MERGED: Wade Smith May Play Center

[PHINATIC13]

:roflmao: :roflmao:

I think I'd rather try Will Smith at center. Maybe at least he could make the defender fall down from laughter while running unabated to the quarterback.

 

[Ozzy]

Kind of hard to win the starting center job when you show up to the offseason program late and weighing in at 350 lbs. Rex has really disappointed me with his lack of an offseason work ethic.

What a way to blow his golden opportunity. He may be working solely at RG from now on. He was already a little to heavy to play full time at Center. Then again, if he can shed some, Houck likes his lineman heavy. :)

While, I've been disapointed in Seth this year, by no means is he going to just hand the job over to anyone. He is not the worst in the league, more like he had the worst person to teach him. Coming out of College his technique was pretty darn good, and it has slowly gotten worse. He would do much better in a zone blocking scheme if you ask me........and a better teacher.

 

[Surferosa]

Its notr a bad idea, since Wade is an athletic linemen. However, my biggest question with him has been his lack of strength to handle bigger linemen, and in the interior that will be one of his biggest challenges.

 

[unifiedtheory]

Kind of hard to win the starting center job when you show up to the offseason program late and weighing in at 350 lbs. Rex has really disappointed me with his lack of an offseason work ethic.

WOW! Good to see the Miami media is talking about that...actual NEWS, instead of reaching for stuff and making stories up.

That is big news. I did'nt see Hadnot as a center anyway I.M.O. I was hoping he'd compete for the right gaurd spot.

On the Smith to center thing. I think it could be a good move. He would be an athletic center. The only issue I have is his strength. I think a move to center would help him lessen the effect of the short wingspan/arms. He does'nt have the body to be a left tackle but he could work out at center.

Competition is a good thing. Resign McKinney and let him and Smith battle for the spot. Whomever loses the battle will be a good depth player since McKinney can also play gaurd and Smith could play both tackle spots.

I'm not as down on smith as a lot of people are, I think he is a useful player...he just iis'nt a starting left tackle in my opinion.

Does the Hadnot news mean that Stockar McDougle is the starting right gaurd by default? How much experience does McDougle have at gaurd? Was he brought in only to play tackle?

Seems to me that Houck and Saban are really shuffling the deck to see what works. It is nice to see a coaching staff putting the players in the best spot for them and seeing if they can succeed instead of forcing them into spots.

 

[Surferosa]

WOW! Good to see the Miami media is talking about that...actual NEWS, instead of reaching for stuff and making stories up.

That is big news. I did'nt see Hadnot as a center anyway I.M.O. I was hoping he'd compete for the right gaurd spot.

On the Smith to center thing. I think it could be a good move. He would be an athletic center. The only issue I have is his strength. I think a move to center would help him lessen the effect of the short wingspan/arms. He does'nt have the body to be a left tackle but he could work out at center.

Competition is a good thing. Resign McKinney and let him and Smith battle for the spot. Whomever loses the battle will be a good depth player since McKinney can also play gaurd and Smith could play both tackle spots.

I'm not as down on smith as a lot of people are, I think he is a useful player...he just iis'nt a starting left tackle in my opinion.

Does the Hadnot news mean that Stockar McDougle is the starting right gaurd by default? How much experience does McDougle have at gaurd? Was he brought in only to play tackle?

Seems to me that Houck and Saban are really shuffling the deck to see what works. It is nice to see a coaching staff putting the players in the best spot for them and seeing if they can succeed instead of forcing them into spots.

I wouldnt count Hadnot out just yet. Its still very early, even by offseason standards.

 

[Jaj]

WOW! Good to see the Miami media is talking about that...actual NEWS, instead of reaching for stuff and making stories up.

That is big news. I did'nt see Hadnot as a center anyway I.M.O. I was hoping he'd compete for the right gaurd spot.

On the Smith to center thing. I think it could be a good move. He would be an athletic center. The only issue I have is his strength. I think a move to center would help him lessen the effect of the short wingspan/arms. He does'nt have the body to be a left tackle but he could work out at center.

Competition is a good thing. Resign McKinney and let him and Smith battle for the spot. Whomever loses the battle will be a good depth player since McKinney can also play gaurd and Smith could play both tackle spots.

