Music to my.. eyes.
- Thread starter Rhavicc
- Start date
McWilson isn't bad by any means. He just had inconsistencies, which is to be expected from a sophomore. The staff has had glowing reviews of him this year, saying that they expect him to be the most explosive player on the defense, which is huge for a safety.
My concern was with the CB's, which is where the high praise is coming from now (Baity and Westy are both CB's).
Also, this is refreshing to read.
You will thankfully be disappointed. Stoops has called this guy a headhunter. People need to realize that inexperience does not last.
I expect McWilson to be very good this year. He wasn't bad last year and has worlds of talent. Not sure if some are confusing our safties with our corners. They were not very good last year and were older and more experienced than McWilson. From all we are hearing from Westry I could see him in a starting spot week one.
I think I'll take the under.. Don't blink.
![[laughing]](http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/img/emoticons/classic/laugh.r191677.gif "Laughing [laughing]")
He's apparently doing very well.
Why not?
In the TU game alone he would have had two more TDs if we hand a Q that could get him the ball behind the secondary. WIDE open both times.
Was there and Westry is ridiculously fluid for a guy that height. Can really turn and burn. He's skinny as heck though. He'll have to learn to get low on tackles or he'll get broken in half.
Baity looked very good too. So did Tucker, although he's small. I think all the safeties looked good. Tough for a safety to cover some of our wideouts, especially in this kind of setting.
As for the wideouts, Baker is a stud. Has the body of an NFL WR. Very fast and fluid. Bone looked much better and thicker. Montgomerys hands are about a foot wide and he was moving well. Badet runs like he was shot out of a cannon. Greenwood is about as tall as Bone and can move for a guy that height.
Love Long and Conrad at TE. Both look and run the part.
At RB, Horton looks and moves so differently I thought he was Marcus Walker at first and wondered what he was doing with the RBs. King is thicker than I thought he would be. He looks like he can contribute this year. Jojo looked healthy and Boom is a specimen.
The O Line is enormous. Even what little fat they have on them isn't jiggling. They're in great shape. Saw several guys getting reps at OT besides George AA, Swindle and Mosier.
Elam will hit his goal of 350 by September IMO. He looks quite a bit quicker and lighter on his feet and just lighter in general. The rest of the DL looks like an SEC DL. A bunch of guys in the 300 plus range who can move. In great shape.
I hadn't been at field level and seen the team for four years or so. The difference in height, length, lack of fat and the muscle mass and definition these guys have now is striking. Except for a few skinny freshmen and redshirt freshmen these guys look like the cover of the brochure. And so many more of them are fast. Not fast for their size. Fast period.
Stoops is getting UK there. We're not all the way there of course but it's a real SEC team now.
Baity looked very good too. So did Tucker, although he's small. I think all the safeties looked good. Tough for a safety to cover some of our wideouts, especially in this kind of setting.
As for the wideouts, Baker is a stud. Has the body of an NFL WR. Very fast and fluid. Bone looked much better and thicker. Montgomerys hands are about a foot wide and he was moving well. Badet runs like he was shot out of a cannon. Greenwood is about as tall as Bone and can move for a guy that height.
Love Long and Conrad at TE. Both look and run the part.
At RB, Horton looks and moves so differently I thought he was Marcus Walker at first and wondered what he was doing with the RBs. King is thicker than I thought he would be. He looks like he can contribute this year. Jojo looked healthy and Boom is a specimen.
The O Line is enormous. Even what little fat they have on them isn't jiggling. They're in great shape. Saw several guys getting reps at OT besides George AA, Swindle and Mosier.
Elam will hit his goal of 350 by September IMO. He looks quite a bit quicker and lighter on his feet and just lighter in general. The rest of the DL looks like an SEC DL. A bunch of guys in the 300 plus range who can move. In great shape.
I hadn't been at field level and seen the team for four years or so. The difference in height, length, lack of fat and the muscle mass and definition these guys have now is striking. Except for a few skinny freshmen and redshirt freshmen these guys look like the cover of the brochure. And so many more of them are fast. Not fast for their size. Fast period.
Stoops is getting UK there. We're not all the way there of course but it's a real SEC team now.
![[cheers]](https://ct.yimg.com/mr/uploads/891/5628.gif "Cheers [cheers]")
Loving the reports and tweets. I was around on the late 70's when there were several good teams. I cannot remember the last time the consensus of media and knowledgeable fans has been so positive.
