As always is the case on Monday mornings, the Scouting Notebook goes into the scouting aspect of college and pro football and takes a look at factors that really matter.
This week, I’ll take a look at how the stars of the West Virginia, Michigan, and Clemson offenses will adjust to new offensive schemes and playcallers this year and how it may elevate their play to the next level as far as a college football player and NFL Draft prospect. Also, I’ll touch on some of the top academic FBS institutions and why that’s important, the Optimum Scouting Staff for 2011-2012, and my thoughts on the NBA Draft.
West Virginia: Quarterback Geno Smith in Dana Holgorsen’s Offense
The now well-documented crusade against Dana Holgorsen by now former coach Bill Stewart is over, and the mastermind of the Oklahoma State offense last year will take over and be in full command. He lead the Oklahoma State Cowboys to the number one offense in the country last year and the number two overall passing offense. That should please West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith, who at 6’2 was athletic enough to orchestrate the run-oriented spread but was likely a more idea fit for the actual passing spread.
Smith last year was #1 in the Big East in passing efficiency, and when he got to show off his arm, he was both impressive and safe with the football. Now, he’ll likely see his pass attempts from last year (347) go up by about 150, as Brandon Weeded threw 511 passes last year. Smith hasn’t shown the ability consistently to dissect the play from the pocket and really make check-downs, but he has the size, arm, and control of the football to learn in the offense, and we could see Geno Smith transform as a passer and possibly into a 2013 top three round quarterback prospect.
Michigan: Quarterback Denard Robinson in Al Borges’s Offense
Along with Geno Smith, 2010 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Denard Robinson will also be making a transition from a run-oriented spread offense, and offense that gave him over 1700 rushing yards and 32 total touchdowns in 2010 under Rich Rodriguez. However, with Brady Hoke and offensive coordinator Al Borges now in charge, the Michigan offense looks to change, and Denard Robinson could be changing with it.
The team will run a more pro-style offense in 2010, and have a West Coast approach to passing the ball. They still plan to play in the shotgun roughly 50% of the time, and will use Denard on a lot of roll-outs to keep him in space. But, the real focus will be on keeping his healthy, as he rushed on average 20 times a game as was taken out due to injury 10 of 13 games last year. The West Coast offense should allow him and his three returning receivers and tight end to quickly attack teams. Hoke and Borges’s offense last year were ranked 12th in the nation last year and averaged 35 points a game.
Clemson: Running Back Andre Ellington in Chad Morris’s Offense
Chad Morris comes over from Tulsa as he ran their highly productive offense last year. He lead the team to the number five overall offense in total yards and number six in scoring with 41.4 points per game. However, despite his quarterbacks being ultra productive each year (number 13th ranked passing offense), he claims that the offense is not a spread offense, but actually more of a balanced, highly productive attack that causes confusion and has a lot of I-formation and base set concepts.
Lost in translation in his production last year is that he also had the number 15th ranked rushing offense a year ago, and with a talent waiting in the wings like junior Andre Ellington at running back, that could be a match made for production. Four offensive linemen return for Clemson, they have a quarterback in Tahj Boyd that’s likely to struggle early, and their first fives games are against Troy (73rd vs. run in 2010), Wofford, Auburn (3 returning defensive starters), Florida State (6th in ACC vs. the run in 2010), and Viriginia Tech (64th vs run in 2010) .
Best Academic FBS Programs
Something that goes far under reported and unfortunately is put far on the back burner when it comes to evaluating college football programs is their ability to fulfill their obligations academically to their student athletes. Fans, coaches, and ADs alike are (generally) more concerned with players getting good “enough” grades, and not meeting their potential off the field and in the classroom.
The Public Recognition Award is given to programs that rank in the Top 10 in their academic performance. Only 14 schools got the honor, something that has been talked about little but has more of a factor on the thousands of FBS football players that won’t play in football professionally. Many of them, you would probably guess: Northwestern, Duke, Air Force, Navy, Rice, Stanford and Vanderbilt. Some didn’t really surprise me in Boise State, Clemson, and Rutgers.
