crazietalk.net

As usual, no respect as Duke is ranked 12th of 14:

http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/5 ... rankings-3

I agree the defense is suspect, but I am optimistic the veterans will step-up and prove their critics wrong.

Not surprising, and yet kind of surprising. HD has been a "supporter" reporter over the years, falling on our side hoping for the best...but then again she does have a job to do and she does it well. Watch, when her early bowl predictions come out, Duke will once again be in her mix.
I like the "power rankings" thing. It is all about strengths and weaknesses and right now her and Andrea see the imbalance favoring the weaknesses. We'll climb quickly to the middle of the pack I bet.

I'm a little surprised, but...only a little. You earn your reputation. To move up, you have to put someone down. Pitt had a rough offseason, but that's generally been considered a quality program. Virginia has recruited very well of late and the addition of Tom O'Brien should clean up some issues. Maryland has had some good recruiting classes of late too,but I consider this an overvalued team on the list. I don't know enough about Syracuse to comment. Wake, yeah, I expect them to bounce back this year with a senior loaded team. Healthy they should be much better.

but...run your own race. Beat the teams in front of you and the rankings take care of themselves. I've said before, I think we improved our talent at the weakest link positions. The question is how quickly can it translate to on field success.

The ranking at this point in the year is understandable. There are no issues from me on that ranking. Besides, the low expectations may help some... Our running backs look really good...and with Crowder and Isaac, I think we're going to get some big explosive plays that win us games.

The Football Fan wrote:Besides, the low expectations may help some... Our running backs look really good...and with Crowder and Isaac, I think we're going to get some big explosive plays that win us games.

I'm not sold on Issac Blakeney as a receiver yet. Perhaps he will get there but perhaps he will not. I hear he and Anthony Boone have good chemistry so that should help Blakeney's development. He needs to run tighter routes and improve his downfield blocking. Blakeney is an absolute stud on special teams, but the jury is still out on him as an every down receiver.

Personally, I look for Max McCaffrey to be our #2 guy behind Crowder. McCaffrey doesn't appear to have speed, but he has great hands. True freshman Johnell Barnes is another guy to keep our eyes on as he could come in and see significant action right away. His reputation is big time. Outside of Crowder, the wide receiver position is wide open.

Allow me to clarify...

Crowder - Consistent with good hands, Explosive with big play potential over the top, or to break a short/middle field throw and take it to the house.

Isaac - Big play potential over the top. He's got the speed, just lacks strength and wiggle. At 6'6" and a little hop, most 5'9" speedsters are going to struggle to stop a well thrown high pointed catch. They'll have to use a less athletic 6'XX". I think that'll help even out the wiggle issue. I'm not saying he's a lock as a #2, but i'm pretty sure he'll get some big play TDs for us. Question to me is how effective will he be getting 1st downs.

Max - Consistent with good hands. I think he's going to struggle against top 25 teams, but should be a solid contributor. I just don't expect many over the top deep outs or break away TDs.....interesting though his profile with Scout listed a 4.47 40 time. That's not a burner, but it's not slow either. Course, we don't know how reliable that time was/is. He doesn't look as fast on the field.

The Freshman are the wild cards. Joshnell definitely comes in with the most hype, but Alls may also be something special, it's so early to tell.

But interestingly, Braxton is being completely lost in the picture. He was a 3rd option and caught 40 passes...dropped a few, but still, that's contributing. He fits up there somewhere, just not sure where. I think he's got some wiggle, but he's not as consistent. I just can't remember if he's contributing to the deep play/big play threat. I guess the bottom line is that competition should be there for every spot and every bit of playing time.

and...our TE group is interesting. Nick Sink isn't likely to be fleet of foot even with an off-season to drop some weight, but hopefully, he can fill the big blocker role. I like the Braxton Deaver option as a versatile guy, but I also see that in David Reeves now. Beilenson seems to fit more with the pass catcher role, but he's got enough size to block some. All of this looks to me like you can open things up more. Plus, Connette could play a fine "Joker" TE. Compared to his sophomore year, he seemed lighter/quicker. I also love the though of Duncan coming out of the backfield and getting the ball with some open field to run on.

As I've said before, I like the offense and how it's constructed. We'll just have to see how Roper calls the plays.

The Football Fan wrote:But interestingly, Braxton is being completely lost in the picture. He was a 3rd option and caught 40 passes...dropped a few, but still, that's contributing. He fits up there somewhere, just not sure where. I think he's got some wiggle, but he's not as consistent. I just can't remember if he's contributing to the deep play/big play threat. I guess the bottom line is that competition should be there for every spot and every bit of playing time.

Braxton's career long is 41 yards. He averaged 12.9 yards per catch on 14 receptions in 2010 and 8.8 ypc on 40 receptions in 2011. Braxton is a physical receiver who can go over the middle, but he isn't a serious deep threat. I expect he will play a lot of snaps.

Bob Green wrote:

The Football Fan wrote:But interestingly, Braxton is being completely lost in the picture. He was a 3rd option and caught 40 passes...dropped a few, but still, that's contributing. He fits up there somewhere, just not sure where. I think he's got some wiggle, but he's not as consistent. I just can't remember if he's contributing to the deep play/big play threat. I guess the bottom line is that competition should be there for every spot and every bit of playing time.

Braxton's career long is 41 yards. He averaged 12.9 yards per catch on 14 receptions in 2010 and 8.8 ypc on 40 receptions in 2011. Braxton is a physical receiver who can go over the middle, but he isn't a serious deep threat. I expect he will play a lot of snaps.

RECEIVING GP No. Yards Avg TD Long Avg/G
Desmond Scott 12 61 606 9.9 2 35 50.5

Looks like Desmond was a little more productive, but regarding yards per catch, they're similar. Maybe he fits a similar role. Really I guess we hope Joshnell or Alls comes in so much better you can't keep them off the field. Then you have an outstanding back up or extra wide out with experience for a 4 receiver set.

Good stuff!