Pat Bostick watch: He's getting ready to compete (and earn, I presume) for the starting job, again.
Otherwise, Tuesday was a bad day for wide receivers. Bostick lost his top target in Derek Kinder for the season with a torn ACL. Percy Harvin is being hampered by an achillies. Indiana receiver James Hardy is out two weeks with a broken finger. And Arkansas stud Marcus Monk is out 4-6 weeks with a knee.
At UConn, JUCO transfer Tyler Lorenzen will start and transfer Jarrell Miller (linebacker) must sit. I'll post more about Miller later, for all the Huskies reading.
On to the player list. No objections to 10-8, so I guess I did something right.
Here's 7-5. Discuss.
7. Jake Long
Michigan's left tackle has 27 starts under his belt and should be a Top 10 pick in next year's draft. What else is there to say about a dominating offensive lineman? He's really good and after this season he'll be really wealthy and probably have a Lombardi Award. He's on the same level as this year's No. 3 pick from Wisconsin, Joe Thomas. Chad Henne and Michael Hart should walk over and give Long huuuge hugs after every game and thank him profusely for his mastery protecting their be-hinds.
6. Ray Rice
Why not Steve Slaton? Well, I think the West Virginia back is a complete stud, but having Pat White's legs really complicates things for opposing defenses and creates tons of opportunities for No. 10. However, No. 27 up in Piscataway has to create a lot on his own - with no mobile quarterback or much of a passing attack to compliment him. Rice rumbled to 1,794 yards and 20 rushing touchdowns last season and left me grumbling when he was not invited to the Heisman ceremony. This year he will be asked for the same kind of production in his junior campaign and like numbers better earn an invite. I think the Rice/Slaton debate can be summed up like this: much of Rutgers' seasons hangs on the shoulders of Rice while WVU would notice Slaton's absence, but could make do without him.
5. Glenn Dorsey
The ability to take over a game from the defensive tackle position is no easy task and not many can say they're capable of such. Glenn Dorsey is one of these rare athletes that combines the size, speed and strength to dictate how an opponent will draft up their rushing attack. At 6'2, 300 lbs., Dorsey is a bad, bad man who could be suiting up on Sundays this fall but chose to come back. On the average snap, Dorsey must fight through about 600-pounds of opponent and yet he finished third on an outstanding defense with tackles last season. He's on virtually every All-American list in existence, so everyone's noticing what No. 72 can do.
15 days 'til kickoff...
Comments (2)
I have a knee. I actually have two. Does that mean I'm out 8-12 weeks?
And James Hardy, step it up. I broke a finger and played in my flag football game the next week.
While I don't disagree about the placement of Rice on the list over Slaton I do disagree with your argument. These are the best players in college football not most valuable to their teams. The question you should have answered is if Slaton and Rice switched teams would Rutgers or West Virginia improve more.