Observations while we rearrange the deck chairs

Posted on: October 3, 2021 at 19:34:55 CT

1) I confess I have been a Drink guy and somewhat of an apologist for misfires this season. Firing Franklin after 5 games and leaving Wilks in place after what we have seen is a bad look – a bad look for Drink. Sure looks like scapegoat city. Even if he is terrible and needs to go, what does that say about Drink’s/Wilks’ hiring negligence. Also, can Al Davis really be expected to make a difference?
2) I wonder about talent evaluation (not as a recruiter but in awarding game snaps). Drink seemed to take offense during the presser two weeks ago when the questioner asked about giving some other players a look in game action when the regular two-deep is performing so poorly. Drink said games are not open tryouts and if players want to play, then they need to practice better. Fair enough as a general proposition, but we also have a long history of players who have been buried in the depth chart who shine when they finally get a chance to see game action (the Alan Iverson effect?) Prominent examples from the past include Henry Josie, Ernest Blackwell, Markus Golden, Colin Brown, etc.) Seeing Swinson, Hester, Cox making plays when they finally saw the field makes one wonder where they have been and why they are not getting more opportunities. Perhaps we have a LB or DL that is not seeing much action that might be a game player rather than a practice player. If practice drills and practice design are subpar then practice performance will not translate to expected game performance. In most cases it is probably just a matter of the team being thin on talent, but I would like to see some other guys get a chance in the blowouts just in case we have some guys that are game day players.
3) I see people giving our transfer players a lot of grief and proclaiming that all of our transfers are not good. It is true that some have been major disappointments, but I think it has been a mixed bag. For example, I do not think Blaze is cut out to be a staring SEC LB due to physical limitations, and Hazelton was and Chism is a disappointment in my opinion. But I also see people saying the Tulsa corners are terrible. I disagree even though they admittedly, like everyone on D, had very bad games last week. I would argue that Evans looked very good earlier in the season. Conner Wood seems to be a nice pickup on the OL and Drink speaks highly of Ndoma-Ogar who has not had many reps. I wonder about the transfers on the DL - is Ben Key not good enough to see some game reps in light of the terrible play of the DL? What about Robledo? If they can’t get reps with this crew then they were recruiting reaches made out of desperation or they are the victims of poor talent evaluation. Admittedly, none of these players are like Jordan Elliott who was an absolute beast, but some have been good additions. I agree we need to do better with transfers though – especially next year.
4) Finally, the Defense is so screwed up that it is difficult to see who can make plays because even the better players have lost confidence (e.g. Jeffcoat has been completely neutralized). It will be a slow fix in my opinion. It may be best to de-emphasize scheme (run a basic D) and spend the rest of the year focusing on tackling and playing the guys that are giving max effort and showing fight.