Nate Craig-Myers

[AURaptor 1,122]

9 minutes ago, tdburger said:

What does that mean "transferring FROM MSU"?

Looks like # 6

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

1 hour ago, Texan4Auburn said:

And aren't those the players that have the contracts that are connected with the NHL?

https://www.100degreehockey.com/p/faqglossary.html

Then could just treat freshmen as try out players, which is what they are really:

https://www.100degreehockey.com/p/faqglossary.html

I feel we are both right and wrong with this.

So pay them like the ECHL then lol.

Not all of them have two way contracts.  NHL/AHL contracts are super weird.  But yeah, ECHL is probably a better comparison.

[cole256 17,043]

3 hours ago, bigbird said:

The sad fact is, he should never had signed here.  His goal, probably since he was playing two-hand-touch in Huggies, was to make it to the league. He had a decision to make. He couldcontinue to play the rest of this year, lead the team in WR pancakes, catch 10-15 balls, all while getting zero recognition. Each snap decreasing his opportunities to have his skills recognized by scouts as he turns into an inline blocker...Or he can save an entire year of eligibility, go to a team that can truly give him the opportunity to showcase his abilities and utilize his skill.  Doing so instantly increases his value.  So really it comes down to, go somewhere else for a year and increase your chances to get drafted or stay here 1 more year and hope you show out at the AU pro-day, and pray for a URFA signing. It wasn't fair to him. As a coach you should want what's best for your guys.  Wanting him to stay is fine, we all liked him. But staying jeopardizes his dreams by blocking for us rather than catching passes at another school

Exactly. And some are attacking this dude as if he did something wrong.....and the posters that are talking about getting open and he under achieved....well I took a very long break from the board and I still don't come on every single day as I once did but I remember some of those guys and they NEVER talked about the intricacies of route running, we initial get off the los, or anything like that and as far as watching the games unless they eyed ncm every single play they can't even speak on knowing about getting separation. Every ten people on here saying that I'd say maybe one could speak on it.

What you can see from watching a game is qb play because the camera follows the ball.

Funny wr separation wasn't discussed the past years....as if our wr's run advanced routes in the first place. Our guys are usually either wide open from scheme or they burn guys deep 90% of the time. 

[cole256 17,043]

4 hours ago, Texan4Auburn said:

I will stay out of the personal stuff with NCM. These dudes get paid though.

As an individual that was Division 1 athlete before things like practice time rules I will say I'd love to of had what these kids get. Full scholarships, free gear, best tutors, awesome business connections, and much much more. Nothing like trying to write a paper, on a bus, with a flashlight, at 2 am in the morning with pen and paper.

Now I am all for paying them. Drop the scholarships and the perks, pay them what they are (AAA or AHL level players). Hey congrats, sign your 4 year contract, $30-40K a year during season, and good luck. Then just to be nice, toss in a little tuition reimbursement a year. They can get loans for the rest of the stuff like everyone else who's job doesn't cover everything while they are in school.

Business's do the exact same thing. We got these benefits, you get these hours, we give you a laptap, a car, or a phone, we have an onsite gym, this is our vacation package, we provide a membership to these organizations, we offer this amount of tuition reimbursement etc etc. Hell, I'm starting a new job in couple weeks that pays more, works less hours, and instead of dealing with Austin traffic, I will now spend it in their onsite state of the art gym.

Course my other organization is taking my accrued PTO (time earned via hours I put in) from me vs paying it out. So technically I am paying them for leaving. I have a friend of mine that used tuition reimbursement for a masters with a Fortune 500 company. They required you to stay on X amount of time. He had to repay that amount when he didn't meet those obligations. Mean you could even go as far as mentioning that business's do have non-compete/restrictive covenants.

I wish they would all just don't play football. And watch this billion dollar industry implode and expose all the people who are the real leaches and get money from doing nothing get exposed, as opposed to trying to vilify the athlete who is treated like property. And while we're at it let's do the academic scholarships the same exact way

[corchjay 5,311]

11 minutes ago, cole256 said:

Exactly. And some are attacking this dude as if he did something wrong.....and the posters that are talking about getting open and he under achieved....well I took a very long break from the board and I still don't come on every single day as I once did but I remember some of those guys and they NEVER talked about the intricacies of route running, we initial get off the los, or anything like that and as far as watching the games unless they eyed ncm every single play they can't even speak on knowing about getting separation. Every ten people on here saying that I'd say maybe one could speak on it.

What you can see from watching a game is qb play because the camera follows the ball.

Funny wr separation wasn't discussed the past years....as if our wr's run advanced routes in the first place. Our guys are usually either wide open from scheme or they burn guys deep 90% of the time. 

