Hastings, Stove and .....

[tigerman1186 537]

I know many of you won't agree, but loosing the services of receivers Hastings, Stove and then NCM, placed a lot of extra pressure on Davis and Slayton, plus Stidham...I'm sure he would have had a better year statically and maybe a few more W's if those 3 would have been playing the whole season. I know the new freshman have played well at times, but nothing can replace experience and those 3 played in a lot of meaningful games over the past 3 years....again I know this doesn't ease the sting from this season, but I feel the O would have been somewhat better if these 3 were playing...maybe when Gus is talking about 'we'll be better on the offensive side' maybe he's thinking about the return of Hastings and Stove...along with the current freshman receivers....

[ChltteTiger 649]

Got to get a LOT better on the OL before the offense improves much even with those guys back next year.

[milehighfan 1,240]

Everyone says we have to get better on the OL. and I agree. But my question is what top flight OL are truly interested in coming to Auburn?

[Win4AU 4,052]

Maybe Hastings.  I’m not sure about the other 2

[ChltteTiger 649]

28 minutes ago, milehighfan said:

Everyone says we have to get better on the OL. and I agree. But my question is what top flight OL are truly interested in coming to Auburn?

I'm not sure there are any. Probably gonna need a few transfers/JC players to help with any improvement. 

[NoALtiger 3,849]

With the current OL I truly don’t think it matters much. I’d love to have had those guys certainly, but it wouldn’t change much imo. 

[corchjay 5,311]

Gus’ fault.  

[Shift 350]

55 minutes ago, NoALtiger said:

With the current OL/QB I truly don’t think it matters much. I’d love to have had those guys certainly, but it wouldn’t change much imo. 

FIFY

[corchjay 5,311]

1 minute ago, Shift said:

FIFY

You forget Gus ruined him.  He was fantastic at Baylor.  He’s only gotten worse since high school.  FIFY

[AURealist 2,185]

When Gus says, 'we'll be better on the offensive side', he's telling people what they want to hear.  

It's gonna cost $7M only to see that it's just smoke.

Can't wait.

[Mikey 16,565]

54 minutes ago, corchjay said:

Gus’ fault.  

Now you're catching on! You have found the straight and narrow path to being one of the Cool Kids!

[AUwent 3,747]

2 hours ago, tigerman1186 said:

I know many of you won't agree, but loosing the services of receivers Hastings, Stove and then NCM, placed a lot of extra pressure on Davis and Slayton, plus Stidham...I'm sure he would have had a better year statically and maybe a few more W's if those 3 would have been playing the whole season. I know the new freshman have played well at times, but nothing can replace experience and those 3 played in a lot of meaningful games over the past 3 years....again I know this doesn't ease the sting from this season, but I feel the O would have been somewhat better if these 3 were playing...maybe when Gus is talking about 'we'll be better on the offensive side' maybe he's thinking about the return of Hastings and Stove...along with the current freshman receivers....

Um...yeah, there has to be accountability when a coach is consistently unable to keep good talent. Stove and Hastings are excusable, but NCM? No.

I'm just so tired of people making apologies for such crappy football, which we're paying SEVEN MILLION A YEAR for.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,648]

I understand comfortability is a factor, but we have like 4 receivers who are more naturally talented than either of those two. Hastings is a very good route runner granted, but we have guys who are more than fast to run crossing routes. Ryan Davis can be a direct replacement for Will while Eli could be replaced by 1000 other guys on the team 

 

I cant excuse Stidham or the scheme for not being able to replace their roles 

[AuCivilEng1 10,995]

I just hope Gus goes out and finds a top tier OL coach that can swing recruits this way. 

[abw0004 10,109]

I actually think we got better with NCM gone.  You have to remember when he left, Seth Williams took over that starting position.  NCM never got separation and could not win the 50-50 balls.  Williams can.  Seth will only get better in time.  

[atl-tiger 655]

I don't think it would have mattered.  Seth and Schwartz were awesome.

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 hour ago, atl-tiger said:

I don't think it would have mattered.  Seth and Schwartz were awesome.

It wouldn't have. We can't even take advantage of the talent at WR that we do have. 

Oh, it might matter that we are missing the blocking of the once-#1 WR in the nation. Which tells you everything you need to know about Gus Malzahn.

 

[abw0004 10,109]

26 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

It wouldn't have. We can't even take advantage of the talent at WR that we do have. 

Oh, it might matter that we are missing the blocking of the once-#1 WR in the nation. Which tells you everything you need to know about Gus Malzahn.

 

I don’t think Gus could be blamed for NCM though.  He got all of the chances in the world unfortunately.  He just could not get separation at all, nor would scramble to get open for Stidham.  Seth has done a much better job in my opinion.  Steal of the class. 

[DAG 33,957]

I am just going to throw this out there because I hear it all the time as a slight. You don't have to get separation all the time to be a great WR. My favorite WR secondary to Steve Smith was Muhsin the moose, Mohammed. He rarely provided a cushion for his QBs, but he had strong hands and a large perimeter. What that meant was, if you threw the ball within his radius, more times than not, he was going to get a reception. He was a wizard in catching the ball in tight spots.

