MGB: Key questions of the offseason Part II -- Can UNT reload at the skill positions?

[Brett Vito]

MGB: UNT lost three of its top four receivers and its second-leading rusher after a wildly successful 2016 season

http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2017/02/key-questions-of-the-offseason-part-ii-can-unt-reload-at-the-skill-positions.html/

[TIgreen01]

No offense to any of our outgoing players, but the question really should be can UNT find another playmaker outside of Jeff Wilson.  We didn't have the 3 headed monster that LaTech, WKU or any of the top teams in our conference had.  

[MeanGreenTexan]

4 minutes ago, TIgreen01 said:

No offense to any of our outgoing players, but the question really should be can UNT find another playmaker outside of Jeff Wilson.  We didn't have the 3 headed monster that LaTech, WKU or any of the top teams in our conference had.  

My hope:
    

[UNTLifer]

I am excited about what we have coming up.

RB: Wilson, Tucker, Wyche and Smith

WR: Smiley, Guyton, Wilson, Bussey, Rutherford, Hair-Griffen, McIntyre, and Boyd along with TE Smith and Chumley.  Plus, I am excited about the incoming freshmen Siggers, Darden and White.

I think we will be more explosive overall if what is on paper translates to the field.

[BTG_Fan1]

Rico and Tyler Wilson looked great in the HoD, now we gotta hope that they carry it over. And that Guyton and Smiley can be what we think they can be it should be a solid group of WRs.

Will be interesting seeing if Nic Smith gets a bit more action that Ivery to help lessen the load on Wilson and to keep him healthy.

[UNTLifer]

8 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

I am excited about what we have coming up.

RB: Wilson, Tucker, Wyche and Smith

WR: Smiley, Guyton, Wilson, Bussey, Rutherford, Hair-Griffen, McIntyre, and Boyd along with TE Smith and Chumley.  Plus, I am excited about the incoming freshmen Siggers, Darden and White.

I think we will be more explosive overall if what is on paper translates to the field.

Man, how could I leave off Evan Johnson, Louisiana Lightning!?  This young man is going to be something special. 

[97and03]

12 hours ago, Brett Vito said:

MGB: UNT lost three of its top four receivers and its second-leading rusher after the a wildly successful 2016 season

http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2017/02/key-questions-of-the-offseason-part-ii-can-unt-reload-at-the-skill-positions.html/

FIFY. 

 

Bret be trollin' again.

[Army of Dad]

4 hours ago, 97and03 said:

FIFY. 

 

Bret be trollin' again.

Yeah, 'much improved' or 'promising' would be much better phrasing.

[MeanGreenZen]

It is not like any of the guys we lost were Lance Dunbar or Johnny Quinn. We lost a group of average producing players and we need to replace them with average or above average producing players. All college football rosters turn over.

[MeanGreenTexan]

18 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

I am excited about what we have coming up.

RB: Wilson, Tucker, Wyche and Smith

WR: Smiley, Guyton, Wilson, Bussey, Rutherford, Hair-Griffen, McIntyre, and Boyd along with TE Smith and Chumley.  Plus, I am excited about the incoming freshmen Siggers (Siggers a RB), Darden and White.

I think we will be more explosive overall if what is on paper translates to the field.

Not to poo-poo on this optimistic party you're throwing, but I think you're expecting way too much from certain people.    

RB: Wyche has proven to be ineffective, we have no idea what we have in Smith, and Tucker cannot seem to stay healthy (although he's effective when he can play).  We really only have 1 RB, and that's Wilson, until Smith can prove he is a player.  Not saying he can't/won't, just saying he has to.  If Smith can play, I would expect Siggers to Redshirt.

WR: Guyton has to come in and have an immediate impact here.  Why would you expect anything from Elijah McIntyre (I've not even heard of this guy until you mentioned him) or Will Boyd?  We have no idea what Hair-Griffin or Chumley brings to the table, and we may need to redshirt one or more of Darden/White/Johnson.

13 hours ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

...

Will be interesting seeing if Nic Smith gets a bit more action that Ivery to help lessen the load on Wilson and to keep him healthy.