This is year 3 and separation has been discussed multiple times by NCM.

[Texan4Auburn 1,626]

52 minutes ago, cole256 said:

I wish they would all just don't play football. And watch this billion dollar industry implode and expose all the people who are the real leaches and get money from doing nothing get exposed, as opposed to trying to vilify the athlete who is treated like property. And while we're at it let's do the academic scholarships the same exact way

Lol. It wouldn't hurt me in the least bit if today's college football did disappear with the way it is going. Then the NFL can stop using it as a developmental league and as you said expose a bunch of leaches. Players that want degrees would go to Universities, players that wanted pro-status can slug it out and work their way through developmental leagues.

I went to the USC/UT game this past weekend. Know what the fun stuff was.. the people. Not the athletes. The tailgating, meeting new people, hanging out. While that would initially be damaged for a bit the best of game-day atmosphere would return to Auburn. Alum would still come back, still go to the game (perhaps even more games since tickets wouldn't be $100 bucks for Blind Girls University), they would remember their time there, enjoy it with families and old friends... that kind of stuff.

Nowhere am I treating these athletes like they are villains. People are referring to it as a business and I am looking at it that way.

Why dump academic scholarships? That is actually the purpose of the university, you also don't get to not pan out and keep it for 4 years. They take those things away pretty damn fast.

[WarEagle1983 2,185]

10 hours ago, cole256 said:

Good for him. Now he needs to pick wisely. To be honest I don't know how we beat wr's and tight ends to come play for us

This is what i've been saying as well. If i'm a WR or TE AU wouldn't be at the top of my list at the moment if i'm a highly rated 4 or 5 star. All coaches "sell" but these kids really have to look at the history of a team rather by only going on the coaches words. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

13 hours ago, cole256 said:

Some of you have really lost your minds....waste a year of his eligibility and life......for what exactly???? For the QB to get hyped up but can't make more than 2 reads? If he is a possession receiver how many opportunities is he going to get between the QB not being the best and an offense that's big play or screen.....

I just don't see how you all supposedly are so great fans but turn on these kids so fast. He is chasing his dream!!!! What's more important than that?? Oh yeah him wasting away and if he's lucky you'll call him an Auburn man! Gtfoh, life AND football is bigger than that. When he was here he represented us well. When they threw him the ball he produced. He recruited for us when he was a prospect. He did everything the right way. Wish this man the best and move on

The only thing they're a fan of is whatever gives them the best chance of talking ish to their bama friends after Thanksgiving. They're fans of having their own insecurities mitigated by their favorite football team winning. They're fans of production, and that's it. They're not fans of the players, that's for sure. They don't give a damn about these kids unless they're playing at a high level or still have potential to. Sometimes they don't even give a damn about the guys who *are* producing because they think the guy on the bench can produce more. They didn't give a damn about Ben Tate because they thought Mario Fannin was better, and then they didn't give a damn about Mario Fannin, either, even though he was one of the toughest, most selfless guys to step foot on campus the last 10 years. 

Yet some of these people fall all over themselves and make up the most asinine thing to protect the coaches that get paid insane amounts of money to decide how these kids are going to be allowed to play. Doesn't matter that our coach never had a true mentor with significant experience in the college game. Doesn't matter that our coach never seeks input or outside ideas, but instead keeps dictating what his OCs are allowed to do based on his own extremely limited experience. He wrote a book! Obviously, if something doesn't work, it's because the players that he recruited and is charged with preparing failed him. 

I'm genuinely happy that Nate and the others are leaving. As @bigbird said, Nate in particular made a mistake by coming here and it's been sad to see so many guys have their career chances compromised by this program going back to the Chizik years. Just look at all the 4* WRs who have committed to Gus. How many have played pro ball? You're telling me *none* of them "can get separation"? This offense sucks for WRs who want to catch balls and make money playing the sport they love.

Remember when reading the below stat that NCM was at one point the #1 player in the nation at any position:

Quote

Craig-Myers finished his career with 22 catches for 394 yards and four touchdowns.

 

If anyone wants to argue that Gus's offense is good enough, knock yourself out. But you're crazy if you think that he's an effective passing strategist or that the players are the problem. 

 

 

[DAG 33,977]

6 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

The only thing they're a fan of is whatever gives them the best chance of talking ish to their bama friends after Thanksgiving. They're fans of having their own insecurities mitigated by their favorite football team winning. They're fans of production, and that's it. They're not fans of the players, that's for sure. They don't give a damn about these kids unless they're playing at a high level or still have potential to. Sometimes they don't even give a damn about the guys who *are* producing because they think the guy on the bench can produce more. They didn't give a damn about Ben Tate because they thought Mario Fannin was better, and then they didn't give a damn about Mario Fannin, either, even though he was one of the toughest, most selfless guys to step foot on campus the last 10 years. 

