Wednesday, August 13, 2008

VSL Hotline: Offensive Instability, Edition

The Man We Love to Hait has two pieces in this morning's Nashville City Paper worth reading. The first addresses Vanderbilt's present, while the second most certainly addresses our future (and reasons for optimism). Story one deals with the "openness" that remains at certain positions on the offensive side of the ball, and the stability on the defensive side. While all the starting defensive positions appear to be "spoken for," there is still no clear indication as to who will be number one on the depth chart in a few key positions. Most notably, no decision has yet been made on who QB 1. While Nickson started last Saturday's scrimmage and continues to take most snaps with the first team according to Brett, no starter has been publicly named. As discussed yesterday, the offensive line is seeing some movement, with Brett reporting that "At least two offensive-line spots, left tackle and right guard, remain open for the taking. Untested sophomores Reilly Lauer and Joey Bailey are in the lead at tackle and guard, respectively, but will be challenged to hold off the competition."

Mo Patton's got a piece in today's Tennessean piggy-backing Brett's analysis on the offensive side of the ball, noting that "Vanderbilt not worried by lack of top running back." That could be a good thing or a bad thing though...

Mo's got a second piece that discusses the potential of certain freshman and red-shirts to come in and make an impact right away in the Tennessean.

Brett Hait's second story in the City Paper touts Coach Bobby Johnson and the Commodores program at attracting (and getting commitments from) top-caliber recruits. The improve is so good, "Vandy's recruiting class is drawing rave reviews" from across the country and within the SEC. Granted, the evaluation process of high school football players who, in all likelihood are so over-matching their opponents that it's difficult to tell how good they will actually be, get an unnecessary amount of ink as far as I am concerned, a Commodore fan has to take notice when, according to Brett: "ix of VU’s 10 verbal commitments for the signing class of 2009 are rated as three-star prospects by Rivals.com. That might not be newsworthy at LSU or Florida, but it’s a sign that coach Bobby Johnson and his staff are constantly increasing Vanderbilt’s pool of talent.

Only four of Vanderbilt’s 21 signees in 2008 were three-star prospects. The Commodores have never signed more than six in any one class since Rivals.com began offering its rankings in 2002."


What happens on the field is of the utmost importance, but I truly believe it's becoming harder and harder for Vanderbilt's "lack of athleticism" (their word, not mine), to be used as an excuse for them taking the next step (two or ten) forward.

Things were quiet yesterday, but this post is up before most of you get to work, which means there's no excuse.

Bobby, OUT

4 comments:

Stanimal said...

Been out of the loop for the past couple of days, but I'll comment briefly on everything I missed.

Definitely an improvement for the Jets with Favre, but seriously this is a VANDERBILT sports blog. If I want to hear about Favre, I'll go to ESPN, the network that is all over Favre's nuts. What an absolute disgrace all that coverage was of that whole ordeal. I was disgusted by it.

It is exciting that our recruiting classes are improving. Once we get over the bowl hump, we'll start drawing some even better talent.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't announce the starting offensive lineup at all to the media/public. Belichickian tactics are the best move in this situation...Why not make Miami's defense prepare for both Adams and Nickson?

Anonymous said...

It's 6 out of ten, not "ix out of ten," champ. Very poor showing on the Roman numerals.

Anonymous said...

where are we now? 15 days away. i just hope we don't start the season off in the worst way possible, a loss at miami of ohio. i think we're one and a half point under dogs