GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
Pretty sure George McDonald does, too.
Ryan Walters hired as Head Coach at Purdue
- Status
Thankful for his contributions, he has had some big moments. but IW has not lived up to the hype. Many costly mistakes. Shifty, but ain't blowing the doors off anything. We haven't had a real recieving threat in awhile. Nobody you can point too and say, that dude got NFL all over him. Dudeks career broke my heart.. what could have been.
Interesting
Huh?
IW is very important to this offense whether he has 15 or 115 receiving yards. Spread offense that is run heavy with the D focusing on Brown and IW this season. I will be the first to say watching IW at times can be frustrating. Few drops where he is looking to manuever before catching the ball or an inch of grass that is likely an inch taller than the other and he trips and lost his footing
The guy is a playmaker at the collegiate level who has HR potential anytime he touches the ball. 72 receptions with a new OC and QB is quite impressive. They were looking for ways to get IW the ball, sometimes effective and other times not so much. Take him off this teams offense and you have a bigger crowd in the box against Brown.Split ends tend to grow slowly though. . .
DaChief4ever
- Urbana
We're giving way too much credit to RW and Coordinators in general. Would Bama or Georgia fight over RW? If you don't have the players all the concepts and game plans mean little. Same play executed by Bama or Georgia gets different results from same play executed by Northwestern.
Take the elite running back out of the equation... Then how good is IW? Maybe with a better deep threat reciever, I'd appreciate IW more. But I'm just not seeing what others are, apparently. He was a fumble machine in crucial times of the game. He belongs on the team and should be a starter, he can be electric at times. But if he's the ceiling we got problems.Huh?
IW is very important to this offense whether he has 15 or 115 receiving yards. Spread offense that is run heavy with the D focusing on Brown and IW this season. I will be the first to say watching IW at times can be frustrating. Few drops where he is looking to manuever before catching the ball or an inch of grass that is likely an inch taller than the other and he trips and lost his footing
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
Dang. How'd they manage to get him? This is a formidable defense / offense combo...
Graham Harrell probably wanted to get to somewhere stable. PU is in the resource rich B10 w/a new coach, whereas I think (could be wrong) there is some question as to how long Neal Brown will be around at W Virginia. I believe I read an article saying Brown is a hot seat candidate heading into 2023.
Brown is a great college RB but teams would load the box without IW on this roster. How long has IW played WR at the collegiate level? He moved positions because he is dynamic with the ball in his hands. IW has some flaws...but saying he hasn't lived up to the hype is completely false.
This team is going to take time to mold and Illinois OVERACHIEVED this season. Having weapons at multiple positions just opens the field up. Illinois should have more talent and depth at WR next season barring any departures.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
I'm surprised he survived this year to be honest, and Harrell is a part of that. His was a white-hot coaching stock that cooled rapidly as Clay Helton's USC fell apart.
Still, a good get for Walters, and another Air Raid guy coming to the B1G West. Obviously avant garde passing offense isn't as foreign to Purdue as it is to Wisconsin, but I'm happy to see that we're starting to be a bit of an outlier playing a style our conference opponents will be less used to and which certain types of recruits will fit better in than some of our competitors.
Though I suspect all of these programs are starting to seek the insight that Bielema and Lunney did so well in many parts of this year, how to gain the tactical advantages tempo brings while also gaining the strategic advantages clock control brings. Best of both worlds. Walters is a 36-year-old Power Five head coach because he had a rested defense playing a limited number of snaps and I am sure he fully recognizes that.
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mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
If IW just repeats his 2022 performance next season, he'll be:
#2 all-time in receptions
#10 all-time in receiving yards
#6 all-time in receiving TDs
mhuml32
- Cincinnati, OH
I cannot agree enough with this statement. I have doubts about the effectiveness of Air Raid concepts within the upper Midwest for weather-related reasons but the supply-demand for the regional high school talent related to schematic need is starting to tilt further in the program's favor.
blackdog
- Champaign
And hes a SOPHOMORE IN HIS SECOND YEAR PLAYING THE POSITION! Nobody is talking about Pat Bryant like this because they would be laughed out of the building...
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
He's not strong with the ball either catching it in the first place or retaining it once he's got it. NFL scouts will not look kindly at that. But he's one of our most important offensive weapons regardless, this would be a lesser team without him.
217sports
- Springfield
WVU fans are fine seeing him leave. Questions whether Brown actually gave him full play calling does make him more of a potential to work out if he didn’t get the full option to do what he wanted but he’s turning into a big name with meh results. Think he left for more of a stable situation though
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Players of his size and skill profile are impact players all over the NFL, whose offenses are becoming more and more college-y every year. He's always been considered and considered himself an NFL prospect and should continue to do so, he's not some ill-suited tweener at all, that's not a category that exists anymore.
But the league's tolerance for ball security problems is, like, zero.
If he ends up a non-NFL player it's because he didn't sharpen his game up enough, not that he's the wrong "type" of player or not a significant enough talent.
This might be the most obvious yet not talked about point in ALL of the success both we had as a team and RW had as a DC.
If he and Harrell can’t get on the same page (regardless of who RW’s DC is or if RW himself is calling the plays on D) it could sink Purdue.
Quick drives (tactically good/strategically neutral if they end in a score or strategically bad if they don’t) that often go along with pass happy offenses are going to put the D out there A LOT and even a RW’s D gets tired in the 4th quarter if it’s asked to do too much.
On Harrell…seems like people not enthusiastic about him last year at WV or at USC year before. Could be him or micromanaged last year or not right qb fit.
www.reddit.com
Reddit - Dive into anything
www.reddit.com
I thought coach Jamison had a link to Purdue and might return, but looked into it and he was the dline coach for only one year before joining Illini. So, assuming unlikely to join RW but??
Maybe I'm wrong(I'm wrong) but I would be the least sad if he goes.... it's a big loss but the least big loss?
That being said II'm of the mindset RW and BB had a lot of conversations about this.
On Harrell…seems like people not enthusiastic about him last year at WV or at USC year before. Could be him or micromanaged last year or not right qb fit.
Reddit - Dive into anything
Yeah, it’s hard to judge sometimes. If people looked at our hire of Walters 2 years ago through the the lens of Miznoz fans, it was a bad hire.
Illinivek23
- Gurnee
TJ is a Badger, not a Colorado/Mizzou guy
- Status