Yet some of these people fall all over themselves and make up the most asinine thing to protect the coaches that get paid insane amounts of money to decide how these kids are going to be allowed to play. Doesn't matter that our coach never had a true mentor with significant experience in the college game. Doesn't matter that our coach never seeks input or outside ideas, but instead keeps dictating what his OCs are allowed to do based on his own extremely limited experience. He wrote a book! Obviously, if something doesn't work, it's because the players that he recruited and is charged with preparing failed him. 

I'm genuinely happy that Nate and the others are leaving. As @bigbird said, Nate in particular made a mistake by coming here and it's been sad to see so many guys have their career chances compromised by this program going back to the Chizik years. Just look at all the 4* WRs who have committed to Gus. How many have played pro ball? You're telling me *none* of them "can get separation"? This offense sucks for WRs who want to catch balls and make money playing the sport they love.

Remember when reading the below stat that NCM was at one point the #1 player in the nation at any position:

 

If anyone wants to argue that Gus's offense is good enough, knock yourself out. But you're crazy if you think that he's an effective passing strategist or that the players are the problem. 

 

 

Wow McLoofus dropping that heat. What I don’t get is why some people feel the need to bash a young man who actually played quite a bit for his ability to block. Clearly that was a priority to Gus as he had him out there seemingly for that reason. He was doing the dirty work. The work that most people overlook. The work that is hardly highlighted at all. The type of work that most WRs dismiss. Yet , now he is looking for better opportunity and you have people saying he didn’t work hard enough. Maybe, just maybe the talent depth at this position is of high volume. Who knows, but don’t call out a young man who actually worked is ass off to be a blocker and get on the field an underachiever.

He is a junior. He has limited time to showcase what he can do with his hands. He had to make the best decision for himself. Salute the guy for what he did and DIDNT ( no suspensions, no drugs, alcohol, etc) do at Auburn, while being excited for what the future may hold for our young talent.

[aucanucktiger 1,791]

10 hours ago, bigbird said:

Really? Was it underachieving, or was underutilization?  It's hard to under acheive as a WR when you aren't afforded the opportunity to succeed.  NCM was on the field the last two seasons an avg of about 85+% of the time.  During that time how many times did he go an entire game without being thrown to one time?  How many games did he have only one it two?Heas consistently the best blocking WR we had.  Is that underachieving?  To me, when presented with the opportunities, whether to make a key block or catch the ball he routinely made the play.

 

4 rec    70yds   17.5avg     1TD

16 rec  285yds  17.8avg   3TD

2 rec.   39yds    19.5avg     0TD

 

22 passes in 3 years playing in 15 games equates to .68 pass per game.  To me, the only underachieving is with regards to the lack of player utilization and that's squarely on the coaches.

So what's your cause & effect? Every time I watched him in a game his blocking was non-existent (which we knew when he came out of high school) and his catching ability a combo of terrific, meh and dreadful. The guy seemed to work hard and maybe we can chalk this up to sub-par coaching but saying he is transferring because he was not given opportunities to show what he had in practices (generally a pre-requisite to being the man  on gameday) is dicey.

[DAG 33,977]

3 minutes ago, aucanucktiger said:

So what's your cause & effect? Every time I watched him in a game his blocking was non-existent (which we knew when he came out of high school) and his catching ability a combo of terrific, meh and dreadful. The guy seemed to work hard and maybe we can chalk this up to sub-par coaching but saying he is transferring because he was not given opportunities to show what he had in practices (generally a pre-requisite to being the man  on gameday) is dicey.

NCM was arguably one of the best WRs blocking on the perimeter which is actually why he got to play as much as he did. You have already shown your hand.

https://www.theplainsman.com/article/2018/09/x51hsn4c12xyb4d

[metafour 4,969]

3 minutes ago, aucanucktiger said:

So what's your cause & effect? Every time I watched him in a game his blocking was non-existent

Yeah bro, I'm sure you are completely dialed in to evaluating the WR blocking in live snaps.  That is obviously the first thing that anyone watching football pays attention to.

[McLoofus 35,182]

7 minutes ago, DAG said:

Wow McLoofus dropping that heat. What I don’t get is why some people feel the need to bash a young man who actually played quite a bit for his ability to block. Clearly that was a priority to Gus as he had him out there seemingly for that reason. He was doing the dirty work. The work that most people overlook. The work that is hardly highlighted at all. The type of work that most WRs dismiss. Yet , now he is looking for better opportunity and you have people saying he didn’t work hard enough. Maybe, just maybe the talent depth at this position is of high volume. Who knows, but don’t call out a young man who actually worked is ass off to be a blocker and get on the field an underachiever.

