10 Midseason Storylines
Last year QB Cesario had the best passing season in Hazzard history 73% with 25 TDs and 8 Interceptions. With a WR/TE Room that is just as good and his improvement we figured that would cancel out the improved competition. So far this year he hasn't played well with 5% less,15 yards less a game and just 4 TD and 4 Interceptions. We are chalking this up to having 3 major road games vs elite teams and the stats will come the 2nd half of the season. We are never going to throw for a lot of yards, but he want more passing TDs in the redzone when teams stack the box. With a 88 overall grade we project him to go pro after his Junior season
2. Should Junior Office be Starting at QB?
Fan's love the backup QB and when you run the ball 80% of the time it's expected you will start the guy with 94 speed, 90 accel/agility and platinum magician over the guy with 85/80/80. With the slow start of Cesario it has fans wanting to put in Office and open up more of the triple option game. Junior definitely isn't a thrower with just 86 arm power and best accuracy a near capped out 81. For now Uncle Jesse has no plans to make a QB change, but with 2 games coming up as big favorites we could see Junior take some snaps. It's shaping up that Junior battles with a 5* QB this spring or maybe even mores to HB
3.#7 Ranking
After the crazy over reaction and dropping to #12, Hazzard is back up to #7. With a schedule that softens the 2nd half we do project to make the playoffs. We still have to face #9 Florida at home and #19 A&M on the road.
#4 HB Tejada Not in Heisman Race
Many expected the senior HB to be up for the award coming off the Doak Walker last year and a grade of 92 overall. He is having a big year with 672 yards and 5 TD's, but he has just 3 catches. The receiving stats is something the voters look for. He also hasn't be needing to carry the load with some other senior power backs around to the dirty work. Tejada is a hoss with 98 speed, 99 accel,99 agility, 99 change of direction, 99 break tackle, 86 trucking and platinum downhill. He is currently 7th in the country in yards so it's not going to take much to get him into the award races. The Doak Walker could be tough with FSU HB Ogletree with 855 and 13.
#5 LB Jimmy Tutt Steps Up
We went with speed and unproven in our LB room and it's been just fine. Junior Jimmy Tutt (81 ovr) has stepped up with 30 tackles, 10 TFL and 6 sacks. If he can get some more tackles and get those sacks at 10+ he can be up for some post season awards. He had just normal dev and will be back for his senior season next year
#6 Pass Defense 19th in Country
After being top 10 last year and nearly everyone back we weren't sure how it would fare in the SEC. Even with a loaded front half schedule the pass defense is 19th in the country with 209 per game. It does have some fans wishing we hadn't gone to the 2nd string vs LSU in the 4th quarter. We have 3 underclassmen CB's with playing style deal breaker, so we have to pay attention to this as we need all 3 of them back next year and we are barely making them happy. This unit could look way different next year with the following players all expected to leave or easily could Senior CB Burns (89), Sophomore Toney (87), Sophomore Hassenauer (86), Sophomore FS Alvardo (93), Sophomore SS Grymes (88)
#7 Gossett's Not Waiting Till Next Year
Jahlil Gossett (85 ovr) is the #1 HB for next year his deal breaker is pro potential which we have meet. Then we are about to get 3 or 4 more HBs drafted this year. He is a E/W playmaker so a speed type with 99 speed, 98 accel and platinum shifty. We use him as the #2 HB so he plays in formations like flexbone, wishbone and then also is our return guy. He wasn't awaiting around and his 7 rushing TD's lead the team and he only has 31 carries. He has also added 10 catches and 1 TD as well as 2 PR's for TD. This could mean he wins the jet award and maybe a increase to his impact dev. We could be a little thin at HB compared to usual next year, but we definitely know who the #1 will be
#8 7th Ranked Recruiting Class
A bit of a tease here as we are going to wait a few more weeks until we go in depth on who has committed. We have just 4 commits with 1 5* and three 4*. We are currently in week 7 and week 8 is the big recruiting week for us. We will have 5* elite QB Jame Leamon, 4* gem blocking TE Jose Franco, 4* OG Trent Abraham and 5* gem C Finau Hufanga all on campus. We currently lead for all 4 guys so baring something unexpected we expect commits from all of them after they visit. We will also be able to schedule late visits for weeks 9 which will be a big one since it's Florida. Then also weeks 12 and 13.
#9 SEC Champ Game Likely
With a 4-1 SEC record it's likely Hazzard will make the SEC title game in year 1. SEC does play 9 conference games now and just 1 we are saying is an automatic win. It's to early to tell who we will face off with, but we are hoping for a rematch with Alabama or maybe the 99 overall UGA team. We don't play UGA in the regular season
#10 238-pound HB Carswell Make His Debut
We scouted the earth far and wide for athlete contact seeker HB and finally 2 years ago we found one we thought was good enough to offer. We always like the normal contact seeker HB's better even with them coming in about 25 pounds less. People have mixed opinions of Eric despite him being a 4* gem, he had just impact dev and some are scared away by his 85 speed and 86 acceleration. As we said a 238-pound HB with 89 trucking and 91 acceleration. However, the elusiveness is close to capped out and no real abilities at this time. Eric was solid in his debut vs the starting unit of LSU and had 11 carries for 49 yards. He will get the benefit of some HB's getting drafted which will help. Look for him to work on that power and start at flexbone FB next year. We are losing 3 senior HB's and then 2 more likely to leave early for the draft.
