Freshman defensive end Leonard Williams is refreshingly candid as he discusses his initial experiences at training camp.
“I was expecting it to be a lot harder,” Williams said.
“When they moved me to (defensive tackle) I wasn’t very excited,” Williams said. “Then I got used to it. I feel I have a lot more speed than most (tackles).” Link here.
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Again a classic example of Wolf incorrectly spinning a kid’s quote to buy clicks. Wolf we see right through you….
BTW this Williams dude is going beast mode vs. Chow’s squad…
Most think USC could miss a beat at UT but I don’t think UT will give USC much trouble. The games that concern me the most are the away games against high-powered (or potentially high-powered) Os: at Stan, at WA & at AZ. USC should be able to move the ball again at Stan but USC could find themselves in another shootout if Nunes is as good as his scouting reports suggest. The RS JR was kept on the bench by Luck–no shame in that. He was a 4-star recruit out of Upland that chose Stan over FL & OK among others. (USC had Barkley.) Stan returns 6 starters on O, including 3 OLs & both RBs.
WA not USC returns the highest rated QB in the P12. Price’s QB rating was 161.93 to Barkley’s 161.22. WA returns 7 starters on O, including 4 OLs & an outstanding TE. Sarkesian knows USC’s schemes as well as any coach in the P12 & he’s had moderate success since he left USC to coach WA.
Nobody’s concerned about AZ & that bugs me. Rodriguez did not fare well at MI but he did very well at WV. The roster he inherited at AZ is more favorable to his schemes than the roster he inherited at MI. It shouldn’t be too difficult to adjust AZ’s pass-oriented spread to Rodriguez’s spread option. And AZ returns 6 starters from the third best O in the P12 (total yards). AZ just had trouble scoring. Rodriguez’s last 2 teams at WV were 3rd & 9th in the country in scoring O. But what concerns me most about this game is that it comes right before USC’s showdown with OR so AZ could catch USC looking ahead.
Then there are two home games later in the season (after the new starters have gained experience) vs. OR & ND. OR is the reigning P12 champ having won 3 years straight. They boast one of the most high-powered Os in the country replete with play-makers at the skill positions & an improving D. Since OR appears to be reloading not rebuilding all they need is for one of their 2 QBs to step up and take the reigns of Chip Kelly’s O.
ND’s D is underrated and they return 6 starters. The talent level may not be what it once was but ND still gets some pretty good players. Brian Kelly just needs good QB play. In his last year at Central MI his QB was rated 11th in the nation & he moved up to Cin. In his last year at Cin his QB was rated 12th in the nation & he moved up to ND. Did Brian Kelly’s QBs make him or did he make the QBs?
i have two thoughts on leonard’s comments;
if it’s easy for him maybe he’s a natural and we have a budding superstar. i recall ray lewis saying in an interview that his LB coach at miami told him true freshmen don’t play here. his response was ‘those other freshmen aren’t me’.
but it also can’t make the OL too happy to read that comment – especially the veteran interior OL: holmes, martinez etc
I am not buying into this at all.
Every year since 2001 when PC came on board and now Kiffen, we hear of a freshman or some forgotten guy buried on the depth chart who supposedly is just doing incredible in camp, coincidentally, at a position of need..but yet we never see them on the field at this position in a game. I remember hearing how AWESOME garret green was doing at WR when our wr corps was depleted then he went back to QB. It’s BS. What is Kiffen supposed to say, “Man we are in trouble at DT”?? I am sorry he is 18 years out straight out of high school he might do OK in goal line D but beyond that he doesn’t belong on the field except for mop up duty.
Nice post @NJ…just a few things. I am worried about utah. Utah can pound the rock right up the gut. They can expose our weakness inside, eat up the clock, keep MB off the field, and wear down the D and win the game. Since you quoting stats and recruiting services, Utah has alot of 4 * guys too, all JUCO. Their RB rushed for over 1000 yds last year and he is big and strong and loves contact.
I am with ya, I have no idea why no one is worried about the arizona game. Their QB is a VERY good runner and you know how we have trouble with that. He could win this game himself by taking off and running when everyone is covered, 10-15 yds a pop. I have no idea why we just cannot stop running qb’s. I remember one year (2007?) even Brady Quinn took off on a 60 yd run.
UW also lost all their top WR and their defense is awful. You make a good point about the QB but he can’t do it all himself. OSU, ASU, WSU, Colorado, Syracuse, Hawaii, are all so talent depleted they shouldn’t be a problem.
ND–Your right ND has a great Defense. They just lost Lo Wood yesterday and will be starting 2 new CB’s in a secondary that was shaky already. The front 7 are good but MB should have a field day against their Safeties and CB’s. They also lost M Floyd from their offense and will be starting a QB with no experience . Gholson. So I don’t see too much of a problem here. Game in LA also.
UCLA- This game will be sweet as big mouth Mora will be trash talking even more before the matchup, I am sure. His team will be better as rick new weasel had really let things go. Mora is tougher and runs a better ship but still has the same talent level, so I sense anther 50-0 beatdown coming…:o))
Stanford and Oregon are both going to be tough games.
I was watchig tv last night and it’s almost like USC overload, everyone is rushing to jump back on the USC bandwagon, and no one is even mentioning STanford. I mean hell the ND fans are penciling it in as an automatic “W” already. Like you said, that QB is good and has experience in the system and the game is in Palo Alto. Could go either way. Same for Oregon. They have a new QB but he is very good and familiar with the system, also. And their running games could really cause us problems. And what concerns me is, there is so much hype on USC right now, if we stumble to a 9-3 or 10-2 year and end up in the cotton bowl or something, we are really going to look stupid..
Here’s the full quote from Leonard:
Right now Im 65, 280 pounds. I first came in expecting to pay defense end, but I realize that Im getting bigger and i still have room to grow, so when I moved down to three technique I wasnt very excited, but after the first two days, I had a feeling for it, I got used to it, and I started liking it.
Wolfbag, you moron, why did you leave out the part when Leonard said he started liking the new position? Why do you always do that crap. Just to give your readers the impression that Leonard wasn’t completely happy with the move? Is that your intent? Trying to stir up some controversy or something. You can be described as a “playground journalist”. You try to create a story, instead of accurately reporting it. You are sad and I hope you begin to get some satisfaction out of your life. Loser.
Wow, way to stay classy fellow Trojans. It is beyond my understanding how you losers are continually bashing on Scott Wolf, and even more amazing how Scott Wolf allowes you to continually bash him. I would have banned all you morons a long time ago.
@bushwite: What if USC went 10-2 with wins over UCLA & ND & the division championship? Would that be a failure? In the second year of the most devastating scholarship reductions in a generation? Coming off a two-year bowl ban? With a top-5 caliber program (OR) in the conference? With surprising Stan and a reemerging WA? With 1 WO & 2 former WOs in the two-deep? With 7 underclassmen apparently set to start the season?