Trotter, Green officially get promoted

[JR4AU]

I'll throw in negativity - I don't like the AJ Greene to right tackle move. 

It just doesn't "feel" correct.  Like something is off.  Like, we recruited two four star junior college studs to compete for right tackle because we didn't have anyone to play that position.  Like, those two studs couldn't get it done, so we threw in the scrub that at least knows the offense.  Bad vibes, man.

And we need a :Kaos: emoticon.

This...no soooo negative...but this. 

[JR4AU]

Exactly. On top of that, OL is a much more fluid position than say, QB. It's not like those guys won't be seeing the field at all.  Read: DEPTH.

Wrong....or hopefully wrong...not on the OL.  You don't rotate in OL like you do DL to give them breathers.  It's not fluid.  If it's fluid, it means you're unsettled, and that's not good on OL.  The OL has to have chemistry, and the QB has to trust them.  If you have a settled OL, then the starters play 90%+ of the meaningful snaps.  You may, for some odd reason or another (maybe you got a guy that's got a nagging little injury, or isn't grading out as well as he should) sub once in a while, but by and large, the OL remains fixed, and the starters play as long as the game is still at issue and your starting QB is in.  Depth on the OL means little...when you have to start getting in to your depth chart on the OL, it generally means playing inexperienced guys due to injury, or like last year, due to player suspension.     

[djsimp]

The one thing I will say about Malzahns offense, he doesn't like doing too many subs, especially on any certain possession, except for the skill players if need be.

[AuburnChopper 3.0]

It still concerns me that we picked up 2 JC t'fers in Gayden and Mosely and neigher could win the job from a Jr. that's been at Auburn and has, to date, shown very little.   I'm thrilled the light finally came on for Greene, but you don't bring in JCs if you don't expect them to be your starters.

I get where you're at, but I think it's also a product of a young man growing up and getting his priorities in order.  Sounds like he's had the physical talent, but maybe he just needed to get focused.  Bringing in two JC's that will basically ensure your playing time demise, will do that.  Could just be that he's maturing.

[JR4AU]

I get where you're at, but I think it's also a product of a young man growing up and getting his priorities in order.  Sounds like he's had the physical talent, but maybe he just needed to get focused.  Bringing in two JC's that will basically ensure your playing time demise, will do that.  Could just be that he's maturing.

We can hope that's it.  I do!  I really really do, but I also look at the depth chart on the link below, and see his name listed nowhere in 15 OLs.  15...that's 3 deep as of some 3 weeks ago, and his name wasn't even in the mix...ANYWHERE!  I'm not Kaos, or Greasyfuckstick...but I know something fishy when I see it.   Chad "Muthafuckin WHO?" Slade was listed on the RT depth chart, but not Greene. 

http://auburn.rivals.com/cdepthtext.asp?team=AUBURN&TEKey=7&Offense=252&Defense=15

[Snaggletiger]

Again, Mosely is learning a new position just as Greene has switched positions in his career. They've been working Mosely behind Ziemba so they may feel he's more suited for that side.  As many have said, Gayden has battled injuries since he got here. I hadn't heard that, but if that's the case, someone else winning the job makes sense.  And it just may be that while he's a mountain of a man and all that in JC, he may not be all that and a bag of chips against SEC competition.

The thing is with Greene, whether he turns out to be a stud at the position or not, I don't think we're really taking into account how this guy has transformed himself.  He was recruited as a DE and labored in that position for a while and suffering through injuries.  He was redshirted in 07'and didn't play at all in 08'.  They moved him to the offensive line, getting in 2 games in 09'; however, if memory serves me, he's never been above that 270-280 range.  Now, the guy has used the off season to beef himself up and dedicate himself to winning the position from all accounts I've read.  I don't know if Greene will do squat once the season starts but he's sure impressed the staff enough to name him the starter.   

[AuburnChopper 3.0]

Again, Mosely is learning a new position just as Greene has switched positions in his career. They've been working Mosely behind Ziemba so they may feel he's more suited for that side.  As many have said, Gayden has battled injuries since he got here. I hadn't heard that, but if that's the case, someone else winning the job makes sense.  And it just may be that while he's a mountain of a man and all that in JC, he may not be all that and a bag of chips against SEC competition.

