012/8/22/3260015/when-carl-crawford-should-return-from-tommy-john
Discussion of recovery time from Tommy John surgery for Carl Crawford and Mike Aviles (two prominent MLB players). Sounds like Elliott Cary should be able to swing a bat effectively by February or March of 2016 as a DH, but may not be able to play the outfield for a while longer.
Interesting (and controversial), good stuff. Thanks, silver, for your always substantive comments; more worthwhile than (my) relaying Lindsay’s latest. Takes all kinds, right?
Care to weigh in on the Mageo discussion?
BTW: Do you plan to put up any Fall Camp reports this year? Hope so!
Me to. You actually give relevant observations.
Don’t sell yourself short Oneoldbeav. The Lindsay tweets are golden too.
Absolutely – Lindsay’s Golden Tweets is more poetic than my calling them stupid-tweets. As for Mageo – can’t comment on his slow speaking or football ability but it’s not fair that a guy should have eyelashes that long.
I haven’t read the article, but from what I see watching games, most guys who have Tommy John seem to throw harder year 2 of recovery. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jose Fernandez and Matt Harvey throwing more toward the upper 90s next season. Osich definitely gained velocity.
Hey Coach Pettibone,
Check out the list for the Wuerffel Award and let me know if you recognize any names.
http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/88406/award-watch-list-roundup-part-2
Why did Angry leave Sean Harlow off of his O-line list? Injury???
His mean streak is so wide that angry couldn’t see him.
That was an oversight, and surprising because I like Harlow a lot. My bad.
Eggers up with articles on Conforto, Osich, etc.
Casey is quoted using the word “neat” and praises Conforto’s D. Mets VP player development sounds a little like Casey when he says (of the decision to move players up), “The player ultimately dictates that to us.”
Conforto sounds like Conforto when he says, “I always say I’m going to try to control what I can…”
I’m often impressed with the stuff Eggers comes up with in view of his situation covering so many different organizations.
In the Beaver offense, the te position is of secondary importance. The player first has to be able to block. There are at least three types of blocking to master, pass blocking, drive blocking and pull blocking. Pass receiver is the next priority with several roles within that topic. Te is not a position where every down can effect or impact scoring. If Nall has the potential to impact or effect an outcome, he probably should play defense where his skills could be put to use more plays or downs per game. On offense he is more of a toy than a tool.
Do you know something about this offensive scheme that the rest of us don’t know? Seems like it would be hard to make generalizations at this point.
Recruiting has taken a Rileyesque pause.
It’s been quiet, I think mostly because the first 2 weeks of july were the dead period and the rest of july is the quiet period.
Recruiting knows how to use a timeout.