I was pretty excited about Anusiem in limited snaps two years ago - he made some mistakes but he also had a bunch of big plays. Hopefully now that's he's older he'll cut down on those mistakes but still keep the game breaking plays ready.
It's very promising the youngsters are coming in and contributing early, particularly since a host of Cal defenders are in their final season of play. Hearing constant good news about Patu and Iosefa, Hisatake and Paster, Gamble and Higgins gives you the sense that the transition will be pretty smooth to the next generation of Bears.
Happy to see things getting back to some form of normalcy. Personally, I'm excited to see how Kai Milner will impact the offense upon his arrival. Really happy to see other QBs performing well like Johnson. The player I think I miss the most is Polk - I still don't get that one.
Over the years I've read so many practice reports of QB's who crushed it and then never saw the field. It's great to hear, and competition makes diamonds, but the mental demands of quarterbacking a live game are a whole different beast. That's why there is such a thing as a "Game Manager". That's why Zach Kline never was NFL material. Or that QB the 49ers drafted who had a rocket arm but was mental unable to handle the load. I trust the cream will rise to the top. Although everyone's favorite person on the team is the backup QB, you almost NEVER see the backup come in after an injury to the starter and crush it. It happens, but no often enough to justify our wishing!
We don't know which personnel were in the scrimmage with each QB either. Chase could have been running some new installs against the 1's while Johnson may have been playing against the 3's and 4's. We don't know. I do know that the best QB will be suiting up come game day next season; Wilcox and his staff value veterans who have earned their position, but value production more. It's what good coaches do. And the team loves it as guys on the field know who can win games for them. When coaches play favorites over the best guys, morale suffers.
Having no inside knowledge, but based on years of working for a sports league, a sports team and an athletic footwear and apparel brand, I suspect that Cal has some sort of supplier only deal for in-kind benefits only but is still shopping around for a paid partnership. Unfortunately this comes at a time when brands are really re-evaulating their spending - for example Nike is moving a lot of dollars to neighborhood and local level activations. UA, we don't need to talk about, but they're dropping a ton of sponsorships in addition to ours. reebok is not going to exist as a viable brand for the next few years while adidas tries to sell them off. So we're basically looking at Nike (probably no money) or adidas (no one to bid off against), Jordan both has very little money AND they're pretty picky about who they sponsor nowadays.
From the lack of any info that's come out, it appears that Cal is continuing to fulfill their end of the contract to show good faith in any lawsuit. Worst case scenario, if Under Armour pulls the plug out of nowhere, Cal will have uniforms to last a bridge year.
I think we would need to be broader than second string. The coaches said everyone was getting reps. with over a hundred guys on the field we're close to 5 deep on both sides of the ball. Maybe some guys got two reps and some 10 and some more. The question isn't so much was it first or second or third D on the field but who was the personnel. If we had 4 team D-Line vs. 1st O-line and so there was no pressure on a QB it makes a difference. If we had top receivers against lower level DB's it makes a difference. Only the film knows for sure. But one thing I can say, whoever was on the field when Zach Johnson was playing, it doesn't matter, he played great.
Thanks for the write-up and it sounds like some younger players are emerging as contributors. Johnson's great day should put him high in the conversation for 2nd string, though probably at this point there is no QB controversy.
Agreed. I sure wish there was [a controversy] though. Garbers is still over-rated IMHO. Great legs under him and flashes of talent (Oxford, MS), but on game day he tends to unravel, starts throwing side-armed, losses accuracy/confidence downfield, etc.
Part of that problem is the lack of separation, e.g., lack of speed amongst the wideouts, who all seem to be possession type receivers. Hopefully this year we will have a few more weapons.
The opening line of Bill Connelly's SP+ rankings: "How good have you been, how well do you recruit, and whom do you return? These three questions are the building blocks for how we set expectations for a college football team in a given year."
I was pretty excited about Anusiem in limited snaps two years ago - he made some mistakes but he also had a bunch of big plays. Hopefully now that's he's older he'll cut down on those mistakes but still keep the game breaking plays ready.
It's very promising the youngsters are coming in and contributing early, particularly since a host of Cal defenders are in their final season of play. Hearing constant good news about Patu and Iosefa, Hisatake and Paster, Gamble and Higgins gives you the sense that the transition will be pretty smooth to the next generation of Bears.