Doesn't Smith play more like Wilson?  An All-Purpose Back?  Ivery was more of the 'change-of-pace' guy, and I think that's why he was so dynamic at times.  
Now, Siggers could be an Ivery-type player...  Man, I wish Ivery could have kept his grades in order.

[TreeFiddy]

Don't give up on Wyche just yet.  There are a lot of examples of juco transfers that improve in their 2nd year, plus he was just a sophomore last year.  But I agree that he will have to take a pretty be step forward.

[MeanGreen_MBA]

17 minutes ago, TreeFiddy said:

Don't give up on Wyche just yet.  There are a lot of examples of juco transfers that improve in their 2nd year, plus he was just a sophomore last year.  But I agree that he will have to take a pretty be step forward.

Wyche looked great in last years Spring "Practice" game

[MeanGreenTexan]

4 minutes ago, MeanGreen_MBA said:

Wyche looked great in last years Spring "Practice" game

Sure!
I expect he, or maybe someone else, will do the same again this year, yet not show up when lined up against an actual opponent.  
Wyche looked lost behind the line of scrimmage when he had the ball last year on just about every handoff he had... hence, he didn't get the ball much.

[BTG_Fan1]

3 hours ago, TreeFiddy said:

Don't give up on Wyche just yet.  There are a lot of examples of juco transfers that improve in their 2nd year, plus he was just a sophomore last year.  But I agree that he will have to take a pretty be step forward.

Still think Wyche could and should be viewed as similar to Ivery.

3 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Doesn't Smith play more like Wilson?  An All-Purpose Back?  Ivery was more of the 'change-of-pace' guy, and I think that's why he was so dynamic at times.  
Now, Siggers could be an Ivery-type player...  Man, I wish Ivery could have kept his grades in order.

Not sure, but I would assume that Smith is more of an All-Purpose Back(so we can agree on that). But from what Ashton has said is that the staff had raved about Smith all season and I think that they were thinking that they could possibly use him during the HoD.

I do like Siggers but I think he is more of a physical Ivery, with Johnson looking more like Ivery in terms of shifty-ness.

[UNT Mean Green]

7 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Sure!
I expect he, or maybe someone else, will do the same again this year, yet not show up when lined up against an actual opponent.  
Wyche looked lost behind the line of scrimmage when he had the ball last year on just about every handoff he had... hence, he didn't get the ball much.

Just remember that the old RB's coach was unfamiliar with this offensive system. Things should run much smoother this season and protection should improve.

[BTG_Fan1]

2 minutes ago, UNT Mean Green said:

Just remember that the old RB's coach was unfamiliar with this offensive system. Things should run much smoother this season and protection should improve.

I wouldn't blame Perry at all... Our passing game wasn't great so teams would stack the box, its a miracle with what Wilson did at times last season. I think it was mostly limited reps and Wyche trying to hit a home-run every single time knowing he only got 5-10 plays a game.

Wyche should be our replacement to Ivery, hopefully this will lead to increased playing time and production.

[Aldo]

My dark horse will be Jaelon Darden. Excited to see how he does fall camp.

19 minutes ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

Wyche should be our replacement to Ivery, hopefully this will lead to increased playing time and production.

Not the same kind of player. 

[UNTLifer]

9 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Not to poo-poo on this optimistic party you're throwing, but I think you're expecting way too much from certain people.    

RB: Wyche has proven to be ineffective, we have no idea what we have in Smith, and Tucker cannot seem to stay healthy (although he's effective when he can play).  We really only have 1 RB, and that's Wilson, until Smith can prove he is a player.  Not saying he can't/won't, just saying he has to.  If Smith can play, I would expect Siggers to Redshirt.

WR: Guyton has to come in and have an immediate impact here.  Why would you expect anything from Elijah McIntyre (I've not even heard of this guy until you mentioned him) or Will Boyd?  We have no idea what Hair-Griffin or Chumley brings to the table, and we may need to redshirt one or more of Darden/White/Johnson.

Doesn't Smith play more like Wilson?  An All-Purpose Back?  Ivery was more of the 'change-of-pace' guy, and I think that's why he was so dynamic at times.  
Now, Siggers could be an Ivery-type player...  Man, I wish Ivery could have kept his grades in order.

