how good can we be until heath gets back?

I haven't heard anymore about heath lately. can this offense and new o-line function up to snuff without him?

how ready will he be when he does try to play?

has spaeth gotten better?

can Paulson improve enough to help this matter? ( personnaly, the kid reminds me of a younger heath).

how will this slow the growth and confidence of our 2 young recievers? our young O-line? our young RB, without him?

I don't see heath being 100% for another year, will it matter in his play?

 

I actually started a thread with an update on Heath a week or so ago. He said he might be ready for week 2. I hope so!

 

well to answer the question how good can they be without heath... if he comes back week 2 they can be 1-0.. if he comes back week 3 they can be 2-0...thats how good they "coluld be"... but they wont be 2-0 with or without heath..

HINES

 

I agree , sort of about spaeth over pope talent wise but pope had 2 TD's and knew TH's offense. I wonder if the two back set would work out better until he's back?

do you think will J. would be the better receiver and spaeth as the stay at home guy. would we or could we use a play action scenario sending willj. through the hole and into a pattern as more of a pony backfield? or some other sort of two back set with maybe LSH and bell?

may we see a little different base set early on? will it change when he's back also? so many questions we need to know. TTF get on the horn with MT.

 

Good question, Mac, about something I have been trying REALLY hard, not to think about...
Unfortunateley, the reality is, it`s rare for pro football players to come back, "good as new" from serious knee injuries like this...
There have been some recent exceptions to the rule, With Adrian Peterson, and I forget who else... Mendy?....
And I have read that RGIII, is poised to start the season with the Redskins, but...
They are all much younger than Heath.
I have absoluteley no doubt, about his work ethic, when it comes to rehabbing his injury, or anything else,
However.. He is trying to rehab a body that just doesn` heal as fast as a younger man`s does...
That`s the truth.
Like it or not...
If anyone can do it, he can.. but , realistically... I`m worried..
I`ve read all the happy reports about him not limping after he does sprints, etc...
I just PRAY he can come back at the level he was, by midseason...
Even Hines, eventually got shown the door, because of age, and I have NO DOUBT he was working harder than any of the kids coming to camp, to get better...
I don`t doubt that Haley, can find ways to make up for his absence, for a few games, and it might even help Ben, to not have one of his best "security blankets"...
But, the bottom line is, Heath, is NOT replaceable, in his reliability, and effort on the field... It IS going to hurt, not having him out there, even on plays where he "only" blocks...
I`m hoping this is one of those cases, where I "worry over nothing"...
But, I just don`t think it`s a given, that we get him back as good as new, at any point this season, let alone, the first 3 or 4 games...
If anything, at least football is the ultimate TEAM sport, where the loss of ONE of eleven guys, can be compensated for by the other 10 guys.
But they are all gonna have to step up their games quite a bit, to make up for what HEEEEATTHHH brings to the team!!!
Just my 2 cents... Hopefully, he will be back, and good as new, by week 1 or 2... Just feels like that is wishin on a star...
Not really expecting that.

 

I expect that Heath will be back as soon as he can. I, also, suspect that he will hurt more than any of us will ever know, atleast for a while. This is a throw-back player, besides being my man-crush. My prediction is that he will be back when he says he will and that we wont see any loss of production from the guy. I have a feeling he is the kind of guy that says, "I'll hurt when its over".

 

Couldn't have said it any better ISJ, lets hope like TTF said that the next man up will be able to atleast provide some adequate playing time until
Heath gets back.

 

You know this is a curious thing about Pro sports in general. On average, and I emphasis average because I know their are freaks of nature out there that defy the mold (i.e. Peyton Manning, JH and so on), how much of a drop-off is their really between a starter and a back-up. I'm not suggesting I know the answer but it would be very, very interesting to see the results of a study done on this.

 

I would be surprised if we saw much more of a two back set. If you go back and watch the Chiefs and Cards under Haley it wasn't used anywhere near as much as people think.

 

I think we will miss Heath's production but not as much as people think. Keep in mind Ben and the entire offense has known about this for all the different camps etc. I would be much more concerned if this happened during the season and they had to do this more on the fly. I hope this to be the case. I would love nothing more to get off to a fast start this year and put some distance between us and the rest of the division early on.

 

running the two back sets with our best pass blockers would be the smart thing to do, for the simple fact of protecting ben until the O-line shows it's up to the task.

i'd even think about redman and willj. as the better of them. they are also the better receivers so far.

this camp and the lack of heath at full strength early has to have them changing some things up. or at least looking at it.

this is also a reason i'm looking at redman instead of dwyer. better pass blocker, better receiver. I think redman is the more complete back of the two.

not having one of the best TE's in the business around to help stay in and block or chipping a guy on the way downfield, will make the RB crucial early on and maybe longer. we also have linemen now that can get outside and block well on dumpoffs or delayed screens to these guys. willj. and redman in the open field with a posse are a couple of big guys to bring down.

it's going to be interesting to see if some of this is used on passing downs. i'm sure ben will be pushing for 5 wide sets on passing downs though. if the line can keep a clean pocket he might get it , but they won't make a habit of it. not until heath's back fully.

 

Curiious, anyone happen to know what type of backfield sets/personnel Haley and Bicknell (sp?) were running when they where together in KC?

 

they were not in KC together. Bicknell was in KC last year.

 

Oops ...
Curiious, anyone happen to know what type of backfield sets/personnel Haley was running when he was in KC?

 

we could run the "bone". dwyer should know how being from GT and j.brown should know how and landry jones should know how.

don't they teach that in history, in Oklahoma in the early grades and on through college?

 

For those (like me) that needed a "refresher course" in offensive formations after TTF's response.
http://brucey.net/nflab/howtoplay/formation.html
I gotta wonder though iffin "brucey.net" is BA's domain? LOL

 

No problem, and thanks actually.
Just remember, If it wasn't for you, I'd never found "brucey.net".

 

I think your onto something.If the Steelers do not show signs of being able to protect #7. We will definitley see this two back set and power running
football with short and intermediate passing with emphasis on quick play action.Remember their are qb career enders right here in our division that would like
nothing more than to take down #7.