The House of Blue

Matt, did they announce the rosters for the Blue-White game?

Yes, I am wondering who are the ones(White Team) and who are the twos (Blue Team). Some players were listed as 1 a or 1 b in the pre-spring depth chart. Also interested to see which twos going into spring parctice may now be ones.

I think Fields, Cunningham, Sweat, Adams, Legree, and King fill the outside role. I'll know more tomorrow after 6:00 though!

(At this point someone asked about summer workouts and Joker said he expects both Smith and Morgan Newton to act like they think they're the starter. Joker was asked whether he thought that could create a divided locker room: He then said: "No it doesn't. No it doesn't. No it doesn't. I want to find out who they're willing to follow.")

Another brilliant coaching strategy by Joker. Get the team to choose sides. This especially makes sense when one of the two guys is unlikely to play next year because of injury and turned a historically bad performance last season. So lets publicly threaten everyone that Newton will be the starter and split up the team. Why not just say we will see how Newton continues his rehab and is able to perform this summer? Joker's dedication to Newton is pathological. An SEC head coach doesn't behave or think like this.

Uhm, Stevie hasn't been around in a long time. The fact that UK is still talking about trying to replace him says a lot about how poor wr recruiting has been since.

Personally, I have a really good feeling about Sweat, and predict he'll get some pt as a true fresman. Still, to expect him to be Steviesque right out of the gate is a bit much imo. Plus, I don't think he's as fast as Stevie. Still, I could see him grow into a legit threat about 3/4ths of the way through the season.

Are you talking about the Lamar QB who didn't throw a TD in their Spring Game until OT?
Look, I believe that Smith should be our QB WITHOUT QUESTION right now, but to keep saying Joker ran off "the better QB" in Moss just doesn't hold water. It's possible BOTH QB's were busts(due to injury or inability to pick up the college game), and that recruiting class was marginal when you take those 2 4-stars out of the mix. It happens. Good news is Towles is the real deal for the future. I just hope we have a few WR's step up and be playmakers this year. Smith is a good enough QB to make some things happen, but we must have WR's that MAKE PLAYS.

I think randal Cobb and Chris Matthews disagree. Yes, we need more playmakers but Cobb is a legit nfl star and Matthews made it to final cuts with Cleveland. Collins and robins and king have to step up this year.

Not in the least. My criticism of Joker has been that he relied too much on one guy. I don't mind people disagreeing with me but don't put words into my mouth. I never said that there should not be competition. My criticism was that when Moss left we needed another QB besides Smith. I would have recruited a JUCO who could have played and would have cost them a two year ride. In fact, if Mossakowski was good enough to be a back up I would have found a way to keep him and if he wasn't then I would have recruited another QB even if he stuck around.

Right now we have Smith, Russell, and Towles who is the best QB recruit to come here since Couch by all accounts. If any freshman can play successfully it would be Towles. The few people who have seen him lately feel that Russell is a viable option at QB. There is no question in my mind that Smith is a much better QB than Newton. Newton has been given more than his shot and has never played well. Joker has been pushing him on the field ever since he arrived. It is time to move on. I have been critical of this relationship ever since we had a chance to beat UT in Lexington due to Cobb's running and when we got to the goal line Joker pulls Cobb, runs Newton and loses the game.

It finally looks like the offense is starting to pull together and accomplish something by what little information is allowed out of Joker's closed camp. Call me old fashion but I would try to build on something positive instead of potentially splitting the offensive unit up with some stupid competition that has no point with a comment implying that it is up to the players to choose who to follow. I would point out that we had one of the worst 5 offenses in division one ball last year and Newton was one of the worst 5 QB's in measured performance. What is the point? Joker could have said that Smith is still the starter but we are interested in Newton's rehab and seeing how everyone does this summer.

I really like this staff. I probably wouldn't have put together so many guys of the same age range but I really like them and want them to succeed. I have come to hope that Joker lets his staff coach the team. I just want to have a relevant football team.

A. You can't make a kid (moss) stay around. B. read my post about this again. Joker wants them both to prepare like a starter. he didn't say there would even be a competition between newton and moss. But he has said that towels would have a shot. You should never let any player think they have a position wrapped up unless you have a heisman type qb. Why? Because
The qb's all need prepare like they could be the starter. They all need to be in the film room etc...