The thing is with Greene, whether he turns out to be a stud at the position or not, I don't think we're really taking into account how this guy has transformed himself.  He was recruited as a DE and labored in that position for a while and suffering through injuries.  He was redshirted in 07'and didn't play at all in 08'.  They moved him to the offensive line, getting in 2 games in 09'; however, if memory serves me, he's never been above that 270-280 range.  Now, the guy has used the off season to beef himself up and dedicate himself to winning the position from all accounts I've read.  I don't know if Greene will do squat once the season starts but he's sure impressed the staff enough to name him the starter.

This.   However, JR feel's somethin's fishy.  We've all seen when someone knows, and by God, they just KNOW!  ....eh hem.

Just messin' JR.   Who's to say.   Just from what I've seen though, Greene looks the part, and has definitely seemed to have earned it in practice.  I'm cool with it, and it doesn't equate to issues with other players just because either.

[JR4AU]

Again, Mosely is learning a new position just as Greene has switched positions in his career. They've been working Mosely behind Ziemba so they may feel he's more suited for that side.

LTs...if they're good, often "wait their turn" as RTs.  Just sayin'.  And it's not rocket science.  Everybody knew Mosley was recruited as an OL, not a TE.  McCain had come to AU as a TE.  The duties of a blocking TE and RT are very similar.   

As many have said, Gayden has battled injuries since he got here. I hadn't heard that, but if that's the case, someone else winning the job makes sense.  And it just may be that while he's a mountain of a man and all that in JC, he may not be all that and a bag of chips against SEC competition.

  Injuries are a legit issue.  Sullen is injured now too.  So that could be it.  However, if they brought them in thinking they were "it" and are not, that means they missed on not one, but two JCs.  That's not good. 

The thing is with Greene, whether he turns out to be a stud at the position or not, I don't think we're really taking into account how this guy has transformed himself.  He was recruited as a DE and labored in that position for a while and suffering through injuries.  He was redshirted in 07'and didn't play at all in 08'.  They moved him to the offensive line, getting in 2 games in 09'; however, if memory serves me, he's never been above that 270-280 range.  Now, the guy has used the off season to beef himself up and dedicate himself to winning the position from all accounts I've read.  I don't know if Greene will do squat once the season starts but he's sure impressed the staff enough to name him the starter.

Sometimes these "moves" are made not because the guy took the position, but because the others ahead of them lost it, or can't perform due to injury.  Big difference.

This.   However, JR feel's somethin's fishy.  We've all seen when someone knows, and by God, they just KNOW!  ....eh hem.

Just messin' JR.   Who's to say.   Just from what I've seen though, Greene looks the part, and has definitely seemed to have earned it in practice.  I'm cool with it, and it doesn't equate to issues with other players just because either.

Fishy might not be the best word.  Not suggesting anything is being hidden or whatever...just that "it is what it is, ah'ight".  It appears our coaching staff misjudged 2 JC's and now have roster spots being taken by guys who have limited time at AU to develope, shouldn't need the time to develople like a Fr., and could be being taken by younger guys with more time to contribute.   Like I've said over and over, you don't bring in JC guys to develpe them, or to "compete for a job". 

[AuburnChopper 3.0]

LTs...if they're good, often "wait their turn" as RTs.  Just sayin'.  And it's not rocket science.  Everybody knew Mosley was recruited as an OL, not a TE.  McCain had come to AU as a TE.  The duties of a blocking TE and RT are very similar.   
  Injuries are a legit issue.  Sullen is injured now too.  So that could be it.  However, if they brought them in thinking they were "it" and are not, that means they missed on not one, but two JCs.  That's not good. 

Sometimes these "moves" are made not because the guy took the position, but because the others ahead of them lost it, or can't perform due to injury.  Big difference.

Fishy might not be the best word.  Not suggesting anything is being hidden or whatever...just that "it is what it is, ah'ight".  It appears our coaching staff misjudged 2 JC's and now have roster spots being taken by guys who have limited time at AU to develope, shouldn't need the time to develople like a Fr., and could be being taken by younger guys with more time to contribute.   Like I've said over and over, you don't bring in JC guys to develpe them, or to "compete for a job".

I think you're just reading too much into it.  I don't think Greene winning the position has squat to do with the coaches missing on the two transfers.  Just sayin..  Maybe you're just very thirsty for some debate on a slow Friday.

