DRC: Redshirt freshman Elex Woodworth thriving after moving to tackle

Brett Vito · October 28, 2016

DRC: Woodworth didn't blink when UNT moved him from backup guard to left tackle in his first season on the field

http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/sports-headlines/20161027-move-to-tackle-benefits-woodworth-unt-offense.ece

FirefightnRick · October 28, 2016

Good report BV.

Rick

Eagle-96 · October 28, 2016

This shows further that the best players will be on the field regardless of class or previous spot on the depth chart. If you work hard on and off the field you can get PT here. Recruits will love that.

MeanGreenTexan · October 28, 2016

Concerned about Murray being in an interior position with Fine throwing the ball behind him. Seems like it will cause Fine to hold the ball a split-second longer than he would like for a WR to get on the other side of Murray into a throwing lane since he's not throwing over Murray.

But hey, coach Littrell & coach Davis seem to know what they're doing, so I'll assume they've taken that into consideration.

Wag Tag · October 28, 2016

55 minutes ago, Brett Vito said:

DRC: Woodworth didn't blink when UNT moved him from backup guard to left tackle in his first season on the field

http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/sports-headlines/20161027-move-to-tackle-benefits-woodworth-unt-offense.ece

Nice! In one of the Beyond the Green episodes, Wilson had run for a TD and bench was all congratulating Wood for the block saying that was his TD! Nice to have a LT for a few years! GMG

GMG_Dallas · October 28, 2016

16 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Concerned about Murray being in an interior position with Fine throwing the ball behind him. Seems like it will cause Fine to hold the ball a split-second longer than he would like for a WR to get on the other side of Murray into a throwing lane since he's not throwing over Murray.

But hey, coach Littrell & coach Davis seem to know what they're doing, so I'll assume they've taken that into consideration.

Really makes you wonder what kind of role Murray will have moving forward after this season as we try to move towards passing the ball more. It's not a big deal right now since our biggest threat is #26 but once we get better pass blocking O-linemen and more talented receivers (hopefully signing day won't disappoint!), I wonder if Murray will still be a starter. I've also been thinking that Fine might not be the starter next year in favor of Devlin Isadore if he can recover quickly from his injury. He'll be here in the spring so he'll have plenty of time to earn the starting job and has played JUCO so it's not like he's as far back as a true freshman from a small OK school. at 6 foot 4, it doesn't seem like Murray is as much of an obstacle although I do realize that 6 foot 9 is still huge.

It's obvious that you're more football savvy than most here. What do you think about those two spots next year? If Devlin can show he can start next Fall, is it more of a risk to break in a new starting LG or a new QB? Isadore is talented and was garnering attention prior to his injury. I'm not turning my back on Fine, just wondering what his role is beyond this year with more QBs coming in considering where we stand at OL.

NorthTexan95 · October 28, 2016

Elex had a couple of really bad plays in his first game but has not been noticed since ... that's a good thing.

MeanGreenTexan · October 28, 2016

4 minutes ago, GMG_Dallas said:

Really makes you wonder what kind of role Murray will have moving forward after this season as we try to move towards passing the ball more. It's not a big deal right now since our biggest threat is #26 but once we get better pass blocking O-linemen and more talented receivers (hopefully signing day won't disappoint!), I wonder if Murray will still be a starter. I've also been thinking that Fine might not be the starter next year in favor of Devlin Isadore if he can recover quickly from his injury. He'll be here in the spring so he'll have plenty of time to earn the starting job and has played JUCO so it's not like he's as far back as a true freshman from a small OK school. at 6 foot 4, it doesn't seem like Murray is as much of an obstacle although I do realize that 6 foot 9 is still huge.

It's obvious that you're more football savvy than most here. What do you think about those two spots next year? If Devlin can show he can start next Fall, is it more of a risk to break in a new starting LG or a new QB? Isadore is talented and was garnering attention prior to his injury. I'm not turning my back on Fine, just wondering what his role is beyond this year with more QBs coming in considering where we stand at OL.

I think QB will be Fine's job to lose next season. Not saying Isadore or Pearson can't take it away from him, but he's going to have every opportunity to keep his job during the Spring and Fall.
I also think if Murray is better for the run game, then he'll continue to play there next year as Wilson will be returning.

GMG_Dallas · October 28, 2016

13 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I think QB will be Fine's job to lose next season. Not saying Isadore or Pearson can't take it away from him, but he's going to have every opportunity to keep his job during the Spring and Fall.
I also think if Murray is better for the run game, then he'll continue to play there next year as Wilson will be returning.

I desperately want Fine to succeed and believe he's done great so far for a true freshman considering the position we were in after last season. The most telling stat is the amount of interceptions. Hopefully he has a breakout game before the end of the season. Not asking for him to throw for 300+ yards but it would be nice to see him get multiple touchdown passes while completing closer to 60% of his passes in one game.

I agree though, if Murray is better for the run game, keep him in as long as Wilson is playing and beyond if we still depend heavily on the run game post-Wilson era.

Edited October 28, 2016 by GMG_Dallas

All About UNT · October 28, 2016

29 minutes ago, NorthTexan95 said:

Elex had a couple of really bad plays in his first game but has not been noticed since ... that's a good thing.

This. Some of those missed blocks against SMU cost us dearly BUT it appears he was born again hard.