McIntyre stepped up in one game last year, Southern Miss, when he was given to opportunity to play.  I like his size and am optimistic that he can improve over the years.  Boyd showed great on film and has the size and length to be very good.  True, they didn't produce much as freshmen, I think Boyd was a RS, but they have potential to be very good.

As I clarified in the last sentence of my post, their potential has to translate from paper to the field.

[greenminer]

3 hours ago, BTG_Fan1 said:

Wyche should be our replacement to Ivery, hopefully this will lead to increased playing time and production.

I do wonder how you see Wyche filling Ivery's role.  I thought they were of completely different molds.

[BTG_Fan1]

 

4 hours ago, Aldo said:

Not the same kind of player. 

 

1 hour ago, greenminer said:

I do wonder how you see Wyche filling Ivery's role.  I thought they were of completely different molds.

I thought and viewed Ivery as more of a speed RB that was meant to be more of an outside runner, with Wilson being more of an all-purpose back.

I view Wyche more of Ivery and not someone that is super physical like Wilson(even though Wilson is a smaller guy as well).

4 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

McIntyre stepped up in one game last year, Southern Miss, when he was given to opportunity to play.  I like his size and am optimistic that he can improve over the years.  Boyd showed great on film and has the size and length to be very good.  True, they didn't produce much as freshmen, I think Boyd was a RS, but they have potential to be very good.

As I clarified in the last sentence of my post, their potential has to translate from paper to the field.

I do like the potential at WR a lot.

Hoping we can add multiple solid PWO like we did in Boyd, McIntyre, and Lawrence among others.

[BTG_Fan1]

14 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Doesn't Smith play more like Wilson?  An All-Purpose Back?  Ivery was more of the 'change-of-pace' guy, and I think that's why he was so dynamic at times.  
Now, Siggers could be an Ivery-type player...  Man, I wish Ivery could have kept his grades in order.

I do think Smith is more like Wilson, and I think Siggers is also another Wilson being that he is like 5'8 and 170 but he was super physical always falling forward.

I would think Evan Johnson is like Ivery..

I thought Wyche was more like Ivery, but people have questioned it. So I could be wrong that Wyche isn't a change of pace guy like Ivery was.

[UNT Mean Green]

The skill position talent will be drastically improved this season and with the 2016 development and maturation of guys like Nic Smith, Tyler Wilson, Rico Bussey, etc. coupled with influx of better athletes in the recruiting class, we should have a nice collection of players who should be expected to perform at higher levels in year two.

Excited to watch the QB race this spring.

Also, can't wait to see the unveiling of Nic Smith who has rave reviews at RB as a complimentary back. Wyche should play better. Siggers and Johnson provide some nice athletic depth as freshman. We should get at least the production of 2016 out of this group, and likely more.

WR should be fine with Smiley, Bussey, Wilson, and Guyton. That group is much more athletic than what we played with most of 2016. Don't forget about guys like Michael Lawrence and Jason Pirtle. Kelvin Smith being moved to the TE position will be interesting. Darden and White are exciting prospects as freshmen.

It'll be fun to watch development of these players this spring and into fall camp.

[Mean Green 93-98]

3 hours ago, UNT Mean Green said:

Kelvin Smith being moved to the TE position

Could you explain this sentence to me?  Does this mean that they are retooling the offense to incorporate a TE as an every-down component?

[Aldo]

45 minutes ago, Mean Green 93-98 said:

Could you explain this sentence to me?  Does this mean that they are retooling the offense to incorporate a TE as an every-down component?

In this offense there are inside receivers (Y and "A") and outside receivers (X and Z).

The Kelvin Smith type inside receiver lines up in the Y spot, while your (*depending on the play*) smaller shiftier players will play in the A.

So while they *could* be TE size, think big possession receivers like Thadd Thompson that are always flexed. They typically attack the LBs over/under the middle, but sometime flare along the hashes for a Divide route (see K Smith TD below). Smith (Y) runs the divide while Buyers (A) runs the corner smash to the left.

[MGNation92]

55 minutes ago, Mean Green 93-98 said:

Could you explain this sentence to me?  Does this mean that they are retooling the offense to incorporate a TE as an every-down component?

Maybe he means H-Back? Maki had no value in the passing game outside of blocking

Smith could block and provide another weapon out of the backfield