We have seen the Dukes play one competitive game and two mismatches.
Who has surprised you with their play so far?

I will go with 3 that didn’t play for the Dukes last year and are doing quite well this year.
1 - KeShaun Moore. As a redshirt freshman he looks like a grown man. Could easily be mistaken for a squatty DE, but has shown good mobility at LB filling in for injured starter Word. When is the last time JMU had a LB that big? I feel like his size helps support the D-Line in run defense. No matter how much Houston likes the D-Line, there are many undersized players there that can be overpowered.
2- Kyndel Dean. He looks to be very capable of being WR 3 and should thrive in spread sets with defenses focusing on JMU’s Established WR’s. Lanky, shifty, and quick. He needs to bulk up his body if he wants to elevate to WR 1 in a few years. He is probably worthy of a nickname. Perhaps Twiggy Dean.
3- The Nooch. If you saw him play at Pitt last year you would have had concerns. OC Kirkpatrick has done a great job of babying him with short passes galore. JMU will have an athletic advantage in every game and may not need anything more than dink and dunk to move the ball, but I suspect a better defense eventually will overplay the short stuff daring him to throw intermediate passes.
Also, and more importantly IMO, His running has been sneaky dangerous so far and the threat will allow the RB’s to have a monster year for sure.

Sims has looks good too. Even against State he and Dean were both showing off some moves to catch the ball and quickly get around the corner, usually having to get tackled by the safety or a LB that had come over. After the NC last year it's also fantastic to see them catching basically everything in their range...much more like two years ago. Psyched to have these two agile guys for 4 full years (Dean being 4 inches taller also).

A lot of the question marks I had at the beginning of the year have been filled quite well.

I think Percy Agyei-Obese has improved a lot over last year. I have a feeling he's going to get more play time. He's got some incredible speed and I was very impressed with his run last week.
I would say DiNucci is a pleasant surprise. He is much more of a playmaker than I was expecting from him. QB position was the huge question mark for me going into this season and I think he's going to just keep getting better. This offense is going to be sick when it's clicking.
Oh yeah, and our defense is pretty damn good too, but wouldn't call it a surprise. I have been pleasantly surprised at the young talent on defense. I was afraid the new additions could create weaknesses and so far they've been sticking with the veterans.
It is still early in the season, but I definitely feel really good about this team and our chances of running the table.
Reload.

(09-16-2018 07:54 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  I think Percy Agyei-Obese has improved a lot over last year. I have a feeling he's going to get more play time. He's got some incredible speed and I was very impressed with his run last week.

This might seem blasphemous, but I am starting to think he's actually our best RB. I would definitely rank him ahead of Sharp (too slow) and Hamilton (too small). It could be that he usually enters games once the defense is worn down a bit. However, every time he touches the ball good things happen.

I understand that he's not going to get touches before our 3 seniors this season. I fully expect him to be our nearly fulll-time workhorse back next season.

(09-16-2018 08:14 PM)chicagoduke Wrote:  

(09-16-2018 07:54 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  I think Percy Agyei-Obese has improved a lot over last year. I have a feeling he's going to get more play time. He's got some incredible speed and I was very impressed with his run last week.

This might seem blasphemous, but I am starting to think he's actually our best RB. I would definitely rank him ahead of Sharp (too slow) and Hamilton (too small). It could be that he usually enters games once the defense is worn down a bit. However, every time he touches the ball good things happen.

I understand that he's not going to get touches before our 3 seniors this season. I fully expect him to be our nearly fulll-time workhorse back next season.

Would mostly agree - not sure I'd say he's better than either of our top two at this point. Definitely agree that him coming in the 4th quarter once the defense is gassed would be fun to watch. I'd love to see our RB's in a sprint to see who has the best acceleration and who has the best top gear. From the first couple full games it looks like Marshall and Percy may have a similar top gear, but that Percy hits his after like 3 steps.

(09-16-2018 08:36 PM)jmufan2008 Wrote:  

(09-16-2018 08:14 PM)chicagoduke Wrote:  

(09-16-2018 07:54 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  I think Percy Agyei-Obese has improved a lot over last year. I have a feeling he's going to get more play time. He's got some incredible speed and I was very impressed with his run last week.

