He was in the spring game.
He was out there with the ones. The QB's never really looked in his direction, and as you stated, he did not have a catch.
I was at the spring game and watched Stonum a little bit, he was getting pretty frustrated and pissed...hopefully he won't turn into another greg matthews 2009.
He was pleading his case on the sidelines.
Boy wants the ball!!! Gotta like that.
He actually made a comment to me about it when my boy was getting his autograph. Made me think he may not be so happy.
Mathews*
I'd be interested to see if he gets time in the slot. The guy has too much ability to leave out there as an outside receiver.
I'm surprised you got negged for this. I've been saying we should move him around and get him in the slot for awhile now. If we get the ball to our slot WR's then why don't we use his talent from that spot?
I'm split between thinking the coaches won't get him the ball enough and/or that they were very vanilla with the offense.
How fast is he? He's been billed as a burner, and he did a great job as our kickoff returner last year, but his top speed doesn't seem that fast. His two TDs (ND return, MSU reception) were fantastic plays but I felt like he had a hard time really getting away from the defense.
Didn't he have a TD vs Purdue where he broke that tackle from the corner and strolled into the endzone?
I felt bad for him in the Spring Game, nobody even looked his way. The guy has so much talent but he has just not put it together yet.
I was also wondering about this. There hasn't been much news on him this spring at all.
I was a little surprised to hear Rodriguez talking up Gallon on kick returns because I thought Stonum did a stellar job there last year. If Gallon is even better we are in great shape.
stand beside Stonum on kick returns (I assume).
Gallon being a threat really helps mitigate directional kicking shenanigans.
and letting the one who you want to have the ball go get it also helps mitigate directional kicking shenanigans.
can all agree that fewer kick off return opportunities is something to hope for this year, and many more punt return opporutnities (requisite hold onto the damn ball).
I like Stonum as kick off return guy. Doesn't seem like the shiftiest guy out there, but it looks like he can make a cut if he sees a seam and jet through it (as he did a couple times last year).
Is there some talk about Gallon on punt returns? The vid from spring game didn't really show who was doing the receiving on the back end that I recall. I would assume Odoms is in the mix here and possibly T. Robinson?
But Gallon was the first (and only) guy who had any chance of catching one of those godawful punts.
scary that the punter job is likely a true freshman's to lose. Even Space Emperor (of Space) had a redshirt year. Keep that leg warm, Tate.
It's his to lose, I think it's just his, period. Either that, or Tate.
it wasn't gallon and stonum on kickoff returns. Stonum is good, I wouldnt be suprised if he had a breakout year this year.
He was wide open more than a few times. I'm curious if they didn't call his number on purpose to save some downfield plays that noone has seen...OR the QB's don't like him. Take your pick.
Since stonum broke breaston's kickoff return yard record last year I would hope he will still be back there on kickoff.
At least one of Stonum and Hemingway need to step up. Roundtree should be good for at least 700 yards, although I guess that would depend on who our starting QB will be. But after him we don't have any clutch guys. Odoms is good, but he can also disappear. We need a big play guy, and that has to be Stonum or Hemingway.
April 21st, 2010 at 10:40 PM ^
Stonum and Hemingway are the veterans of the group and need to step up and contribute. I don't want to count on a freshman again.
I actually disagree with the "step up" comments. Last year and in the spring game (not Hemingway in the spring game obviously, but last year) I've seen these guys wide open on numerous plays. The QB's either just aren't finding the outside guys when they're open, or the majority of plays are designed to go to the slot first.
If you really look at the history of RR's offense at WVU, the outside guys have basically been deep receivers that are expected to go up and get some jump balls. That was basically what Chris Henry did. Ran deep routes and won jump balls. The short passing game is basically all slot/TE stuff. The mid level stuff if really still TE's and slots.
The spread offense also really doesn't have a ton of routes for the outside guys. They do not run the full route tree. Basically you'll see 4's, 7's and 9's out of the outside guys.
i was there and actually watched him for quite a long time in warmups. He did not have a catch in the game though, like you guys already pointed out, but he looked very solid in warmups.
He possessed very good route running, great hands, and aggression to go after the ball. He has a lot of potential, his only problem I saw though was sometimes he looked to be about a quarter of a second slower than the other WRs, relating to quickness.
We will see what we will see...
April 23rd, 2010 at 11:27 AM ^
I'm not sure about the speed thing, I'm pretty sure he's our fastest wide-out.