Holy crap. We are half way through the season! Where did the season go? My apologies for the lack of a Pulse last week. I’m coming in hot to make up for it this week.
Hot Take: You Added the Wrong USC RB
You should have added Bryan Jackson, not King Miller. Whoa buddy. That is spicy. The King has been incredible every opportunity he has received this year. He’s had runs of 79, 49, 47, and 41 yards on fewer than 30 carries. But after the top two USC backs went down, his waiver price tag was your second-born child.
Meanwhile, Jackson was essentially free. This is purely conjecture, but I think it is a 50/50 split with Jackson getting some short yardage work at 235 lbs. Some Trojan insider articles have hinted that Jackson might even have the edge as the new RB1, should he remain healthy. He was banged up going into the game last week versus Michigan, pulled a Willis Reed by dressing at halftime, and then proceeded to get eight carries to seal the game in the fourth quarter. Miller is a hell of a walk-on that will be on scholly next year, but I’m throwing my hat in the ring on Jackson as the next man up.
Mack Leftwich, You Beautiful, Beautiful Man
One of the main reasons we loved Art Briles’ WRs back in his (profoundly terrible) heyday at Baylor was that his starting WRs like Corey Coleman, Kendall Wright, and Terrance Williams never came off the field. The same was true for Heupel in his early days at Tennessee. Hyatt, McCoy, and Keyton rarely came off the field at times in 2022.
Well, it appears Leftwich is following in their footsteps. This past week against Kansas, the starting WR trio of Douglas, Virgil, and Eakin were the only WRs to take a snap. That’s right. Not a single backup WR ran a route. Now, that hasn’t exactly translated to the production we have seen under Briles and Heupel, but the potential is real if anyone could figure out a way to score against Tech and create a shootout consistently. Leftwich has also shown a propensity to use TEs far more than the traditional veer-n-shoot scheme of Briles and Heupel.
Okay, Boomer
I’ll save you the post-Red River Rivalry game rant. Instead, let’s focus on the run game. Here is the depth chart for the Oklahoma backfield:
RB1: Tory Blaylock
RB2: Xavier Robinson
RB3: Jaydn Ott
RB4: Jovantae Barnes
RB5: Taylor Tatum
Just like we all drew it up at the start of the season, right? The bottom line is that the interior OL can’t run block, DeMarco Murray hasn’t developed a RB in 3+ years, and the Arbuckle scheme isn’t exactly RB-friendly, especially with an athletic QB. SMH.
The Curious Case of Kam Perry
I haven’t watched much Miami, OH this year, but the advanced metrics tell me Perry has been a baller. He has the second-highest ADOT (18.8 yards) of any WR with at least 30 targets, 3.78 yards/route run, and an impressive 9.3 YAC/reception. Here is the issue, though…. two games ago, he made the switch from being exclusively in the slot to taking the majority of snaps out wide. He had three straight 100-yard games in the slot before moving to the boundary, where he has been limited to 65 and 77 yards. I am not sure why that change was made, but it appears deliberate. The sample size is small, but it is something to monitor.
Free This Man
Every year, I start a campaign to free a running back that his coaching staff has wrongfully imprisoned. It’s a movement that begins with a hashtag. A Twitter grassroots movement, if you will. Past campaigns have included Kenneth Walker (#FreeKW3), Izzy Abanakanda (#FreeIzzy), and RJ Harvey (#FreeRJ).
I am now starting a campaign for Ousmane Kromah. Like the others listed before him, Kromah is clearly the best RB on the roster. It’s not even close when you watch the games and the advanced metrics back that up. He also does very well as a receiver and in pass pro. There is no excuse for this staff. I’ve started the #FreeOusmaneKromah hashtag, but I don’t think that is catchy enough. Hit me up on Twitter if you want to join the movement and have a more appealing hashtag idea.
Cheers to Week 8. Good luck!
