TEXAS A&M UNIT ANALYSIS - RECEIVERS
A&M's top receiver is its tight end, sophomore Martellus Bennett. Bennett (left) was one of the nation's most sought-after recruits coming out of Houston's Allen Taylor HS and chose the Aggies over LSU, Texas and many other interested programs. He has ideal physical tools for the position: at 6'7"/248 he's still athletic enough to play on A&M's excellent basketball team.Bennett had 37 catches on the year for a 13.3 yard average and three scores, and was named All-Big 12. He's also a very effective edge blocker in the zone read option running game. Bennett will most definitely play on Sundays, and he represents the single biggest matchup challenge for Cal in the Holiday Bowl. Cal shut down All-America Zach Miller in the Bears' 49-21 romp over ASU, but Bennett is an even more difficult test because of his height and superior athleticism. He also has a message board where you can ask him questions.
Now we get to the wideouts. After Lane, Goodson, McGee and Bennett, it's refreshing to analyze
a unit that's ordinary in every way. A&M's biggest threat is Chad Schroeder (right) who caught 37 passes and led the Aggies in yards and touchdown catches. Schroeder is a converted high school quarterback, and he lacks elite speed. He is, however, gifted at finding holes in zone packages and he has sure hands.Beyond Schroeder are a bunch of guys who rotate through the lineup. L'Tydrick Riley is another converted QB who caught 19 balls with a long of 35 yards. He will generally start along with Schroeder in A&M's base offensive sets. Earvin Taylor actually played receiver in high school and will most often be the third receiver in spread sets. Pierre Brown is next - thank goodness, he's also a HS QB. Brown also contributes on the Aggies' kick cover squads.
The Aggies do not throw much to their backs - Goodson averages about one reception per game, and Lane is rarely utilized out of the backfield.
posted by Tightwad @ 9:20 AM
8 Comments:
Nice summary. Sounds like we can let the corners fly solo and bring the safeties up to support the run. Or so we can hope. A comment on a previous post (the intro to Aggie traditions) introduced the prospect of a dialogue between TH and (i assume) Aggie fans. Did that ever materialize?
It's coming (I just sent my answers off this morning).
You hit everything on the head except for the comment on Schroeder's speed. He can fly.
His recruiting page on Rivals.com shows that he ran a 4.38 out of high school.
Back in '04, Oklahoma had to burn 4* freshman defensive back, Marcus Walker's, redshirt in the 9th game of the season because they didn't have anyone who could stay with him (he ran a 4.4).
and hey, lets just do seperate Q&As (if you're still interested)....After reading 12thManchild throughout the season I've noticd that he and I actually have similar thoughts on lots of things so you would probably get repetitive answers.
Gig'em
Oh, one more thing....Riley and Taylor have been involved incredibly less in the passing game than I thought they would but they are both very good blockers.
I am convinced that losing both of them last season to ACL injuries before conference play started killed our season because we lost their blocking ability on the outside which is big for the option game.
Howard Morrow is also an excellent blocker for a sophomore WR.
4.38. Jeez, I missed THAT. Well, Hughes on Schroeder might be a better matchup than I had thought. Ryan, send me some q's at my email addy and I'll shoot some to you along w/answers. Cheers,
I'm having difficulty locating your email address? Am I just completely missing it somewhere obvious?
oskitightwad@hotmail.com (in the profile, or at least it should be)
Hey, there's a great deal of helpful information above!
Post a Comment
<< Home