This might seem blasphemous, but I am starting to think he's actually our best RB. I would definitely rank him ahead of Sharp (too slow) and Hamilton (too small). It could be that he usually enters games once the defense is worn down a bit. However, every time he touches the ball good things happen.

I understand that he's not going to get touches before our 3 seniors this season. I fully expect him to be our nearly fulll-time workhorse back next season.

Would mostly agree - not sure I'd say he's better than either of our top two at this point. Definitely agree that him coming in the 4th quarter once the defense is gassed would be fun to watch. I'd love to see our RB's in a sprint to see who has the best acceleration and who has the best top gear. From the first couple full games it looks like Marshall and Percy may have a similar top gear, but that Percy hits his after like 3 steps.

I think Harry OKelly would smoke all of them!

(09-16-2018 08:14 PM)chicagoduke Wrote:  

(09-16-2018 07:54 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  I think Percy Agyei-Obese has improved a lot over last year. I have a feeling he's going to get more play time. He's got some incredible speed and I was very impressed with his run last week.

This might seem blasphemous, but I am starting to think he's actually our best RB. I would definitely rank him ahead of Sharp (too slow) and Hamilton (too small). It could be that he usually enters games once the defense is worn down a bit. However, every time he touches the ball good things happen.

I understand that he's not going to get touches before our 3 seniors this season. I fully expect him to be our nearly fulll-time workhorse back next season.

I agree with that. Percy is incredibly impressive. Speed, quickness, and power. I'm torn between preserving him with a redshirt or going ahead and playing him now. I think I would rather us play him now, which raises the caliber of our RB corps to a high-FBS level, maybe even BCS. I believe he should be our feature back NOW!

(09-16-2018 11:35 PM)Purple Wrote:  

(09-16-2018 08:14 PM)chicagoduke Wrote:  

(09-16-2018 07:54 PM)JMad03 Wrote:  I think Percy Agyei-Obese has improved a lot over last year. I have a feeling he's going to get more play time. He's got some incredible speed and I was very impressed with his run last week.

This might seem blasphemous, but I am starting to think he's actually our best RB. I would definitely rank him ahead of Sharp (too slow) and Hamilton (too small). It could be that he usually enters games once the defense is worn down a bit. However, every time he touches the ball good things happen.

I understand that he's not going to get touches before our 3 seniors this season. I fully expect him to be our nearly fulll-time workhorse back next season.

I agree with that. Percy is incredibly impressive. Speed, quickness, and power. I'm torn between preserving him with a redshirt or going ahead and playing him now. I think I would rather us play him now, which raises the caliber of our RB corps to a high-FBS level, maybe even BCS. I believe he should be our feature back NOW!

The only reason I would like to see him redshirt is that our RB position is absolutely stacked.
The main question is whether or not he can get enough carries to warrant a burned redshirt. Some say players redshirt because they're not good enough to play. That certainly isn't the case with Percy. I would like to see him on the field much more, but perhaps there's a reason that we as fans cannot see (missing blocking assignments, etc).

To me, I don't see it as worth it to burn Percy's redshirt this year. He's as good, or at MOST marginally better, than our top 2...plus we have 2 solid backups. I don't see us having trouble with any remaining teams until maybe the semis or championship. If he's only played in two games so far, then he should be able to sit the rest of the year until then and still keep his redshirt. If he were a freshman, I'd be much more apt to skip the redshirt...as our recruiting class may be good enough in a couple years that he'd get recruited over...however, as a sophomore, that's a little less likely. We're just too deep at RB to need him right now. Any team in FCS would kill to have Cardon or Marcus...and we have both. Hell, most teams would kill to have Trai or Jawon, and they're our backups. Kirlew seems to be a solid backup as well. That's five RBs that can carry the load without needing Percy to burn a year. Then he can come in as the secret weapon in the second half of the semis and championship.

