Guesstimates on Position Changes

[No Quarter]

I've been on this board since about the time of the Malin affair. I well remember hearing scraps on radio of a game with BYU about that time frame or a little before. SMU scored and pulled close and then BYU - a passing team of course - ran the ball down the SMU's throat for the clinching scores.

It was a little like the 1949 game with Notre Dame - SMU could not stop the last Irish drive after tying at 20 all even though they knew if ND had called a run or pass. (I know that BYU had not been scouted so well.) Both opponents just bulled their way through the lighter SMU defense.

BUS is right. Get some people big enough to play defense our anticipated opponents.

[hpfan]

BUS The only other legit DE with experience,size and speed other than Adami SMU has is Karrington. Who else would you suggest. The dream of a DE rotation using 260+ players and 290+DT's is soooo compelling..

[Uncle Morty]

I think everyone is missing the most obvious position change. Chris Phillips is going to have an All C-USA career...... at wide reciever.
Its pretty obviious once you add up a bunch of scenarios that didnt make sense before. Why else recruit 2 JC QBs in front of him? Why else was he practicing at reciever instead of QB, right up until the day they had to rip his redshirt off and throw him into the game? Dont be shocked when you see him running routes instead or reading them, when August rolls around.

[Stallion]

Nope Chris Phillips definitely showed enough to stay at QB for a team that hasn't had a decent one in at least 6 years. They recruited JC kids with few options as insurance policies so they wouldn't have to go with an inexperienced QB if Phillips got hurt.

[No Quarter]

Iis not a perfect world and that certainly goes for the choices for SMU football two-deep. Move Adami to DE, and with those who played there this season, plus probably Berry and Karrington, Pryor put together a situational rotation. I can't see we'd be any worse off.

[BUS]

Worse Off.
Changing the positions on the D-line while getting some BIG [deleted] help at DT would do wonders for this team. BIG THING to change. More active and effective LB's and better pass defense that starts with more presure.

We can not be worse off.
YUK

[BUS]

I cont spell woth a flip

[No Quarter]

BUS, the message is clear. Just wish they'd listen!

[gostangs]

Nobody still considering SMU would come in and start on the defensive line - whoever is playing on the line for us in 04 already is with the team. i like the idea of moving Adami to the outside with Pryor - putting Jones and Bonds in the middle. With much faster LB's behind them this would be a big improvement to the front 7. Also - Karrington and Berry rotate in - By the way - unless I was dreaming - did we experiment with Berry on the outside vs TCU - he is not big enough to plug the middle - and is pretty quick for 250 lb'er as I recall.

[Dooby]

I thought Wallis was recruited to play tight end. Wasn't he tight end on the scout team during Cavan's last year? Or am I making that up?

[Roach]

I can't believe the comment about moving Phillips. He's the most dangerous and effective QB we've had since Flanigan, and he only has a handful of games under his belt. Can either of the JUCOs run like he can? None of us knows, but I doubt it. Can either of them outrun him? None of us knows, but I doubt it - he has a cannon. Does either of them have more experience with Rushbrook, Pellerin, Cleveland, Warren, Griffin, Hodges, etc.? No. This doesn't mean he's the starting QB, I realize, but you really want to move the most qualified candidate we have already in place, a guy who has a chance (a chance, no guarantee) to be a really special player?

I also don't get the Adami-to-DE suggestion. Granted, I'm as big an Adami fan as there is, and I have no doubt he'd put in the time and effort to learn the position and do the job. But even at his size, he was our best DT, and he's by far the quickest, allowing him to slip into the backfield to grab RBs and QBs behind the line of scrimmage. Sure, I'd like him to be 310 at DT, but that's not going to happen, no matter how much he works with Coach Faucette. The fact is he has three years of experience at DT, and he's the best we've got. Let's not go moving the players who are doing well. That would be fixing one problem by causing another.

As for the DE rotation: I hear that the coaches want Ieremia-Stansbury to drop a few pounds. They became enamored with his potential last year at 250+ but he didn't make the plays he made at the end of the previous year when he made the move to DE. So if he can shed 10 pounds or so (to split the difference between his previous 230 and the 250 he hit last year) and increase his strength and conditioning, he might be able to return to the form he showed at the end of 2002 or even improve on it. On the other side, Melvin Williams is a classic example of making the most of what you've got -- remember, he was a bruising 205 when he signed. All he's done is add 35 pounds of serious muscle and goes 100 MPH on every single play. Sure, there are times when he gets overwhelmed by a bigger OT if the OT get his paws locked on him. But he also makes more plays than an undersized DE has any business making. Lucky DeLay had the coaches extremely excited, I gather, before that Achilles blew out, and that makes him the wild card in the whole thing. If he can come back, and have not only the quickness to generate that all-important first step, and also to generate the power needed to drive into a big OL, then he might yet be a very productive player. To me the most interesting DEs to watch in the spring will be Jamar Bey and Dominic Pryor. Both guys are long (6'5") and quick. Pryor looks to be a little stronger, but Bey is still growing into his frame -- it's hard to guess how big either will get. What needs to be monitored closely is whether increased weight hurts their quickness. At that height, and with those long arms each of them has, they both could be imposing pass rushers, but not if they lose their quickness. (Weren't Berry and Karrington injured this year? I remember thinking each held promise for the future, but I think their playing time was limited. So I can't really offer an opinion on either....)

[PonyFan]

You're absolutely right, Roach.