COCKYTALK SPRING PRACTICE REPORT 3/19/13 (practice #3)

[JT21]

Damiere Byrd's supposed 'hands' problems are way overblown.

I'll admit that the guy doesn't appear to be the most natural 'hands catcher' (see that missed TD in the end zone in the bowl game for a [tough] example). But going by what you read on this board, you'd think Byrd dropped 1 of every 3 passes thrown his way, which is simply not the case.

[Cock Kool-Aid]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

The receivers haven't been the issue and drops haven't been an issue either. Damiere Byrd made big plays last year and had one very bad drop which was against UT down the sideline. Nevermind that he caught a 50 yard bomb and a 90 yard TD in back to back games, made a great play against UGA that led to the first td to set the tone for the night, a momentum turning TD in the 3rd quarter against UK when USC was down big at half, and set the tone for the day against Nebraska by catching what could be the best pass play of the Spurrier era. Get off the dude's back.

Look what happened when the QBs and offensive line played well. Byrd, Jones, Sanders, Ellington .. all of those guys contributed in big ways. It starts and ends with the QB and O-Line. When those guys are doing their jobs, the receivers have big outings.

You miss having a bonafide #1 receiver? Here is a stat. South Carolina improved 30+ spots in passing yardage last year without Alshon. They had two 40 catch receivers.

I would just like to add that Bruce and Ace were our two best WR's last year... they had no issues with drops... after that, our WR's were all hit or miss and rotated a good bit... but as being maybe our 3rd best WR, I cannot be "worried" or "concerned" about Byrd's performance last year. I certainly hope he can improve his hands slightly and then he can be a big time player for us... but, no, as a unit, WR's have never been a "problem area" under this coaching staff. If you want to worry about something this year, worry about the OL or the LB's... maybe Swearinger's replacement... WR's? No.

[Cock Kool-Aid]

Originally Posted by klempsux

You completely glossed over the whole point of that post. Talent and dedication are not mutually exclusive things.

Thank you.

[lilhornet]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

You miss having a bonafide #1 receiver? Here is a stat. South Carolina improved 30+ spots in passing yardage last year without Alshon. They had two 40 catch receivers.

I do. I want someone who when the game is on the line I can say go get it, and they will (Nebraska, Alabama, Clemson etc.) Not taking anything away from Bruce, Ace or any of them but there was a reason he was a second round pick and none of them are projected to be at this time. I think Alshon was a WR you had to game plan around and I don't think you had to with Ace, Bruce etc on Offense because all you had to do was prevent the long ball. Alshon is a big reason we are where we are and we would have beat LSU with Alshon.

Everything else, I agree with C2 on.

[Cheezy]

[quote=JT21;3713140]

*nm* the picture was of Nick Jones.

[crowcutta]

alshon was definitely a difference maker, but we lost games while he was here when we got pass happy and the same thing happened against lsu. if we wouldnt have gotten impatient in the 2nd half im not guaranteeing we would have won, but i imagine we wouldnt have went from a 14-10 lead to a 14-23 deficit so quickly.

while they werent all american receivers ace and bruce were playing on an all sec level starting with the tennessee game. bruce had 5 td's in his last 5 games, 7 over his last 8. back to back 100 yard games against arkansas and tennessee with ace putting together his best two back to back games as a receiver to end the season.

[Mt. Lattimore]

Damiere Byrd is hands down the best WR on the team.

[CoverTwo]

That is a punt return and Byrd isn't 3 anymore I don't think. He switched numbers with Nick Jones I believe.

Byrd is still limited because of a leg injury. And if the LASIK surgery he had works and he is able to see the ball better, I can only imagine how much better he is going to be this year.

[Cheezy]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

That is a punt return and Byrd isn't 3 anymore I don't think. He switched numbers with Nick Jones I believe.

Byrd is still limited because of a leg injury. And if the LASIK surgery he had works and he is able to see the ball better, I can only imagine how much better he is going to be this year.

phew, okay good. He's just that one little bit away from being a complete receiver. I can't wait to see what can happen when he puts it all together.

[JT21]

I'll clarify what I said by adding that not being a natural hands catcher doesn't necessarily mean the guy drops a ton of passes, though obviously you'd wager they drop more than players like Alshon. Jimmy Graham and Wes Welker both favor catching the ball in their body. Both drop a decent amount of passes, but largely are still awesome receivers.

Sure you'd like to see Byrd snatch the ball like Alshon does, but even if he doesn't ever develop that natural tendency, doesn't mean he has horrible hands like some people on CT would have you believe.

[CockyinCharge]

Originally Posted by lilhornet

I do. I want someone who when the game is on the line I can say go get it, and they will (Nebraska, Alabama, Clemson etc.) Not taking anything away from Bruce, Ace or any of them but there was a reason he was a second round pick and none of them are projected to be at this time. I think Alshon was a WR you had to game plan around and I don't think you had to with Ace, Bruce etc on Offense because all you had to do was prevent the long ball. Alshon is a big reason we are where we are and we would have beat LSU with Alshon.

Everything else, I agree with C2 on.

THIS!!!!

you said it perfectly! Several guys on the team have that talent as well (Roland, Shamir, Byrd, etc), so hopefully it clicks for one (or all) of them!!

Go Cocks!!!

[CockyinCharge]

Originally Posted by Cock Kool-Aid

maybe Swearinger's replacement... WR's? No.

Never was concerned about our WRs, esp with Bruuuuuce back, but it would be nice to have that go to guy like "lilhornet" was saying.. a luxury, if you must- not a necessity!

Our secondary will be better than last years, and our OL will be improved as we bring 4 starters back and Waldrop is a mean bully.. the only true concern about this team are the LB's for me. If they can be effective vs the run I see no real weakness

Go Cocks!

