Another round of select e-mail from the valued reader. By the way, a side note, a lot of you have noted there have been some changes in recent months on my end. I’m not going to get into much here, but the important thing is that the blog has been more popular this offseason than last, so I appreciate all the feedback and views and links, etc. Keep passing the word along.
The coverage won’t cease this fall either. At least that is the plan.
Coming up next week I will have a pretty indepth Big Ten preview for you, as well as some leftovers from Lift for Life.
Onto your questions and my answers.
Michael writes: Why do I have the feeling that Josh Hull will continue to be a JoePa favorite and won’t find his way out of the lineup, which would come at the expense of someone else who deserves to play?
Michael, thanks. You recall Hull was pretty animated this spring and said he is going to fstart when the season rolls around. He very well may start, but starting a game doesn’t mean you will finish it as the starter, if you catch my drift.
Hull played well at times last season, he definitely got better, but facts are facts. Navorro Bowman, Sean Lee, Mike Mauti, Nate Stupar, Hull and others deserve time. Who starts out of the three? It might be Hull when the season rolls around but I expect Mauti, Lee and Bowman to be your core of the linebacking unit. I’m pretty sure everyone else does too.
Eric in E-Town writes: What role do you think Jerome Hayes has this season? DE, LB? And is he healthy?
Eric, thanks for writing. Hayes will be ready to go once the season starts but I could see him being eased back into the rotation. PSU appears set to go with Jack Crawford and Kevion Latham at the ends. Hayes will likely operate as that hybrid standing up end role where he is a LB and DE. If he can stay healthy, he will be fine.
Marty writes: I’m thrilled the quarterbacks keep rolling in, but what’s your take on getting too many? Isn’t the staff setting itself up for another Clark-Devlin ‘problem?’
Marty, yes and no. Too much of a good thing is never bad. You need quarterbacks to have depth and keep the competition for the job healthy and maybe out of that it pushes someone to be better. Look at what Devlin
When it comes to quarterbacks in the Big Ten, it's Daryll Clark and everyone else, right now/SI Photo
ultimately did for Clark last year.
That said, it seems like Kevin Newsome is already forgotten past this year. Everyone is happy Paul Jones and Robert Bolden are on board (verbally), but it’s Kevin Newsome’s job to lose next year, assuming he is healthy.
I think the other thing is that, and Joe discussed this a little with Rich Scarcella in the Annual that just came out, there is a bit of a shift in how PSU is recruiting quarterbacks, I think. They understand that this spread philosophy works and in order for it to do so, you need the modern style quarterback that presents the run-pass threat.
Think about the impact Michael Robinson and Daryll Clark have had long term for this program. Why would the coaches go away from anything other than that style of quarterback now?
Class of ‘74 asks: I’m pleased with this recruiting class right now, but is there an area they should be concentrating on more?
CO74: Yes. Defensive line. They are OK on the ends for now, but they need some interior guys to start coming through. By the way, sign your name next time.
Dave writes: Heard you the other day on the radio…do you really think the quality of Big Ten quarterback is down? How so. Didn’t Ricky Stanzi beat Penn State last year? Didn’t Pryor almost do it? Juice Williams can explode at any second. Come on man, give the conference more credit at the position.
Dave, settle down. Here’s first thing. Daryll Clark is the best quarterback in the conference. No one can or should debate that. Second…after Clark it’s Pryor and everyone else.
Stanzi didn’t beat PSU last year, PSU beat itself by not scoring in the redzone during a dominate first half. And they failed to put the game away in the second. You can’t let a team hang around when you go into their place and dominate like PSU did.
Third, Williams is overrated. Yes he has every bit the explosive potential, but look at his progression over the last four years. While the numbers are better, he hasn’t proven, outside of Ohio State, two years ago, he can win a big money game himself. That and Mike Locksley is elsewhere now too.
After Pryor it’s Adam Weber from Minnesota, then Williams, then I’d put Keith Nichol from Michigan State in there even though we haven’t seen him.
And Pryor hasn’t proven he can be a dominate quarterback. He is a freak athletically, but would you trust him, down seven, 90-yards to go? Not right now.
The bottom line is that no quarterback outright scares me if I am an opposing secondary EXCEPT Clark right now.
Keep sending in the e-mail and feedback.
Contact me at ethomas626@yahoo.com | Twitter me at BetweenTheLions
2 Comments
July 28, 2009 at 10:44 am
Wouldnt you worry about Pryor, he had a pass-efficiency rating of 151.3 in conference play. The best in the big ten, http://thematadorsports.com/blog/?p=839
July 29, 2009 at 12:35 am
There’s no question he is a freak of a talent, and as a player I’d almost certainly rather be recognized at the end of the season than the beginning. These mean nothing. But the point is, the media covering the Big Ten, of which I am a part, doesn’t care about PSU and they brush them aside as an afterthought, 16 years later.
I can understand coming off a 3-win season in 2004 not getting any love in 2005 at media day, but Clark was the top QB in the conference at the end of last season, if you return after that campaign, and the top player is supposedly a quarterback, it doesn’t add up.