mbBear said:
calumnus said:
Shocky1 said:
https://instagr.am/p/Cg0qtEor8rC
^ john, glad ur back from ur vacay (u bring a lot to these discussions)
there's a million positive things going on with the cal football program right now (other than longwell's huge question marks kicking room) & shocky 100% appreciates all berkeley grad burl did for the university so gonna just wish the toler family beautiful happiness moving forward!!
ok the monster can't help himself, the bruins will be the worst wideout BLOCKING unit in college football next season & the ucla rushing yardages will reflect this issue
https://instagr.am/p/DDNiroAp0KS
shocky needs more modern yoga in his quest to become a nicer person#
Blocking is pretty low on my list of requirements for a WR. I don't remember Desean Jackson being a great blocker. Our new guy, Jacob De Jesus, is listed as 5-7 175. Do you really expect him to somehow be coached up to be a great blocker? At 5-7 175? Speed kills and a WR running deep routes takes out two defenders and opens up running room whereas a WR staying home to block telegraphs the play and just creates roadblocks, or worse, gets them injured.
I guess I agree with half of this post: If blocking is the worst part of the WR room, we are doing pretty well! But, being an Eagles fan, and seeing how the WR's have blocked this season for Saquon, I get the importance (I don't think it gets telegraphed, because a run can be faked and the WR comes off of a slant et. al.) And I also question to what degree Toler was a victim of scheme and play calling.
Welcome back, and I hope you are in good health.
Thanks, I'm doing well, getting stronger everyday. Still trying to limit my time on social media especially the defenders of current local and national administrations who respond to what I think are reasoned concern and suggestions with personal attacks. I just don't need it and as one of them said, it makes no difference anyway.
I did overstate my argument about WR blocking. The great thing about offense is you have the flexibility to utilize the skills your players have to create mismatches and advantages for your offense. So if you have WRs that are big, physical and great blockers, by all means, take advantage of that. But if you have a play that requires your 5'7" 175 WR to sustain a block and take out a much larger defender, well that is just bad play design.
I came out of my self imposed exile to defend Burl Toler in large part because the Toler family are family friends of ours, with multiple Cal connections with our family. What he brought to the program as a Berkely born and raised Cal grad, with his family history and connections aiding recruiting was not fully appreciated and I feel is too easily dismissed by "but our running game sucked because he can't/doesn't teach WRs how to block." It just makes sense that having people who love Cal and Berkeley and understand the place are going to be better able to sell it to recruits. Obviously there are a lot of great Cal Bears who went into coaching. I'd like to see more on our staff.
I will also remind people that Ott lead the PAC-12 in rushing just two years ago despite Burl Toler being the WR coach. I think Spavital's Air Raid and play calling had a lot to do with that. Others think it was Bloesch but that he and the OL forgot everything once Spavital left for the bowl game and then for all this past year.
Anyway, I am glad most are happy with the changes in the program, especially our new QBs. Given our incredibly soft schedule I do think there is a good chance we get 8 maybe even 9 wins and another bowl in season 9 which will likely get Wilcox another extension from Knowlton. I think we can do a lot better, but in the scheme of things Cal football just isn't that important to me anymore.