He is a junior. He has limited time to showcase what he can do with his hands. He had to make the best decision for himself. Salute the guy for what he did and DIDNT ( no suspensions, no drugs, alcohol, etc) do at Auburn, while being excited for what the future may hold for our young talent.

And he's watching these true freshmen- who are wildly talented and who deserve chances, just like he did, but who have *not* put in the work- catch the balls that never went to him. Not that they can depend on that happening on a regular basis throughout their careers, especially now that NCM is gone and they might have to block and run clear out routes and such. 

[DAG 33,977]

2 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

And he's watching these true freshmen- who are wildly talented and who deserve chances, just like he did, but who have *not* put in the work- catch the balls that never went to him. Not that they can depend on that happening on a regular basis throughout their careers, especially now that NCM is gone and they might have to block and run clear out routes and such. 

Yep. Now who will do the blocking that gets overlooked? I am excited for Seth Williams. It’s so interesting because I remember earlier in the season I got push back about utilizing the freshman, specifically him and now that it’s happening posters with their own agenda want to use that as a crutch to stand on. It is baffling I tell you.

[McLoofus 35,182]

8 minutes ago, aucanucktiger said:

So what's your cause & effect? Every time I watched him in a game his blocking was non-existent (which we knew when he came out of high school) and his catching ability a combo of terrific, meh and dreadful. The guy seemed to work hard and maybe we can chalk this up to sub-par coaching but saying he is transferring because he was not given opportunities to show what he had in practices (generally a pre-requisite to being the man  on gameday) is dicey.

What on earth could you possibly be basing that on? His high school film? Which led to him being one of the most highly rated WRs in his recruiting class and one of our most exciting recruits in years? 

He didn't receiver *nearly* enough targets while here to make that assessment. What a weak, weak comment from you. 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

1 minute ago, DAG said:

Yep. Now who will do the blocking that gets overlooked. I am excited for Seth Williams. It’s so interesting because I remember earlier in the season I got push back about utilizing the freshman, specifically him and now that it’s happening posters with their own agenda want to use that as a crutch to stand on. It is baffling I tell you.

Well if our perimeter blocking takes a hit, maybe we start looking more like an Art Briles at Baylor offense.  Throw to set up the run.  Would be nice to play to our strengths.

[McLoofus 35,182]

2 minutes ago, DAG said:

Yep. Now who will do the blocking that gets overlooked? I am excited for Seth Williams. It’s so interesting because I remember earlier in the season I got push back about utilizing the freshman, specifically him and now that it’s happening posters with their own agenda want to use that as a crutch to stand on. It is baffling I tell you.

I actually thought about that conversation yesterday that you had. Seriously, I know exactly which one you're talking about. Funny how things go sometimes. 

[metafour 4,969]

17 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

The only thing they're a fan of is whatever gives them the best chance of talking ish to their bama friends after Thanksgiving. They're fans of having their own insecurities mitigated by their favorite football team winning. They're fans of production, and that's it. They're not fans of the players, that's for sure. They don't give a damn about these kids unless they're playing at a high level or still have potential to. Sometimes they don't even give a damn about the guys who *are* producing because they think the guy on the bench can produce more. They didn't give a damn about Ben Tate because they thought Mario Fannin was better, and then they didn't give a damn about Mario Fannin, either, even though he was one of the toughest, most selfless guys to step foot on campus the last 10 years. 

Yet some of these people fall all over themselves and make up the most asinine thing to protect the coaches that get paid insane amounts of money to decide how these kids are going to be allowed to play. Doesn't matter that our coach never had a true mentor with significant experience in the college game. Doesn't matter that our coach never seeks input or outside ideas, but instead keeps dictating what his OCs are allowed to do based on his own extremely limited experience. He wrote a book! Obviously, if something doesn't work, it's because the players that he recruited and is charged with preparing failed him. 

I'm genuinely happy that Nate and the others are leaving. As @bigbird said, Nate in particular made a mistake by coming here and it's been sad to see so many guys have their career chances compromised by this program going back to the Chizik years. Just look at all the 4* WRs who have committed to Gus. How many have played pro ball? You're telling me *none* of them "can get separation"? This offense sucks for WRs who want to catch balls and make money playing the sport they love.

