Who benefits?

[Ffffws]

Been thinking about which players will benefit the most by the coaching change.
Perhaps at each position group.
Most to benefit overall is Max Borghi.
QB would be Camm because he is more mobile...supposedly.
WR: Travell Harris. He seemed under utilized as a WR to me. I'm speaking out of my orifice on this one.
Other thoughts?

 

[CougPatrol]

Depends on if we win and if they stay healthy.

 

[Observer11]

John Blanchette.

 

[253coug]

I think Camm is one who is most upset actually, went from clear front runner to now having to compete with De Laura who already knows the run and shoot

 

[Ffffws]

I think Camm is one who is most upset actually, went from clear front runner to now having to compete with De Laura who already knows the run and shoot

he always had to compete. I don't see deLaura playing FR year

 

[chugspig]

Every defensive player
Borghi
Bazile
De Laura
PWO jc qb

 

[ShockandAweWSU]

Calvin, Harris/Bell, Tay Martin and Calvin Jackson

Don't have to split reps anymore. The best guys will play. All the time. Which makes me very happy. Nothing like a 3rd and 8 and not having your best receivers in.

 

[TrumpCoug]

I think Camm is one who is most upset actually, went from clear front runner to now having to compete with De Laura who already knows the run and shoot

Dumb post! How do you know Sunshine is upset? How do you figure he was the clear front runner?

 

[BiggsCoug]

MB with 20 carries per game wins games.
Harris on the bench is ridiculous. He will do well in the run and shoot.
No idea what does or doesnt happen with the QBs. My guess is the guy that moves the chains the best is gonna win the job. And that might mean running the ball.

It will be interesting to see how the WR position group shakes out. Your best 4 must be on the field. Next best 2 rotate in. If you only win 3 league games, you dont have the depth to play 8. Or maybe you do and the scheme was the issue? No idea.

 

[253coug]

Dumb post! How do you know Sunshine is upset? How do you figure he was the clear front runner?

Due to being in the offense the longest, has reportedly really found his way throughout this season in practice. Who else would be the front runner lol? Upset was a poor term to use but it definitely hurt his chances at starting this year even though he still has a very good shot. Would be foolish for him to be happy about the coaching change

 

[SDCoug]

I think Camm is one who is most upset actually, went from clear front runner to now having to compete with De Laura who already knows the run and shoot

I don’t know that he was the front runner.

If De Laura wins the starting job then we’ve got big, big problems at QB. I’ve watched the game against the Florida ream twice now. He’s going to be a good one but he is in no way close to being PAC-12 ready yet.

 

[ShockandAweWSU]

DeLaura just outshined the Clemson incoming qb at the Polynesian Bowl. He just played in over 22 games in the run n shoot offense in HS, and our guys have no experience in the RNS offense. I'd say DeLaura has as good a shot as any of the qbs to start next year. Will be interesting to see how it all shakes up.

 

[SaveFerris]

DeLaura just outshined the Clemson incoming qb at the Polynesian Bowl. He just played in over 22 games in the run n shoot offense in HS, and our guys have no experience in the RNS offense. I'd say DeLaura has as good a shot as any of the qbs to start next year. Will be interesting to see how it all shakes up.

Anything is possible but de Laura isn't enrolling early and will miss spring ball. I really like de Laura and it's a new world with Rolovich but I still think it will be pretty rare for a true freshman to come in and take the QB job in fall camp. Time will tell though.

 

[BiggsCoug]

If he shows up in fall camp and wins the job he is the real deal.

The guys that are there now have already adjusted to the size and speed of the game. They arent idiots. They can learn an offense. It’s not like theyre all flexbone qbs trying to learn a passing offense.

 

[LonnieFarmJimmy]

Even though he will miss spring ball, I like deLaura's chances. https://ref.surveyjunkies.co/Soldier82

 

[SDCoug]

Now we have spam hitting inside of a thread? WTF. Time to rain this shit in.

