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2010 Starters?

by CougarPeasant · 12/20/2009

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CougarPeasant
Mithrandir wrote:
Here's my stab...



Offense:



QB Jake Heaps

RB Josh Quezada/Brian Kariya

FB Jojo Pili

LT Matt Reynolds

LG Jason Speredon

C Houston Reynolds

RG Terence Brown

RT Nick Alletto

WR McKay Jacobsen

WR Oneil Chambers

WR Ross Apo

TE Richard Wilson



Defense:



DE So'oto/Wagner

DT Fuga/Manumaleauna

DE Putnam/Afutiti

OLB Van Noy

ILB Ogletree

ILB Stout

OLB Pendleton

S Rich

S Galea'i

CB Bradley

CB Logan


Thanks Mirth, aside from the flack you are getting over penciling in Quezada over Diluiggi, you've done a good job. I would be surprised to see Stout and Van Noy start the season, but I think after a couple of games, they could move into significant minutes and perhaps even become starters. If So'oto and Afuititi make it to the field next season, I think our front line will be just fine, especially with the new kids coming in.



I gotta agree with Sno, however, regarding Q. He's 2 years behind Kariya and Diluiggi. Blocking assignments are critical in Anae's offense. Unga started as a redshirt freshman because of 3 reasons: 1. Brown had left; 2. He knew what he was doing; and 3. He was that talented. If BYU lands Langi next year, he might not even start and he's being recruited by nearly every big program in the country.



With Phillips coming in,does he take over the return duties or does Chambers keep plugging away? Phillips has some speed and really tore it up returing kicks.
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snoscythe
CougarPeasant wrote:
Unga started as a redshirt freshman because of 3 reasons: 1. Brown had left; 2. He knew what he was doing; and 3. He was that talented.


4. Fui, who was #1, got injured and lost his grip on his starting job.

5. Harvey had that redshirt season under his belt to learn the offense.
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CougarPeasant
snoscythe wrote:
Unga started as a redshirt freshman because of 3 reasons: 1. Brown had left; 2. He knew what he was doing; and 3. He was that talented.


4. Fui, who was #1, got injured and lost his grip on his starting job.

5. Harvey had that redshirt season under his belt to learn the offense.


I knew there was another reason, I just couldn't remember it was Fui who was injured.



Scout is very high on BYU's RB recruits this year. They have the group rated in the top 10 for 2010. Not too shabby for BYU.
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Mithrandir
snoscythe wrote:
Lawboy wrote:
I like JJ as a spot player, but if he starts, we are in trouble.


Agreed. If JJ is our best option, we're hosed. I like his lateral quickness, and he seems to have decent vision, but he's simply not an every down back.


Based on what? How is JJ Diluigi not an every down back? Size? He's 2 inches shorter and ten pounds lighter than Quezada--so Q is an everydown back and JJ is a spot player? That's a little myopic. There is nothing to support the fan-myth that little guys are injured more than big guys, nor that they are less durable. Diluigi carried the ball 266 times his senior year without an injury. His injury his freshman year was a freak, non-contact injury in his driveway. This year he has averaged 5.5 ypc for the Cougars--the same as the oft-injured yet bigger Harvey Unga.



Again, I'm not saying that Q can't come in and take the position, but he has an uphill battle to oust an equal, if not better high school talent in front of him. There is more to playing RB than getting yards. Q has to come in and learn the playbook better than any other player on the field with the exception of the quarterback. He needs to learn not just where to run, but in passing situations he needs to learn the blocking schemes of the offensive line as well as how to read more complicated defenses so he knows where the rush and blitzers will be coming from. He needs to know the receiver routes so he knows how long he has to block the rush---does he just need to knock the DE wide so the quarterback can dump to a quick route, or does he have to engage and maintain position to buy the quarterback time to make reads or for the receivers to get 5 extra yards downfield to hit the soft spot in a zone underneath a safety sitting deep. Q has a lot to do to line up behind a first-time starting quarterback in September.



If he were a Luke Staley type talent who ran a 4.3 in high school and averaged 300 yards per game, I might give him the nod. However, this is a guy who is just above average speed-wise who averaged 150 yards per game like 5 other runningbacks in every state across the country. He is a good player, but there is nothing about him that screams 4 year starter, much less day one starter. He might be, but he has to prove it, and all he has proven so far is that he is about where JJ Diluigi was 2 years ago.


Myopic? Not so much.



Diluigi is playing alot lighter than his reported 198 lbs (there was alot of discussion about this on TBS at the beginning of the year). He dropped 15+ lbs in the off-season to get his quicks back. I talked to Diluigi face to face at the Utah game, believe me he's more like 180-185...at least 25 pounds lighter than Q.



In the end, my projection boils down to the fact that I don' think Diluigi is a true impact player at the D-1 level. He doesn't have the size and/or power to do what Unga does for us every down (his ypc average vs. Unga is meaningless, as Diluigi had far fewer carries, and at different times during games), and he doesn't have the raw speed that a small back MUST have to be a standout (ala Jaquiz Rodgers).