(09-17-2018 08:10 AM)jmufan2008 Wrote:  To me, I don't see it as worth it to burn Percy's redshirt this year. He's as good, or at MOST marginally better, than our top 2...plus we have 2 solid backups. I don't see us having trouble with any remaining teams until maybe the semis or championship. If he's only played in two games so far, then he should be able to sit the rest of the year until then and still keep his redshirt. If he were a freshman, I'd be much more apt to skip the redshirt...as our recruiting class may be good enough in a couple years that he'd get recruited over...however, as a sophomore, that's a little less likely. We're just too deep at RB to need him right now. Any team in FCS would kill to have Cardon or Marcus...and we have both. Hell, most teams would kill to have Trai or Jawon, and they're our backups. Kirlew seems to be a solid backup as well. That's five RBs that can carry the load without needing Percy to burn a year. Then he can come in as the secret weapon in the second half of the semis and championship.

Percy has already played in all 3 games this year and is also one of our top special teams players so I see no shot of him being redshirted this year.

(09-17-2018 08:16 AM)jmu98 Wrote:  

(09-17-2018 08:10 AM)jmufan2008 Wrote:  To me, I don't see it as worth it to burn Percy's redshirt this year. He's as good, or at MOST marginally better, than our top 2...plus we have 2 solid backups. I don't see us having trouble with any remaining teams until maybe the semis or championship. If he's only played in two games so far, then he should be able to sit the rest of the year until then and still keep his redshirt. If he were a freshman, I'd be much more apt to skip the redshirt...as our recruiting class may be good enough in a couple years that he'd get recruited over...however, as a sophomore, that's a little less likely. We're just too deep at RB to need him right now. Any team in FCS would kill to have Cardon or Marcus...and we have both. Hell, most teams would kill to have Trai or Jawon, and they're our backups. Kirlew seems to be a solid backup as well. That's five RBs that can carry the load without needing Percy to burn a year. Then he can come in as the secret weapon in the second half of the semis and championship.

Percy has already played in all 3 games this year and is also one of our top special teams players so I see no shot of him being redshirted this year.

Bingo, Percy is key on special teams as well. He can and does contribute each game. Plus kids don't want to sit out if they can play and contribute. Houston is going to put the best players out there and Percy is one of them, period.

(09-17-2018 08:59 AM)ShadyP Wrote:  

(09-17-2018 08:16 AM)jmu98 Wrote:  

(09-17-2018 08:10 AM)jmufan2008 Wrote:  To me, I don't see it as worth it to burn Percy's redshirt this year. He's as good, or at MOST marginally better, than our top 2...plus we have 2 solid backups. I don't see us having trouble with any remaining teams until maybe the semis or championship. If he's only played in two games so far, then he should be able to sit the rest of the year until then and still keep his redshirt. If he were a freshman, I'd be much more apt to skip the redshirt...as our recruiting class may be good enough in a couple years that he'd get recruited over...however, as a sophomore, that's a little less likely. We're just too deep at RB to need him right now. Any team in FCS would kill to have Cardon or Marcus...and we have both. Hell, most teams would kill to have Trai or Jawon, and they're our backups. Kirlew seems to be a solid backup as well. That's five RBs that can carry the load without needing Percy to burn a year. Then he can come in as the secret weapon in the second half of the semis and championship.

Percy has already played in all 3 games this year and is also one of our top special teams players so I see no shot of him being redshirted this year.

Bingo, Percy is key on special teams as well. He can and does contribute each game. Plus kids don't want to sit out if they can play and contribute. Houston is going to put the best players out there and Percy is one of them, period.

I agree with all of the sentiments about his talent, but I hope he redshirts. I'd rather him be back 1A in tandem with incoming C.J. Wilson (or whatever else cream rises) than split time with 3 other backs in which case nobody gets in a rhythm. We'll see but if I was him - and I know he's a young man and it's very hard to have patience - I'd kind of rather that. This is a young team and young OL. It's not like we're going to fall apart next year. He and Hamilton or Wilson can be the man vs. splitting carries with Johnson and Marshall. I hate saying this, but I just don't see the same level of player in Sharp so I wouldn't put him out there as much this season.

I'd add Adam Smith to this list. I didn't know much about him before this season got rolling but he's had a good start and looks like a good player.

DeAngelo Amos is the surest tackler we have. If he gets his hands on the runner he doesn't let go til he's down. He has been a very pleasant surprise at safety. Amos & Smith are good enough to keep 4 star Wayne Davis at nickel. With Tutt and Oliver coming back we have reloaded a secondary with depth that will get better every game. It's good to be a Duke.