Stidham and D Russ returning was a MUST

[GwillMac6 20,665]

IMO these were the 2 most important returnees out of the players most likely to have gone to the NFL. We desperately needed to keep our dominant DL intact and of course we needed to keep our stud franchise 3k yard passer. I think AU can absorb all the losses we will lose to the NFL and come out fine. What does everyone else think?

[McLoofus 35,182]

15 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

IMO these were the 2 most important returnees out of the players most likely to have gone to the NFL. We desperately needed to keep our dominant DL intact and of course we needed to keep our stud franchise 3k yard passer. I think AU can absorb all the losses we will lose to the NFL and come out fine. What does everyone else think?

Would've liked to get KJ back, but definitely agree about these two. Especially Stidham. Tom Brady could've transferred in and it would have taken Gus a third of a season again to trust Chip to run a normal offense. Even with a new center and very little experience at RB, I think we'll be ahead of the normal schedule. We won't win a championship next year but Stidham's the key to a season where we don't question Gus's sanity a couple times IMO.

[GwillMac6 20,665]

8 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Would've liked to get KJ back, but definitely agree about these two. Especially Stidham. Tom Brady could've transferred in and it would have taken Gus a third of a season again to trust Chip to run a normal offense. Even with a new center and very little experience at RB, I think we'll be ahead of the normal schedule. We won't win a championship next year but Stidham's the key to a season where we don't question Gus's sanity a couple times IMO.

you think the main reason we will not win a championship is the last 2 sec games on the schedule and WHERE they are located? 

[McLoofus 35,182]

3 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

you think the main reason we will not win a championship is the last 2 sec games on the schedule and WHERE they are located? 

Doesn't help!

[GwillMac6 20,665]

Just now, McLoofus said:

Doesn't help!

If we do not break the sanford stadium Losing streak this year it may be a loooooooooooong time before we do. It will be our best shot.

[WFE12 9,191]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Would've liked to get KJ back, but definitely agree about these two. Especially Stidham. Tom Brady could've transferred in and it would have taken Gus a third of a season again to trust Chip to run a normal offense. Even with a new center and very little experience at RB, I think we'll be ahead of the normal schedule. We won't win a championship next year but Stidham's the key to a season where we don't question Gus's sanity a couple times IMO.

Nope that's gonna happen regardless and we will question our own as well...I have already.

[Randman5000 4,226]

2 hours ago, McLoofus said:

Would've liked to get KJ back, but definitely agree about these two. Especially Stidham. Tom Brady could've transferred in and it would have taken Gus a third of a season again to trust Chip to run a normal offense. Even with a new center and very little experience at RB, I think we'll be ahead of the normal schedule. We won't win a championship next year but Stidham's the key to a season where we don't question Gus's sanity a couple times IMO.

An honest assessment right there. Thanks. 

[AUwent 3,747]

3 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

If we do not break the sanford stadium Losing streak this year it may be a loooooooooooong time before we do. It will be our best shot.

2016 was such a great opportunity. As dumb as recruiting JF3 and not EMCC's starter was in the first place, we could've actually won if we just had JF3 option it with a combination of KJ, Stove, Slayton, Ryan Davis, KMart, Cox and Truitt the entire game.

[abw0004 10,110]

I do agree.  I have said, and will continue to say the biggest question mark for me is the new OL.  With Stidham returning, w need to make sure we do a good job of protecting him to help him improve his draft stock.

One thing we have done ever year is worry with who we lost and expect a downfall.  But every year we continue to trend up with pleasant surprises.  I am a little concerned with our DB depth, but with our DL/linebackers expected to be dominant in 2018, that will help our young DB’s catch on.

One thing I will be doing this year is bugging our insiders on this forum as well as my clients to death for updates on practices to see how we are improving.

For the time being, we have our basketball to keep us happy!

[au_bsci_04 407]

For as much as I love KJ and enjoyed watching him play, I'm a little happy to see him move on. He was a crutch for Malzahn. When all else failed (or even when it didn't), he refused to look elsewhere. Maybe with KJ's early departure, he is forced into spreading the ball around more. Maybe...

[Win4AU 4,052]

Stidham staying is obviously huge.  Willis coming in against UW with his handful of pass attempts would be tough.  Losing KJ and Bubba would be my next biggest loss.  In the games Auburn lost they couldn’t run the ball.  When Auburn can’t run the Offense grinds to a halt even with Stidham.  I think defense is next guy up at this point.  Keeping Russell definitely helps with depth.

[cole256 17,042]

KJ staying would've been more important than both

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

I was just thinking about how every off season we are feeling bad about our RBs that are moving on and how we don’t have one to pick up the slack. Yet ever year since 2008 we have produced a 1000 yard back and a lot of years more than one. Most of the time our RB will either lead the SEC or is close by. Maybe we should just spend less time worrying about it and be thankful we have Coach Horton to keep producing them every year. While we are at it I hope the give him a big raise. He is probably the most underpaid coach in all of college football. 

