Yesterday I decided to turn a series of Twitter arguments into a post about Michigan’s relative talent level. My argument was that Michgian’s overall talent level under Jim Harbaugh has actually been plenty high, but they haven’t been strong enough in the box to win with the run game and their aggressive defensive strategy and … [Read more…]
Bruce Feldman of the Athletic recently released his “freaks” list, which is always a fun read. No. 1 on the list is Michigan defensive end Kwity Paye, which I found striking particularly in light of how much talent has been passing through Ann Arbor since Jim Harbaugh took over. I noted as much on Twitter: … [Read more…]
The 2020 Iowa State Cyclones are going to make a big push to become the 5th Midwestern team to win a Big 12 championship in this upcoming season. They may not have it in them, God knows the league could be competitive this season (or be hampered in a dozen fashions by COVID-19), but their … [Read more…]
In part II the other day, I broached the same topic I’ve mentioned when I was explaining the theoretical advantage of the “bash bros” against the “Raid bros” in the Big 12. That didn’t work out so great, because it turns out that having easy answers for 3rd and 1 isn’t as valuable as being … [Read more…]
Before Urban Meyer’s run or the less successful eras of Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain, the original breakthrough Florida Gator teams were the Steve Spurrier squads of the 90s. Those squads won six SEC titles and a National Championship in 1996. Those Gator teams come up tangentially in my book… …his 95 team went to … [Read more…]
If you’ve read this blog regularly, you’ll notice that I have an uneven relationship with the service rankings of players and teams. In one post I’ll come strongly against the idea that the class rankings are predictive or should be taken particularly seriously, in the next I’ll use 247’s data even to the point of … [Read more…]
Someone asked Bill Connelly a really good question on Twitter yesterday in response to his article about how the spread has “won” in college football and is now the strategy. I have a lot of thoughts on this, indeed I wrote an entire book before the season on the topic of what’s been driving offensive … [Read more…]
My old colleague Bill Connelly has a piece up on ESPN.com today about how the spread has “won” in college football. That’s the thing now, spread offense. I’ve been writing, arguing, and explaining as much for the last several years. LSU’s dominant 2019 run obviously established this pretty firmly. Before the LSU title run and … [Read more…]
There seems to be some diversity of thought on Isaiah Simmons’ value in the NFL. His athletic profile is exceptionally unique and really only has one obvious comparison. He measured in at the combine at 6-4, 238 with a 4.39 40 yard dash and 39″ vertical. The size numbers are the sort you tend to … [Read more…]
My man Eric Nahlin over at Inside Texas has an annual tradition where he ranks the top 100 high school players in the state of Texas every year. His choice for no. 1 in 2020 was one of the most fascinating prospects I’ve seen from the state in recent years, as much for his unique … [Read more…]