Tate Wallis

[Grider]

Should Cavan be so quick to write-off Wallis as a QB to Receiver conversion? I've mentioned this before, and maybe Luker will prove me wrong, but I think the one way SMU could be immediately competitive, is to have a Athletic QB who can run and throw. It adds so much to the offense to have that other threat of a running QB. Especially if your having O-line problems.

There's a lot of college powerhouses that have utilized this type of QB, and you see it being more accepted in the NFL.

I think Cavan may not have the ability or desire to coach that kind of QB, but then again that might be the reason he may not have the ability to retain his job after this year.

[MustangFan]

I predict this guy is a tight end or H-back before he's through. I went to watch the freshmen the other day, and he looks THICK - and he's only 18 (or so). Should add a lot of muscle and strength.

[Grider]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by MustangFan:
<B>I predict this guy is a tight end or H-back before he's through. I went to watch the freshmen the other day, and he looks THICK - and he's only 18 (or so). Should add a lot of muscle and strength.</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks for the update on Wallis, I didn't know he was that big. Also, I see what you're saying and I agree, based on what you and other folks have said about the guy, he could play several different positions. But my point is, if he can give us a presence at QB like a scaled down Michael Vick or Daunte Culpepper, would you rather have him playing
tight-end? This may all be academic, the kid may not even want to play QB, I don't know. However, I think SMU could make room for a big, strong, and fast QB. It doesn't matter how many QB recruits we have, if this guy is a for real steal, the coaches at least need to give him a LOOK at playing under center.

[PerunaPunch]

Conceptually, I have to agree with you Grider.... and coach Cavan should too. Call it the Freeman principle if you will. Remember last year when Cavan announced that his goal was to get the ball to Freeman X times per game? Concept being that if you can get the balll into the hands of a superior athlete a higher percentage of the time, you have a higher percentage chance of making good things happen. Excluding the center, the ball get into the hands of a QB more times than any other position. Therefore, a superior athlete at QB will improve your chances of success more than any other position. So hopefully, if this is the case, Cavan WOULD take the time to coach this kind of athlete.

Of course, this is all rampant speculation, as we really have no idea at this point whether or not this kid is a Michael Vick or Quincy Carter (at least accoding to Mr. Jones he said sarcasticly) prototype.

[PonyFan]

I've been to one of the freshman workouts and snuck into media day yesterday. Three observations:
1. Wallis is a good looking kid for a freshman - seems to have some muscle on him at a young age. And he seems fairly quick, but he's nowhere near as fast as Vick, etc.
2. Cavan again said they've got to get the ball to Freeman a lot this year. But he didn't qualify it with a certain number of carries/receptions/touches. He also backed off a little, saying we have a lot of explosive players who can cause headaches for defenses. Sounds like he's not as committed to featuring Free as he was last year.
3. Cody Cardwell looks like a new man. He reportedly has put on nearly 20 pounds since the end of last season, and it looks like all of it is muscle. The former skinny little kid from Stephenville now has some full-blown pipes hanging from his shoulders. Cavan said Cardwell has a new attitude and worked like a fiend over the summer, and is fully enthusiastic about the season. Can't wait to see the results.

[Guest]

Thats good to hear about Cardwell. I imagine part of his enthusiasm has come from know his old Stephenville qb Luker will be at the helm this year. Cardwell knows he is going to the ball from Luker if he is open. On Tate Wallis, I actually read an DMN article from last year that said he was NOT fast or at least not as quick as O'Neill Peterson the guy he succeeded at Ennis. I kind of see a guy like Wallis as a Chris Bordano type. Good athlete, relatively unknown as a freshman, but a guy who as a winners mentality.

[Dement-ed]

I've wondered about the familiarity issue with Luker-to-Cardwell. And as much as they know each other, let's remember that we're not running the Stephenville offense here. So they still will have to work within the framework of the SMU offense. But there's no doubt that there's a comfort level between them, since they played together for four years in HS.

Cody had a hard year last year, on and off the field. It's great to read that he has his head right, and that he'd dedicated himself to being stronger and better conditioned. Here's to a strong year from #25.

(And #21, and #17, and #5, and #86, and ...)