Last week I posted my idea on our 2016 receiving corps. This week, as I watched the game against Northwestern, I couldn't help but notice how lost we seemed on both offense and defense. The more I watched, the more I couldn't help but realize that we are overly talented but not strategically aligned with our talent. We have a great group of players but not everyone is playing at a position that maximizes their potential and effectiveness. To alude back to my post last week, I said we didn't have a consistent receiving game because we had very few true wide receivers and a lack of experience. But really, this applies to several of the positions on the field.
Football coaching is a lot like chess. You can be the brightest mind, have the most talent in the world, have the best athletes, etc. All of those things are nice, but without strategy and the right players playing the right positions, that means absolutely nothing. I can't help but look back on our 2014 National Championship team. Devin Smith, Evan Spencer, Mike Thomas, and Corey Smith were all true wide receivers. Ezekiel Elliot was a true running back. Jeff Heuerman and Vannett were true tight ends. Even on the line, minus Chase Ferris, each player had a defined role on the team. If I remember correctly, the only players who were hybrids were the young guys that Meyer brought in, Noah Brown, Curtis Samuel, and Dontre. What I'm getting at is we had great athletes but also had experience at their position. If we fast forward to today, there is much more abiguity. Noah Brown, who was sort of an H-Back, is now our number 1 wide receiver. Curtis Samuel, is a utility knife along with Dontre. Parris Campbell and McLaurin were h-backs 2 years ago. The offensive line is comprised of a bunch of players who could play this position or that one. To me, that's a recipe for error.
Now, I'm no football coach. I don't claim to have higher knowledge of the game. But, if we took our current strategy and applied it to other sports, do you believe it would be effective? Can a team full of combo guards win a college championship or an NBA championship? Can Kentucky recruit a bunch of guards and still be expected to win a national championship? Can a soccer team win with a bunch of strikers and forwards? We out athlete every single team on our schedule. We spent the past 5 years at the top of the recruiting board but my question is how many of those player fit into our scheme? How does our current roster composition compare to the past 8 national championship teams?
