The House of Blue

I think anywhere from 5-8 wins is plausable as it is every year.

Thing that I liked hearing is that we ran out of the shotgun so much. To me that sounds like we are going to run an offense that is suitable to Towles.

I love some of the players on this team, but its still really young. I am hoping for six wins this year. Then if we make a move next year to 7-8 wins. A lot of talent in this FR class and the FR class coming in.

Does it look like Brause could possibly be the 1 at the other inside spot, or will he only spell Williamson? Kid's a good athlete and as a former QB should have a good understanding of the game and an aptitude for quick decisioin-making.

I'be been wondering that about the WLB spot. We have Dupree at RushBacker and Williamson at MLB. Then we have McDuffen and Rancifer reportedly struggling at WLB and a lot of guys at Guy's SLB/hybrid spot. Maybe we consider moving Forrest or Simpson to WLB with the other one staying at hybrid. Would Dupree, Forrest, Williamson, Simpson be better than having McDuffen out there instead of one of Forrest/Simpson? Or maybe Henderson comes in and just takes to the WLB spot like a duck to water.

I think the staff knows that for us to be successful we have to be a 3 wr one te team that is balanced to slightly pass happy. I liked hearing that we were working from
The gun so much.

I for one think our defense takes another step forward off of their improved season Last year. Couple that with a better offense that puts them in better positions and I think we have a shot at having one of the better uk defenses in the last 5 or 6 years.

In terms of success. Joker must get to a bowl to save his job. I see 8-9 winnable games on the schedule. The Petrino situation puts that one in play IMO.

Uofl, the other 3 ooc games, miss. State, mizzou, Tennessee, vandy, ark and uscjr are all winnable IMO. Some much harder than others but we must get 6 of those.

Could be a possibly, he was very active with the ones. I'm sure I heard his name quite a bit but it's going to come down to his actual speed, I'm not very sure he's quite as fast as you would want someone at the will.

If he wins 6 games, they should put a statue of him and BROOKS outside the stadium with their arms around each other.

Couple of quick observations before work:

- You just have to be impressed with the quick development of true soph Max Smith. For whatever reason, it seems many of Randy Sanders' QBs have taken 3 years or so to have any level of comfort in his offense. Smith has gotten more comfortable by the day. I think we all need to hope Towles gets redshirted to space these 2 out a few years. Smith made a few bad decisions, but overall, he looked very good in the pocket.

- TEs. Hate me if you want, but if UK is going to win in the SEC this season, it will be with Sheilds and Kendrick getting the snaps, not TR. The two young guys are soooo much more athletic and require extra attention from the safetys. TR, while solid, does not pose any type of a deep threat and still allows teams to load the box. Shields and Kendrick CAN force defenses to cover the deep middle of the field. TR does not. That could make a big difference in the overall offensive execution.

- DL. As expected, the front 4 was really, really impressive.

- OL. While they didn't give up many sacks (because they were in shotgun 80% of snaps), they simply couldn't open up holes against the front 4 when they tried to line up and run the ball in the "I". This bunch will struggle big time in run blocking against bigger teams, aka the SEC.

- LB. So so. Nothing special.

- Secondary. Suspect.

Special Teams (LoL)- the fact that UK didn't even include punt/punt return because of the absence of a decent kicker is the most insane thing I've ever heard for a supposedly "SEC" program. The lack of attention to special teams, evidenced by the fact that UK never hired a special teams coach, still stands out as one of the biggest red flags regarding the leadership of this program right now.

All in all, a pretty decent showing. How will this group fair against SEC teams this Fall? Who knows, but I have a tough time seeing 3 SEC wins with this bunch.

Wasn't Manseur a great punter and kicker in HS? What happened to him punting wise I mean wow. I'm baffled by him not getting it done.

If so he'll give us everything he's got.

Oh no doubt he will, but as Minter posted having Shields/Kendrick out there at TE makes us more of a downfield threat and gives Smith more offensive options. But on the other hand Robinson's blocking might help give that extra moment for Smith to find one of the receivers. Who knows how it will play out in the fall.

You have to consider their ability to catch the ball. Shields had two bad drops in the BW game according to what I read. Robinson has possibly the best hands on the team. I think Robinson will play a lot because a 6 yard completion is better than a 12 yard drop. He is also a great blocker. Shields and Kendrick have struggled in blocking but Kendrick has outstanding hands. We have big questions at receiver so we may well see a two TE set which will then flex a TE into the slot taking the spot of a receiver and leaving the other TE in to block. I think it is possible that Robinson is going to be the one with a break out year. Either way it is nice to see that this position which was forgotten the past couple of years finally starting to pay off. Good TE play really helps the running game because it occupies the LB's and safeties.