Of the Position Groups Listed in Which do You Have the LEAST Amount of Confidence?

As we continue to see where we're confident and less so for the upcoming season, here's where we stand so far:



Most Confident:

1. ???

2. ???

3. ???

4. ???

5. ???

6. ???

7. ???

8. ???

9. WR/TE (60%)



I'm not sold on any RBs. I think Squally can be serviceable and that the Wiscy transfer (Uloa) could show us something, but I'm not buying the hype yet. KJ Hall is great until he gets touched and then he's down. Maybe someone will step up - especially in the passing game (to include blocking) - but we'll see.

Oline. We hear every year about how much they have improved and how they are going to finally be good this year. I'll believe it when I see it.

I agree, but at least at OL we're returning some players we know we should some decent to good production out of. Guys like Koroma, Hoyt, and Shoaf should give us some hope going forward.

Honestly I feel confident about the QB and the LB's. The rest needs to be proven. They should all be above average, but that's a far as I'll go until we see what happens on the field.



Honestly I can't believe it's taken BYU so many years to find a reliable person to kickoff and especially to kick field goals. I'm okay with Linehan for punting and that's as far as my confidence goes in the kicking game.

I'm not confident in the RB corp until they prove something.



Next may be QB.

frdbtr wrote:
Oline. We hear every year about how much they have improved and how they are going to finally be good this year. I'll believe it when I see it.

I think the Oline breaks out .... next year. I think we finally have the talent on the roster, but the inexperience of that new/young talent will show this year.

I would agree with Hawkwing. No one try to bag on me for doubting Tanner, bc I would love to see Tanner have a year at least as good as his freshman year. It should be much better. But Spring scrummage, notwithstanding weather (which didnt seem to phase the other qbs proportionately as bad as it did Tanner) looked almost abysmal compared to what it should have seemed.

I really dont think Tanner looked all that impressive his freshman year. I think that very tall and capable WR group rescued TM alot. He would just throw the ball up and they would go get it. And of course the Hail Marys sweetened that season amazingly well. But i just dont see the accurate passer that won co-champ in the Elite QB camp.

Further, he didnt beat out Taysom on passing stats in fall camp last year, iirc. Which made Taysom an obvious choice given his mobility and strength as a runner--albeit compromised from previous years.

I would actually make an argument that potentially the most offensively productive qb might be Hoge, bc he can run. If the WR are as average as it seems or not coached well or whatever, and if the Olne is average, TM will not be able to save this offense with what we hoped to have in an elite passer.

Sweet! Our first call for the backup QB just 8 weeks before the season!

SpiffCoug wrote:
Sweet! Our first call for the backup QB just 8 weeks before the season!

The same vote showed up in last week's survey as well.

SpiffCoug wrote:
Sweet! Our first call for the backup QB just 8 weeks before the season!

Ya,,, i guess it sounds like that. It wasnt intended. Im all for Tanner. Hopefully Ty has this O dialed in. The intent was that a running qb has bailed out other weaknesses for the modern era. Michigan proved how beatable BYus pass game was/is, in the absence of WRs who can or dont know how to break free from modern, physical DBs and rules. Having a threat at TE will open things up for wide outs. Just my thoughts.

I get the wait and see attitude with Tanner.



All QBs get in trouble from time to time. The difference is Taysom's progression was 1st read; 2nd read; run. Tanner's is 1st read; 2nd read; 3rd read; roll out right and chuck it down the field. Once other defenses figured out that tendency--UCLA--they put a stop to it.



And let's not forget the absolutely horrifying chuck-a-duck into the endzone during the bowl game that had an only-in-vegas rarified odds of coming down into our TE's hands for a TD--and the winning margin.



By the game numbers, Tanner's passing stats in games were better than Taysom's, but Taysom had better total QB yards (passing + QB running)--even after controlling for competition; total offense was a push. That was according to stats I ran last summer; I haven't updated it with the 2016 season stats.



I'm not saying we should go with the backup, just that Tanner still has work to do. But for the reasons above, I think he'll be about as effective overall as Taysom. The big difference in my mind is RBs. You don't easily replace the all-time leading rusher in school history.



I will say this, though, and I mean it with all sincerity. I feel that Tanner has had some unseen help. Those hail marys and the bobble catch and a number of other 'lucky' outcomes are too unlikely, in aggregate, to be mere chance in my opinion. Calling living right (and I really do get the sense that he is quite earnest about being a humble, dedicated follower of Christ), or whatever, but he's got something going for him. Even his resilience and ability to comeback in the Utah game--nearly a precursor of Tom Brady superbowl--makes me scratch my head and think that there's something 'special' about Tanner Mangum, beyond his innate football skills.

Nah, I think we should go the direction of never ever bench the starting QB ever. It disrupts the game flow and causes a splinter in the team. The starting QB should get all snaps in every single game. We don't want to even see what the back-ups could potentially do...

How bout we let the coaches coach. 99.9 percent of the time when it comes to personnel decisions, the fans don't know what they are talking about.

frdbtr wrote:
How bout we let the coaches coach. 99.9 percent of the time when it comes to personnel decisions, the fans don't know what they are talking about.

Ah! And who on this illustrious board would like to lay claim to being that 1 in 1000 who does know what he is talking about?

Let's just keep in mind that BYU coaches monitor this board and take their cues from threads just like this.

SpiffCoug wrote:
Let's just keep in mind that BYU coaches monitor this board and take their cues from threads just like this.

Haha. How else to explain never again going for it on 4th and 19 on your five yard line! ;) They heard, they adjusted, and then they moved on. Cheers!

I said personnel decisions, not play calling.