Here for the Wins

Our bullpen sucks. Nevermind Vandy beat Tenn 16-15. LSU beats Kentucky 17-10. That was just Sunday.

I knew I felt the presence of greatness.

Much of the NFL draft is based on the perception of what a player can do. I’m sure there are some whims, like Jerry having a fascination say with Johnny Manziel, that override fit, need, etc. Presumably these teams have watched every play of every game. Maybe they look at a stat sheet, but their evaluation of play will be based on the film and how those plays were made. Hill is an interesting player. He plays hard. This year he was very impactful in the 4th quarter versus MSU. We did fine without him versus the Ags. Now whether people like the PFF or not, their rationale likely has a similar twist to the NFLs perspective. Hill isn’t particularly highly graded as a pass rusher. If I were to argue yeah but, it would be on the side of he hasn’t developed the pash rush element of his game because of practice time rather than in game deployment. So again the NFL is projecting. Theres been a question raised on how his physical presence lacks physical development. His profile does not fit that of a pass rusher and to date the skills don’t show that either. Many of his sacks are not him beating guys one on one. He does not play a premium position. I’m not sure he has a,premium trait or skill or a premium part of his game. I’d put his best attribute as that he plays hard so maybe that’s his premium. A second to third round is where he should be expected to go. It’d be difficult to say he’s a steal before the 3rd and likely into the 4th. His position simply doesn’t have many guys go until the 3rd. It’s certainly not a position for which teams reach or take many chances.

NIL may make it easier. Pitching and hitting both need live, game reps. Those are limited. Many teams only start 9/10 capable guys then only run 11/12 deep for guys that actually hit. Pitching is similar in that maybe 10-12 guys get decent innings. With the portal for baseball players there’s less incentive to sit as a frosh. It’s too easy to transfer and too important to sit a year. At least with NIL, you can theoretically pay guys for the opportunity to maybe crack the lineup. Otherwise, it’s difficult to keep them riding the pine to develop.

If it makes you feel better Texas State sweep Georgia State out scoring them by 22 runs this weekend. And tonight Georgia only beat them by 5. SO Texas State is way better than Georgia.

That’s always a key. Luck with injuries. Indiana was pretty fortunate on that front, correct?

He’s already seen it at RB, no?

Always interesting how people’s minds work. This team had enough talent/skill to win it all last year. Just because you don’t win it doesn’t mean they were incapable. It needed things to break right, which obviously didn’t happen. Lack of experience hurt but will benefit this years team. Now this year we go “all in.” That could mean several things, but to me it means we’re paying significant dollars in an attempt to buy a championship. But I’m on the outside of what that looks like in terms of those dollars. The guys footing the bill for this years team are the ones who need to answer the championship or bust. But as a nobody, based on less than full information, I’d lean towards anything short of a championship is a bust. It shouldn’t be a surprise that we have more talent and depth than ever. We’ve largely whiffed at recruiting at DT for the past 5 years. If you didn’t like last years RBs, then that was largely a whiff too. The portal and NIL allow you opportunities to build up your team. That didn’t exist 5 years ago. Sark was a right choice at the right time for this program. He has done well taking advantage, but he needs to finish the job.

Just thought this might be a good time to drop the name of perhaps my favorite Longhorn baseballer. Dustin Majewski. Seems like he hit .500 with runners in scoring position. Kieschnick are my top 2.

Agree. The more work the better. Maybe we need to add a 5th game. I know that won’t happen. If we win weekends series, we don’t need all the midweek wins. I think action is what our bullpen guys need.

Why? You wanna complain about the bullpen?

The discussions on Kanu are interesting. There really isn’t anything in his history to show that he was under consideration as a high draft pick. I’m not sure he has an overwhelming trait and his production is not particularly special. He hasn’t played a huge number of snaps either. I certainly have no inside information on what his draft grade was. In looking at PFF, I don’t see anything that has him inside the top 10 in grading. You are correct in that we played more difficult competition with respect to teams, but the OUs and OSUs were better defensively than offensively. They do show that in our 3 losses he only had 1 pressure. I wouldn’t say PFF skews things, but there certainly should be context applied to the information. Our opponents had Simmons and Hill to contend with whereas others may have been able to focus on the interior Dline. Overall, we have the personnel to be impactful, but it needs to happen. Kanu and Watson have received a bit more hype than what has been earned. They should be better, but we certainly need more impact plays from them.