Remember when reading the below stat that NCM was at one point the #1 player in the nation at any position:

 

If anyone wants to argue that Gus's offense is good enough, knock yourself out. But you're crazy if you think that he's an effective passing strategist or that the players are the problem. 

 

Couldn't have said it any better.

The cognitive dissonance of this fanbase is mind-blowing.  I'll repeat it a thousand times; In ~10 years, Gus has had two receivers get a sniff in the NFL and both got that opportunity solely because of their tested results at the Combine.  Neither had a clue how to play receiver, which is why neither succeeded in the NFL.  At some point you have to turn your brain on and understand that the results speak for themselves, and you can only peddle so much horse manure.  When you sign like 15+ 4-star or better receivers over 10 years and the sum of their careers is catching a ball or two a game, its an offensive philosophy problem.  Unironically, every passing-oriented QB also seems to magically regress or look pedestrian in this offense.  Hmmmmm.  Its almost as if there is some connection here? 

[bigbird 60,500]

3 minutes ago, aucanucktiger said:

So what's your cause & effect? Every time I watched him in a game his blocking was non-existent (which we knew when he came out of high school) and his catching ability a combo of terrific, meh and dreadful. The guy seemed to work hard and maybe we can chalk this up to sub-par coaching but saying he is transferring because he was not given opportunities to show what he had in practices (generally a pre-requisite to being the man  on gameday) is dicey.

That's just wrong.

He routinely was singled out by multiple coaches about how good of a blocker he was.  He was always the guy cracking the LB to seal the edges for the outside runs or to pick off the backers that sprung RD and got him all his  yards. He was a tireless blocker. Saying he wasn't is just an attempt to propt up a weak argument with bad/imagined facts.

And yes, he was given opportunities in practice. Guess what? He started for two years, so I guess he took advantage of those.  

[DAG 33,977]

1 minute ago, McLoofus said:

What on earth could you possibly be basing that on? His high school film? Which led to him being one of the most highly rated WRs in his recruiting class and one of our most exciting recruits in years? 

He didn't receiver *nearly* enough targets while here to make that assessment. What a weak, weak comment from you. 

I have been wondering this myself. I’ve been trying to find a target to catch ratio stat but can’t seem to get my hands on it...

[McLoofus 35,182]

Just now, Brad_ATX said:

Well if our perimeter blocking takes a hit, maybe we start looking more like an Art Briles at Baylor offense.  Throw to set up the run.  Would be nice to play to our strengths.

Could you imagine losing an elite pass catcher...

...who was forced to become an elite blocker...

...and losing his blocking ability...

...forced our offense to evolve to use elite pass catchers properly. 

Gus would owe Nate the equivalent of the NFL contract that he lost his shot at. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 minute ago, DAG said:

I have been wondering this myself. I’ve been trying to find a target to catch ratio stat but can’t seem to get my hands on it...

Don't spend too much time on it. The sky is blue and NCM didn't get targets while he was here. 

[Charleston Tiger 134]

15 hours ago, Swamp Eagle said:

He was damn good on slant routes that Gus never runs.

Yeah, he was good when he could get separation. But Will Hastings and Ryan Davis can do that exact same route and they manage to create the separation needed to give Stidham the opportunity. Stidham didn't just decide to not throw him the ball - he hasn't been open.

We will miss him from a blocking standpoint moving forward with regards to jet sweeps, reverses, and screens, to be sure. Other than that, I think you'll be hard-pressed to pinpoint any situation where we truly miss his "production".

[McLoofus 35,182]

Just now, Charleston Tiger said:

Yeah, he was good when he could get separation. But Will Hastings and Ryan Davis can do that exact same route and they manage to create the separation needed to give Stidham the opportunity.

Do you think that's an apples-to-apples comparison? Do you think NCM and those guys should be running the same routes? Aren't they listed at different positions on the depth chart? Do you think that NCM running a different route elsewhere might have something to do with those guys getting open? What are those guys doing when NCM Is running that route, whichever route it is you're referring to? How often is NCM matchedup on a linebacker vs a DB compared to the other guys? 

[metafour 4,969]

1 minute ago, Charleston Tiger said:

Yeah, he was good when he could get separation. But Will Hastings and Ryan Davis can do that exact same route and they manage to create the separation needed to give Stidham the opportunity. Stidham didn't just decide to not throw him the ball - he hasn't been open.

A guy with his size doesn't need to "create separation" over the middle or on crossing routes.  Midget receivers like the two you described do.

NCM is not a bubble-screen receiver and he's not a deep-threat specialist.  That is basically 95% of the WR usage in this stupid offense.  Unfortunately, the things he is good at are things we never bother to do.  They are also things that if implemented would stop making this offense so routinely pathetic.