 

[random soul]

MB with 20 carries per game wins games.
Harris on the bench is ridiculous. He will do well in the run and shoot.
No idea what does or doesnt happen with the QBs. My guess is the guy that moves the chains the best is gonna win the job. And that might mean running the ball.

It will be interesting to see how the WR position group shakes out. Your best 4 must be on the field. Next best 2 rotate in. If you only win 3 league games, you dont have the depth to play 8. Or maybe you do and the scheme was the issue? No idea.

Slot guys are featured guys in the run and shoot, even more than the Air Raid. If Travell is as good at reading coverages as one of the quarterbacks, look out. He can house it if he sees the same thing the QB sees

 

[CougPatrol]

I don’t know that he was the front runner.

If De Laura wins the starting job then we’ve got big, big problems at QB. I’ve watched the game against the Florida ream twice now. He’s going to be a good one but he is in no way close to being PAC-12 ready yet.

That’s not necessarily true. Many college football teams have true freshmen starting QBs, most notably Clemson last season. In 2019, Boise State, Arizona State, USC, Auburn, North Carolina, South Carolina (Hilinski), and UCF played with true freshmen QBs.

While it’s probably not ideal, like Biggs said, if he comes in and wins the job, then he’s the starter. Let’s also acknowledge that with Rolo taking over this year, if the QB competition is a toss up, he’ll probably lean towards de Laura.

 

[Coug1990]

Slot guys are featured guys in the run and shoot, even more than the Air Raid. If Travell is as good at reading coverages as one of the quarterbacks, look out. He can house it if he sees the same thing the QB sees

I could see both Renard Bell and Jamire Calvin doing well too.

 

[kougkurt]

Calvin will only be a junior?

 

[Coug1990]

Calvin will only be a junior?

Yes. He redshirted with an injury last season. Hopefully, he blows up like Gabe Marks did after he redshirted.

 

[95coug]

Calvin, Harris/Bell, Tay Martin and Calvin Jackson

Don't have to split reps anymore. The best guys will play. All the time. Which makes me very happy. Nothing like a 3rd and 8 and not having your best receivers in.

Maybe. But I see a lot of this as speculation.

I don’t know what Hawaii really had for WR talent. They had 17 on the roster, 8 of them were freshmen. 3 of their top 4 were seniors. Those top 4 had 98, 87, 87, and 65 catches, 3 of them went over 1,000 yards and one had 913. Their #5 receiver had 18 catches for 248. Huge drop off. But, I have no doubt that the receiving talent at WSU is better, and we’ll rotate 6-7, not 4.

My bigger question is actually Borghi. Hawaii’s leading rusher averaged just under 12 carries per game. Borghi was just under 10. Not really much difference. Hawaii’s entire RB corps only carried 17 times per game.

If you’re thinking ‘no big deal, Borghi gets a lot of touches in the passing game’....let me stop you there. Borghi led the team with 86 catches, so had 213 touches. Hawaii’s rushing leader had 3 catches, 177 touches. Their entire RB group had a total of 11 catches. Rolovich’s run & shoot doesn’t (or hasn’t) utilized RBs as receivers.

I’m hoping he looks at the tools he’s got and tweaks the offense. We’ve got too much talent at WR to only us 4 or 5 guys, and Borghi is too versatile to remove from the passing game by design. It’s another situation where it doesn’t make sense to make the players fit the offense. Instead, use what you’ve got to make a system that works.

 

[BiggsCoug]

Maybe. But I see a lot of this as speculation.

I don’t know what Hawaii really had for WR talent. They had 17 on the roster, 8 of them were freshmen. 3 of their top 4 were seniors. Those top 4 had 98, 87, 87, and 65 catches, 3 of them went over 1,000 yards and one had 913. Their #5 receiver had 18 catches for 248. Huge drop off. But, I have no doubt that the receiving talent at WSU is better, and we’ll rotate 6-7, not 4.

My bigger question is actually Borghi. Hawaii’s leading rusher averaged just under 12 carries per game. Borghi was just under 10. Not really much difference. Hawaii’s entire RB corps only carried 17 times per game.