Happy to see things getting back to some form of normalcy. Personally, I'm excited to see how Kai Milner will impact the offense upon his arrival. Really happy to see other QBs performing well like Johnson. The player I think I miss the most is Polk - I still don't get that one.
Over the years I've read so many practice reports of QB's who crushed it and then never saw the field. It's great to hear, and competition makes diamonds, but the mental demands of quarterbacking a live game are a whole different beast. That's why there is such a thing as a "Game Manager". That's why Zach Kline never was NFL material. Or that QB the 49ers drafted who had a rocket arm but was mental unable to handle the load. I trust the cream will rise to the top. Although everyone's favorite person on the team is the backup QB, you almost NEVER see the backup come in after an injury to the starter and crush it. It happens, but no often enough to justify our wishing!
We don't know which personnel were in the scrimmage with each QB either. Chase could have been running some new installs against the 1's while Johnson may have been playing against the 3's and 4's. We don't know. I do know that the best QB will be suiting up come game day next season; Wilcox and his staff value veterans who have earned their position, but value production more. It's what good coaches do. And the team loves it as guys on the field know who can win games for them. When coaches play favorites over the best guys, morale suffers.
If Johnson is better than Garbers by the fall, he will play.
Reminds me of 2018 when Ross Bowers played like a quarter.
That was a very weird day.
On a different note, does anyone know what's going on with the Under Armour thing? I know UCLA has moved to the Jordan Brand
Having no inside knowledge, but based on years of working for a sports league, a sports team and an athletic footwear and apparel brand, I suspect that Cal has some sort of supplier only deal for in-kind benefits only but is still shopping around for a paid partnership. Unfortunately this comes at a time when brands are really re-evaulating their spending - for example Nike is moving a lot of dollars to neighborhood and local level activations. UA, we don't need to talk about, but they're dropping a ton of sponsorships in addition to ours. reebok is not going to exist as a viable brand for the next few years while adidas tries to sell them off. So we're basically looking at Nike (probably no money) or adidas (no one to bid off against), Jordan both has very little money AND they're pretty picky about who they sponsor nowadays.
From the lack of any info that's come out, it appears that Cal is continuing to fulfill their end of the contract to show good faith in any lawsuit. Worst case scenario, if Under Armour pulls the plug out of nowhere, Cal will have uniforms to last a bridge year.
I think the second string will be between Johnson and Brasch.
Patu's big day is a good sign as the OLB and DL will need to be stronger this season
I think we would need to be broader than second string. The coaches said everyone was getting reps. with over a hundred guys on the field we're close to 5 deep on both sides of the ball. Maybe some guys got two reps and some 10 and some more. The question isn't so much was it first or second or third D on the field but who was the personnel. If we had 4 team D-Line vs. 1st O-line and so there was no pressure on a QB it makes a difference. If we had top receivers against lower level DB's it makes a difference. Only the film knows for sure. But one thing I can say, whoever was on the field when Zach Johnson was playing, it doesn't matter, he played great.
Thanks for the write-up and it sounds like some younger players are emerging as contributors. Johnson's great day should put him high in the conversation for 2nd string, though probably at this point there is no QB controversy.
Agreed. I sure wish there was [a controversy] though. Garbers is still over-rated IMHO. Great legs under him and flashes of talent (Oxford, MS), but on game day he tends to unravel, starts throwing side-armed, losses accuracy/confidence downfield, etc.
Part of that problem is the lack of separation, e.g., lack of speed amongst the wideouts, who all seem to be possession type receivers. Hopefully this year we will have a few more weapons.
The opening line of Bill Connelly's SP+ rankings: "How good have you been, how well do you recruit, and whom do you return? These three questions are the building blocks for how we set expectations for a college football team in a given year."
Connelly's weights on returning production:
Offense metrics:
• Percentage of last season’s QB passing yards returning: 32% of offensive returning production formula
• Percentage of last season’s WR/TE receiving yards returning: 32%
• Percentage of career starts returning on the offensive line: 17.5%
• Percentage of last season’s offensive line snaps returning: 12%
• Percentage of last season’s RB rushing yards returning: 6.5%
Defense metrics:
• Percentage of defensive returning production formula derived from defensive line: 5%
• Percentage derived from secondary: 37%
• Percentage derived from full defense: 21%
Throughout the season, Connelly rates teams using his formula https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2017/10/13/16457830/college-football-advanced-stats-analytics-rankings. then, in preseason, he has another formula that combines those rankings with other predictive measure. but if i had the formula, espn would be paying me instead.