Jim French Stepstool
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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool
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Yep. The surrounding talent & how it performs, and that includes keeping mistakes to a minimum, has always been a huge part of the puzzle in Madison, still is, & probably always will be. A bigger part than at other places? Yes. At the same time, Mertz needs to be more consistent. If anyone here said he's "perfectly fine", I missed it.
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Brewers - Arizona Fall League
Jim French Stepstool replied to UpandIn's topic in Brewers Minor League Talk
97-100 for Uribe, and that's after basically a lost season. And after the well-documented command issues of the past, zero walks so far in the AFL. Color me excited. This has always been an organization that largely puts together bullpens through trades/FA. Some of the guys in the system make me think that trend could be bucked in the future. -
Brewers Payroll Preview: The Bullpen
Jim French Stepstool replied to John Bonnes's topic in Milwaukee Brewers Talk
The way I see it, going forward from the deadline to seasons' end they felt Rodgers could reasonably replicate the results Hader would give them, plus they added depth in the other deals, plus two prospects that are much more than lottery tix. All of this is reasonable. But after a miserable stretch, Hader straightened himself out while Bush was worse than what he was in Texas, and Rodgers arguably worse, certainly no better. I think there was plenty of reason, the reasons just didn't click, exasperated by the Rosenthal fiasco. -
Brewers Payroll Preview: The Bullpen
Jim French Stepstool replied to John Bonnes's topic in Milwaukee Brewers Talk
The way I see it, going forward from the deadline to seasons' end they felt Rodgers could reasonably replicate the results Hader would give them, plus they added depth in the other deals, plus two prospects that are much more than lottery tix. All of this is reasonable. But after a miserable stretch, Hader straightened himself out while Bush was worse than what he was in Texas, and Rodgers arguably worse, certainly no better. I think there was plenty of reason, the reasons just didn't click, exasperated by the Rosenthal fiasco. -
They protect injury info like it's the Hope Diamond, but there are rumblings that Bracey wasn't healthy. If he was available, then I agree it's curious why he didn't emerge as a return guy, at least after Mellusi went down & Guerendo became the #2 tailback. I think Engram is the primary PR because of all the candidates they feel he's the most sure-handed. That's why Dunn did it previously. This may not have played into it but Allen had some off-the-field stuff that fortunately didn't blow up into something bigger. I say "may not have played into it" because it wasn't particularly recent. As you said he received snaps earlier this season. People passed him up. That used to mean work harder or leave. It's 2022, so leave sounds a lot better. Your last sentence is spot-on. But again, it's 2022 so it's much easier to talk yourself into believing the problem exists everywhere else but in the mirror.
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I won't speak for Brewcrew82. But yeah, Stave had a very strong arm. Sorry to go back to the stone age, but in the late 70s they had a kid named Mike Kalasmiki who supposedly once threw a ball over the seating rim & out of Camp Randall Stadium. He had a few big moments, and more less-than-big ones. I guess the point is, some develop; some don't. In the case of Stave, he wasn't inundated with high-level offers out of HS. He walked on. All things considered, with the odds against a walkon QB at a major school I think he did well to see the field. The things that the position demands other than arm strength just weren't there consistently. The good news is the final chapters haven't been written yet for Mertz.
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His "feel" for the game and handle IMO was lacking, & cost us dearly in a couple losses. He definitely had the benefit of better talent around him.
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I think that's accurate. People should remember that Stave walked on originally. For an FBS QB that's pretty rare. He deserves accolades for that despite the shortcomings.
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It's a big part of the reason for the shocking move McIntosh pulled off after Illinois.
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He put one in a great spot to tie the game in the 4th quarter yesterday, and had great touch on a TD the previous week. But the throws that require touch are few & far between, so yeah, very inconsistent. As a runner I'd give him an edge over Stave. Other than that the tools of the two do have a lot of similarity.
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Everyone knows this has had a huge effect on college FB. Didn't know exactly how big until I took a look. During the most recent cycle the raw # averages out to about 20 players per FBS team. That's astounding. So I guess on average yeah, we should have a lot more coming.
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The supporting cast last year WAS weak. This year it's, if anything, weaker. It doesn't make him worse than he is, but it puts more on him to hoist the team on his back, which he isn't capable of. Agreed the reading of progressions & decision-making are clearly lacking. I think the only QB they had in recent memory who could elevate the performance of others was Russell Wilson, and he seldom needed to. It's always been more about consistency & the pieces working together, which has worked more often than not. When those other pieces falter, it doesn't. IMO the current issues wouldn't come close to being solved by Burkett, at least not the 2022 Burkett. And I think Burkett has some potential. The reasons why Chryst was let go have become pretty apparent. Giving the starting job to Mertz over Burkett doesn't make the list.
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......Which is the definition of inconsistency. If the "9" was changed to a "5" it would be the definition of something else. I said he had around 5 really bad throws from the 4th quarter on. That's indisputable.