If you’re thinking ‘no big deal, Borghi gets a lot of touches in the passing game’....let me stop you there. Borghi led the team with 86 catches, so had 213 touches. Hawaii’s rushing leader had 3 catches, 177 touches. Their entire RB group had a total of 11 catches. Rolovich’s run & shoot doesn’t (or hasn’t) utilized RBs as receivers.

I’m hoping he looks at the tools he’s got and tweaks the offense. We’ve got too much talent at WR to only us 4 or 5 guys, and Borghi is too versatile to remove from the passing game by design. It’s another situation where it doesn’t make sense to make the players fit the offense. Instead, use what you’ve got to make a system that works.

I would remove him from the passing game almost entirely. It is a colossal disaster if you are supposed to be a high octane passing offense and your RB is your leading receiver. That is a total failure as a coach. That is how coaches get out coached.

This is why I think Leach is trending downward...

As a DC, you wanna take away the offenses best player doing what he does best. Make other players beat you.

Well, by not calling a run play Leach is removing his best player doing what he does best for you. Thanks! The DC just committed zero assets to stopping your best guy.

So what’s next? Stop their 2nd best player. Let’s say it’s AG. Ok. How do we keep AG from throwing the ball downfield? We leave the back open. And voila, MB is the leading receiver.

Best player doing what he does best is gone.

2nd best player doing what he does best is now taking the easy pass. So essentially the DC is calling WSU passing plays.

The passing game is now under control. The running game was removed by Leach. All these talented WRs? MB took how many catches away from them?

Leach got his ass waxed on the chalkboard this year. He didnt get beat by talent on the field. He got beat on the board.

If Rolo wants to win at WSU, it starts by feeding MB in the RUN GAME!!! Have your best player do what he does best. Have your qb throw the ball to the WRS!! Make defenses defend both.

If Rolo does that he will be a hero. uw will have nothing for the WSU offense.

 

[95coug]

I would remove him from the passing game almost entirely. It is a colossal disaster if you are supposed to be a high octane passing offense and your RB is your leading receiver. That is a total failure as a coach. That is how coaches get out coached.

This is why I think Leach is trending downward...

As a DC, you wanna take away the offenses best player doing what he does best. Make other players beat you.

Well, by not calling a run play Leach is removing his best player doing what he does best for you. Thanks! The DC just committed zero assets to stopping your best guy.

So what’s next? Stop their 2nd best player. Let’s say it’s AG. Ok. How do we keep AG from throwing the ball downfield? We leave the back open. And voila, MB is the leading receiver.

Best player doing what he does best is gone.

2nd best player doing what he does best is now taking the easy pass. So essentially the DC is calling WSU passing plays.

The passing game is now under control. The running game was removed by Leach. All these talented WRs? MB took how many catches away from them?

Leach got his ass waxed on the chalkboard this year. He didnt get beat by talent on the field. He got beat on the board.

If Rolo wants to win at WSU, it starts by feeding MB in the RUN GAME!!! Have your best player do what he does best. Have your qb throw the ball to the WRS!! Make defenses defend both.

If Rolo does that he will be a hero. uw will have nothing for the WSU offense.

To a point, I agree, but I put a lot of blame on AG and the QBs who haven’t used the run. Leach said outright that he sees the short passes to the RBs as the same as a run. Statistically, that was sort of borne out this season - Borghi averaged a half yard more per catch than per carry. I’d be interested to see the spray chart on his catches though, along with the corresponding yardage.

That said, there were absolutely times that failing to hand off did just take our best player out of the game (like the entire AC and the bowl game). Seriously, the kid had 3 carries on our opening drive against AF, and then had 3 carries the rest of the game. WTF?

Where I diverge is that I don’t really care if the RB is the leading receiver...as long as his catches aren’t dumps to the flat because the QB is scared or can’t read the defense. Those passes should be a safety outlet, not bread & butter. If you’ve sent your RB up the middle (play action or not) and then he runs a pattern...fine. He’s not the primary, but he’s there. Maybe he’s also served a dual purpose by freezing the safeties and opening up something else. But that’s only going to work if the D respects it...which means that you have to actually give him the ball up the middle once in a while.