Understood. Personally I think Volantis to closer is the right move. That’d remove everyone else as part-time closer. We need Grubbs to settle in.

I’m a big believer in giving guys roles that they can prepare to fulfill. If we don’t know who is the setup guy, the closer, Tuesday guys, are you comfortable the players do? The soft non-conference boosted wins and RPI but has not prepared our non-starters. Confidence and control can be sporadic when your innings are limited and your role is unstable. Sure, we don’t know whether it’ll come together, but it won’t be because we lack capable options. Go look at LSU’s pitching stats from last year. They had several guys that walked quite a few but come playoff time they were able to shrink the staff to guys they trusted or who were pitching well. Judge post season chances based on how those min-tourneys are structured. It can look very different than the regular season. As the season progresses, I do believe we’ll see roles more defined.

And 7 top 25 teams lost tonight. And two others won and gave up 9 runs. Thats college baseball these days.

This is largely a meaningless game, but Schloss is chasing a win. There are key guys that need to build confidence- Burns, Grubbs for example. With OU looming in two days, it was a poor choice to throw them today. They both got their last out versus Auburn. Nevermind they have to be wondering what their role is. It would reasonable to expect their focus wouldn’t be at its best tonight. There was no need to insert Tinney at that point. This is a Tuesday game. It replicates nothing in the post season. Flores could have gone longer. Bing probably should have gotten second run. Pitchers do need to work through things. Particularly guys with sporadic or spot duty. We absolutely have the arms to make a postseason run. Whether it happens will have to play out. Ruger, Harrison, DV, Grubbs, Crossland, Cozart. Flores, Burns, Leffew, Walker. Now, the past 4 games, the offense had opportunities to put the opponent away and didn’t. They just need to heat up at the right time.

Walker pitched this past weekend too.

We need more points.

Indiana’s 2024 CFP team is akin to Texas Tech’s 2025 CFP team. Therefore Tech 2026 will Indiana 2025. Can I get an amen?

I gave you an opportunity to provide some depth to your point. You had no interest in doing so. It is not only what your team has that makes you a contender but those also in contention. Almost all the contenders lost more high level players than we did. We return more high level players at premium positions than anyone. Guys like Deandre Moore, Wisner, Baxter were contributors to previous contending teams. But sure all 3 are certain to be shittier next year than they have been previously. We aren’t trading for NFL first rounders and giving up JV high school players. You’ve got your opinion. I am interested in information but don’t need you to tell me anything.

So from contender to team to beat. Got it.

So you’re saying that all other teams have an Arch, a Collin Simmons, a McDonald, a Goosby? Seriously, find me 5 other teams with a core anywhere near that. The draft will tell, but there are few teams every year that produce 3 1st round picks. Then you got Wingo, January, Terry, Baker, TyAnthony Smith. Landon Jackson, Umeozulu at DE. Robertson. There’s no guarantee that a homegrown guy doesn’t take the other guard spot. Williams was solid recruit. Littleton, Black, Phillips, Roberson, Niblett as PR. I know exactly who we picked up and who we lost. Five of the top 10 teams from last year lose their QB. Miami and Tech lose much of their DLine and/or OLine. Similar for Indiana. Ohio State loses a bunch on defense. A&Ms Oline is gone. We were very competitive last year. With the most difficult schedule. With injuries. And we lost fewer high end guys than the other likely contenders. But sure, the team that’s been a top 3-5 team over the past 3 seasons would not have been a competitor.

Not near enough of this discussion.

We would have been national champ contenders without portal additions. There’s only one position group that looks to be substantially better than it would otherwise be without the impact of the portal. And that’s conceivable that the two best players are homegrown. Biles is a top addition, but it’s not as though Lefau was insignificant. Now, if you say took us to the top of the list, maybe.

And is it all they got sports-wise?