I am still looking for a bowl eligible season, but would be happy to upset 1-2 teams and end up with 7-8 wins. At that point, with facilities nearing completion and team momentum, CMS could legitimately haul in a top 10 class. Redshirt all but the few that demand playing time like George A-A and the base is in place for what KY fans consider a historic run!![[banana]](https://ct.yimg.com/mr/uploads/891/1682178.gif "banana [banana]")
I am still looking for a bowl eligible season, but would be happy to upset 1-2 teams and end up with 7-8 wins. At that point, with facilities nearing completion and team momentum, CMS could legitimately haul in a top 10 class. Redshirt all but the few that demand playing time like George A-A and the base is in place for what KY fans consider a historic run!
People nationally keep sleeping on this team because of our history and the fact that we get overshadowed by so many other good SEC teams, but I just have a gut feeling this team is going to surprise a whole lot of people..not saying they're ready to win the East just yet, but I think some forget just how far this team came last season and the coaches keep saying this team is significantly improved over last year's..I think it's going to be tough for this team not to win a couple more games considering how close we were last year (not to mention we have our most home games since '07, in a new stadium where our players are going to play that much better)..when is the last time we went into a season feeling like there wasn't a game on our schedule that we couldn't win? I feel somewhat that way about the Georgia game, but at the same time I know for a fact that they aren't as good as we made them look last year..I'd be surprised if we don't go down there and give them a battle
One thing we've seen with Stoops is that his team improves dramatically when it has time off (the sign of a good coaching staff to me) whether it be the offseason or a bye week..the improvement between year one and two was one of the biggest jumps I've ever seen a team make, and from what I've seen and heard I feel like we've made just as much of an improvement this offseason..I know it sounds like the typical fan just drinking the blue kool-aid getting pumped up, but I can just look and see a tangible difference in the caliber of athlete we've brought in (which even the 3-star guys have been totally different from the 3-star guys we've had in the past and they've been developed better than the 3-star guys in the past)..we have a different caliber of athlete and a different caliber of coach developing those guys..that was hard to see in year one, but it became really clear to me last year just exactly what this staff is doing in recruiting and developing these guys...I know ppl keep saying, well this team might be improved this year and only have 5 wins, but honestly, last year's team was about the best 5-7 team that you're ever going to see..we were better than that record indicated and I think if this team is improved even just slightly (which Stoops says is significantly improved) I think it would be really really really hard for us not to improve on our record last year..if we're significantly improved (which significant is quite a bit the last time I checked) I just don't see how it won't show up in the win column when you look back and look at what happened at South Carolina, look at Florida, at Mizzou, Miss. St, Louisville..I mean if you give me a SIGNIFICANTLY improved team over last year's team (which had a shot to win every single one of those games) I just don't see how in the world we don't get to 6 or 7 wins..me personally, I think we'll get to 7 or 8 wins, I think 7 sounds about right this year (even though I wouldn't be surprised in the least to get 8)
Most fans around here were surprised at how good last year's team was, and I think they're going to be just as surprised at how good this year's team is. I think the re-building job is slightly ahead of schedule considering what I saw last year and how close we were and considering that Stoops talks confidently about this team and calls it significantly improved over last year's
One thing we've seen with Stoops is that his team improves dramatically when it has time off (the sign of a good coaching staff to me) whether it be the offseason or a bye week..the improvement between year one and two was one of the biggest jumps I've ever seen a team make, and from what I've seen and heard I feel like we've made just as much of an improvement this offseason..I know it sounds like the typical fan just drinking the blue kool-aid getting pumped up, but I can just look and see a tangible difference in the caliber of athlete we've brought in (which even the 3-star guys have been totally different from the 3-star guys we've had in the past and they've been developed better than the 3-star guys in the past)..we have a different caliber of athlete and a different caliber of coach developing those guys..that was hard to see in year one, but it became really clear to me last year just exactly what this staff is doing in recruiting and developing these guys...I know ppl keep saying, well this team might be improved this year and only have 5 wins, but honestly, last year's team was about the best 5-7 team that you're ever going to see..we were better than that record indicated and I think if this team is improved even just slightly (which Stoops says is significantly improved) I think it would be really really really hard for us not to improve on our record last year..if we're significantly improved (which significant is quite a bit the last time I checked) I just don't see how it won't show up in the win column when you look back and look at what happened at South Carolina, look at Florida, at Mizzou, Miss. St, Louisville..I mean if you give me a SIGNIFICANTLY improved team over last year's team (which had a shot to win every single one of those games) I just don't see how in the world we don't get to 6 or 7 wins..me personally, I think we'll get to 7 or 8 wins, I think 7 sounds about right this year (even though I wouldn't be surprised in the least to get 8)
Most fans around here were surprised at how good last year's team was, and I think they're going to be just as surprised at how good this year's team is. I think the re-building job is slightly ahead of schedule considering what I saw last year and how close we were and considering that Stoops talks confidently about this team and calls it significantly improved over last year's
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Talking about Timmons being more explosive......He has always been the most 'explosive' guy, he just hasn't been healthy since high school, a healthy Timmons is a freagin beast. And he is a lot bigger in person than he looks on tv. He could be as good as Randall Cobb IF he stays healthy. (here come the blasts, lol) Seriously, Stoops keeps trying to tell everyone he expects Ryan to explode on the scene anytime now. He knows what Ryan is capable of. You will see it this year. The last 2 years Ryan had to play as a freshman and then injured. Had he played at Ohio State (which he chose us over), he would have redshirted and then played only special teams the first 2 years. But at UK we didn't have much because of the rebuild, so he was thrown to the wolves. Im saying it now, having seen him play in person, dozens of times, his game 'translates' to the college and NFL game. You can see it in person, his lateral quickness is once in a generation type. The only other people I saw in person with Ryan's skills was Percy Harvin, Craig Yeast, and Randall Cobb.