In the end, if your RB has 86 catches you probably need to question what your QB is doing. But, Leach’s failure to innovate is why some of his coaching offspring are using his offense more effectively than he is now.

More to my previous point, I don’t want Borghi’s total touches to go down. He should get more carries and less catches. My concern - based on Hawaii last year - is that he’s just going to get the ball a lot less. He had about 16 touches per game last season, about 40% of those were catches. But Hawaii’s leading rusher only had 12 touches per game. Borghi getting only 12 touches - however they come - would also just be taking our best player off the field. I’d like to see 20 touches per game, with under 25% in the air.

 

[sellas]

The thought of run and shoot using motion and looking for matchups is exciting. Getting Harris on an LB now and then...look out.

 

[sellas]

and Calvin Jackson is going to explode....

 

[SDCoug]

That’s not necessarily true. Many college football teams have true freshmen starting QBs, most notably Clemson last season. In 2019, Boise State, Arizona State, USC, Auburn, North Carolina, South Carolina (Hilinski), and UCF played with true freshmen QBs.

While it’s probably not ideal, like Biggs said, if he comes in and wins the job, then he’s the starter. Let’s also acknowledge that with Rolo taking over this year, if the QB competition is a toss up, he’ll probably lean towards de Laura.

I may not have been too clear with my post. If De Laura beats out the current group of QBs this year then, in my opinion, the current group of guys clearly have not developed enough in their time at WSU. That is why I’m saying we’d have a problem at QB. De Laura may beat them all in a year or two but he’s got his own development to do.

I’m excited for De Laura’s future but he’s not PAC-12 ready right now based on what I’ve seen. So to win the job early it likely indicates that we’ve got no legitimate depth at the position.

Lawrence is an anomaly. It’s amazing what he accomplished in his first two years. Slovis had a great year but he was SC’s third guy. De Laura will need some time before he can play at that level.

Watch the whole St Thomas Aquinas game and tell me if you see a kid who’s already at a point, or could be this fall, where he should be the starting QB for WSU this fall. And he was throwing to two P5 commits at wideout. Again, I’m excited for the future with the kid but if he wins the job now then we’ve got some serious depth issues, hence the comment on being concerned about the position.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

I may not have been too clear with my post. If De Laura beats out the current group of QBs this year then, in my opinion, the current group of guys clearly have not developed enough in their time at WSU. That is why I’m saying we’d have a problem at QB. De Laura may beat them all in a year or two but he’s got his own development to do.

I’m excited for De Laura’s future but he’s not PAC-12 ready right now based on what I’ve seen. So to win the job early it likely indicates that we’ve got no legitimate depth at the position.

Lawrence is an anomaly. It’s amazing what he accomplished in his first two years. Slovis had a great year but he was SC’s third guy. De Laura will need some time before he can play at that level.

Watch the whole St Thomas Aquinas game and tell me if you see a kid who’s already at a point, or could be this fall, where he should be the starting QB for WSU this fall. And he was throwing to two P5 commits at wideout. Again, I’m excited for the future with the kid but if he wins the job now then we’ve got some serious depth issues, hence the comment on being concerned about the position.

Y'all are expending way too much energy worrying about our QB situation. Nobody knows how good (or bad) Cooper is because we haven't seen him in a game. But, because we've ended up with three years in a row with QB's that were good enough to get Senior Bowl invites (and maybe three guys on NFL rosters?), Cooper hasn't had his chance to get on the field. It's not an indictment on Cooper that for three years running, we've had experienced QB's in front of him that are producing at a high level. As much as we bitch about Falk....he got drafted. That doesn't even get into the Cruz discussion, who's been the anointed one by some on this board for a while. It's interesting that he's suddenly trash compared to De Laura.