If Diluigi were going to truly distinguish himself, I believe he would have done so by now. He does a few things really well, but I don't see him being the type of player that can carry an entire offense when things get rough. With a new QB (whomever it ends up being) at the helm, someone is going to have to do just that from time to time. I believe Q has a better chance of becomming that guy than Diluigi does.



TIme will tell. If Diluigi turns out to be the greatest thing since wonder bread, I'll be happy to come on this board and eat crow.
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bigbluepuma
snoscythe wrote:
I appreciate a good signing as much as anyone, but people seriously need to take a deep breath before they start slotting true freshmen into starting slots all over the place. It was semi-understandable with Jake Heaps, but it's getting a bit extreme with Quezada.



BYU has signed top all-everything-never-lose-a-game-in-high-school-quarterbacks in the past. Ben Olsen and Paul Shoemaker both come to mind. They sure turned out to be world beaters. However, that's not to say Heaps will be a similar bust. What it says is that Heaps, despite all his tangible and intangible talents, has yet to prove a single thing.



What's even more mind-boggling is the worship of Quezada. In the past few days, I have read people saying he is the next Luke Staley, saying he will be better than Harvey, and on and on. People--he's a three star runningback that didn't even make the California top-100. Luke Staley was a blue-chip all-american (top 100 nationally). And then there are the comments on this thread that not only that he is faster than Diluigi (a measurable, verifiable assertion that is patently false) but that he is a better get than Diluigi. Let's review Diluigi's accomplishments: CIF Southern Section Offensive Player-of-the-Year (twice), named to several high school All-America teams; Old Spice/Red Zone California Player of the Year; first-team All-State running back. And then let's compare Quezada's: all-county, all-league, all-cif. So, how is Quezada a better back than our last golden boy 3-star recruit? Is the 66th best runningback from 2010 that much better than the 52nd best runningback from 2008?



I understand people get excited about recruits. I'm fine with that. I am excited about Heaps and Quezada as well and what their commitments mean to the program. However, to crown them starters before they have taken their first class over the guys we were equally excited about just one or two years ago rings a little false for me, and even a little disloyal to the boys we already have in blue. Good get on Heaps and Quezada, but they haven't proven a single thing yet.


Thank you for a voice of reason as many of us fly off into lala land. What this recruiting class gives us is not guarantees, but better odds of putting some outstanding young players in early. We also have some pretty good talent already in camp wearing redshirts and waiting their turn. The RM running back out of Bingham (can't remember his name right now) comes to mind. He looked very good his freshman year.



The talent pool for next year and beyond (both the recruiting class and the players already in camp) looks to be very good. Some will pan out as advertised and some won't, but we have, IMO, the best pool to draw from in history.
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stuckinbig10country
Q may not even be the best RB recruit BYU brings in this year. The young man out of Alabama has legit 4.3 speed and seems to have a sturdy build.



Unga started as a "true freshman" (still don't get that, since he scored a TD in the Tulsa game his "redshirt" year), for all the reasons listed before and because he greyshirted. He didn't enroll until January after hs (may have even been longer than that), went through spring ball, played in a few games, got injured, went through offseason conditioning, then spring and fall ball again.



I can see why he's considering going pro (even though he won't be drafted). He's been in school for almost 5 years already.



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Mars


I think that DiLuigi may be the most UNDERrated player currently on the team. I think if Unga had been injured at some point this season, J.J. would have filled in just fine. They are virtually equals in yards per carry. J.J. was HIGHER earlier in the season, before Anae began using him in runs up the gut late in blowout wins. He has a breakaway speed that Harvey doesn't have. I am very excited to watch him as BYU's #1 back next season.



I think Kariya and Hague will do well at FB also.
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gmj81
I find it interesting that some think Harvey was an "every down back". He may have been our leading rusher but he barely averaged 20 rushes a game. Some of that is probably due to the offense we run but a big part is also due to him constantly being broken down and coming up lame. Don't misunderstand me, I think Harvey is the greatest RB BYU has ever seen. He's not only talented but a total team player and an extremely humble guy. But if a guy that is 6'0"+ and 240+ lbs is constantly breaking down, then it's a wonder that anyone on any football field is able to stay healthy for a whole season. Unless, size has less to do with it than one would presume.



Take one Jacquizz Rodgers for instance. He is having an outstanding season and career at OSU so far. And nary an injury has slowed him down despite being the Pac-10's most electric and effective rusher the past two years. But guess what? He's only 5'8" 160 with 4.5 speed, at least coming out of high school. JJ's high school numbers? 5'9" 188 with 4.5 speed. Q's? 5'11" 210 with 4.55 speed. So clearly Quezada has a little more meat on him which could be very nice but he's also a half step slower than either of the other two. But I think it's clear to see that there's very little correlative information between a RB's size and his proneness to injury. Part of what makes the little guys so good at avoiding injury is their ability to shake of tackles and avoid the direct hits, even if they do get brought down. We've seen both Quiz and JJ pick up significant gains when it seems they're running right into a road block. But that's because they can both make a guy miss if they were standing in a phone booth with the tackler(s).



