Spring has arrived, and Saturday’s event at Spartan Stadium was a nice change of pace given the bland, mundane life we have been leading during the COVID 19 pandemic, but with respect, we didn’t learn anything meaningful from Spartan Spring Practice.
Normally, we would get to see players competing in simulated, game like conditions: Offense vs Defense; and 1’s vs 2’s.
Normally we would get to see if a miserable 2020 Offense has corrected course, yet Saturday we saw practice with an abundance of Passing, and very little Running.
Due to the format, we were unable to determine if the Offense could sustain drives…move the chains or operate in game like conditions. Let’s remember, the Spartans Offense ranked “dead last” in the Big Ten in 2020, and ranked #109 when measured against 127 D-1/FBS Schools, yet Saturday’s exercise didn’t help us determine if there was any measure of improvement from last season.
Saturday, we saw a lot of “deep passes” but we saw a lot of deep passes last season and of course, that didn’t translate into the victory column.
Yet, it would be fair to say, the Spartans have a gifted cadre of Receivers, but passing is only one component of a balanced Offense. Where is the Rushing Offense?
We were anxious to see if the Rushing Offense has achieved any measure of improvement.
As another friendly reminder, the Spartans Rushing Offense ranked #122 when measured against 127 D-1/FBS Schools in 2020 by way of compiling a dismal average of just 2.7 Yards per attempt, and that was the worst in the Big Ten.
Said another way, statistically the Rushing Offense in 2020 was the worst in Spartan history!
We got what Mel Tucker Promised (but is it what fans wanted?):
Here is what Mel Tucker said prior to Saturday’s event:
“It’s gonna be a meat-and-potatoes-type practice. There’s not gonna be a whole lot of French pastry in terms of inside the lines, But in terms of the practice, we’re gonna do what we do. We gotta get out there, and we gotta get work done. It’s practice 15 for us, and it’s another opportunity to get better, an aggregation of marginal gains.”
Yet, after a dreaded 2020 season that saw the Spartans lose to Rutgers and get blown out by Iowa and Ohio State, I have to “scratch my head” when Mel Tucker said:
“We’re just going to give our fans and everyone an inside look at how we practice…. The focus is going to be on the efficiency, the attention to detail, the sense of urgency which we practice, the enthusiasm, the high effort, the high energy – that’s really how we go about our practices.
But not so fast.
With respect to Mel Tucker, after a dismal 2-5 season and after posting some of the worst stats in Spartan history, fans couldn’t care less about practice efficiency. Save practice efficiency for Monday thru Friday.
Fans and stakeholders wanted to see game efficiency: can Quarterback’s stay steady under pressure; can Quarterback’s find receivers in traffic; can Offensive Linemen sustain blocks and create running lanes; and of course, can Running Back’s follow block’s and create running lanes if need be.
All of that was missing…
Roster churn:
Of course, I would argue there is a real, yet unspoken reason the Spartans conducted Spring Practice in lieu of a Spring Game.
It would be fair to argue the Spartans don’t have enough depth across all position groups to assemble 2 complete teams to conduct a scrimmage, namely a lack of depth at Linebacker and Defensive Back.
Let’s remember, due to the Transfer Portal the Spartans have lost more than 20 players, and added approximately 14 players, which means the Spartans have “churned” through nearly 35 players since last season.
There are some in the media who will try to rationalize (spin if you will) that the Transfer Portal is the way of life in 2020. Well the Transfer Portal exists, but building a football roster vis a vis the Transfer Portal makes as much sense as saving for retirement by buying Lottery Tickets.
Championship programs simply don’t “churn” through players via the Transfer Portal.
Take a look at some of the most stable and most consistent programs in the country including Ohio State and Wisconsin from the Big Ten; as well as perennial CFP programs including Alabama and Clemson:
2021 Transfer Portal (Outbound & Inbound)
- Ohio State: 2 outbound…0 inbound…Total 2
- Clemson: 6 outbound…0 inbound…Total 6
- Wisconsin: 6 outbound…1 inbound…Total 7
- Alabama: 7 outbound…0 inbound…Total 7
The most important takeaway from the preceding list is the fact that 4 of the most “stable” programs in the country have only added one (1) inbound player combined. In other words, the best teams in the country don’t look to the Transfer Portal as a viable means of building their roster.
