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Jim French Stepstool

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Everything posted by Jim French Stepstool

  1. Jim French Stepstool
    It doesn't, if that were true. There's a lot more going on that's affecting his effectiveness. He's not Unitas. He also isn't "bad".
  2. Jim French Stepstool
    The DBs need to play better. They've had plenty of secondary groups worse than this one, as far as ability to run & cover are concerned. They just aren't finishing. Of course, what happened in OT gets magnified, because it's OT. I think the O-line definitely has been poorly coached. Hopefully staff re-shuffling takes care of that, but change in a position group won't happen overnight. The receivers as a group are fine. The O-line not being better at getting a push in the running game is making it harder for them to find space (no more 8-9 men in the box).
  3. Jim French Stepstool
    Anything is possible I guess. But this defense allowed 2 TD drives in 4 quarters of football (unless you want to include the scintillating 12-yard drive in the 1st quarter). The secondary needed to make plays on balls they had a chance to make plays on & didn't. Two critical TOs and a return to the mistakes of previous weeks were a much bigger factor IMO. In the middle 20 minutes of football they had the opportunity to add to a 14-7 lead & whiffed. That hurt them more than anything.
  4. Jim French Stepstool
    Re-read my post. It mentioned how they've put themselves in position to make plays, and in many cases haven't despite being in said position. That happened countless times today. I recall you saying they "couldn't guard anyone". If that's what you took away from today, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.
  5. Jim French Stepstool
    I wonder if the realignment will give any kind of a bump to UCLA attendance, once the novelty wears off.
  6. Jim French Stepstool
    What has to happen is this whole keystone cops conference realignment thing has to settle in, then maybe we'll have some sense of how it effects the schedule season-to-season. What will divisions look like? How many years might go by before you even PLAY team X? Competitive-wise, the schedule has been pretty far from balanced from one team to another for a while now, I don't see how that won't be even more of a problem. It may become something like the NFC or AFC where yeah, you're in the same conference, but you're much more concerned about your own division. Which sorta makes me sick.
  7. Jim French Stepstool
    Well no, I guess he didn't think his actions would gut the team, because if he did he wouldn't have acted. They aren't robots; they reacted the way they reacted. It certainly made things worse, particularly during the initial week afterward. If there are any lessons to be learned I too hope Stearns learns them. I also hope the players who remain here learned that responding to a move you don't like isn't made better by going 1-6 vs Cincy & Pittsburgh, or whatever it was. I'd like to know what these potential "other trade/trades" were. If other moves were going to be piggybacked off this to justify the overall picture, then that's a point of contention with me because you shouldn't assume anything during the deadline.
  8. Jim French Stepstool
    The first sentence sums up Stearns' philosophy re the trade about as well as one sentence can. Rodgers' performance kept the water from being treaded. But I think the iceberg was largely due to his assuming the teams' response to the deal would be a little more professional than it was.
  9. Jim French Stepstool
    All legitimate points except IMO the secondary. I've seen more plays on balls than I've seen in many past years, and plays in which they aren't in bad position but don't seem to finish. They looked vastly overmatched vs Ohio State (join the club). Vs Illinois there were some grey area PI calls, and other plays in which they were in position but out fought. Not a glowing indictment but hardly "can't cover anyone". The safeties have been able to make plays & are largely in position, and that's with arguably the best one (Wohler) out since week one. And they're down to their 3rd, 4th, & fifth TEs. And the 3rd guy is primarily a blocker. To me that's more than "in part" due to injury. Agree about both lines. The ILB play was bolstered greatly last week by Grass & Chaney who were both 2nd team guys. So that's an area to watch.
  10. Jim French Stepstool
    Despite his terrific performance at Evanston, you still have to say the jury is to a certain extent still out on Mertz. But to put so much attention on him as opposed to the rest of the team (as some seem to want to do) is very, very flawed thinking. They have 3 losses this season. Mertz is way down the list on reasons why they lost in each of those games. As to Brown, if he actually struck someone you can safely assume it didn't happen during a pass-protection drill.
  11. Jim French Stepstool
    Overperforming their recruiting class rankings is, has been, and probably always will be the backbone of a program like theirs, which is built on culture fit & player development over recruiting "stars". It isn't the crap shoot the above quote makes it sound like. The number of recruits they've had who have walked on & not only contributed, but played professionally is as strong an indictment as you can get of the way they do things. When someone as highly rated as Brown performs as he has, his opening up a scholarship is a plus. Barring a rash of injuries he probably won't be missed.
  12. Jim French Stepstool
    Maybe not "better", but Dean Oliver & Joe Krabbenhoft are assistants that have been terrific, and quite possibly could be head coaches someday. Lamont Paris didn't receive much love from the national hype machine when he worked at UW, and he did a magnificent job rebuilding Chattanooga which led to the South Carolina job. Which is all beside the point. Greg Gard is just fine where he is.
  13. Jim French Stepstool
    Agree with the above. Nowadays you can get power from just about any spot on the field.
  14. Jim French Stepstool
    I think it's more the wrist for Mellusi, than the arm. Slightly better news I guess, as there supposedly is a slight chance he could return at the tail end of the season. My main concern about this is your new #2 (Guerendo) has had health issues of his own. So far so good this year but you need him to avoid the injury bug. This may mean he won't be returning kicks anymore. Maybe, just maybe, this gives Julius Davis a little shot of urgency on the practice field for the first time in his career. The kid has ability.