So, we can run around in circles all we want about who has the advantage, but the reality is that we won't know until August. The smart money says that the guy that's being practicing against college competition for a couple years has the advantage....but nobody knows.

 

[BiggsCoug]

To a point, I agree, but I put a lot of blame on AG and the QBs who haven’t used the run. Leach said outright that he sees the short passes to the RBs as the same as a run. Statistically, that was sort of borne out this season - Borghi averaged a half yard more per catch than per carry. I’d be interested to see the spray chart on his catches though, along with the corresponding yardage.

That said, there were absolutely times that failing to hand off did just take our best player out of the game (like the entire AC and the bowl game). Seriously, the kid had 3 carries on our opening drive against AF, and then had 3 carries the rest of the game. WTF?

Where I diverge is that I don’t really care if the RB is the leading receiver...as long as his catches aren’t dumps to the flat because the QB is scared or can’t read the defense. Those passes should be a safety outlet, not bread & butter. If you’ve sent your RB up the middle (play action or not) and then he runs a pattern...fine. He’s not the primary, but he’s there. Maybe he’s also served a dual purpose by freezing the safeties and opening up something else. But that’s only going to work if the D respects it...which means that you have to actually give him the ball up the middle once in a while.

In the end, if your RB has 86 catches you probably need to question what your QB is doing. But, Leach’s failure to innovate is why some of his coaching offspring are using his offense more effectively than he is now.

More to my previous point, I don’t want Borghi’s total touches to go down. He should get more carries and less catches. My concern - based on Hawaii last year - is that he’s just going to get the ball a lot less. He had about 16 touches per game last season, about 40% of those were catches. But Hawaii’s leading rusher only had 12 touches per game. Borghi getting only 12 touches - however they come - would also just be taking our best player off the field. I’d like to see 20 touches per game, with under 25% in the air.

The QB is the player. Leach is the coach. If Leach wants something done that isnt happening he has to fix it. Not the player. I understand its the qbs job to check into a run. If things arent working it was Leach’s job to fix it. He didnt. We lost.

Leaving the decision up to a college kid to call plays, something he may or may not be good at, is mind numbing. Here is a scenario... WSU is in the PAC 12 title game... last drive for a score to win and go to the playoff... who calls the run plays? Leach or the college kid??? The so called guru or the college kid??? The coach making $4,000,000 or the college kid???

I like the air raid offense. I just think Leach runs the most vanilla version of it and was easily outcoached this season.

Rolo is gonna either feed his best player doing what he does best or get his ass handed to him on the chalkboard just like Leach did.

I have no idea what his backs were like at UH. That may have factored into the play calling. I know what his backs are like at WSU and Leach pissed away two years of MBs career so far.

A low carry game for MB should be 15. He needs 20 carries and maybe 5 receptions.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

The QB is the player. Leach is the coach. If Leach wants something done that isnt happening he has to fix it. Not the player. I understand its the qbs job to check into a run. If things arent working it was Leach’s job to fix it. He didnt. We lost.

Leaving the decision up to a college kid to call plays, something he may or may not be good at, is mind numbing. Here is a scenario... WSU is in the PAC 12 title game... last drive for a score to win and go to the playoff... who calls the run plays? Leach or the college kid??? The so called guru or the college kid??? The coach making $4,000,000 or the college kid???

I like the air raid offense. I just think Leach runs the most vanilla version of it and was easily outcoached this season.

Rolo is gonna either feed his best player doing what he does best or get his ass handed to him on the chalkboard just like Leach did.

I have no idea what his backs were like at UH. That may have factored into the play calling. I know what his backs are like at WSU and Leach pissed away two years of MBs career so far.

A low carry game for MB should be 15. He needs 20 carries and maybe 5 receptions.

I'm excited to see what Rolovich does at WSU and I agree that we need to take advantage of Borghi this year as much as we can. However, I'm not sure if I'm buying into the idea that the Air Raid under Leach was easy to defend and that's why we lost games. When you look at this year's team and their scoring and compare it to last year against common opponents....there was nothing wrong with our offense. Here is a breakdown of the point differential between 2018 and 2019 and whether or not we would have won the game if we gave up the same amount of points as 2018.

