Quote:
Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins
I mostly agree with this, but I do have some points of contention:
1) For as good as Madison, Sam, and Jacquies were this season (and for as promising as Kony Ealy has supposedly looked), Aldon was a guy you could expect to beat NFL-caliber tackles. I don't think that any of them, save for Ealy, have the athletic ability to do that. Look at the Iowa game, for example. That's a really good college line, and they all were completely absent (save for Madison's PF), whereas Aldon was constantly getting into the backfield and disrupting plays.
Losing Aldon is the difference between having the best DL in the nation and arguably the best in the conference. He was the most important player, and the best, on that defense. You can't underscore how important it is to lose a pass rusher like that. I'd compare it to the New York Giants losing a prime Strahan. For as good as Tuck, Osi, Kiwi, et. al are, there's not necessarily the one absolute terror off the line that can change a game at any point.
2) Franklin is a better fit for Yost's reerun version of the spread, but keep in mind that Gabbert's talents allowed for him to make throws that simply could not be done by any QB we've ever had. Those 3rd and forevers that we were picking up in the bowl game can only be done if you have a rocket arm that can place the ball into super tight windows. That's a big loss.
3) You can't underestimate the importance of losing a Sr. QB who has 2 years of starting, and another year of intermittent playing time, when you are going into Norman, and you have to face Texas. Sr. QBs often make a huge leap their final year, even if they were already pretty good: McCoy, Harrell, and others.
4) Losing Gabbert "****s" us from the perspective of being a darkhorse NC contender. Again, I really like James Franklin, but when you lose your two best players at the two most important positions on the field when you were counting on their return, it can't help but blunt expectations.
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I thought Aldon pretty much disappeared in the bowl game, honestly. As well as the entire defensive line. Part of that was because Stanzi only threw the ball 21 times - and a lot of those off of play-action, part of it was because Iowa wasn't in many predictable passing situations.
I'm not saying he wouldn't be missed, because obviously he will. Just that Missouri still will have a damn good defensive line. It still can be the best DL in the Big 12, if Hamilton is healthy and recovered and Richardson makes the expected impact.
Gabbert's arm allowed the Tigers to pick up some 3rd and forevers, but he also was pretty inefficient on third down and did not throw the deep ball well at all. Franklin doesn't have the otherworldly arm strength Gabbert did, but he's no Chase Daniel or Brad Smith. He has a strong arm.
And yeah, losing those two tempers some expectations, but it doesn't kill them IMO. Winning in Norman looks pretty tough now, but I like the odds in the rest of the games. Texas still looks like a QB-less ship, and Mack Brown has to rebuild his entire staff. (And it's at home). oSu is going to be without Blackmon and possibly Wheeden, and definitely Hunter (though they have a deep stable of backs to fall back upon).
The new Big Ten still will be wide open.