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Influx of Offensive game breakers!

K

KansasPoke

Well-known member
It is pretty apparent the Pokes hit a home-run when it comes to recruiting speed/athleticism at the WR/RB positions.

At WR the Pokes brought in the Snow duo in DeJay Lester and Mazi Ogbonna which is a excellent start. CJ Morgan is a interesting prospect out of the Denver metro since he brings very good speed, but is still quite raw. Then there are the two late signees in Robert Herron and Jonathan Aiken. Herron as we have already seen has world class speed, but is being tried out at both WR and RB... regardless of the position he is the definition of a hidden gem. Aiken on the other hand is a old pair of boots dusted off. He was a initial target of the coaching staff and was a verbal at one time, but due to grades didn't end up signing. Just like Herron, Aiken was a late positive grades guy that now also has his Wyoming scholarship.

At RB we not only having Herron making a play here, but of course we brought in Nehemie Kankolongo. If Kankolongo can stay healthy, he brings a well developed RB with good size and speed. Both Herron and Kankolongo are already pushing Alexander to over throw him as the starting RB in just a short period of time.

In just one recruiting class the Pokes have added not only major depth, but serious play makers with great size, speed, and athleticism. It just doesn't stop on the offensive side of the ball as we have seen Marquestion Huff and Darren White already turn heads at CB due to their athletic ability.
 
My big fear this year is not speed of the of team, or talent, rather, ACS not going through a sophomore slump. We saw it happen to Karsten Sween, and he never recovered. I hope ACS can avoid the sophomore slump, and maybe turn in a Sam Bradford like performance as a soph.
 
One of my comforts on that subject is the fact who we have guiding our offense and who the head coach is. in ACS favor he has two master minds of this type of spread offense in Arroyo and DC. He has had these guys teaching/coaching him for two seasons. Karsten's issues came from having OC's changed on him and having a bad apple for a OC. Our QB's were so scared to do anything wrong and were always looking over their shoulders. The confidence and development aspects were stunted by our OC/QB coach when it comes to Karsten. So far it looks like ACS has improved and looks even more comfortable this fall. He just needs to get on the same page with his new weapons, but he still does have his security blanket in Leonard.
 
We've got that same explosiveness at linebacker. With Muhammad, Hendricks, Lewis, Harris, Knight, Toney, and Shober. Those are some athletic linebackers that are fast and can tackle. There are a lot of converted safeties and corners in that group. The Gibson brothers finally get to play bump, which I think is good for both of those guys. A senior in Chris Prosinski lines up next to a freshman all-American at safety. Our back seven is just deep and talented. There's no way of getting around that

I'm excited. Special teams added the touchback and better kick-off coverage. We added world class speed to the return game. We've got potential all-conference guys at punter and field goal kicker.

I agree with the assessment on offense. The offense looked to add five or six legitimate weapons since last year: Aiken, Kankolongo, Ogbonna, Lester, Davis, Herron, and TJ Smith. You can argue that Morgan is the eigth, but I think he'll redshirt. Throw in Chris McNeil, David Leonard, ACS, and Zach Bolger. The Cowboys are going to have a lot of ways they can pick up yardage. Don't forget about David Tooley. He's a player and he will come back from the knee injury. We have the depth to be patient with him, so he can take his time.

I'm glad we're challenging ourselves. We're a young team. It will be good for us.

Things are looking up in Cowboy land.
 
We WILL have a better offense and probably a much better offense but I think the success of our offense lies on the shoulders of the O-Line, ACS has time to through and find the open reciever we will be great but if ACS has to run for his life like last year then O will only be a little better. Best case senerio our offense is in the top third in the league, worst case we are in the bottom third and I guess we are right in the middle of the pack around 5th. I am hoping for consistancy in scoring points against the big boys while not having to come back in the 4th quarter against the shitty teams. :twocents:
 
Sounds like DC is still wanting the Pokes to improve in the redzone which is a little worrisome at this moment. I do agree much of our offensive success will hinge on the ability of the OL to block well for ACS. On top of that the depth at that position isn't the greatest. We are going to be depending on some swing guys as back-ups. So we are talking 7-8 deep on most occasions along the line. We lost at least two players that would have filled in more depth.
 
KansasPoke said:
One of my comforts on that subject is the fact who we have guiding our offense and who the head coach is. in ACS favor he has two master minds of this type of spread offense in Arroyo and DC. He has had these guys teaching/coaching him for two seasons. Karsten's issues came from having OC's changed on him and having a bad apple for a OC. Our QB's were so scared to do anything wrong and were always looking over their shoulders. The confidence and development aspects were stunted by our OC/QB coach when it comes to Karsten. So far it looks like ACS has improved and looks even more comfortable this fall. He just needs to get on the same page with his new weapons, but he still does have his security blanket in Leonard.
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A couple things.

One, the recruits look real good, but we'd have to be especially lucky to have the success we had last year with freshman. Hopefully so, but the odds are not in our favor.

Two, I'd hardly call Arroyo a mastermind. In 2008 at San Jose when he was the OC they were ranked close to last in total and scoring offense, just as we were last year. Our offense ran on guts last year and we couldn't figure out how to score on winning teams. If anything I'd say that Arroyo is on the hot seat this year. If we finish near the bottom again I wonder if DC will judge his coaching staff the same as he does the players (ie-everyone is always competing)? I wish DC would call the plays. At Missouri they were top ten in both categories.
 