Northern Illinois, who made this increase during Jerry Kill’s time as a head coach, now the head coach of Indiana, and Middle Tennessee State were both schools that weren’t on my radar as solid academic institutions compared to some others, especially since only 2 ACC schools, 1 SEC schools, and 0 Big 12 schools made the list. The final two that made the list? Jim Tressell’s Ohio State, who were among the best in the country, and Miami (FL).
That Miami program had long been known as a one of poor academic quality and maturity issues on the football program. Now former head coach Randy Shannon turned that program around academically and had his program in the Top 14 among academic institutions, a very impressive feat. And how was he rewarded? Fired, without a job. That’s college football for ya.
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Links from this Week Of Articles
Get to Know Bryce Brown: He May Be a 2012 First Rounder
College Football and NFL Draft Links: June 17th
Could Michigan Win the Big Ten This Season?
10 Most Dangerous BCS Teams in College Football
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Optimum Scouting’s Staff for the 2011-2012 Season
For those of you that are not aware, Optimum Scouting is more than just a website that scouts the country for NFL talent. We also work with football professionals to help in their scouting needs. This year, I’m very excited to release who our staff will be, and you’ll be seeing their work through the rankings, articles, and NFL Draft guide throughout the season (Twitter handles included).
Eric Galko (@OptimumScouting) ; Seneca Gant (@OS_SenecaGant) ; Chris Cordero ; Alex Brown (@ABXXV25) ; Joe Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) ; Mike Jackson ; Mark Dulgarian ; and Trey Randall.
Also, our writing staff includes Walker Rhodes (@notsolegato) and Pat Schuster (@ftballdialogue).
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Quick Rant: The NBA Draft and My Thoughts (If You Care)
I don’t tweet a lot about other sports, but I think I know my fair share about baseball, basketball, golf, tennis, and dabble in soccer now, thanks to the World Cup. So forgive me if I indulge on my NBA Draft liking, as I’m excited as any to talk draft, even if the NFL’s is 9 months away.
My brother being a huge Minnesota Timberwolves fan, has sucked me into the hundreds of rumors, reports, and RealGM.com trades that he digests each day. But I think this year’s NBA Draft has a chance to be quite interesting, moreso than in year’s past. First off, this year has a John Wall-Evan Turner look to it in Kyrie Irving and Derrick Williams, except Irving and Williams are much closer as prospects. Here are some of my quick thoughts on this year’s NBA Draft:
-If that trade between Cleveland, Minnesota, and Detriot (where Cleveland gets Richard Hamilton’s contract, Cleveland gets #2, and Minnesota gets #4 and #8), actually is being discussed, I don’t see how it doesn’t happen. Cleveland gets the drafts two best players to start over, Minnesota gets two role players around Rubio and Love (or maybe package them to LA for Gasol?), and Detriot can finally get some cap freedom.
-After Irving and Williams, here’s my draft board(excluding foreign players): 3. Brandon Knight 4. Kemba Walker 5. Enes Kanter 6. Kawahi Leonard 7. Alec Burks 8. Jimmer Fredette 9. Chris Singleton 10. Marcus Morris 11. Markieff Morris 12. Klay Thompson 13. Triston Thompson 14. Shelvin Mack 15. Josh Selby
-Too often teams are looking for the next Josh Smith (Atlanta), and never find them. I have yet to hear a convincing argument that Kemba Walker won’t be a slightly less quick version of Allen Iverson, Chris Singleton won’t be one of the NBA’s best defenders by year two, and Shelvin Mack and Josh Selby won’t be at worst solid backups in the NBA.
-My logic for the NBA Draft is thisL Top 3-5=Only Elite talents, position irrelevant, Top 14=No worse than long term starter 15-32=Guy that’s going to make the roster. I don’t get why guys like Sam Young, DeJuan Blair, Chris Douglas Roberts, and Glen Davis fall out of the 1st round every year.
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