phillips to tight end?

[that's great raplh]

for real?

[BUS]

Yep.

[Corso]

Yup -- it's true.
Seems to me it might, work, too, especially considering Kennedy's injury. Even in the spring, without Kennedy, we'll have five: Chase, McKinney, Walker, Brock and Phillips.

[Hoop Fan]

Sad news. Phillips is no tight end.

[PonyPride]

Based on what?

[Hoop Fan]

cant imagine him blocking very well and without any redshirt year left I dont think he really has time to adapt to the position and make any kind of mark. Sure, he has good hands and is hard to tackle, I just dont see him being an impact player at TE at this point. Not to mention, we already have some depth at that position.

[RE Tycoon]

I already ranted about this travesty on the thread about the coffee talk, but I didn't point out the biggest problem. If this move is official (please no, please no, please no...) then that means we have NO QB's with game experience (@SMU) on the roster. Any hopes of a better start next year are probably squashed, even with our pathetic OOC schedule. Anyone ready to lose to UNT, Ark St. and whoever else we play? The revolving door for SMU QB's continues. Let's hope the D plays well and we can ride the great DeMyron Martin.

[PK]

Any hopes of a better start next year are probably squashed, even with our pathetic OOC schedule. Anyone ready to lose to UNT, Ark St. and whoever else we play? The revolving door for SMU QB's continues. The sky is falling, the sky is falling...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Puleeze...give it a break. The coaches know a hell of a lot more about the capability of our players than all us couch coaches combined, none of which has been involved in practices or team meetings or any kind of one on one experiences with any of the players. I don't remember "JC" being tattooed on Chris's forehead and as for his game experience , it was two years ago. Chances are that we will go with a JUCO QB who happens to have game experience from this year and maybe work one of our redshirt freshmen in to the mix.

[JasonB]

So, I have been saying for the past year that he is still injured, that there was no conspiracy, that there was a reason for him not competing to be a starter or really even the backup.

Is anyone willing to back off of their conspiracy theory statements now? How about those of you who hauled off on me a few times about how I had no evidence or anything like that, and how well CP threw in the spring game... even though all of his throws were about 5 yards down the field..

[The PonyGrad]

The X factor in all this, besides Kennedy, is what is going on in recruiting, especially JC QBs. We will all know more soon as the signing day is coming.

[giacfsp]

cant imagine him blocking very well and without any redshirt year left I dont think he really has time to adapt to the position and make any kind of mark. Sure, he has good hands and is hard to tackle, I just dont see him being an impact player at TE at this point. Not to mention, we already have some depth at that position.

The current depth or lack of depth at the position says nothing about his ability. I would expect he will be used sort of like McKinney, lining up in the backfield some (option pass anyone?) and going in motion a lot. Nobody's going to mistake him for Vincent Chase, but there's no way he'll be asked to play like him, so it doesn't matter.

[RE Tycoon]

PK,
Thanks for adding "the sky is falling" quote to my statement. But what in your SMU experience tells you that this program will be just as good or better next year? Admittedly I've only followed the program since 1999, but my memory is sharp and the most games we've won since I've been a fan is five. We've had a new friggin QB every year, we currently have no QB's with D-1 experience and the footage of that JUCO QB posted does not make me feel any better. I'm not screaming conspiracy regarding Phillips, but the silence all year regarding him (especially when both JUCOs were struggling) was deafening. I hope he becomes an all world TE, but I fear we are wasting his talent. I rather they move him to WR. Our horrific offense will have no experience at QB when we start the season and in my book that means trouble. I used to take the middle ground between "sunshiner" and "the sky is falling", but I now consider my self a realist and the rest of you are in denial.

[JasonB]

Have any of you ever had a career threatining injury, or one that can cause you to switch positions? CP has been a QB his entire life. That is his position - leader of the team, touch the ball every play.

I think that we should commend both PB and CP on how they have handled a very difficult situation. PB could have stepped in at the beginning and told CP that he has to switch TE because he isn't going to get better. Instead, he allowed CP to work at stuff, to see if there was progress with the injury, and come to that conclusion on his own. He also didn't do what other programs would probably do - dump the scholarship. Instead, he told CP that he was a great athelete, so lets try and get you on the field at a position where you can help the team. He is to slow for WR, so TE is the way to go.

Rather than complain about someone not coming in over the summer, or saying someone is fat and lazy or there is a conspiracy about why PB isn't playing someone, maybe we should look at it objectively and realize that both PB and CP have handled this situation with a lot of class.

Oh, and yes, we are going to struggle at QB next year. Any JUCo will have to ramp up on the offense. The one advantage we have over what went on two years ago is that after Tech, we have an easy schedule. SO, instead of having to limit the offense to limit mistakes and try not to get blown out by OSU or TCU, we are going to be able to have positive confidence experiences, open the game plan up, and let the QBs adapt and learn a little bit on the fly.

[BUS]

I like what you say JasonB and I can see that as being the correct story line. Given the attitude of CP at the games, he and PB are on the same page.

[expony18]

as harsh as it sounds... chris should never be seen under center again in a mustangs jersey, unless its in a victory formation. yes he is very allusive and has some experience, but in now way is he the answer to our qb needs. He has a limited throwing range with minimal accuracy. Yes it may seem that it would be tough for him to switch so late in his career to a TE, but if he wants to step on the field this is his only option. He would be a great match up in pass situations against linebackers due to his height and his speed on short passes, and on deeper routes it will be tough for a single DB to get him down. this isnt the first time an athletic qb has made the switch to te, look at how well Matt Jones has done with jacksonville (although i do realize he's an incredible athlete). His blocking skills will be tested but we don't have to have him in every run paly, and im sure that ryan will be working his hardest to be back in the starting lineup by the first game if he has any hopes of going to the league.