I'm not just talking about speed. We have lots of guys with 2nd level speed and we have guys with lateral quickness (Boom Williams), Ryan is one of a kind because he has the sprinter elite speed (Ryan was 3 time track state champion) but he also has 2nd level quickness, meaning he is as fast left to right in 2 steps as he is north south. The problem is he started dropping balls, because of the arm/shoulder injury. So get ready, because there is a reason that Stoops continues to talk about Ryan and single him out. And there is a reason that Ryan won 3 state titles in track, and he also won MVP of Ohio State Buckeyes elite camp. This will be the year that he breaks out.
I'm not just talking about speed. We have lots of guys with 2nd level speed and we have guys with lateral quickness (Boom Williams), Ryan is one of a kind because he has the sprinter elite speed (Ryan was 3 time track state champion) but he also has 2nd level quickness, meaning he is as fast left to right in 2 steps as he is north south. The problem is he started dropping balls, because of the arm/shoulder injury. So get ready, because there is a reason that Stoops continues to talk about Ryan and single him out. And there is a reason that Ryan won 3 state titles in track, and he also won MVP of Ohio State Buckeyes elite camp. This will be the year that he breaks out.
Yep, this will be the difference between going bowling or not going bowling. Towles was awful last season on the short and intermediate passes. He has got to improve that a lot if we are going to even sniff 6-7 wins. There are several games we could have possibly won last season if Towles had better vision and could make a simple short pass.
Or if UK had a better defense they could have won those games too. It's not all on Towles folks.
Agreed. Unless our offense turns into Baylor's, which, who knows, then we're going to have to get more stops. I'm pretty comforted by what I've heard on the defense though. Young CB's that are good enough to get playing time, possibly start already. Big, athletic CB's with tremendous speed that the staff compares to Badet or Williams. The linebackers are finally beefed up, and they know where they need to be during plays to stop the run effectively (the staff admitted that this was an issue last season). Our d-line are proven guys, we know how good they were at the end of last year, and they've only gotten better, and I happen to think that we may have the 2nd best couple of safeties in the SEC behind LSU. Their speed, explosiveness, ability to make plays on the ball, and their ability to come up and make stops on the run makes them very good for us. Also add that 10 of the 11 starters on the defense are upper-classmen. We'll have experience on our side, and that is invaluable. I'm very excited to see how much our defense has progressed in the off-season, but the reports make it sound as if it has progressed quite a bit.
Great write up.
Wish somebody from rivals would of posted a write up like this here. There is stuff on HOB but they could give something to the Lair.
Sounds like Korem's program is not a joke and showing huge dividends. I know UL fans have talked crap about it but it is making a huge difference. As long as we can stay away from devastating injures, could be a very surprising year for the boys.
Love hearing about the secondary, I just had a feeling we would be much better this year due to all the talent that's been coming in. Just over 3 weeks to go fellas, the pain train is coming to opponents. 7 wins with 2 of those over FL and UL, I'd be downright giddy.
Love hearing about the secondary, I just had a feeling we would be much better this year due to all the talent that's been coming in. Just over 3 weeks to go fellas, the pain train is coming to opponents. 7 wins with 2 of those over FL and UL, I'd be downright giddy.
Completely agree. Here is the cold hard fact:
We were 5 plays away from being an 8 win regular season team last year. Think about that. If we get the play clock penalty against UF, Tiller hangs onto the UL interception and we make a few more plays against Mississippi State then we are 8-4 to end the season and have a chance at 9 in a bowl. What would the perception of this team be bringing everyone back pretty much off of that finish? We would be preseason top 25 IMO.
What could have been, but my point is this team is better than last and I don't think they will give up the plays that cost us last year.
I know what you mean with his lateral quickness. The film I watched of him over a year ago he displayed some really unbelievable jukes. I really hope they can find a way to get him into the return game - kicks, punts or both. He could be a real difference maker there.
