2 hours and 2 minutes
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1. Quarterback and Running Backstarts at 1:00
Cade versus JJ, round 2…how long until McCarthy is too good to keep out of the starting lineup? More important question is how good is Cade McNamara, because he has excellent command of the offense, and had a Rudock-like second half of the season. He needs to hit next-level routes but showed he can, and still has a lot more runway than people think. Then again, McCarthy can be the Bryce Young who takes this offense to natty-level, which they may need. Orjicat? Running back is going to be sweet—you forget how good Corum was (best in the nation) before his injury. Neither he nor Edwards are probably power backs, which means they may need JJ to be a run threat to maximize their backs. Need a thunder dude to step forth; Mullings has the proverbial it if he can be spared.
[The rest of the writeup and the player after THE JUMP]
2. Receiver and Tight Tendstarts at 41:41
With all due respect to Ronnie Bell, we’re starting with Cornelius Johnson, who is tracking towards 1st round pick. A lot of the meat that Cade left on the bone was CJ getting wide open on in-breaking routes. He needs to get his contested catch rate up to be elite. Ronnie Bell: the most effective slot in 2020, uncanny ability to turn 5 yards into 15, always better hands than credited. And then there’s LOTS of good depth. Hard not to be stoked about Andrel Anthony’s Braylon impression in year 2. Roman Wilson is so fast with underrated hands and leaps, and a better weapon for a big arm, but needs to improve his routes, gets stuck at the LOS. AJ Henning is fun, but rather see the top receivers in the slot. Going to be fun watching the freshmen develop. Seth is all in on Erick All, who’s the guy Michigan decided to run behind. Schoonmaker is an incredible athlete. They’re sitting atop a depth chart that’s been waiting for those guys to clear out. Is anyone a fullback? Max Bredeson perhaps?
3. Hot Takes and Offensive Linestarts at 1:13:09
The Joe Moore Winners add a Rimington Candidate that the whole team can’t stop talking about. Zinter is taking the next step to All-American. Seth loves Keegan’s awareness—Graham Glasgow 2.0. Ryan Hayes showed his limits but he can pull and he can knock around some guys…still needs to get stronger. Trente Jones gives us confidence because he seized the job so fast. The backups are not as known because they’re the next generation, but early returns inside are very positive.
4. Offense in Summarystarts at 1:42:11
So what would disappoint you? They’re Top 5 but if they want to get to Top 1 or 2 they need to hit on McCarthy or see McNamara turn into a Drew Brees. Hard to see him do that without the zone reads that make JJ effective. Corum isn’t going to get enough carries to be a Heisman. What did they lose in Gattis? Really hard to tell, but Weiss knows how to use motion to create weird running lanes. Want to see them open it up early against bad opponents. No more Washington games.
MUSIC:
- “Are You Ready”—Rokotto
- “Crazy Feeling”—Lou Reed
- “Lady Luck”—Richard Swift
- “Across 110th Street”
