Offensive offense or the start of something great?
Friday, Aug. 31, 2007 @ 5:02 pm
When it comes to sports, I’m a bit of a pessimist.
Rather than looking to the future with hope and blind optimism, I prefer the bitter scourge of focusing on all the things that are likely to go wrong.
It’s not my fault, I’ve been an Oakland Raiders fan my entire life.
So instead of resting my thoughts on the utter studliness of the Wolf Pack’s defense, I’ve spent most of the last few weeks mulling the potential deficiencies of the offense. Here are my biggest concerns.
1. Can the Wolf Pack create big plays?
The Pistol has mostly been a success in its first couple years, but we’ve yet to see the Little General produce the big-play capabilities of the “Air Wolf.” Chris Ault is supposedly remedying that this season with some new wrinkles, but a lot comes down to the play of the Wolf Pack’s highly touted, but completely unproven, arms.
Both quarterbacks possess a combination of arm strength, intelligence, and mobility unseen in these parts since before the Tad Dunbar era. Sophomore start Nick Graziano plays like a linebacker and might have the strongest arm in program history and freshman Colin Kaepernick boasts good arm strength, great mobility, and prototypical size at 6-foot-6, but neither has started a collegiate game.
As about 120 years of college football history suggests, that probably means they’ll both go through some struggles.
2. Will the blocking improve?
The offense’s biggest deficiency last season was the offensive line. It’s never a good sign when a team has to start a center and a guard at the tackle spots. At least that will change this season. Freshman tackle John Bender is a monster at 6-foot-8, 325-pounds, and sophomore tack Alonzo Durham played well in his start against Miami last December. The problem, like most everywhere on offense, is inexperience. If the young guys can adjust alongside upperclassmen Charles Manu and Dominic Green, this unit could be really good by the time November comes around.
3. Will the search for “the dude” ever end?
The answer to No. 1 probably has a lot to do with the answer of No. 3. Before any level explosivity (my new favorite word) can be achieved, the Wolf Pack needs to find a go-to receiver. With players like Mike McCoy, Marko Mitchell, Chris Wellington, Kyle Sammons, and Arthur King, the receiving corps. has the prerequisite size and speed combination to be one of the best units in the conference. But that group looked pretty good last season and nobody emerged as a true stud, something the Wolf Pack has been missing since Nichiren Flowers’ junior season. If somebody can be “the guy” on a weekly basis, and the rest contribute when they can, the Wolf Pack should be explosive on offense.
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