Spring Football
- Thread starter 425cougfan
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Wait.
There's football happening?
I wish there was some news, it'd be a nice change of pace to talk about football for once.
Are WSU practices open with CJD?
Yeah, actual football! It's not coincidental I threw this thread up. Here's the schedule:
wsucougars.com
Practices are open to the media, not the public, but the scrimmages will be open to the public. We usually start to hear some interesting things leaking out from people who are in the know, or at least we used to.
Cougars Announce 2023 Spring Football Practice Schedule - Washington State University Athletics
Cougars open spring practice Tuesday, March 21.
wsucougars.com
Practices are open to the media, not the public, but the scrimmages will be open to the public. We usually start to hear some interesting things leaking out from people who are in the know, or at least we used to.
This just in.
www.seattletimes.com
Edge rushers shine as WSU Cougars put on pads for first time this spring
The Cougars staged their first fully padded practice of spring camp on Saturday morning at Rogers Field.
www.seattletimes.com
Sounds like Jaylen Jenkins had a good scrimmage yesterday. A thunderbolt and lightning running attack should really help the passing game.
Anyone hear something new this week about spring football? It's a shame that this thread got buried so quickly and is so thin in content. We actually have football happening in Pullman for the past week or so, yet most people want to talk about something else apparently. I appreciate any news past, present, or future regarding spring football.
Glad Cougar
Glad Cougar
Usually the offense is always lagging behind the defense in the spring for as long as I can remember. Throw a new system and new bodies, it just puts them further behind.
I like this guys philosophy and have a feeling we will see a lot more of Jenkins as I think we will stretch the field vertically which will open up opportunities for his skill set.
I like this guys philosophy and have a feeling we will see a lot more of Jenkins as I think we will stretch the field vertically which will open up opportunities for his skill set.
Big Saturday Scrimmage going to happen this coming Saturday.
There are regular You Tube updates by LOTS of WSU players, WSU coaching staff, that are OFFICIAL WSU YOU TUBE UPDATE, MEDIA VIDEOS
I see Jenkins as a BETTER version of MICHAEL BLACK, especially if use Jenkins in similar way as Michael Black, by stretching the defense all over the field and down field, then running Jenkins.
I don't see the resemblance to Michael Black's style, as I don't remember Black moving laterally, backwards, or taking the losses at all that Jenkins seems to do as he searches for a way to break something loose. Granted my memory of Black's play may be all whacked out (or I may be envisioning a different rb altogether) but when I hear his name I'm picturing a back that was pretty good at picking up yardage when there's close quarters and contact involved.
There is ZERO comparison. Possibly one of the worst ideas/posts I've ever read.
I don't know about all that.
Jenkins has more speed than Black...but Black hit the hole hard and liked to Truck people...including Husky linebackers.
Black was a 1,000 yard back.
Jenkins has a long way to go before being included in the same sentence as Black.
Black was 3 inches taller, 20 pounds heavier, and generally ran between the tackles in a bruising style that didn't rely on speed or shiftiness. Certainly, Jenkins is faster but not as powerful. At least that's my recollection from 25 years ago.
Glad Cougar
Glad Cougar
That's my memory. Black could run over people, and was effective between the tackles. Part of that was the stable of receivers we had and the QB who could find them, but his running style was much stronger and more straight-ahead.
Jenkins probably is a little shiftier, and he may be faster (I don't really remember Black being fast, just fast enough after hitting the hole hard), but he doesn't have the physique or the style to run over people, he wants to dodge them and get to the edge faster. If he goes up the middle, he needs someone to make a hole. Black did it himself.
The difference AND similarities between Black and Jenkins and others is that I remember Black, Jamal Morrow(Leach's, but like Black, Brousard), Brousard, etc, as RB's in Price's system, where PASSED to STRETCH the defense and set up the Run by Black, Brousard, etc.
Black, etc, could run semi Shifty, semi fast, semi cut back, semi make moves, semi make defenders semi miss, and run NORTH, NORTHWEST, NORTHEAST.
A example of this, can't remember with vs UW or Rosebowl, where Black hit the hole hard, fast, either made 1 defender in the hole miss, or missed him just enough to do a slanting, glancing, bump by, past defender in hole, in line, then made a linebacker or safety, or DB, glance, bump miss, then RACED for about a 45, 47, 49 yard gain, run.
Black, Morrow, Brousard, could all do that, BUT if they needed to, they could also FIGHT EFFECTIVELY for extra yardage, and that's where they were different then Jenkins.
Jenkins, and Morrow, and Brousard, are probably more similar then Jenkins and Black as Black is only GENERALLY semi able to be shifty, etc.
Another similarity is the ROLE. It was the ROLE of Black, Brousard, Morrow, Jenkins, to first pass to set up run to STRETCH D, then Run it.
Jenkins weakness or Difference is that atho he did run NORTH, NORTHWEST, NORTHEAST, thru holes, ANGLED running, to the Edge, etc, he was NOT DURABLE, running it up middle, and he occasionally FUMBLED like Harrington, and he could NOT FIGHT EFFECTIVELY for extra yards, or yards after contact, like Morrow, Brousard, Black could.
Jenkins didn't run backwards, etc. Either Jenkins did that ONCE, BUT learned, stopped doing that, or that was the QB.
Black was NOT a Shaumbe Wright Fair, or Watson, etc, type of PUNISH, RUN OVER defenders, altho Black could SOMETIMES SEMI do that at times.
Black was a very GENERALISTIC RB, that could do a lot of things semi well at times, in his ROLE.