Now, I don't know if that was NCM issue or not. I have yet to see any prudent evidence to say otherwise.  But not getting separation isn't a valid excuse. Duke Williams was the same way. Rarely did he ever get separation but Nick Marshall trusted him to come down with 1 on 1 ball in tight situations. Otherwise, I wish NCM the freaking best. He played a whole lot because he did the dirty work that most WRs couldn't care less of doing. Now, I hope he can show those WR skills most of us know he has with his next team.

[McLoofus 35,182]

10 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

I don’t think Gus could be blamed for NCM though.  He got all of the chances in the world unfortunately.  He just could not get separation at all, nor would scramble to get open for Stidham.  Seth has done a much better job in my opinion.  Steal of the class. 

I don't buy the couldn't get separation thing. And I'm not attacking you. I know that's a common opinion. I just refuse to buy that multiple, highly regarded receivers have come in here and had problems getting open because of their own lack of ability or effort. And I've heard that NCM had attitude issues, but I didn't hear that until this year. All I ever heard previously was that he was a hard worker, very coachable, and took it upon himself to become a much better blocker.

Which gets me to Williams. I'm truly curious if he hasn't been pigeonholed into NCM's role because he hasn't become particularly good at blocking yet. But he has been a very good pass catcher, for sure. 

[atl-tiger 655]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

I don't buy the couldn't get separation thing. And I'm not attacking you. I know that's a common opinion. I just refuse to buy that multiple, highly regarded receivers have come in here and had problems getting open because of their own lack of ability or effort. And I've heard that NCM had attitude issues, but I didn't hear that until this year. All I ever heard previously was that he was a hard worker, very coachable, and took it upon himself to become a much better blocker.

Which gets me to Williams. I'm truly curious if he hasn't been pigeonholed into NCM's role because he hasn't become particularly good at blocking yet. But he has been a very good pass catcher, for sure. 

I don't buy into the separation argument either.  With Stidham and this offense you're not getting a lot of targets unless the play is designed to go to you as the 1st read.  

[atl-tiger 655]

2 hours ago, DAG said:

I am just going to throw this out there because I hear it all the time as a slight. You don't have to get separation all the time to be a great WR. My favorite WR secondary to Steve Smith was Muhsin the moose, Mohammed. He rarely provided a cushion for his QBs, but he had strong hands and a large perimeter. What that meant was, if you threw the ball within his radius, more times than not, he was going to get a reception. He was a wizard in catching the ball in tight spots.

Now, I don't know if that was NCM issue or not. I have yet to see any prudent evidence to say otherwise.  But not getting separation isn't a valid excuse. Duke Williams was the same way. Rarely did he ever get separation but Nick Marshall trusted him to come down with 1 on 1 ball in tight situations. Otherwise, I wish NCM the freaking best. He played a whole lot because he did the dirty work that most WRs couldn't care less of doing. Now, I hope he can show those WR skills most of us know he has with his next team.

Yup.  Look at Seth this year, hes not getting a ton of separation on most his receptions, but he wins the 50/50 majority of the time. 

[abw0004 10,109]

2 hours ago, McLoofus said:

I don't buy the couldn't get separation thing. And I'm not attacking you. I know that's a common opinion. I just refuse to buy that multiple, highly regarded receivers have come in here and had problems getting open because of their own lack of ability or effort. And I've heard that NCM had attitude issues, but I didn't hear that until this year. All I ever heard previously was that he was a hard worker, very coachable, and took it upon himself to become a much better blocker.

Which gets me to Williams. I'm truly curious if he hasn't been pigeonholed into NCM's role because he hasn't become particularly good at blocking yet. But he has been a very good pass catcher, for sure. 

Those are good points.  The only other thing I would say was when we did throw to him, he couldn’t hang on to the ball.  Seth has just as many targets, contested targets, but he caught them.  I liked NCM, seemed like a humble person.  But I think he had every opportunity this year to shine and couldn’t for whatever reason.  

[Swamp Eagle 5,129]

14 hours ago, tigerman1186 said:

I know many of you won't agree, but loosing the services of receivers Hastings, Stove and then NCM, placed a lot of extra pressure on Davis and Slayton, plus Stidham...I'm sure he would have had a better year statically and maybe a few more W's if those 3 would have been playing the whole season. I know the new freshman have played well at times, but nothing can replace experience and those 3 played in a lot of meaningful games over the past 3 years....again I know this doesn't ease the sting from this season, but I feel the O would have been somewhat better if these 3 were playing...maybe when Gus is talking about 'we'll be better on the offensive side' maybe he's thinking about the return of Hastings and Stove...along with the current freshman receivers....

Obviously had some effect, but I doubt it would have made the difference in any of the losses this year. JMO..

[Tigerpro2a 5,650]

6 hours ago, abw0004 said:

I actually think we got better with NCM gone.  You have to remember when he left, Seth Williams took over that starting position.  NCM never got separation and could not win the 50-50 balls.  Williams can.  Seth will only get better in time.  

To me Seth is the suprise player of the year. He attacks the ball with his hands, doesn't drop many, and is getting better blocking, runs great routes, can get 50/50 balls, gets separation, ...I think he had the talent that with the right QB and right system he could be a blitnekof winner and 1st round talent