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ESPN: Pac-12 Position Reviews

Buffnik

Real name isn't Nik
Club Member
Junta Member
Miller and crew are breaking down all 12 teams by position group. 3 categories for ratings: "Great Shape", "Good Shape" and "We'll See".

So far, the Buffs are coming in right where most of us would expect. None rated "great", but mostly in the "good" category and a few rated as "we'll see".

Here's where the Buffs rate:

Quarterback: "Good"... ranked 10th

Running Back: "Good"... ranked 7th

Wide Receiver: "Good"... ranked 11th

Tight End: "We'll See"... ranked 9th

Offensive Line: "We'll See"... ranked 10th

Defensive Tackle: "Good"... ranked 9th

Defensive End: "We'll See"... ranked 12th

Linebacker: "Good"... ranked 5th

Cornerback: "Good"... ranked 6th

Safety: "We'll See"... ranked 8th

Kicker: "Great"... ranked 3rd

Punter: "Great"... ranked 4th

Here's how the conference shakes out:

QBRBWRTEOLDTDELBCBSKPAVGRANK
Arizona1210210211810811287.8t-9
ASU3358571011105196.46
Cal9116121112111212711610.012
Colorado10711910912568347.8t-9
Oregon111221631198124.84
OSU48101987242655.55
Stanford5516744626424.3t-1
UCLA2477435734534.53
USC7243621373774.3t-1
Utah868581068910216.8t-7
Washington111294312451110106.8t-7
WSU693111259911129118.011
 
hard to argue with anything there. Might have overrated TE, OL and WR (spruce is damn good tho) while underrating DT.

It's another good QB year in the P12. Sefo being ranked 10 isn't an indictment at all.
 
I had to do a double take on Oregon's WRs. 12 seems harsh for any unit on Oregon. Perhaps a jab more than a real ranking?

Edit:

I found the post. They lost a lot of guys and their best returning blew his knee out. They are completely unproven at the position, but the talent should be there.
 
Last edited:
I don't think we'll rank great for safeties.

If they do specialists, we'll do well on K/P.
 
I had to do a double take on Oregon's WRs. 12 seems harsh for any unit on Oregon. Perhaps a jab more than a real ranking?

Edit:

I found the post. They lost a lot of guys and their best returning blew his knee out. They are completely unproven at the position, but the talent should be there.
Duck I work with sums up their WRs as "short, almost, but not quite, fast, incapable of fighting for a catch, and, oh yeah, have no ****ing clue how to block downfield - worst position group on the team."

I planted the seed of doubt with him that Helfrich = the weasel 2.0. He's rapidly convincing himself it's true [emoji48].
 
We are in the we'll see category at RB. Can surprise us, but we don't have any superstars there.
 
We are in the we'll see category at RB. Can surprise us, but we don't have any superstars there.

Our rating seems just about right there. We have three guys who could start for a lot of other schools. At 7th we're kind of the definition of "can surprise us, but we don't have any superstars there." Although, Adkins could end up being very good.
 
Adkins? Sure.

Powell is a complementary RB on most teams, just as he is at CU. Tony Jones is an average RB on most teams, lacks the instincts to be more.
 
Adkins? Sure.

Powell is a complementary RB on most teams, just as he is at CU. Tony Jones is an average RB on most teams, lacks the instincts to be more.

Powell is a ball of muscle. His concussion issues have prevented him from being as reckless as he used to be, which unfortunately was what made him so effective.
 
Powell is a ball of muscle. His concussion issues have prevented him from being as reckless as he used to be, which unfortunately was what made him so effective.

Wasn't he rated the #3 FB in the country when he signed? I'll bet we see him used in two back sets a little more this year.
 
Two back sets are not really part of Lindgren's system, at least from what I can tell.
 
Two back sets are not really part of Lindgren's system, at least from what I can tell.

Seems like it's almost all ACE sets. I agree.

But I think he'll do some split backs in short yardage. I'd like to see some of that with Powell and TJ in. One reason that would work well is that TJ has good hands and could motion out to the slot, catching the defense in a personnel mismatch.
 

Seems like this practice carried over from the Mike Stoops era, got pushed too far down in Rodriguez's inbox, and when he stumbled across it read it wrong and decided to keep doing what had been done improperly before. Their new recruit Cloy looks to be another in the line of Dan Buckner experiments by [strike]using[/strike] having a "flex" TE/WR on the roster, who is basically just a big boned receiver. UA may not have an All-American RB or a QB who can make plays with his feet this year so the rest of their offense is going to get exposed when those areas that had been winning them games can't cover up.

We are once again putting disproportionately high hopes in a true freshman to bail us out at a position of need. Keeney was one of my favorite signings this February but it's a tall order for someone who just registered to vote for the first time to learn a college playbook and learn to block and catch at FBS game speed in time to help win some conference games.
 
Ted Miller did one for Kickers, so I added it.

Buffs are in the "Great" category here and #3. It also revealed an area of weakness for some of the teams in our conference.

Not like this is as important as the QB category, but still a good sign for us. We'll need to win special teams this year and hope for a win in one of the other two phases or a draw in both. That and winning the turnover battle is how the good guys can win some games the experts say we shouldn't.
 
Punters are now in.

Darragh ranked 4th, giving CU another nice bump.

These 2014 Buffs could be a solid football team that doesn't have glaring holes and doesn't have any game breakers that change opponent game plans. Good players and position groups, but not great ones yet.

To me, that makes us dangerous if the team plays disciplined, motivated football. That would force more talented teams to play good football, not just be able to trot out far superior athletes and overwhelm our squad. Opportunity this year to surprise the experts.
 
Overall tie for 9th place; at least we're not in the cellar. Agree with Nik, if this team can play motivated and disciplined football, we could be in for a good surprise this year as we are gaining in speed and strength.
 
Punters are now in.

Darragh ranked 4th, giving CU another nice bump.

These 2014 Buffs could be a solid football team that doesn't have glaring holes and doesn't have any game breakers that change opponent game plans. Good players and position groups, but not great ones yet.

To me, that makes us dangerous if the team plays disciplined, motivated football. That would force more talented teams to play good football, not just be able to trot out far superior athletes and overwhelm our squad. Opportunity this year to surprise the experts.

And until proven otherwise, "disciplined, motivated football" seems to be Mac's expertise. Let's hope that he continues to earn that label.
 
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