JJ just quite simply hasn't had the chance to show us what he can do yet. But he's invested the time and knows the offense as good as probably any RB in the program right now, including Harvey. It's true, we may not be able to plug JJ into the exact same play call as we could for Harvey. But why would you anyway when they have different strengths? It's also true that the coaches are willing to adapt to the skill set of their players.
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pjmuli
JJ DiLuigi brings a competitive advantage that we have rarely seen at BYU. The idea that because he may lack size and power - so therefore he is incapable of being a featured back - seems so loaded with bad assumptions...particularly after we have had two years of BYU defenders running as fast as they can to read the back jerseys of TCU's smaller and quick running backs.



From what I have seen, DiLuigi should be the second or third offensive option next year. This might infuriate some people on this board, but I think DiLuigi should have been given more playing time this year...even with Harvey available.
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Mars
pjmuli wrote:
This might infuriate some people on this board, but I think DiLuigi should have been given more playing time this year... even with Harvey available.

I actually think that they were BOTH underused this season.
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Mithrandir
pjmuli wrote:
JJ DiLuigi brings a competitive advantage that we have rarely seen at BYU. The idea that because he may lack size and power - so therefore he is incapable of being a featured back - seems so loaded with bad assumptions...particularly after we have had two years of BYU defenders running as fast as they can to read the back jerseys of TCU's smaller and quick running backs.


You're comparing apples and oranges. Diluigi has a quick first couple of steps, and he has fantastic lateral quickness, but he's simply not as fast as either of TCU's "small' backs. Ih he had legit sug 4.5 speed coupled with his low center of gravity, I would say he could be an



What, precisely, is a "competetive advantage"? And what does he posess "that we have rarely seen at BYU"? We've had truckloads of smallish RB's with average speed come through the program.



Again, I hope I'm totally wrong. I hope Diluigi becomes "the guy". Nobody will be happier than me if he does.
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CougarPeasant
Overall, Darnell did a good job. It's great to see such depth on the OL and among the WRs. Further, the DBs really do look to be as good a group as we've seen at BYU since....well at least since 2001 and more likely since 1996. Although Johnson will be sorely missed at safety, I have every confidence that Hill and Mendenhall will find the right replacement. Rich has been starting for the better part of 2 seasons now, he should at least be able to handle the role of calling out place in the secondary.



Regardless of who's in the stable, Unga will be missed if he leaves early. Yet, Anae has proved he can put together very productive offenses year in and year out since coming to BYU. I have little to worry about on offense, regardless of who the QB ends up being.



The DL has great athletes and could be a strength yet again, especially if So'oto and Afuititi get back on the field. I see our incoming class strong on DL talent, and we've seen how great Bronco is at spotting those diamonds in the rough who start as true freshmen on the DL.



However, Darnell shows why he's working for the Herald and not the DN or SLT. How can any self respecting BYU beat writer write about next year's team and not know that Kaufusi is going straight on a mission and so won't be in the mix for a spot on the DL. Further, he mentions Van Noy, but fails to mention Stout as a possible player among LBs. Stout was a huge pickup for BYU, as big as Van Noy in my opinion and DD fails to even mention him.



Further, he talks about Lark, but is mum on Munns (though he has a less of a chance of starting than any and he was highly recruited out of HS too.)



I might be bringing up nits, but they are important ones if you are going to write about BYU football.
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bball
I like the lists above, but...



I think the RB position will be very crowded next year, and it's hard to pick who will be the starter. Most freshmen RBs are not ready to play right out of HS, and they tend to fumble--thus, they don't play too much. If Harvey stays (I think he goes), nobody is going to displace him, outside of injury. Harvey needs to learn to run lower, if he gets lower, he bowls over most guys who attempt to tackle him. He runs too straight up, and gets stood up too often. He needs to study Toby Gerhart.



I think Wittingham made a very smart move in starting Jordan Wynn part way into the season. Wynn is a very good QB, and Utah's future is now with Wynn, has some experience, and will be very good next year. I see something similar happening at BYU next year. Nelson may be the starter the first game or two, but if he fails to produce, I see the future of BYU football, Jake Heaps, getting the nod. If Heaps is good enough, he could steal the position in Spring practice--that would really impress me.



I see our front defensive 7 being younger, but more talented next year. They might cost us a game or two, but these guys are very good. I love Putnam, and Afutiti, and if So'oto gets another year, he could be really good. Pendleton is going to be a great LB for BYU, and this year's recruits are loaded at that position.



Because BYU is always loaded at TE, I see them developing two very good TEs again next year (Wilson and whoever...). Jacobsen and Chambers should be the go to guys, and give these young TEs time to develop.



2012 is the year to get really excited about BYU football. That is the year BYU will be BCS busting.
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bball
I have not seen any information on Heaps' arm strength? Anyone have a report on that? How strong is his arm?
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gmj81
Heaps may not have a Cannon but he can make all the throws.
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bball
You've seen him play? so what kind of arm strength? compared to who?
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BYUROCKS
He has the arm, I watched the game vs Oaks Christan I think it was ? he did really well, showed arm strength, and he did it well battling an ear infection.
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