Utah: -15, L
CU: +10, W
UO: +1, W
Stanford: +8, W
Cal: +1, W
OSU: -2, W
UW: -2, L

So, when looking at the 7 common conference opponents from 2018 to 2019, we scored almost exactly the same number of points overall, but we went 3-4 against that group because our defense was dramatically worse. We might have gone 5-2 if our defense wasn't so terrible this year and finished 8-4 instead of 6-6. Of course, that ignores the meltdown against UCLA and our inability to stop ASU on the final drive (they weren't common opponents). If we don't have a terrible defense, we had the potential to finish 10-2 again. I know that you think our defense was great and it wasn't their fault that our offense was only able to average 35 points per game in our conference games. It's fine for you to ignore that our offense scored 3 more points per game in conference play than division champ Oregon because hey, why should we expect our defense to give up less than five touchdowns per game? By the way, despite our offense being the most prolific in the north, our defense gave up 29 more points than Oregon State, who isn't known for their defense. What's even more bizarre is how California, despite scoring roughly half as many points as WSU, gave up 124 less points in the nine conference games. So yeah, the Air Raid under Leach sucked and needed to be changed. Leach lost football games because he couldn't figure out how to get our offensive players to tackle the opposing team's offense from the sideline, I guess.

I think we all agree that Mike Leach made decisions that cost us games in 2019. As head coach, he is ultimately responsible for how the defense performs. Regardless, all the changes in the world will mean nothing if we are giving up almost 37 points per game in our conference games again. Our success in 2020 is going to have everything to do with what happens defensively. If our defense implodes again, we could easily finish 3-9 even if our offense is doing great. Utah State and Houston are solid OOC foes and we were lucky to escape with a win against OSU. Defense is everything if we want to see improvement.

 

[CougPatrol]

I love Borghi, but I still have questions about him as a pure running back. He's great in space, but his vision has been spotty. He's young though, and I expect that his game will continue to ramp up.

 

[dgibbons]

I would remove him from the passing game almost entirely. It is a colossal disaster if you are supposed to be a high octane passing offense and your RB is your leading receiver. That is a total failure as a coach. That is how coaches get out coached.

This is why I think Leach is trending downward...

As a DC, you wanna take away the offenses best player doing what he does best. Make other players beat you.

Well, by not calling a run play Leach is removing his best player doing what he does best for you. Thanks! The DC just committed zero assets to stopping your best guy.

So what’s next? Stop their 2nd best player. Let’s say it’s AG. Ok. How do we keep AG from throwing the ball downfield? We leave the back open. And voila, MB is the leading receiver.

Best player doing what he does best is gone.

2nd best player doing what he does best is now taking the easy pass. So essentially the DC is calling WSU passing plays.

The passing game is now under control. The running game was removed by Leach. All these talented WRs? MB took how many catches away from them?

Leach got his ass waxed on the chalkboard this year. He didnt get beat by talent on the field. He got beat on the board.

If Rolo wants to win at WSU, it starts by feeding MB in the RUN GAME!!! Have your best player do what he does best. Have your qb throw the ball to the WRS!! Make defenses defend both.

If Rolo does that he will be a hero. uw will have nothing for the WSU offense.

You never understood how the Air Raid worked.

 

[dgibbons]

The QB is the player. Leach is the coach. If Leach wants something done that isnt happening he has to fix it. Not the player. I understand its the qbs job to check into a run. If things arent working it was Leach’s job to fix it. He didnt. We lost.

Leaving the decision up to a college kid to call plays, something he may or may not be good at, is mind numbing. Here is a scenario... WSU is in the PAC 12 title game... last drive for a score to win and go to the playoff... who calls the run plays? Leach or the college kid??? The so called guru or the college kid??? The coach making $4,000,000 or the college kid???

I like the air raid offense. I just think Leach runs the most vanilla version of it and was easily outcoached this season.