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From '14 through '18 their backups were Bart Houston & Jack Coan, both of whom went on to have success as starters. Mertz was the backup in '19. Since then it's been Chase Wolf, who is hurt this year. He's slight of build & limited which I guess means he's straight garbage, if you're compelled to say that about a student-athlete. I'm not certain but I assume their point men in QB recruiting in recent years were Chryst & possibly Jon Budmayr.
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That's a pretty good response. Stave had some success, but it was largely due to his supporting cast. When the supporting cast isn't as consistently good, this (2022) is what happens. Kinda the point all along. But it's easier to just blame the QB. And here's the deal: Mertz deserves some heat. But so do some other circumstances that have nothing to do with him (for the 597th time).
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Half a Decade of Woodruff, Burnes, Peralta
Jim French Stepstool replied to sveumrules's topic in Milwaukee Brewers Talk
I'd like to know (& most likely never will) what potential deals were "on the table". Want Drury? What would it have taken? Josh Bell? Happ? Merrifield? My gut tells me the prospect capital it would've taken is more than I personally would've paid. -
Good post. First off, if Leonhard isn't given the job at the end of the year--which would surprise me--It'll make folks' heads spin when they see how quickly he gets hired by someone. Long term, I agree he should be the guy. Other than Benton, I agree the linemen certainly aren't engaging opposing O-lines well at all. I think they miss Mullens more than folks realize. Agree re the LBs, but compared to the group from last year they're going to pale in comparison. Need to get better. It wasn't only you. The counter was killing them particularly in the 1st half. Also, I used to watch Jalen Berger toil for us, and the last time I saw him run this hard was........never. The secondary needs to get better at making/finishing plays (obviously), but I think their cover skills are better than the results shown. Nothing is more frustrating than seeing someone work hard to stay with a WR, then not time the breakup/get a hand in/get a deflection/SOMETHING. Lots of room for improvement, but I think the capacity to improve is there. I thought the safeties were good most of the season, but not today. Mertz is.......inconsistent, hot/cold, whatever phrase you want to use. He needs the running game to be impactful enough to make the defense honor it, and that doesn't happen often enough. I also think he REALLY misses a TE presence. Think of how often he utilized Ferguson, and Cundiff before he got hurt. Then Rucci went down. I'm not feeling real good about the workload Allen may be facing in the weeks to come. Guerendo was pretty non-existent when used. Wish something would light a fire under Julius Davis.
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Something like that, yeah. Samuel wasn't a pretty (or particularly effective) passer. He just won. Not a pretty boy, which made him a favorite of mine.
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Never underestimate those 4TD, no-pick performances vs Gustavus Adolphus.
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How many D1 defenses did he successfully probe in his career? And, correct me if I'm wrong but I don't recall anyone categorizing Mertz' performance as "fine".
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I don't know if anyone feels this way or not. But just in case anybody thinks JL was out-coached by Mel Tucker today, Tuckers' decision to use his last TO with 27 seconds left, and THEN throw to a reciever nowhere near the sidelines was one of the dumbest things I've seen in quite some time. It obviously led to the rush job & mishandled snap. Of course they still find a way to win. It was that kind of day.
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I don't know because I don't follow the NFL, but sometimes I think FB fans around here spend their whole fandom lives watching Favre & Rodgers & get some kind of odd standard of what should be expected. Mertz has looked mediocre at times, sometimes even poor, and at times very good, sometimes within the same game. He needs to function within an offense that keeps mistakes down to a minimum, forces defenses to honor the run, and get put in down-and-distance situations where they throw when they CHOOSE to, not because they HAVE to. He's also dealing with an offense that is without a pass-catching TE for the first time since he's been here, and that's always been a security blanket for him.
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Or Mike Samuel (if we're strictly grading on passing ability), Matt Schabert, Allen Evridge, Danny O'Brien, Dustin Sherer, Tanner McEvoy (see Samuel comment), and arguably Tyler Donovan.
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About Mertz: I said awhile back the jury on him is still out. He went through a lions' share of the game today making one bad throw, the obvious one in the 1st quarter. He made maybe 4-5 more in the later stages. He also used his feet today, which seldom happened in the past (there's way too much complaining about playcalling among football fans, but I actually thought he should've been rolled out a little more today than he was). One way or another, he needs to benefit from defenses honoring the run, which isn't happening enough. That means better O-line play, and it also means getting some help for Allen. Don't know how many carries he had today but the fumble was his first of the year, and it came at the end of a long, long grind. Mellusi being gone is going to be a real challenge unless they get something from Guerendo who didn't look good in his brief time from scrimmage. This stuff is just so interconnected; a lot needs to be cleaned up. Also, anyone who has paid attention to Mertz since he's been here has seen his comfort level with TE's. That's been ripped away in mid-stream due to injuries. Just another challenge.
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Re-watch the game. Putting yourself in position to make a play & not making it is a far cry from trailing a receiver by 3-5 yards. The second scenario is "can't cover anyone".
