(02-22-2019 06:31 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote: (02-22-2019 09:24 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote: (02-22-2019 12:27 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote: (02-22-2019 12:12 AM)7 Wrote: (02-22-2019 12:03 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote: Elite running backs? Below average WR and no QB and you think the offensive talent is fine?
Tre, Jones, and Nettles is as good of a backfield they've had since the Wolfe/Harris days. The issue on offense isn't talent across the board, it's simply the QB position.
I'd have to lean more toward average RB unit as opposed to elite.
I’d go in between you two and say the RB position is very good. The WR group gets a slightly below average, but I think someone new emerges and gets it up to at least average by years end. TE is average. But all it takes at that position is one guy to make it great. Soragahn, Dehahn, Lersch? Who knows. Any word on Charles Robinson after a year of juco?
QB is below average. Let’s hope Childers fits the new offense better if he’s the guy this year. Some systems are a bad match for some players. 2nd to 3rd year can be a big jump for some qbs. Maybe Marcus surprises us.
I do kinda agree with MD in that the offense may take a year or two to become high powered. But I’d expect it to immediately be better than last year.
I'm reserving judgment on Childers just because of the coaching limitations and restrictions he was under. No QB would habe succeeded at QB the past two seasons at NIU. It's quite possible he is not the answer though but we need more data with Carey gone, and more a chance for him to blossom
Agreed. (yeah, it shocks me too). But a good point is a good point.
A trip down Memory Lane isn't all that bad when it reveals something. A good RB-QB is what makes the Northern offense work. We know they're out there, because Northern has had at least four of them: Taylor, Robinson, Harnish and Lynch. That did not always equal great success, because other elements of the team -- defense, special teams, etc. -- were not also there. And, of course, it depends on the opponents.
The problem wasn't/isn't Marcus Childers. It was Rod Carey's unwillingness to put others into that offense to find the next Taylor, Robinson, Harnish or Lynch. Carey locked in to what worked 2/3 of the time and stayed there. That isn't progress. It's maintenance.
Better teams at the G5 level, combined with that mentality, produced a 0-6 bowl record. It also took away whatever chance Northern had at getting back to an NY6 Access Bowl. Only great defense and great defensive coaching kept the program afloat, imo. (Example: NIU 7, BYU 6).
Hopefully, THammock & Company will find Northern that RB-QB ... if this is the offense they choose. A new OC means changes. Then maybe we'll see what the other RB's can REALLY do.
But alas .... my opinion is no better than anyone else's.