  15. Jim French Stepstool
    Reminded of '82 tonight. In the final game of the season w/the two teams tied for first the Brewers got out to an early lead on Baltimore & Don Sutton was dealing. Earl Weaver has the umps come out & check him. Supposedly some balls looked worked on (scuffed). Wouldn't put it past Weaver to plant the balls himself, although Sutton did have a rep of doctoring from time to time. I loved Suttons' reflection afterward. "The ump came up to me & said they found some scuffed balls & had to throw them out. I told him 'that's good, cuz they sure are hard to throw straight'".
  16. Jim French Stepstool
    Don't remember who, but someone once brought up the idea of Black getting some run at 1B. I think it would be a terrific idea.
  17. Jim French Stepstool
    Warren, Wes Clarke, maybe to a lesser extent Thomas Dillard. I'm hoping one of those three can emerge enough to fit on the big league roster at some point as a corner/DH/3rd catcher. Count me as another who is glad to see Ward get off to such a nice start after the too-long layoff. No biggie at this point as they just got started but I hope Black moves around the diamond more than he has so far.
  18. Jim French Stepstool
    The teenaged me was pretty excited about that trade with Boston. Funny thing, the Brewers were looking at Scott to fill a hole.....at third base. Johnny Briggs was penciled in at first, and I recall early in the '72 season they would make a defensive change to protect late leads--Scott would move to first with Briggs going to the OF & Mike Ferraro taking over at third. Eventually he settled in at 1B fulltime, by far his best position. Scott hit one of the longest HRs I ever saw in person, on a Sunday vs the Yankees. Sam McDowell was near the end of his career, & Scott took him deep w/the bases loaded, maybe a couple rows from hitting the back wall at the top of the LF bleachers. Fun times. He also wore the necklace (you can clearly see it in the photo above). He used to say it was made out of "second basemens' teeth".
  19. Jim French Stepstool
    The teenaged me was pretty excited about that trade with Boston. Funny thing, the Brewers were looking at Scott to fill a hole.....at third base. Johnny Briggs was penciled in at first, and I recall early in the '72 season they would make a defensive change to protect late leads--Scott would move to first with Briggs going to the OF & Mike Ferraro taking over at third. Eventually he settled in at 1B fulltime, by far his best position. Scott hit one of the longest HRs I ever saw in person, on a Sunday vs the Yankees. Sam McDowell was near the end of his career, & Scott took him deep w/the bases loaded, maybe a couple rows from hitting the back wall at the top of the LF bleachers. Fun times. He also wore the necklace (you can clearly see it in the photo above). He used to say it was made out of "second basemens' teeth".
  20. Jim French Stepstool
    Random thoughts: Interesting "new sheriff in town" statement when they threw on the first two plays. Both were pretty safe throws, but the tone of the passing game seemed to be that there were throws Mertz could successfully make. That didn't always seem to be the case earlier. When you make a change in-season it's always interesting to see if there are any personnel changes. LouisEly mentioned Dakovich appearing at TE. True freshman Vinny Anthony getting his hands on the ball a couple times was another. Bortolini replacing Beach could be due to health; it'll be interesting to find out. Not sure but Tatum Grass may have had more snaps than normal at LB. Mostly inexperienced; but the talent at WR is pretty evident. You gotta just shake your head, after looking at how seldom Dike got his hands on the ball the first five weeks. Gee, I wonder if Bobby Engram on the sidelines MIGHT be a weekly thing?. I'm assuming the playcalling was all, or mostly, his responsibility. It's just easier for a lot of guys to be aggressive in that role when you're not the head coach, whether it makes sense or not.
  21. Jim French Stepstool
    Dakovich seeing the field is mildly newsworthy, as before today it appeared Jaylin Franklin was the 4th TE. As long as Rucci is out, the depth behind Eschenbach is a question mark. NW obviously is challenged offensively, but I like the fact that Mullens and, for about half the game, Benton were out & things still held up well. That includes the secondary. No Jamar Fletcher shutdown corner but it seems like there are a lot of people who are athletic enough to make plays. I'm a Latu fan, even moreso after today.
  22. Jim French Stepstool
    Moving forward I like the idea of Yelich/Frelick at the top of the order (or Frelick/Yelich). I also like the idea of Mitchell being up there provided the K's get under control, which I think they will. The thing is, we're talking about 3 LH hitters. Unless CC moves away from his LRLRLR obsession none of that will happen, and we'll probably still see Adames hitting 2nd. Which would be too bad, I like the idea of dropping him a slot. My gut tells me Yelich is in a LF/DH role in '23. I just don't think a move to 1B, even occasionally, is in the cards.
  23. Jim French Stepstool
    Can't say exactly when it was made, but the train probably started to leave the station in the '70s when free agency became a bigger thing. $$$$$$$$.
  24. Jim French Stepstool
    Can't say exactly when it was made, but the train probably started to leave the station in the '70s when free agency became a bigger thing. $$$$$$$$.
  25. Jim French Stepstool
    Or maybe, just maybe, batters have come to the mindset in recent decades that hitting for more power, more OPS leads to securing a bigger contract. And that's the priority. That doesn't mean a many of them wouldn't suck at it either way, I'll admit that.
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