Lots of talk on here about "getting healthy." I'll admit I've fallen into that but we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. "Getting healthy" isn't a given just because we are going into the easier part of our schedule.
Assumptions
1. Kirkland Jr will come back reasonably healthy and play the rest of the year and not make the injury worse. High ankle sprains suck and the likelihood he aggravates it seems reasonable to me.
The same holds true for Cameron Sutton and Alvin Kamara. Cam is a VFL but he could come back understandably lame/hesitant and not be as big as a factor as we all think. Same with Kamara.
2. Barnett, Dobbs, Tuttle, TKJ, Malone, Jennings, Wolf, Jumper, Hurd's current health. People are assuming these guys will continue without injuries. Dobbs is bound to twist an ankle or hurt a shoulder. It is going to happen. He screwed up his ankle last year and played through it for a few games.
3. The whole damn offensive line. Trying to rehabilitate injuries and continue to play is unlikely. It is my belief we will be in the current situation throughout the rest of the year with our offensive line health and depth which crippled us against Alabama this past weekend. It will continue to hurt us.
The offensive line will make or break these last 5 games. Without them we will have a difficult time moving the ball and scoring the points. TOP will swing in our opponents favor which will keep our defense on the field too long.
I am wary that we will get some guys back from injuries but will suffer the same attrition with the guys that are currently healthy. This has been a rough year and I don't see it turning around just because our schedule is going to get easier.
Assumptions
1. Kirkland Jr will come back reasonably healthy and play the rest of the year and not make the injury worse. High ankle sprains suck and the likelihood he aggravates it seems reasonable to me.
The same holds true for Cameron Sutton and Alvin Kamara. Cam is a VFL but he could come back understandably lame/hesitant and not be as big as a factor as we all think. Same with Kamara.
2. Barnett, Dobbs, Tuttle, TKJ, Malone, Jennings, Wolf, Jumper, Hurd's current health. People are assuming these guys will continue without injuries. Dobbs is bound to twist an ankle or hurt a shoulder. It is going to happen. He screwed up his ankle last year and played through it for a few games.
3. The whole damn offensive line. Trying to rehabilitate injuries and continue to play is unlikely. It is my belief we will be in the current situation throughout the rest of the year with our offensive line health and depth which crippled us against Alabama this past weekend. It will continue to hurt us.
The offensive line will make or break these last 5 games. Without them we will have a difficult time moving the ball and scoring the points. TOP will swing in our opponents favor which will keep our defense on the field too long.
I am wary that we will get some guys back from injuries but will suffer the same attrition with the guys that are currently healthy. This has been a rough year and I don't see it turning around just because our schedule is going to get easier.
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