Jenkins is NOT a GENERALISTIC RB like Black, but had the same role.
BUT Jenkins could do A COUPLE, FEW, SOME of the same things Black could do as far as how Shifty Jenkins was.
Also Jenkins averaged about 6 YPC, and RARELY had no gain, negative yardage, short yardage. Jenkins also has games where he averaged 9 YPC, EVERY carry, and also had a 170 yard game.
Those are also ways that Jenkins was semi similar to Black, etc.
When I made my comment, I was talking about how , meant how Jenkins has the POTENTIAL to be better at the things that he, Black, were similar on.
I was NOT talking about Jenkins being a BRUISER, or a better bruiser then Black, as and Jenkins, and Black BOTH, WERE NOT BRUISERS, SMASH MOUTHERS.
At least that's what I recall, remember.
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Jenkins can find holes up the middle, and run up the middle, off guard, between guard and tackle, off tackle, etc, in MODERATION.
He is not as good running between center and guard, but can occasionally do it at times as a change of pace.
He is not strictly a in the flat, in the open field back, as he can make ALL the up the middle, between center and guard, between guard and tackle, off tackle, edge, and outside, in the flat, in the open field, all the runs in moderation.
Jenkins is very much like a Barry Sanders, Jacquiz Rodgers, and those players were NOT just run in open field flat type of players.
Jenkins doesn't fumble a LOT. And he really only semi struggled with fumbling when running into the teeth of the defense between center and guard, earlier in the season.
And he did get better, learned as the season went on. And he was a True Freshman.
Your comparison of Jenkins to the Freshman James William, was very good, except that James William didn't have 170 yard rushing yard games, and didn't rush for 6 to 9 YPC as a Freshman.
Also Jenkins didn't fall to the ground if you blew on him, like the Freshman James William did, when blew on him.
But other then that Jenkins and James William are pretty similar.
Jenkins is EXTREMELY ELECTRIC, with a LOT of BIG, HUGE RUNS, and BIG, HUGE PASS PLAYS, etc.
He Jenkins is, will be a EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE LIGHTNING, to whoever THUNDER IS(WATSON), is.
It’s been a long time since we had a real between the tackles RB. I’m thinking Minnich and Green in the early 2000s were the last time we really had (and used) some strong, up the middle guys. Wicks was a an inside runner, but we didn’t use him much…he’s the last one I can remember.
We have had run between the tackles backs just not a run between the tackles scheme. Wicks was punishing and Williams was no slouch either. Both of those guys woulda done just fine in a chuck knox offense IMO. Im not sure why Watson isn’t considered either he was pretty tough to bring down last year as I remember.
You are right, Williams did not have any 170 yard rushing games as a freshman. But neither did Jenkins. He did run for 130 yards vs. USC last year but his next highest rushing game was 43 yards. Williams, by the way, ran for 126 yards vs. Idaho his freshman year and had twice as many total yards as Jenkins as a freshman.
Jenkins is a good offensive weapon who I expect will once again be a change up running back to Nakia Watson this fall.
Glad Cougar
Jenkins is the best player the offense has. He should be a featured back, not a change of pace.
QB controversy possibility. Mateer was WAY THE HELL better then Cam.
Yeah Mateer was 13-20, which is 2 worse then Cam's 15-20, but Mateer's 280 blows Cam's 190 totally out of the water.
Mateer is doing a better job, so far of passing DOWN FIELD, STRETCHING the defense, MORE YARDS PER PASS, etc, then Cam.
Cam might be more consistent, might have better leadership, better intangibles, might lead the offense better, might score more, etc, but in the PURE PRODUCTION category, Cam SO FAR is being BLOWN AWAY.
Because of that, IF Dickert, Arbuckle choose Cam and his lesser production over Mateer, it might start a QB controversy.
Despite that, it does seem Cam is doing better then he has done, is improving, and it looks like that no matter who starts that WSU will have not only a solid QB starter, but a rock solid QB back up, for if the QB starter gets injured. It's like having 2 QB starters.
I think that Watson and Jenkins should BOTH be CO STARTERS, CO FEATURED BACKS.
Like Len Dale White and Reggie Bush that were CO STARTERS, CO FEATURED BACKS, that both went to the NFL.
I think that Watson and Jenkins will be Thunder and lightning change of paces to each other and will help each other to do even better.
With Jenkins 55 yard rush, which so far better then Watson, it's hard to relegate a 55 yard rush to 2nd, 3rd place as a change of pace.
It would be good to know if the long passes by Mateer were actually long throws or shorter throws with high YAC. Either way, it's encouraging to have Mateer do well and have two capable QBs ready to go.
Glad Cougar
Glad Cougar
Having watched a ton of Coug scrimmages and practices over the last 20 yrs, I recommend you not draw too many conclusions from the stat lines. Unless you know the situations under which the stats were generated (1s vs 1s, 1s vs 2s, 2s vs 3s, etc...) and who played on which squad, you can't draw any fair comparisons between players. Sounds like the offense was clicking well today, which is very cool (and honestly kinda rare for the first scrimmage of the year).
Why would you take your best back off the field to share reps with a lesser player? F’ck thunder and lightning. Lightning and more lightning. Change of pace means change of talent. Hard pass.
Cam and Mateer probably had to play against 2 defenses that were probably pretty close to the same skill level, etc, good or bad.
I guess my question about whether Mateer was throwing long passes or if it was product of yards after catch by the receiver has been answered. Mateer indeed was throwing the deep ball.
Glad Cougar
Glad Cougar
