The Daily Evergreen had this story on Thursday’s indoor action. Per the story, they played fast in the climate-controlled environment, and that’s good. But the bad news is some injuries are starting to pile on a little bit. Chantz Staden injured his knee at the end of Tuesday’s practice, leaving the team with only two healthy running backs (Logwone Mitz and Leon Brooks). And the injuries are starting to concern coach Wulff, but, it’s not ALL bad:
“We’re not as competitive at all the spots that we need to be right now because of depth,” Wulff said. “But you can see units of the team are starting to build depth. All great teams and programs have competitiveness within, and have it within their positions and have position battles. You’re starting to see that for the first time here.”
Halfway through the 15 spring practices, Wulff said this is the best he’s seen from his team in three sessions. “For the first time, we’re not in a hole anymore,” Wulff said. “We’re at ground level, and now we’re starting to grow as a team. It’s fun to be on the upwards swing of growth now.”
After the last couple of years, to even consider the very idea that there was anything other than an injury battle of attrition going on in Pullman seemed pretty far-fetched. To hear the things about the young talent flashing promise, so much so that it is creating competition from within? Really, really good news.
Cougfan’s premium story here hits on yesterday, as well as how things are trending with the Cougs’ hitting of the mid-point of spring ball.
Grippi’s latest recaps the spring through yesterday. Grippi asked Wulff who, exactly, has impressed so far this spring, and Wulff railed through a few names:
After practice, I asked Wulff to single out one player who was having the best spring. “That’s a tough question,” he said. So I amended it a bit, asking him to name some players he thought had made some strides. “Starting on defense,” he said, “Kevin Kooyman, he’s played well. (Middle linebacker) Hallston Higgins has made a lot of personal improvement. He’s made a lot of progress, done a nice job. Daniel Simmons has done well, Sekope Kaufusi has done some good things. Offensively, Chantz Staden has played well. David Gonzalez and Wade Jacobson have done some good things. And when he’s been out there, B.J. Guerra.”
Guerra also commented on the improvement he’s seeing from the defense so far:
Guerra sees that growth on the defensive side every practice.
“They’re executing their blitzes,” Guerra said, singling out the play of defensive tackle Bernard Wolfgramm as a “guy who is going to spark a fire in the rest of the guys.”
“And our (defensive backs), I feel like they’ve gotten a lot better,” he added. “They’re making plays on the ball and they’re not getting beat deep. If they continue to do that, we’re going to have a great chance to stop some teams during the season.”
ESPN 710’s Bert Klasey looks at the WSU receivers this spring. Included is a nice video clip of Gino Simone catching a TD pass vs. Cal on a deep post pattern, where Simone beat the safety from his slot position to the end zone. Nice.
Joe Nickell at First and Crimson wraps up day eight, and adds the news that Alex Hoffman-Ellis won the “Weight Champion of the Month” award from strength coach Darin Lovat.
Yeah, we’re really, REALLY big fans of what Hoffman-Ellis can become in 2010! The reviews so far have been really positive for the way he looks this spring, and he could really have that breakthrough of breakthroughs in 2010.
Finally, a little QB comparison for you…..
But is he a finished product as a passer? Is it really THAT clear that he’s the end-all, be-all of the collegiate game right now? Check out these stat lines for two QB’s, and see if you can tell who is destined to be the #1 pick….and who was a pretty good QB who never had more than a cup of cofee in the NFL:
QB #1: In 12 games, completed 230 out of 394 passing attempts for 2800 yards, good for 7.1 yards per attempt, and with a completion percentage of 58.4 %. This QB threw 21 TD’s and had 11 INT’s, finishing with a passer efficiency rating of 130.1 while leading his team to a 5-7 record.
QB#2: In 11 games, completed 205 out of 358 passing attempts for 2891 yards, good for 8.1 yards per attempt, and with a completion percentage of 57.3%. This QB threw for 24 TD’s and had 13 INT’s, finishing with a passer efficiency rating of 139.96 while leading his team to a 4-7 record.
I should also add that QB #1 was actually a redshirt junior, while QB #2 was a redshirt sophomore. But when you look at the stat lines, well, things are pretty similar all across the board. In fact, withough looking at their names, you could even be a little more inclined to take QB #2, based on the facts: more passing yards, higher yards per attempt, more TD’s and a better QB efficiency rating. And said numbers were accomplished as a sophomore in 11 games in QB #2, compared to the junior who did it in 12 games in QB #1.
Figure it out yet?
QB #1:
And QB #2:
Look, obviously Locker is a wonderful NFL prospect. I am not about to suggest that Alex Brink was the better QB, I mean he didn’t approach Locker in terms of physical gifts and all that. And Locker appears set for a MONSTER 2010 season, probably going over 3,000 yards and 30 TD’s while his team is clearly showing the look of a bowl contender ths year. It’s undeniable.
But I don’t know, maybe I’m alone in all this. But I thought it was fairly interesting to see the stats from when Alex Brink was just a sophomore and pretty much the whipping boy for about half of Coug Nation when the team struggled, and to compare them to the guy who they all say will be the #1 pick, no if’s, and’s or but’s about it? I guess it’s good blog-fodder during the offseason???
Anyway, happy Friday, and as always, GO COUGS!
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