No Saquon Barkley, no problem: Why Penn State should be the Big Ten front-runner in 2018
- Thread starter Nitt1300
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B1G front runner BUT the middle of our D is young and thin? I like the hype, but I am from Missouri--Show me. Until then it is Beano Cook saying Tony Sacca will win the Heisman.
I am willing to be convinced, but I don't think you win the B1G without a stout middle.
From the article:
If there's a concern, it's up the middle of the 2018 defense. The Nittany Lions lost four of the six defensive tackles on the depth chart from the Fiesta Bowl, including starters Curtis Cothran and Parker Cothren. In addition, Cabinda exhausted his eligibility after starring at middle linebacker and the entire starting secondary is gone including star safety Marcus Allen.
https://eb2.3lift.com/pass?tl_click...-vegas//?src=ttd_prospec_aoi_hot_natv_tttt_pd
That's where all of the attention should be paid on Saturday.
"It's like building a baseball team; you gotta be strong up the middle," Franklin said. "Defensive tackle depth is something that we have to get resolved. We feel good about it, but we still have a lot of work to do between now and camp."
Not very logical to name PSU as the front runner. Oh-high-ya seems to be returning more seasoned talent and no one has recruited better to fill open positions that them. As pointed out above, replacing the whole middle of the defense, DT's (top 3 lost - Cothren, Cothran, and Chavis), MLB, and whole starting secondary, is not a recipe for a championship team. Naturally, we here may be more optimistic than the media. But the national media having that opinion does not make much sense.
Conspiracy theory here: sports pundits in the media are tired of seeing us exceed expectations. So they'll pick us to win the BIG to have the pleasure of saying we under-performed if we don't finish 1st.
Whatever, the positive projection is good for the program.
Whatever, the positive projection is good for the program.
In the video at the top of the link there are clips from a scrimmage. Ryan Bates is at LT, on one play Miles Sanders takes a swing pass and looks very decisive and shows his speed running downhill, and there’s a play where T. McSorley rips Danny Dalton a new one lol, after he gets stripped by Cameron Brown just before the goal line after a long completion.
Honestly, I don't think there is any doubt that Harbaugh is the 4th best coach in the BIG Eastern Division. Tops. He might actually be 5th or 6th best.
I still think you guys are writing him off way too quickly and ignoring Stanford/San Fran completely
Not sure what they’re upset about...if he’s not the fourth best, who’s he better than?
You are probably right. One of his players threatened to shoot him in a Twitter post, so I guess Harbaugh is a great motivator at least.
Again--see Stanford and San Francisco. Honestly, if we lose to Michigan this year the meltdown is going to reach insane levels because we're underestimating both Harbaugh and Michigan IMO.
Couple of thoughts.
Stanford was a good run for Harbaugh, but one could argue that Andrew Luck drove much of that his last 2 years. There's a chicken and egg argument to be had there, but it's not like Harbaugh built a powerhouse that reloaded year after year. It's a good data point, and strongly in Harbaugh's favor, but an incomplete grade because he jumped when the jumping was good. While many tend to ignore his Stanford tenure, I think you overvalue it. It's nothing compared to what top coaches like Saban and Meyer have achieved.
49ers is a better data point, although again not a very long tenure. And he trailed off badly at the end, mostly because everyone tired of his oddball personality and divisiveness. Kind of the same story heading into his 4th year at Michigan, don't you think? So same thing - while many ignore Harbaugh's success at San Fran because they don't like him, you may be overvaluing what he did.
If Michigan comes out strong and is undefeated or with one not-too-bad loss when PSU plays them, then you'll see Harbaugh getting his due and there will only be a partial meltdown if PSU loses. And that would be because it would suck to lose. I expect Michy to be better than last year, but there are so many whispers that things are not well up there, that I suspect their play will once again not reflect their talent level. No sense in debating it; we'll just have to see.
If Michigan sucks again and we lose to them, there will certainly be a meltdown. Just as there would be with any fanbase.
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