Rolo is gonna either feed his best player doing what he does best or get his ass handed to him on the chalkboard just like Leach did.

I have no idea what his backs were like at UH. That may have factored into the play calling. I know what his backs are like at WSU and Leach pissed away two years of MBs career so far.

A low carry game for MB should be 15. He needs 20 carries and maybe 5 receptions.

For supposedly liking the Air Raid, you have constantly complained about it.

 

[CecilYounger]

I love Borghi, but I still have questions about him as a pure running back. He's great in space, but his vision has been spotty. He's young though, and I expect that his game will continue to ramp up.

I agree with you and will add that I'm not sure on the quality of coaching he was getting from Mele. A new coach could have a positive impact.

 

[fingerdisco]

I agree with you and will add that I'm not sure on the quality of coaching he was getting from Mele. A new coach could have a positive impact.

I'm not really sure about the coaching thing--for a RB, I'm of the opinion that coaching has less an impact than the vision the RB already possesses along with gains in strength, speed, and size from spending time in the gym and at the training table. I'm sure there are tweaks a coach can make, but I'd say 90-plus percent of a RB's ability comes from the things I mention above.

 

[BiggsCoug]

I love Borghi, but I still have questions about him as a pure running back. He's great in space, but his vision has been spotty. He's young though, and I expect that his game will continue to ramp up.

The fact that half his career is done, including one season as a feature back, and there are questions about his talent only shows how poorly the coaching was.

 

[jarvis1981]

Borghi is only going to get better IMO and his experience of 2 years should help.
Question that comes to mind is whether the fact that his offensive line won't have the wide splits anymore (Leach's Air Raid version) help him and to what degree.

 

[CougPatrol]

Borghi is only going to get better IMO and his experience of 2 years should help.
Question that comes to mind is whether the fact that his offensive line won't have the wide splits anymore (Leach's Air Raid version) help him and to what degree.

He'll get better and stronger, but as a couple of us have suggested, I'm not sure his vision is something that will improve. You either have that or your don't. We'll see though.

 

[cougcowboy]

Maybe. But I see a lot of this as speculation.

I don’t know what Hawaii really had for WR talent. They had 17 on the roster, 8 of them were freshmen. 3 of their top 4 were seniors. Those top 4 had 98, 87, 87, and 65 catches, 3 of them went over 1,000 yards and one had 913. Their #5 receiver had 18 catches for 248. Huge drop off. But, I have no doubt that the receiving talent at WSU is better, and we’ll rotate 6-7, not 4.

My bigger question is actually Borghi. Hawaii’s leading rusher averaged just under 12 carries per game. Borghi was just under 10. Not really much difference. Hawaii’s entire RB corps only carried 17 times per game.

If you’re thinking ‘no big deal, Borghi gets a lot of touches in the passing game’....let me stop you there. Borghi led the team with 86 catches, so had 213 touches. Hawaii’s rushing leader had 3 catches, 177 touches. Their entire RB group had a total of 11 catches. Rolovich’s run & shoot doesn’t (or hasn’t) utilized RBs as receivers.

I’m hoping he looks at the tools he’s got and tweaks the offense. We’ve got too much talent at WR to only us 4 or 5 guys, and Borghi is too versatile to remove from the passing game by design. It’s another situation where it doesn’t make sense to make the players fit the offense. Instead, use what you’ve got to make a system that works.

I understand your points: but Hawaii employed more than one RB in their offense; and the QB got a lot of carries. I could seen Borghi taking some of the carries from the QB (hawaii's QB's had 141 carries) and from the back up RB. I think his workload as a RB will increase, and as a WR decrease. Just my thoughts from my couch...

 

[COUGinNCW]

I love Borghi, but I still have questions about him as a pure running back. He's great in space, but his vision has been spotty. He's young though, and I expect that his game will continue to ramp up.

That’s Heresy!

Actually agree. Get him in the edge and he can motor but Boobie was much better at making people miss/cutting.