[Cock Kool-Aid]

It's basically a question of rather you would prefer to have the passing offense go through one player mainly or be spread out amongst all of the receiving options fairly equally. I like seeing the ball spread around. Of course it is possible to have a great WR and still spread the ball around, but it is much easier for a QB to lean on that one WR.

[CoverTwo]

Originally Posted by lilhornet

I do. I want someone who when the game is on the line I can say go get it, and they will (Nebraska, Alabama, Clemson etc.) Not taking anything away from Bruce, Ace or any of them but there was a reason he was a second round pick and none of them are projected to be at this time. I think Alshon was a WR you had to game plan around and I don't think you had to with Ace, Bruce etc on Offense because all you had to do was prevent the long ball. Alshon is a big reason we are where we are and we would have beat LSU with Alshon.

Everything else, I agree with C2 on.

All you had to do was prevent the long ball? Really? Ace and Bruce did their damage on short and intermediate routes. Our only long ball threat was Damiere.

Alshon was a great player but when you have a guy like him at WR he tends to become a black hole. I don't think its a coincidence that USC's passing offense was BETTER without him because more touches went around which made USC even more difficult to defend. I'll take 2 or 3 receivers with 40+ catches over having ONE guy absorb most of the targets every day.

Spurrier's best passing offenses at USC have been where the #2 receiver has 40 or more catches (2006 - Kenny McKinley, 2010 - Tori Gurley, 2012 - Ace Sanders).

Spurrier's best passing offenses at UF were with 3 receivers (Hillard, Green, Anthony) (Gaffney, Caldwell, Jacobs)

[Flameout12]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

Alshon was a great player but when you have a guy like him at WR he tends to become a black hole.

Only because of the guy throwing. Put Alshon out there with Ace, Bruce, Justice, Buster and Damiere with Dylan throwing and tell me what happens...you black hole flips to the opposing team.

[Don Giovanni]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

Damiere Byrd made big plays last year and had one very bad drop which was against UT down the sideline.

C2, I've seen you come to the defense of Byrd on numerous occasions using this same line of, "only one bad drop." So do you feel as though the drop in the bowl game that hit him in the facemask was a completely understandable drop? I mean I'm not one of the folks who have been downing the guys, but I definitely believe you're making it seem as though Byrd has contributed a LOT more than he actually has. I want him to be as successful as possible, but I try to look at his body of work realistically, not from a point of view that is biased positively or negatively, and I believe you're just as guilty as the "haters", only from the opposite side.

[CoverTwo]

I doubt Damiere would've been able to get a foot down and possession in the back of the endzone on the play you are talking about even if he did catch it. That was a difficult play. Just as you can make a case that he should've caught it, I can make a case that he wouldn't have gotten the foot down.

Damiere dropped an easy one down the sideline against Tennessee. That was the one that stands out the most last year because it was an easy grab (like the deep post against Kentucky in 2011). But other than that, he didn't have a "clearly, he should've caught that" moment. The slightly overthrown deep ball in the LSU game could be argued both ways but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt as it wasn't right on the money.

I'll stand up for a guy when other fans are stating inaccurate comments such as he dropped a lot of passes last year, which he didn't.

[Don Giovanni]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

I doubt Damiere would've been able to get a foot down and possession in the back of the endzone on the play you are talking about even if he did catch it. That was a difficult play. Just as you can make a case that he should've caught it, I can make a case that he wouldn't have gotten the foot down.

Damiere dropped an easy one down the sideline against Tennessee. That was the one that stands out the most last year because it was an easy grab (like the deep post against Kentucky in 2011). But other than that, he didn't have a "clearly, he should've caught that" moment. The slightly overthrown deep ball in the LSU game could be argued both ways but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt as it wasn't right on the money.

I'll stand up for a guy when other fans are stating inaccurate comments such as he dropped a lot of passes last year, which he didn't.

Whether or not he would've gotten a foot down is completely beside the point, because we never had the chance to find out since he dropped the ball anyway. As I said, I'm not meaning to down him at all, just trying to point out he did have more than one bad drop last season.

[usc51]

I wouldn't say Byrd made a whole lot of big plays for us either. He had some important plays but really only a few huge plays. He had the TD against Kentucky to start our 2nd half rally and he had the big catch against Georgia. The next week, he had 2 catches for 15 yards against LSU and then didn't have another catch until his TD against Michigan. Those are really the only plays he made last season that had any major impacts. Don't get me wrong, they were all big, but he only had 3-4 game changing plays in 13 games.

He had the early fumble against Missouri in the 1st quarter deep in Missouri territory. He dropped that pass against LSU that, difficult catch or not, is something you need your WR's to catch against teams like LSU. He fumbled against Florida on the kickoff return which led to 21-3 and basically the end of the game. He had that drop against Tennessee.

Byrd has a chance to be a big contributor this year because of his speed but he needs to be so much more consistent. He can't have a stretch of 5 games (Florida-Clemson last season) where his only contributions are a few dropped passes and a fumble.

[CockyinCharge]

Originally Posted by CoverTwo

Spurrier's best passing offenses at UF were with 3 receivers (Hillard, Green, Anthony) (Gaffney, Caldwell, Jacobs)

Agreed, but A) every single one of those players were future NFL WR's

B) if we have 3 with 40+ this season that would be amazing..

But what I had meant as if we have a big time go to 60 + catch guy along with secondary WRs... just because we have a true #1 doesn't mean he becomes a "black hole", that logic does not compute. AJ was that because Garcia caused it!!! Why can't we have a bonafide #1 AND balance? That's what I'm getting at

Go Cocks!