[aubaseball 2,590]

3 hours ago, cole256 said:

KJ staying would've been more important than both

Sorry, but couldn’t disagree more.   Having a returning QB that threw for more than 3000 yards and was playing his first full season is huge.   I would say that losing Holland is going to hurt more than KJ.   

[cole256 17,042]

3 hours ago, aubaseball said:

Sorry, but couldn’t disagree more.   Having a returning QB that threw for more than 3000 yards and was playing his first full season is huge.   I would say that losing Holland is going to hurt more than KJ.   

It's ok to disagree. No problem, but we saw the difference we were as a team without him. Stidham wasn't that good without him

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,653]

On 1/6/2018 at 11:45 PM, AUwent said:

2016 was such a great opportunity. As dumb as recruiting JF3 and not EMCC's starter was in the first place, we could've actually won if we just had JF3 option it with a combination of KJ, Stove, Slayton, Ryan Davis, KMart, Cox and Truitt the entire game.

Unfortunately that game plan requires a coach with more common sense than Gus

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,653]

3 hours ago, cole256 said:

It's ok to disagree. No problem, but we saw the difference we were as a team without him. Stidham wasn't that good without him

Yeah we’ve seen Auburn’s defense perform well without Holland at his peak (2016), we haven’t seen this offense, or at least Stidham, perform well without Kerryon 

[GwillMac6 20,665]

29 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

Yeah we’ve seen Auburn’s defense perform well without Holland at his peak (2016), we haven’t seen this offense, or at least Stidham, perform well without Kerryon 

We have seen the last 2 years what the offense looks like without a QB with stidhams skillset. He needs a running game period to be successful. Rather it be KJ or anyone else. In a gus offense as the running game goes so does the team. He has yet to show he can run a pass first attack and beat teams. When we get down and are in obvious passing situations it gets ugly. We just do not get it done. We should be better with the talent at WR and now QB but that falls on gus.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,653]

17 minutes ago, GwillMac6 said:

We have seen the last 2 years what the offense looks like without a QB with stidhams skillset. He needs a running game period to be successful. Rather it be KJ or anyone else. In a gus offense as the running game goes so does the team. He has yet to show he can run a pass first attack and beat teams. When we get down and are in obvious passing situations it gets ugly. We just do not get it done. We should be better with the talent at WR and now QB but that falls on gus.

I don’t know if I should argue or agree here lol. These are all good points, I still have to believe Kerryon is more necessary than the other two though. Just because you know what he can give you if he’s on the field with some decent blocking. But other RBs other than KJ can succeed in this system, so I don’t think we’ll die without him 

[abw0004 10,110]

11 minutes ago, Dual-Threat Rigby said:

I don’t know if I should argue or agree here lol. These are all good points, I still have to believe Kerryon is more necessary than the other two though. Just because you know what he can give you if he’s on the field with some decent blocking. But other RBs other than KJ can succeed in this system, so I don’t think we’ll die without him 

If it helps give you more peace of mind, if you think about it, every year when we always worry about the next running back not living up to the hype.  2015 after the Chick Fil A opener, we were worried Peyton Barber wouldn’t be that good.  2016 we thought we were done when JR was booted off the team and this converted HB experiment was going to be a disaster.  2017 we didn’t think KJ would be durable enough or have enough punch to break tackles.  I think by now we can trust Horton that he will have the next man ready.  

[cole256 17,042]

Well Ican't speak for everybody else but I knew KJ was good. Like special good. We still didn't use his versatility the way we should've.  But I don't doubt the coaching them up part.....but I don't know what kind of talent we have. I know kj was better in high school than all the other guys we have now in high school so I don't see us being better at the position, I think we have a drop off.  Even when we had barber he's a very good backbut his vision wasn't the best as far as knowing how to set up and create big runs. 

 

I'm not saying we won't have a run game without him. I'm saying he was our best player and wasn't a dime a dozen

[Tiger 8,818]

Based on who we have coming back at the skill positions it may be in our best interest to have a 60/40 split in favor of the pass this coming season. Of course, how the OL plays will have a major say in how that will look. I have my doubts about a Gus led passing-prominent attack, but we are loaded with scat backs seemingly and Malik Miller, who seems to have a more power-run style, but apparently he's not too much further ahead than you or me on the depth chart

[AUwent 3,747]

On 1/15/2018 at 9:57 AM, Tiger said:

Based on who we have coming back at the skill positions it may be in our best interest to have a 60/40 split in favor of the pass this coming season. Of course, how the OL plays will have a major say in how that will look. I have my doubts about a Gus led passing-prominent attack, but we are loaded with scat backs seemingly and Malik Miller, who seems to have a more power-run style, but apparently he's not too much further ahead than you or me on the depth chart

I mean, KJ and Tre Mason were considered scat backs too. I expect either Asa or Joiner to become a feature back.