BillySee58

You know things are bad when you get a "this is what's wrong with this country" post.

The other flaw with that line of thinking is that every team in this conference is set to return at least 3 starters, besides MTSU and ODU, who played each other in the CUSA championship game. And I think ODU actually does return three starters, just not 3 of their top 5 scorers. And MTSU gets their two best players back.

Wow. Looks like people are hopping on @SilverEagle's Quinn Shanbour train

I chose other. Thinking Shanbour possibly, but I think the staff will look hard for someone else than the guys currently listed. I doubt they just settle with the guys we have.

Assuming all are healthy, playing QB, and still here. Strongly encourage those who choose "other" to discuss what that option may look like.

"Speed of the game" has to do more with reading a secondary that's immensely faster than what you faced in high school, while having less time to throw than you did in high school. Or facing defensive linemen who are 100 lbs bigger than what you faced in high school, yet get off the ball faster than you. Running backs can lean on their instincts and athleticism a lot more. That's why it's traditionally a position where young players see the field and have success earlier than others, at all levels. So running backs playing and adjusting early is not a good comparison to QBs early.

Exactly. And athleticism. Plus, making people miss is a lot easier than dissecting a defense as a true freshman.

Yes, but you also have an affinity for saying people are shorter than they are. But I guess if you stood next to them and we didn't then you're height approximation is right and irrefutable.

We're awful at keeping up with other programs. Whether it's with trends or with play, we're constantly behind the curve. But we also don't bother to hold ourselves up to the standards our peers do.

I think you might be over generalizing there. That's like saying "why would a QB want to play for a former fullback like Littrell?" Littrell runs an offense that doesn't even employ the type of player he himself was, or tight ends. O-line coach moving to OC doesn't necessarily mean more smash-mouth, less passing. But I do think there's a good chance Elliott comes here at some point. If he's fourth on the depth chart at the end of spring for UNC, behind the more heralded QB in his own class, then he may come sooner rather than later. Unfortunately it wouldn't help our QB situation for this year.

Never been a press release or public vote of confidence before for Benford's returns. There's just no news and he stays.

If it's any consolation, I appreciate you. You loyal. I'd leave you a heartwarming DJ Khaled gif if I wasn't posting from mobile.

One of the most annoying excuses we kept hearing, from both Dickenson on air and from RV, is that this is just a harder league than the Sun Belt we became so accustomed to having success in. As Tasty pointed out, heading into conference play this was by far the worst season RPI-wise in CUSA history. Probably finished around the same. Not sure what Sun Belt conference RPI rank was in 2011-2012 (last season under Jones). And to top it off, we get knocked off by a former Sun Belt team and the conference winner is a former Sun Belt team. Both of which made the jump from Sun Belt to CUSA the same year as us.

Yeah, that rules out them trying him at defensive end. Might rule out H-back as well. I'd think they'd want him more in the mid 230s if he were to play H-back.

Someone has been paying good attention to @TheTastyGreek

According to his IG someone posted he's already back in Kentucky. If he's gone from not just the team, but also the university then this was most likely not just a decision that happened out of nowhere. If he enrolled this semester he would've had to drop his classes well after the drop date. If I had to guess, Littrell has known Smith wouldn't be a part of next year's team for a while.

Yes, but Mccarney was an awful roster manager. Three of the last four classes were small (those three had 16 or less high school signees), including Littrell's 2016 class because of walkons taking up spots. So here's the concern for the 2017 class. Back with our 2014 class we had to use 4 spots on walkons placed on scholarship before participating for 2 seasons with us as walkon said. Then we had 5 more guys do that the next year, but they didn't count towards the 2015 class, as Mccarey signed a full class. Then this year we were told that we only had 20 spots. I think Mccarney may have deferred those walkons to the 2016 class, meaning we might have to defer Gunter, Rice, Fernandes, and Daniel Khan to our 2017 class. It would suck, but I'm scared those guys are going to have to count towards the 2017 class Yeah, it honestly wouldn't surprise me if he didn't take care of his grades during football season. Other than last spring when he had to sit out and get his grades in order, he was failing classes every semester. A reliable poster said on here that he failed every class at Butler. That's why I always thought it'd be a minor miracle if he played two seasons here. Or at least as drastic an academic turnaround as you'll ever see in college.

Losses: Antoinne Jimmerson, Rex Rollins, Jarrod Lynn Top Returners: JR Jeffery Wilson, JR Willy Ivery Additions: HS RB Nic Smith Other returning scholarship players: JR Andrew Tucker Finally we get to a group that could actually be considered a strength of the team last year. That was due in large part to Jeff Wilson. Wilson is back after rushing for over 830 yards in 10 games. Willy Ivery also returns after rushing for 290 yards, but more impressively averaged 6.6 yards/carry. That duo is as impressive a tandem as we have at any position. In recruiting, quite possibly our top pickup was running back Nic Smith, who was rated a 3-star by three sites and held offers from two P5 programs at one point. Smith will likely be a tough call as far as redshirting, since he appears good enough to play right away. If not, Tucker and Ezzard will round out the depth chart. Both have shown some decent ability, and while they aren't great, they certainly aren't worse than what your 3rd and 4th string backs should be. It will be interesting to see how much we lean on these guys this year. We know Littrell likes to run the ball and had a back rush for almost 1500 yards last year, but we also know he and Harrell come from a Leach background where the top backs usually were around 750 yards rushing, compared to QBs putting up 5000 yards. You have to think they'll play to our strengths with Wilson and Ivery, and with inexperienced QBs and receivers. We'll see just how much, though. Also think these guys will be fun to watch in the passing game, with the receiver inexperience. Looking forward to watching these guys make plays. Position group rank: 1st

You're correct. Khan is on scholarship and Walker is gone

Yes, but Mccarney was an awful roster manager. Three of the last four classes were small (those three had 16 or less high school signees), including Littrell's 2016 class because of walkons taking up spots. So here's the concern for the 2017 class. Back with our 2014 class we had to use 4 spots on walkons placed on scholarship before participating for 2 seasons with us as walkon said. Then we had 5 more guys do that the next year, but they didn't count towards the 2015 class, as Mccarey signed a full class. Then this year we were told that we only had 20 spots. I think Mccarney may have deferred those walkons to the 2016 class, meaning we might have to defer Gunter, Rice, Fernandes, and Daniel Khan to our 2017 class.

He'd be a better safety, IMO

Wouldn't one think what is expected with a new staff?

We hope. There's a chance we may have to give a few spots in the class to walkons Mccarney put on scholarship. Hopefully not, but it's a possibility based on how many players we signed in 2015 and 2016. Also, we're down to just 73 scholarship players for next season if every scholarship player stays and every signee makes it in. We really need to be able to sign a big class next year.

One thing I've noticed about some successful short QBs is that they often played early. 6' and under QBs Manziel, Russell Wilson, Kellen Moore, Stockstill, Cato (started as a true freshman), even Bogenschutz all started as redshirt freshman. I know Fine could use the redshirt year, but I don't think his height makes him some project who won't be ready to see the field for a few years. Benjamin definitely isn't slender as a wide receiver, but he would be as a tight end. That's what I'm saying with Chumley. I think he's more of a big receiver, like Benjamin, than a tight end

You know, I think there's a misconception that Chumley has a tight end frame. He's a lot more slender than people realize. I think in reality he's in the 220s. I would like to see him be the CUSA Kelvin Benjamin.