Good read. He's optimistic on our chances of improving.
http://www.sbnation.com/college-foo...olorado-football-2015-preview-schedule-roster
http://www.sbnation.com/college-foo...olorado-football-2015-preview-schedule-roster
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Bill Connelly's 2015 CU Preview is Up
- Thread starter J.R. Ewing
- Start date
Good with the graphs and numbers, but on the edge overall. The article seems to focus a lot on the prior year, which is fair, but why no real mentions of incoming players who can make an impact like Carrell, Robbins, Jackson, Laguda, etc. It's odd to me how he doesn't mention the JUCOs and basically expects nothing out of Leavitt in 2015, which I could not disagree more with. Not really seeing the size disadvantage on the DL that he talks about either.
LOLB: 6'3" 240 | 6'3" 245
LE: 6'4" 270 | 6'3" 285
DT: 6'2" 320 | 6'3" 300
RE: 6'3" 275 | 6'2" 250
ROLB: 6'5" 225 | 6'3" 250
Size seems just fine. At NT behind Solis and Lopez, you can slide over Samson or Carrell or even play Umu/Tuiloma if either show they are ready.
LOLB: 6'3" 240 | 6'3" 245
LE: 6'4" 270 | 6'3" 285
DT: 6'2" 320 | 6'3" 300
RE: 6'3" 275 | 6'2" 250
ROLB: 6'5" 225 | 6'3" 250
Size seems just fine. At NT behind Solis and Lopez, you can slide over Samson or Carrell or even play Umu/Tuiloma if either show they are ready.
He was just saying it could take a little while for Leavitt to get it completely turned around which is understandable, especially after losing the best player on the defense in Tupou. I am sure he expects a better performance but he is saying it might not translate into wins until the year after. Still have little talent at linebacker if Gillam doesn't come back healthy.
The most revealing part of that article was the "Good on passing downs, couldn't force passing downs." Leavitt just has to find a way to hold the run and get pressure on third down because if he doesn't the turnover margin will still hurt.
Leavitt needs to produce this year. No more excuses, it's time to win. Losing Tupuo was unfortunate, but there is enough talent and experience there.
Jeric
Club Member
He was right though that he failed to take into account the impact of any of the JUCOs. He didn't even include Leo Jackson in the listed roster section. It's not "Solis, Lopez, and a bunch of 240-pounders". It's Solis, Carrell, Kafovalu, Jackson, Robbins, etc. I expect a much improved DL. Him not thinking we'll improve at the spot where we're likely to improve most, kind of ruins his entire image of us and Leavitt's ability to make significant improvements on our defense.
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One thing I definitely disagree with is his statement that Colorado's ceiling is low in this conference. The ceiling is as high as the administration wants it to be. That is the million dollar question.
BlackNGold
Club Member
I thought CU was a top 10 team this year. I was told that CU was closer to a National Championship than UCLA and I have seen UCLA listed 11th in a preseason poll - so we must be top 10.
dply
Doble hoja
That's why I hate preseason polls. They base too much on prior performance. Come end of October CU will be in the top ten.
Typical pirate response.
Very underwhelming last sentence to an otherwise optimistic article.
Bufffan68
Club Member
Overall a good article. He may take into account too much of the known while fans are looking at the unknown...Leavitt, JUCO tx, returning injured players etc. Not sure what's more fair but as a fan I'm looking at the glass half full right now.
The critiques on this thread are justified...especially at what seems like a dig at us as far as a low ceiling goes. If the admin is in it for the long haul and making the proper investments, there's no reason we shouldn't be able to compete at much higher levels.
I see Mac getting the pieces in place to make a run at a bowl game this year, and certainly next year. I wonder how much a bowl game/increase in victories will help with recruiting. If we break out this year and that leads to a good 2016/7 class, the sky's the limit IMO.
The critiques on this thread are justified...especially at what seems like a dig at us as far as a low ceiling goes. If the admin is in it for the long haul and making the proper investments, there's no reason we shouldn't be able to compete at much higher levels.
I see Mac getting the pieces in place to make a run at a bowl game this year, and certainly next year. I wonder how much a bowl game/increase in victories will help with recruiting. If we break out this year and that leads to a good 2016/7 class, the sky's the limit IMO.
Other than Gilbert, of the guys who will play in 2015...who?
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I think he's talking about our actual 3-4 DEs, not OLBs.
Samson - 245 lbs
Shaver - 235 lbs
Frazier - 245 lbs
Carrell - 275 lbs
Henington - 245 lbs
Robbins - 265 lbs
Aside from Carrell and Robbins (Robbins could add a few), we are fairly thin and undersized at the 5-technique, which I think means that we'll likely be seeing more 4 man fronts than they'd actually like to run.
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Are parts of them not undersized?
Jeric
Club Member
Jackson and Kafovalu are ends, are they not? Kafovalu was listed at 270 out of Spring. Jackson was very solid in Spring and is 285, actually Jackson is considered above all those guys outside of Carrell and Samson on the depth chart. The average between those 3 is like 277. Also Shaver's a Mike LB now and Frazier won't be playing defense.
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Sorry, I was going off Connelly's list of DL and he never mentions Jackson. CU's site has him listed at 6'3" 285 lbs which would, physically, be a nice fit into a 3-4 DE position. Using the changes you mentioned, that leaves Samson, Carrell, Robbins and Jackson at the two 5-techs. Carrell and Jackson are of decent size for the position, but 245 and 265 for Samson and Robbins, respectively, is a little on the small side.
Jeric
Club Member
Samson seems to have conflicting reports on his weight. The guys on rivals said he looked 245-250 not the 280 some reported. But he was listed at 270 out of Spring so I don't know what he's really at.
Samson is listed at 245 lbs on CU's website. Obviously, that doesn't mean it's correct, but it's consistent with Connelly's article.
I think we're splitting hairs here, though. At the end of the day, CU has 2 NT at 300 lbs+ (which is where those guys have to be) and only 2-3 "Defensive Ends" 260-285 lbs, which is still a little undersized to play a true 5-0-5 Front. I think we'll see a lot of creativity with personnel groupings in the front 7, and a lot of it will be determined by our opponent, IMO.
Jeric
Club Member
He's listed at 270 here: http://www.cubuffs.com/fls/600/gameday/spring/2015_spring_notes.pdf. Yeah we're undersized but we're not running 240 pounders out there which is a massive improvement.
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I expect our front 7 to be a rotating work in progress in both scheme and personnel for the first half of the season. No wonder MM wants closed practices.