In fact, the most stable programs in the country have only added a handful of players via the Transfer Portal, including: Oregon 0; Georgia 1; LSU 1; Iowa 1; Notre Dame 2; and Northwestern 5. In that regard, 10 stable programs have only added 11 players combined via the Transfer Portal.
Meanwhile, the Spartans “churn” in the Transfer Portal totals nearly 35???
Yet, frankly it’s hard to keep accurate count of “Outbound”, and “Inbound” players via the Transfer Portal, because it’s in total flux.
More often than not the players declaring for the Transfer Portal are simply seeking a home and their commitments are “iffy” at best and Maliq Carr is one of those players.
Maliq Carr was a Wide Receiver at Purdue who declared for the Transfer Portal about a week ago. The Spartans made an offer and Carr accepted.
Then in the space of a week, Carr reneged on his commitment to Michigan State and reopened his recruitment via the Transfer Portal. Yet, the drama wasn’t finished because on Saturday, Carr recommitted to Michigan State.
On/off/on/off: It’s virtually impossible to build a championship football team if a player is not 100% certain of his commitment. And, let’s make this clear, Maliq Carr has not established himself as playmaker/game changer. In fact, last season at Purdue, Maliq Carr caught just one pass.
Nevertheless, the Transfer Portal is an viable tool if a team is looking for a single piece, a game changer if you will to take them over the ‘hump”, ala LSU picking up Joe Burrow.
As you recall, Joe Burrow was a bona fide 5-Star who got mired behind Dwayne Haskins at Ohio State, yet Burrow departed Ohio State via the Transfer Portal and accepted an offer from LSU and then won a National Title.
And of course there is Justin Fields: a bona fide game changer who got mired in the depth chart at Georgia but then declared for the Transfer Portal and chose Ohio State and subsequently led the Buckeyes to two consecutive Big Ten Titles and two consecutive College Football Playoff appearances.
Nevertheless, as I cited above, in 2021 LSU and Ohio State have only added 1 player combined via the Transfer Portal.
At any measure, let’s be honest, there are no Joe Burrow’s or Justin fields who have transferred to Michigan State via the Transfer Portal.
The Spartans did acquire Anthony Russo a QB from Temple via the Transfer Portal, but with respect, Russo was a midlevel 3 star who compiled a middling record at Temple: 8-5 in 2019 and 1-2 in 2020 before he got hurt.
Overall, Temple was 1-6 last season. I’m certain Russo is a good young man, but if the goal is finding a Joe Burrow, or Justin Fields via the Transfer Portal to get to the CFP, then Anthony Russo falls short.
The Spartans also added Kenneth Walker lll, a Running Back from Wake Forest. Yet. let’s remember in the Pinstripe Bowl, playing against the Spartans, Walker compiled just 24 Rushing Yards on 8 attempts, or a feeble 3 Yards per attempt.
At the bottom line (odds are stacked against the Spartans):
Regardless of what I say, or regardless of what we learned, or regardless what facts were hidden in Saturdays’ Spring Practice, according to the oddsmakers, the Spartans are just 50/50 to win 6 games in 2021.
Let’s remember the Spartans only won 28.5 % of their games in 2020 (let’s round that to 30%), yet frankly, given a “churn” of nearly 35 players via the Transfer Portal leading into 2021 season, it’s hard to think the Spartans can improve upon 30%, and that translates to just 4 victories.
To tie a bow around this missive, even if the Spartans were short of personnel last Saturday, they would have learned far, far, far more from a Spring Scrimmage then Spring Practice, but that’s what we got: Practice!
At the bottom line, no one outside of Spartan coaches and staff have observed the Spartans in a scrimmage or game like conditions, so eventually, they can’t stay hidden forever and there will be a moment of truth.
Thank you for reading.