Army of Dad · October 28, 2016

37 minutes ago, GMG_Dallas said:

Really makes you wonder what kind of role Murray will have moving forward after this season as we try to move towards passing the ball more. It's not a big deal right now since our biggest threat is #26 but once we get better pass blocking O-linemen and more talented receivers (hopefully signing day won't disappoint!), I wonder if Murray will still be a starter. I've also been thinking that Fine might not be the starter next year in favor of Devlin Isadore if he can recover quickly from his injury. He'll be here in the spring so he'll have plenty of time to earn the starting job and has played JUCO so it's not like he's as far back as a true freshman from a small OK school. at 6 foot 4, it doesn't seem like Murray is as much of an obstacle although I do realize that 6 foot 9 is still huge.

It's obvious that you're more football savvy than most here. What do you think about those two spots next year? If Devlin can show he can start next Fall, is it more of a risk to break in a new starting LG or a new QB? Isadore is talented and was garnering attention prior to his injury. I'm not turning my back on Fine, just wondering what his role is beyond this year with more QBs coming in considering where we stand at OL.

Tap those brakes on Isadore. If it's a torn ACL he won't be back in time for spring ball and might not even be ready for next fall.

GMG_Dallas · October 28, 2016

20 minutes ago, Army of Dad said:

Tap those brakes on Isadore. If it's a torn ACL he won't be back in time for spring ball and might not even be ready for next fall.

True. If he's unable to play next year because of it, is he eligible for a medical redshirt? To my knowledge, you can only obtain a medical redshirt for the season the injury occurred in but I only know so little...

Edited October 28, 2016 by GMG_Dallas

Wag Tag · October 28, 2016

1 hour ago, Army of Dad said:

Tap those brakes on Isadore. If it's a torn ACL he won't be back in time for spring ball and might not even be ready for next fall.

Peterson returned in 9 months and I believe rushed for close to 2,000yds. Rehab work is key. It can be really a bore, but this kid having youth on his side is a plus! Worst case in the spring he should be able to take snaps and learn the offense! GMG

GreenN'walinsVet · October 28, 2016

18 minutes ago, Wag Tag said:

Peterson returned in 9 months and I believe rushed for close to 2,000yds. Rehab work is key. It can be really a bore, but this kid having youth on his side is a plus! Worst case in the spring he should be able to take snaps and learn the offense! GMG

Peterson was the exception, not the rule. ACL is typically 10 -12 months recovery. Just look at Lance Dunbar this year. He came back at just under the 1 year time frame and that led to other issues in the legs possibly compensating or being overworked in the rehab process.

MeanGreenZen · October 28, 2016

I've torn my same ACL four times in my life. No reason a college athlete can't come back from it in 6 months. Rod Woodson returned to the field from an ACL tear to play in the Super Bowl in three months.

Littrell isn't going to hand Fine the job next season. I wouldn't be surprised at all if we brought in a big name grad transfer to play QB next year either.

BillySee58 · October 29, 2016

6 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

True. If he's unable to play next year because of it, is he eligible for a medical redshirt? To my knowledge, you can only obtain a medical redshirt for the season the injury occurred in but I only know so little...

The catch to obtaining what we refer to as a medical redshirt is that you have to miss two seasons because of injury (or at least within the first 30% of the games that team plays that season). If an injury incapacitates you, it doesn't matter that it was the season before.

But again, the catch is that there has to be two seasons where the player misses at least 70% of the games in order to obtain that 6th season. If a player has already taken a "healthy" redshirt then he can't take an additional medical redshirt just for missing one. And Isadore already took a "healthy" redshirt to my knowledge back in 2014 at Angelo State.

GMG_Dallas · October 29, 2016

1 hour ago, BillySee58 said:

The catch to obtaining what we refer to as a medical redshirt is that you have to miss two seasons because of injury (or at least within the first 30% of the games that team plays that season). If an injury incapacitates you, it doesn't matter that it was the season before.

But again, the catch is that there has to be two seasons where the player misses at least 70% of the games in order to obtain that 6th season. If a player has already taken a "healthy" redshirt then he can't take an additional medical redshirt just for missing one. And Isadore already took a "healthy" redshirt to my knowledge back in 2014 at Angelo State.

Didn't realize that about the "healthy" red shirt. I thought they were two separate things. Seems odd that you wouldn't give a player at least an additional year of eligibility if they suffer a season ending injury like a torn ACL regardless of whether or not you've already taken a redshirt season but those are the rules I guess...

Mean Green 93-98 · October 29, 2016

1 hour ago, BillySee58 said:

The catch to obtaining what we refer to as a medical redshirt is that you have to miss two seasons because of injury (or at least within the first 30% of the games that team plays that season). If an injury incapacitates you, it doesn't matter that it was the season before.

But again, the catch is that there has to be two seasons where the player misses at least 70% of the games in order to obtain that 6th season. If a player has already taken a "healthy" redshirt then he can't take an additional medical redshirt just for missing one. And Isadore already took a "healthy" redshirt to my knowledge back in 2014 at Angelo State.

You're talking about a 6th year eligibility. "Medical redshirt" usually refers to a single season (like when Riley was injured as a WR in '08, or when DT was knocked out for the season in '10).

@UNTSportsFan · October 29, 2016

@aztecskin & I had the pleasure of sitting with Elex's family during the Rice game ... I can't say say enough nice things about them. Great , great family. Very glad they are apart of the Mean Green Family

aztecskin · October 29, 2016

3 hours ago, @UNTSportsFan said:

@aztecskin & I had the pleasure of sitting with Elex's family during the Rice game ... I can't say say enough nice things about them. Great , great family. Very glad they are apart of the Mean Green Family

Yeah they are good people.