What Arroyo does at San Jose State doesn't mean squat here. He was made OC there to try to implement DC's offense and he was only OC there for one year. There was a reason DC brought him to Wyoming. Sure there are many forms of spreads, but the type of spread DC runs, Arroyo is one of the best in the business at it.

How could he be on the hot seat after year one??? We just implemented the offense in the last year and a half and just now starting to get the proper type of athletes/pieces in? Where did it ever become a topic of Arroyo being on the hot seat?
 
DC and Arroyo both call the plays. And A new coach like Arroyo will not be on the hotseat. It was his first year and sadly, it showed more success than the year before. Plus we didn't even have the full offensive playbook going. Can you say transition? So don't be getting panties in a bunch already. It will get better.
 
We'll see if they can figure out the scoring touchdowns thing. One of the inherent problems of the spread is an inability to get into the endzone once you're inside the redzones. This is where I think a runningback like Kankolongo who has both speed and strength comes in.

Getting Tooley back also means we have several tall receivers to create mismatches with in the endzone.
Aiken: 6'3
Leonard: 6'4
Tooley: 6'5
TJ Smith: 6'3
 
kansasCowboy said:
DC and Arroyo both call the plays. And A new coach like Arroyo will not be on the hotseat. It was his first year and sadly, it showed more success than the year before. Plus we didn't even have the full offensive playbook going.
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I have been told, by many...that work directly with/for him, that we are fortunate to have Arroyo as our OC, as he IS the real deal. I would bet that in 2 years / seasons or less, everyone else "on the outside" will see exactly that.
 
KansasPoke - I guess it was your comment calling Arroyo a master mind that made me look up how he did at San Jose, because he didn't look like a master mind last season. If you say what he did before he showed up doesn't matter, fair enough. But it is usually what someone has accomplished in the past that gets them their new positions. UW didn't hire DC because he tried his best, it was because he was successful at his previous position. I too believe coaches should sort of get a pass for the first season, but starting the second season there needs to be improvement. In an OCs position I believe it should be measured in total offense and total points. With the new weapons, if we come in near the bottom again, does he still get a pass? If not, I'd call that being on the hot seat.
 
You dont transition from a power running game to multiple look spread overnight it will take a year minimum and probably 2 or 3 before we start seeing a great deal of improvement. It takes playmakers all over the field for the spread to be successful.

This year we will see an improvement because of the personnel brought in. Arroyo is fine and even if we have a similar season he will have at least another year or two to prove his worth. From what I hear, he very intelligent and fits in with DS's scheme to a T. I am thinking we average about 24 a game this year with about 375-400 ypg. Improvements from last year squad but not still electric but it is improvement and that is what DC has been preaching since day 1, improve every day. Next year I think we will be even better closer to 30 a game with 425-450 ypg. The days of the defense pitching shutouts for us to win are hopefully behind us! But I still hope the d pitches shutouts ;)
 
Gotta be honest, I'm not sure that we will avg 24 a game. Just because, We have such a tough sched against top defenses in Texas, BSU and TCU. I'm saying we don't get shut out this year. But still probably avg 20-22 ppg. Improved.
 
kansasCowboy said:
Gotta be honest, I'm not sure that we will avg 24 a game. Just because, We have such a tough sched against top defenses in Texas, BSU and TCU. I'm saying we don't get shut out this year. But still probably avg 20-22 ppg. Improved.
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I think we will put up 30+ against SUU, SDSU, UNM, and UNLV and possibly Toledo will offset our 20- against the big boys. IMO
 
mrtnt3x said:
kansasCowboy said:
Gotta be honest, I'm not sure that we will avg 24 a game. Just because, We have such a tough sched against top defenses in Texas, BSU and TCU. I'm saying we don't get shut out this year. But still probably avg 20-22 ppg. Improved.
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I think we will put up 30+ against SUU, SDSU, UNM, and UNLV and possibly Toledo will offset our 20- against the big boys. IMO
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I'm REALLY hoping we put up 30+ on CSU as well.
 
Asmodeanreborn said:
One of the best regular season games I've been to... along with the last time we beat BYU. That was pretty sweet too.
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The CSU game was the first game I had gone to since I graduated the year before, it was a doozie for sure, and I remember storming the field after the CSU and BYWHO games in like 03. Ended up having a kegger that night and a massive fight broke out at my house between the football players and my redneck wrestling friends. Cops came saw that it was football players and left, there was like 300 ppl in front yard, needless to say the house was wrecked and the slumlord was not very happy. Oh the days :party:
 
cowboyz said:
One, the recruits look real good, but we'd have to be especially lucky to have the success we had last year with freshman. Hopefully so, but the odds are not in our favor.
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I think that there is a better than average chance of the freshman class being successful as they were last season. DC goes after recruits that the previous coaching staffs would never dream about and actually gets them to campus and on the field. That's one reason we had so many freshman contributing last season, the talent level of the incoming players was so much greater than that of those already on the squad.
 
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