Answer Monday!

Is the NFL Draft still going? No? Then let’s get back to answering some questions.

Q: kptrojan said:
Your take, who do you believe is the biggest acqusition to the 2009 “O”, Aaron Corp, Curtis McNeal or Coach Bates? Fight On!

A: The addition of Jeremy Bates is the most important development. Aaron Corp is second but if you look at USC’s quarterbacks the past six years or so, the numbers are pretty similar. So Bates gets the nod because I believe he will make the shotgun a more prominent feature of the offense and also tailor plenty of plays around Corp’s foot speed. I’m not sure Steve Sarkisian would have done that. He was not big on the shotgun although maybe he’ll find religion with Jake Locker at Washington. I think Bates has more autonomy with the offense than Sarkisian did so maybe we’ll see even more changes by the fall.

Q: BobbyT said:
Mr. Wolf…
Why is it almost every time you talk about the QB competition, that you insinuate some ulterior motive on the part Coach Carroll and now Coach Bates about Mustain?
Your bleetings about him “not getting fair treatment” are overworked. Do you really think that the coaching staff wouldn’t have Mustain in there if he really was the best QB in the mix?
The same goes for your comments about McKnight.

A: I think you are placing your own pre-conceptions on my articles. I’ve never said Mitch Mustain is the best quarterback. But should I ignore that he’s gotten less snaps overall and less snaps with the first-team than the other quarterbacks? It’s a fact. And worth noting. He was the only quarterback to play entirely with the second team in the first scrimmage. He had another practice where he received one snap during the “team” period of scrimmaging. And just when he got written off, he did pretty well during the final scrimmage when he got more snaps than expected because the coaches rested Aaron Corp.
So why does it bother you to point out these facts? To ignore them would make me a pawn for the program. And there’s lot of other sites where you can find that.

Q: ftfo2009 said:
It’s been mentioned before that with Brutus’ playcalling last year for Sanchez, there were many conservative play calls because of a lack of confidence in whatever ability of sanchez. Do you think there may be a similar problem with bates/morton and corp? I just want to know if i should get ready for 3 runs in a row from our own 20.

A: The conservative playcalling was ironically a byproduct of having a great defense. Because Pete Carroll believed his defense would hold teams to 10 points or less, he merely wanted an offense that would not screw up and turn the ball over. That might have short-changed Mark Sanchez, especially when you see he was drafted fifth overall on Saturday. But it was Carroll’s method and he can say he went 12-1 with it.
Next season, the defense should not be as dominating, so it will force the offense to be more daring, which is a good thing.