Welcome To The Forefront
by Akula Wolf on Aug 22, 2011 8:00 AM EDT
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PrintThere is good news for Mike Glennon, and it's this: the standard is not as high as he thinks it is. The story of the 2010 NC State offense was promise unrealized; maybe it was to do with Russell Wilson's divided attention; maybe it was the result of so little help from the running game; maybe we completely overrated the receivers on hand. Whatever the case, it definitely was not a "perfect storm" last season despite all preseason signs to the contrary. NC State slid from 5.6 yards per snap in 2009 to 5.2 in 2010, though the team nonetheless took several steps forward and won nine games. As a result there wasn't much dwelling on the disappointment at the offensive end, at least partially because when you've done what Russell Wilson had done, track record serves as teflon.
State's per-snap output ranked 78th in the country--a welcome step up from the years about which we do not speak, but in a sense almost equally disappointing. As a seasoned veteran, Russell Wilson was supposed to transcend and march his team up and down the field. (In fairness to Russell, Philip Rivers didn't level up until his senior year.) It just didn't work out that way.
During Rivers' senior year State averaged 6.6 yards per play, chewed up defenses and spit them out without mercy--that was a hell of a storm, and a hell of a thing to match. Glennon's task isn't nearly so large, but the foundation around him is similar. The defense is going to be there for him to an extent it wasn't for his predecessor. The question now is the same as it was by the middle of 2004: we're here and who are you?
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No - you took that wrong
He’s saying it is going to be just like 2004, where the defense is shockingly good, and every single loss is directly attributable to not having a competent starting QB.
Hope?!? Sheesh, you young kids these days …
My disgust at how the Wilson situation played out aside
I think Glennon will do fine.
I’m also not as worried about the 3 WR who graduated as many seem to be because those guys were just solid college players, not irreplaceable stars. Our WRs have been overrated by our fans for years. Against really good secondaries they had serious trouble getting open, and none of the three who left will play in the NFL. Not to say that we’ve gotten better at WR but I expect our performance to stay about the same.
The real worry is what happens if/when Glennon gets hurt.
Glennon's not my problem
If the offense takes a dip, I suspect that the WR will hands of stone will be more of the problem than our QB with an arm that firmly plants the ball in your chest. Think we will see a lot more slot receivers (Q Payton, T Palmer) and flat passes to the running backs (T Creecy, B Barnes) then passes to the unreliable WR.
I was not impressed with our receivers a year ago, but definitely think we will take a step back, quality-wise, in this department this year. Here’s hoping our other captain has an excellent year.
We definitely have a different type
of WR this year than last. Last year we had big guys who could win the jump ball. That worked well with a short QB, because slants and crossing routes were not an option with Russell’s limited vision. This group seems to be the smaller, quicker type of receiver, so I expect to see a lot more quick hitting routes. If TJ Graham is our #1 guy, I think we are in big trouble.
by PACKHOOLIGAN on Aug 22, 2011 10:37 AM EDT up reply actions
Disappointed
In Jay Smith. I really hoped he would have stepped up after his redshirt sophmore year and he has never really done anything. Kid was an important recruit coming out of high school, but just hasn’t lived up to the billing.
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