[War Eagle!!!]

The duties of a blocking TE and RT are very similar.   

Um. No.

But I agree with every thing else you have said. Something is kind of fishy. Hopefully Green has just "matured" and it is not that he won because everyone else is not really that good...

[Snaggletiger]

I'm not getting the part about bringing JC guys in to compete for a job.  I know that ideally, you want them to step in if they're good enough.  But Auburn, along with virtually every D1 college re-signs players who had to go the JUCO route and they have to come in and prove it at this level like everyone else.  Sometimes, it turns out they had no idea that a freshman recruit is as good as he is and he's ready to hit the field immediately.  I promise that 2* Chad Slade (Whom I joined in the point and laugh-fest over) is anything but what I thought.  Huge, aggressive kid who will break the rotation at some point in his career....IMO. Same with unrated Tunde Fariyike. 6'2" 330.  He was running 2nd team center Saturday.   3* Shaun Kitchens was another that most people wondered why we offered.  He WILL be in the rotation this year.  Freakin' beast at the WR position.

I just don't see where it's a bad thing or even questionable that a guy literally transformed himself and made the decision to go out there and win a job...over an injured player.   

[JR4AU]

Um. No.

But I agree with every thing else you have said. Something is kind of fishy. Hopefully Green has just "matured" and it is not that he won because everyone else is not really that good...

Thanks. 

I meant on the RT and TE...assuming they're playing in a system where the TE is playing close to the T (which they don't in Malzahn's)...but like in the I for instance...they either are often double teaming the same guy, or having to block LBs in space.  I know they're not the same position, and I know that being the pin on a double team is different from being the post,  but they do have to understand each other's job's in some offenses, and in some cases in offenses where they don't use the TE to catch the ball, they convert a small tackle to play there.  Didn't mean to suggest they are the same postion with the exact same duties, but the transition isn't completely foriegn for a guy that's been a BLOCKING TE.   

Oh, and other's that want to spin this up as a postivie...War Eagle has played the game at a high level.  Think I'm just being argumentative now? 

[AuburnChopper 3.0]

Think I'm just being argumentative now?

Maybe just a tad.  It's your opinion, and you're certainly entitled to that.  I just don't agree that has anything to do with being fishy.  I just think the kid worked his tail off, and after maturing over the course of several years and several injuries, understood if he didn't make it happen this year, he wasn't going to.

I think the kid deserves cred.  Not just an assumption that he only got it because the other to JC transfers might be flops, which doesn't say much for what you think about them either.  Someone's going to win the position, and someone, or others are going to NOT get the postion.  Not sure how that translates to an automatic assumtion of misses on the recruting front.

[JR4AU]

I'm not getting the part about bringing JC guys in to compete for a job.  I know that ideally, you want them to step in if they're good enough.  But Auburn, along with virtually every D1 college re-signs players who had to go the JUCO route and they have to come in and prove it at this level like everyone else.  Sometimes, it turns out they had no idea that a freshman recruit is as good as he is and he's ready to hit the field immediately.  I promise that 2* Chad Slade (Whom I joined in the point and laugh-fest over) is anything but what I thought.  Huge, aggressive kid who will break the rotation at some point in his career....IMO. Same with unrated Tunde Fariyike. 6'2" 330.  He was running 2nd team center Saturday.   3* Shaun Kitchens was another that most people wondered why we offered.  He WILL be in the rotation this year.  Freakin' beast at the WR position.

I just don't see where it's a bad thing or even questionable that a guy literally transformed himself and made the decision to go out there and win a job...over an injured player.

Re-signing a guy you recruited and bringing in Juco's from nowhere is different.  Coaches and players will tell you that you don't bring in Juco's to compete with guys you already have on campus that have a legit shot at winning the job...you can destroy team chemistry when you bring a guy in off the street to compete against a guy that's been there paying his dues.   Players know who can play and who can't and when you don't have a guy at a position...a guy with a legit shot to play except for the fact that there's nobody with any real SEC talent...then it's ok to bring in a guy to fill the NEED.  If AJ Greene had really thought the RT job was his, and all his teammates had felt that way...then bringing in the Jucos might have messed things up...as it was, everybody under the sun knew we didn't have a RT on campus that was "entitled to the job" in the sense that he'd paid his dues, AND shown he had the talent.  Sullen had a little...but he's been questionable from day one.  It's just a thing.  Jucos can help you when you need them, but you can destroy a program if you try to rely on them.   