I'm not as down on smith as a lot of people are, I think he is a useful player...he just iis'nt a starting left tackle in my opinion.

Does the Hadnot news mean that Stockar McDougle is the starting right gaurd by default? How much experience does McDougle have at gaurd? Was he brought in only to play tackle?

Seems to me that Houck and Saban are really shuffling the deck to see what works. It is nice to see a coaching staff putting the players in the best spot for them and seeing if they can succeed instead of forcing them into spots.

No actually physically Wade Smith can be a very good center, but he should play at his draft weight of 295. Strength isn't really a problem for centers. They need to be strong in the lower body and that's what Smith has. He has very quick feet too. Houck could possibly work him into something.

 

[Jaj]

It's a crazy plan to say the least Saban, but it's brilliant to realize that Wade Smith is the ideal center physically. He should lose all that fat he gained for the 2004 season and simply go back to playing inside. Centers don't need long arms, don't need much upper body strength, and his height is perfect for a C.

He has very good quickness, speed, and leg drive. He just needs to learn to make the line calls effectively. Thank God it's Hudson Houck and his right-hand man from USC doing this for us. The best in the business. Maybe Wade Smith might not be a total bust.

 

[Jimmy James]

Can we actually create an all Wanny/Wise out of position line? How about:

LT - Carey
LG - St. Clair
C - Smith
RG - James
LT - McIntosh

I know we won't get it done because of McDougle, but it would really be amusing to have a new coaching staff take a terrible line and change it into a good line by playing people at their proper positions. :)

 

[mls737]

PALES in comparison to Duke's recruiting class.

I don't really want this thread to get sidetracked, and I certainly have no strong feelings about the Duke-UNC rivalry, this statement just simply isn't correct. Duke probably has a slightly stronger class, but if UNC's class pales in comparison to Duke, then Duke's pales in comparison to Kansas's class. Ultimately of course, Coach K has a much better track record of evaluating recruits than any of these recruiting expert, but the point is Duke and North Carolina are going to continue being among the premier teams in the country every single year. Also remember this name: Jon Scheyer. I read today the class of 2006 guard is leaning towards Duke over Illinois now.


Edit: I can't believe how many replies there were to this thread at 3:30 in the morning while I was writing my post.

 

[Jaj]

Actually if you wanted to change around last year's players the best plan would be to

LT- St. Clair
LG- James
C- Smith
RG- McIntosh
RT- Carey

 

[Jimmy James]

Actually if you wanted to change around last year's players the best plan would be to

LT- St. Clair
LG- James
C- Smith
RG- McIntosh
RT- Carey

That's not a complete change, though. Carey was supposed to be a RT, and James was the LG.

 

[Jaj]

That's not a complete change, though. Carey was supposed to be a RT, and James was the LG.

Well ya but I guess that's the only thing Wise had right

 

[Duss]

why not try wade smith at center he has upside he could always handle slower players well maybe against DT he can do a good job

 

[jbond]

http://www.finheaven.com/boardvb2/showthread.php?p=1095498#post1095498

The Center is the leader of the line....and is almost as hard of a position to play as QB having to read the opposing D, make line calls, protection / zone adjustments, pick up blitzers etc. Smith couldn't even pick up a one man rush on his side let alone need to recognize strong safeties coming up in a 4/3 or which LB in a 3/4 is going to blitz, which way the line should pull and all that fun stuff.

For the record, the only one on the team at the time who had quicker feet (after agility testing) was McKnight if I'm not mistaken. Smith is extremely strong and his biggest 'problems' at playing LT was size and technique (which he didn't get down after a year and lost his spot in the 2nd year).

In the end...my point being Smith doesn't have what it takes to be a C....(also scored a 23 I think on the Wonderlic if I remember correctly).

 

[CrunchTime]

I think its a case of making do with what you have more than anything else.Wade Smith doesnt fit the cerebral profile that you would like to have in a Center but maybe he wouldn't be pushed back so much as McKinney and the sweating problem Mc Kinney has has to be distracting for the QB..

Perhaps its Houck trying to find out what players can do what.They are already in our roster so might as well find out what they can do best.