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Around SBN: Are The Orioles Bad Or Unlucky With Their Young Pitching?

You had to leave so soon?

By no means do I want to poop on the accomplishments of our team this season, which was awesome, but I can't help but think:

What if Jamaal Charles and Jermichael Finley stayed?

If Finley was here, we have more TE depth with Irby.  Maybe it's Finley who takes that hit, and since he has different size and a different body than Irby, maybe it doesn't hit him in such a bad spot and he just walks away from it.  Then we have two tight ends that can seriously threaten opposing defenses.  Because of the injury to Irby, we had none this season, and while we did admirably to cover for this, it still hurt a lot.  Ugh.

I know Jamaal Charles got a lot of heat for fumbling during the middle part of the 2007 season, but at the end, he was without question one of the top backs in the nation.  If there was one glaring weakness in our offense, it was the lack of a consistent running game.  Even with suspect blocking, a player like JC could make do.  He was also a decent receiver who could stretch the field in the spread.  What if he's the one who gets that carry in the endzone against Tech?  Does he get free?  Maybe so.  I really don't understand the Jamaal Charles haters; fact is, we don't have a back right who had his talent.  Furthermore, with Chris O. for third down situations and Cody Johnson emerging as a great short-yardage back, we had players who could make up for whatever deficiences Charles had.  Thinking back, this is definitely a more painful departure than Finley's.  I remember expecting a big year out of Charles before he decided to leave.

Sigh :(.  There is no doubt in my heart that Jamaal Charles, at the least, makes an enormous difference against Texas Tech.

So thank you, Sergio, for staying, and I hope Colt comes back as expected.  I would hate to see deficient play at outside linebacker and think of Kindle all the time if he left.

Of course, none of this compares to the 2006 "what-if":  What if Vince Young came back?  Then quite obviously, Mack Brown has back-to-back national championships.

Again, I mean no disrespect to our current team, who had a fantastic year.  But when football season is over and you missed the big prize by a hair, you just can't help but think back and wonder if certain things happened differently.  Whenever I see highlights of Charles bursting with amazing speed for a huge gain or making up for bad blocking by avoiding defenders in the backfield to still pick up four yards, I just slap myself in the forehead.

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Display:

"What if" applies in basketball too with DJ, KD, LA, etc.

It’s the punishment of getting the best recruits. Smaller lifespans. In the bigger perspective, I can’t complain though. The big fish keep coming.

by goingforthecorner on Jan 14, 2009 12:10 PM CST reply actions  

TJ is still the biggest Basketball one in my mind.

By far we would have been favorites to win it all if TJ came back.

Return the top 7 players from a final four team?? Yes please.

by BoddickerIsClutch on Jan 14, 2009 2:06 PM CST up reply actions  

Do you realize

That it was possible for Lamarcus, Augustin, and Durant to play at the same time? Heck, remember Durant’s freshmen year our entire starting lineup left. If they came back with Durant, well… Florida ain’t winning again :).

by TheElusiveShadow on Jan 14, 2009 8:55 PM CST up reply actions  

You know, despite that...

I still pick an ‘04 team with TJ over an ’06 team with Aldridge and Gibson. The ’06 team had more talent, sure, but nobody ran the floor like TJ. Nobody. He made everyone on the team twice as good. And let’s not forget, DJ was not really DJ until his sophomore year.

by Meekrob on Jan 14, 2009 11:26 PM CST up reply actions  

Maybe...

2003 remains our only final 4 team, and that whole squad was coming back. Hell they made the sweet 16 (further than the 2006 squad) without TJ, one of the most dominant college point guards ever. TJ comes back, its ours for the taking.

by BoddickerIsClutch on Jan 15, 2009 7:29 AM CST up reply actions  

Would we be as well positioned for 2009 though?

Whereas Texas did not really get any meaningfull experience for next year’s TEs or possibly RBs, the staff does know going into the season that improvement in personnel and/or scheme will be needed for those positions going into 2009. Had Charles and Finley been here they may have masked those needs and not given the staff the impetus to improve those areas to the degree necessary to compete next year.

by billb on Jan 14, 2009 1:03 PM CST reply actions  

TE next year won’t be a weakness, and maybe Fozzy just needs another year to train and grow. I don’t think it would have made us worse for next year. A bunch of what ifs…

Except for if VY stays…no question that we win the NC. Everyone KNOWS VY scores a TD on the final possession, down 12-7 to the Aggies. And of course VY wins the game on a TD pass to Sweed (!) against OSU at home. I wish I could go back in time and show VY how much he hates playing for Tennesse so that I could convince him to stay another year…

by UT_BKC on Jan 14, 2009 1:20 PM CST up reply actions  

Interesting thought…

If YV does come back, wins a 2nd NC, does he move up to the number 1 pick the next year? Does he get taken by Miami, to team up with other former longhorn star Ricky W, and play in an offensive scheme I think would probably play a lot more to his talents?…

by UT_BKC on Jan 14, 2009 2:29 PM CST up reply actions  

Good point

The Wildcat would indeed suit Vince very well. However, Miami didn’t have the #1 pick in the 2007 draft. That was Oakland.

by TheElusiveShadow on Jan 14, 2009 4:44 PM CST up reply actions  

And

What if James Henry decided bitches didn’t need to be kicked? What if Andre Jones and Robert Joseph decided not to pull an OJ?

by jc25 on Jan 14, 2009 3:23 PM CST reply actions  

Ask and you shall recieve

What if James Henry decided bitches didn’t need to be kicked?

by billb on Jan 14, 2009 4:28 PM CST up reply actions  

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