[JR4AU]

Maybe just a tad.  It's your opinion, and you're certainly entitled to that.  I just don't agree that has anything to do with being fishy.  I just think the kid worked his tail off, and after maturing over the course of several years and several injuries, understood if he didn't make it happen this year, he wasn't going to.

I think the kid deserves cred.  Not just an assumption that he only got it because the other to JC transfers might be flops, which doesn't say much for what you think about them either.  Someone's going to win the position, and someone, or others are going to NOT get the postion.  Not sure how that translates to an automatic assumtion of misses on the recruting front.

I'm going to stick with my suspicions, and take heart in the fact that a guy that's played the game understands what I'm getting at and shares my concerns.   

[Snaggletiger]

That's been my thing all along.  "Something's fishy" doesn't pass the smell test.  A.J. Greene is not even close to the same player he was in years past.  Is he all world?  Probably not or there wouldn't even be competition for the job.  But, he's damn sure impressed Gus Malzahn enough to trust him with the RT position in his offense. 

Chris Todd thinks your "arguments" don't pass the smell test either.

[AuburnChopper 3.0]

I'm going to stick with my suspicions, and take heart in the fact that a guy that's played the game understands what I'm getting at and shares my concerns.

Haha.  Okay.   Kind of weak, but I hear ya.   I played.  I think some others here have played too.  This isn't a knock on WE!!!, but I'm not thinking of him in terms of playing at a high level and all might master of team chemistry and psycology.  No offense to him.

If you want to cling to that though, then okay.  I just think you're letting your imagination run a little wild here.   Keep up the good fight, sir.

[JR4AU]

That's been my thing all along.  "Something's fishy" doesn't pass the smell test.  A.J. Greene is not even close to the same player he was in years past.  Is he all world?  Probably not or there wouldn't even be competition for the job.  But, he's damn sure impressed Gus Malzahn enough to trust him with the RT position in his offense. 

Chris Todd thinks your "arguments" don't pass the smell test either.

Hmmm, you think Chris Todd's arrival on campus doesn't bolster my "team chemistry" argument?  Were you sleeping or drunk through the 2008 season?

[AuburnChopper 3.0]

Hmmm, you think Chris Todd's arrival on campus doesn't bolster my "team chemistry" argument?  Were you sleeping or drunk through the 2008 season?

....and were you drunk during 2009, when the decision to start Todd over Burns, and subsequent reactions from the same players became a positive?

There also might have been one or five hundred different things to blame team chemistry on that year (2008). 

C'mon man.

[JR4AU]

Haha.  Okay.   Kind of weak, but I hear ya.   I played.  I think some others here have played too.  This isn't a knock on WE!!!, but I'm not thinking of him in terms of playing at a high level and all might master of team chemistry and psycology.  No offense to him.

If you want to cling to that though, then okay.  I just think you're letting your imagination run a little wild here.   Keep up the good fight, sir.

It's just my opinion is all.  It's strange.  I played too....not in college.  I coach too...not in college.  WE played college ball.  But regardless...I had my opinion on the matter before he chimed in, and I'll stay with it.  It is just an opinion, not a fight to convince you or anyone else, even though you're wrong   , or at the very least simply looking for a postive spin on what appears to be a less than ideal situation.   Here's hoping Greene is a monster at RT.

....and were you drunk during 2009, when the decision to start Todd over Burns, and subsequent reactions from the same players became a positive?

There also might have been one or five hundred different things to blame team chemistry on that year (2008). 

C'mon man.

That was after Burns had proved he wasn't the guy and had done so in games AFTER taking over for Todd, after a failed season,  after a coaching change...after lots of changes...his initial arrival on campus wasn't welcome by the players because at the time they felt is was Kodi's job.  And I suspect, no, I KNOW that, along with many other things factored in heavily to 2008.  In 2009 the job was opened to all comers...Todd won it as opposed to being brought in to compete with a guy that everyone thought had waited his turn for it.   


YOU come on if you think they're the same thing!