Blinkscout game "something ugly late in the season" ... Merry Christmas!

The games are starting to run together for me now, and I couldn't do the one last week, because I was watching Rogue One in IMAX when it aired live, and after seeing such a great movie I simply couldn't stomach writing about the Rams performance.

I'm going to mention again, something psychological ... a player that is easy to lose motivation is always a danger to let his teammates down.

My grandfather who passed this year was a pro baseball and amatuer tennis player, and he taught me about honoring the sport. He taught me that the competition was between me and the ball, one play at a time. I played the same on winning and losing teams because I LOVED it.
That said, the effort being given by these players simply tells me that they don't love the game like that. It's okay. I get it, there's a lot of work that ends up going into a lost season ... but ... it's not about the season. It's about one play after another, and I have no idea why these kids don't have that hunger every play. I don't get it, but it's obvious when someone doesn't have it.

I would want ZERO to do with those guys.

It seems like the players we have that are not likely to have this "loss of motivation" are actually not good enough to play pro football (Barnes is a perfect example). Donald, of course, is the one with the talent AND the motor.

I get that it's the coach's job to prepare and motivate, and goodness knows that's an issue, but I expect adult human individuals to be able to self motivate better than our players are.

Moody. Our team is full of MOODY players.


The Good

1) Blake Countess played hard. We seem to have some up and coming guys in he and Jordan.

2) Higbee TD ... I hope that's the first of many between those two.

3) Saffold at LT. What I don't get is what the brass was thinking initially moving Saffold out and bringing in Jake Long. I didn't get it then, and now seeing Saffold play "competent" OLT confuses me further. I say we go into next year with him at LT and worry about drafting one high the following year.

4) Donald is a beast. I got his jersey (in white) for Christmas. Very happy about that.

5) Pharoh Cooper on KOffs. He seems to be able to adjust his direction slightly without losing any speed.

6) Easley and Cam Thomas have consistently played strong ... I am happy with our DTs should we not upgrade there. We need edge players.

7) That pick in the 30s and 60s keeps getting higher. DE or CB and WR.

The Bad

8) Gaines' reaction speed has slowed and his angles are not aggressive. I don't know if that's taught or if it's his cognition speed ... but he's not reacting quickly anymore. Also his hit on Hyde made me cringe.

9) Whatever coverage we were in at the end of the game needs to never be used by an NFL team again.

10) Jamon Brown whiffed a couple times.

11) Our interior line is a mess, unless we want a 2 yard carry on 1st and 15.

12) Tavon dropped passes. He was a wasted pick at the time, and an even worse resigning. I'd trade him just to dump his salary. 5th rounder? fine.



The Ugly

13) Gurley's lack of burst. Cool thing is that RB is so deep this year that picking a kid in the 5th who runs angry could change his attitude a little. Bryan Hill from Wyoming or Jamal Williams form BYU?

14) Quick's ... Wide receivering.

15) Kendricks inability to catch. If he was the best blocker in the world that would be one thing, but he's not.

16) 2 TDs in the 4th quarter given up to WRs that couldn't make any other NFL roster?

17) Gaines dropping back to ten yards on a 4th and 8.

18) The team's 4th quarter energy. Ugh.


College ...

19) The bowl games have been smaller schools so far and I haven't started running through them except for a couple. BYU/Wyoming oddly had a lot of gems. Wyoming's RB was solid, but the best player on their offense I think is their center. He is likely to get more buzz as the postseason moves on (if he wants to play at the next level) but his name is Rouille and he has decent size. BYU has Kai Nacua at FS who is a BIG ballhawking safety at 6-2 215. If he can run a 4.60 he'd likely be worth a look in the 4th ... it's a deep year for all DBs (in any scheme).

20) the Mock

2) Demarcus Walker DE (I think his value will drop when he runs a 4.85 ... if he runs faster he won't slide that far)
3) (we get our own, Tennessee gets our Comp pick) Taquan Taylor WKU WR
4) Sprinkle TE ARK Blocking ... big kid at 6-6 270, but can catch too.
4) Kai Nacua FS BYU Will only be this low because of the strength at the position this year.
5) Ragnow C ARK Likely will drop to a reasonable spot because there are about 5 solid kids ahead of him.
6) Witherspoon CB Colorado Guy under the radar with length at 6-2 200





Thoughts and comments welcome.

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