Sumler

[appbio91]

Just wondering if since he seems to finally be healthy and Lamb has the arm, do you guys think he will be more of a factor in our passing game as the season progresses. I noticed at least once in the SM game we went deep to him but it was incomplete. There should be some matchups he can take advantage of with his speed. I know this topic has been discussed ad infinitum but seems now it is a little more relevant.

[Black Saturday]

Just wondering if since he seems to finally be healthy and Lamb has the arm, do you guys think he will be more of a factor in our passing game as the season progresses. I noticed at least once in the SM game we went deep to him but it was incomplete. There should be some matchups he can take advantage of with his speed. I know this topic has been discussed ad infinitum but seems now it is a little more relevant.

Something must be going on with him that we dont know about. If his speed is all that we have been led to believe, then Satterfield is certainly smart enough to draw up a simple play to get him the ball.

[hapapp]

We have yet to see Lamb air it out successfully. The couple of times that he has attempted longer passes, he has underthrown them. Statistically, he is averaging about the same yardage per completion that Kam has. I think his advantage at QB over Kam is his mobility and has ability to make quicker decisions. I don't really believe his arm is significantly stronger than Kam's.

One ingredient missing from this team, it seems to me, is the lack of a WR game breaker. We don't seem to have that one guy who can break open the game. Perhaps, Sumler could be that guy but he has yet to demonstrate that ability in an actual game.

[EastHallApp]

I hope so. He did get the one ball knocked away on the sideline, but he also drew a PI call on a deep ball right after that. Plus he got a nice first down earlier in the game on a catch and run after a short pass.

Our WRs are a bit short on speed right now, so I think he could bring that, even if he's not the most consistent.

[MtnMan09]

The knock on hm at Oregon was that he had bricks for hands. I dont know if that still holds true. Could explain why no effort has been put into developing him into a deep threat.

[AppGrad78]

Sumler has had a double dose of the coaches' doghouse. First it was the knee injury that kept him off the field in 2012 and limited his playing time in 2013. This year, he's healthy but he fell out of favor with the coaches the minute he announced he would graduate with his class rather than use his fifth year of eligibility. As a player in his final season, he finds himself in a similar position to that of seniors Deuce Robinson, Graham Fisher, Will Corbin and Drew Bailey, guys who have been successful in the past but now aren't playing so much. For good or bad, our coaches have shown a clear preference toward younger players -- i.e. players they recruited -- over upperclassmen. That's unfortunate because I believe we're going to wish we had better utilized Sumler's speed and playmaking ability. Although he has just four receptions this season, he is second on the team (behind Montez McGuire) in average yards per catch and is almost certainly the team leader in average yards after catch (stats not available). Unless things change, Sumler will be remembered as one of the most underutilized players in our history.

[ASUGoose]

This is the first time I have seen him listed as a starter on weekly released depth chart. Maybe this means we will finally see more of Mr. Sumler and what if any impact he can have on this season moving forward...

[AppGrad78]

This is the first time I have seen him listed as a starter on weekly released depth chart. Maybe this means we will finally see more of Mr. Sumler and what if any impact he can have on this season moving forward...

Sumler was the listed starter last week, too.

[Saint3333]

78 I would add that a coach made a statement in an article that Sumler will play more when he practice efforts match gameday efforts.

He starting playing more the week after that comment, so it must have hit a nerve with him.

[hapapp]

Not to dispute your contention of the coaches favoring youth over experience because it is certainly possible. However, it could also be a matter of talent winning out or injury slowing a player's contributions. As for Sumler, I do recall reading an interview with Coach Stepp indicating that what had been holding Sumler back was his inconsistent practice performance.

[ASUGoose]

This is the first time I have seen him listed as a starter on weekly released depth chart. Maybe this means we will finally see more of Mr. Sumler and what if any impact he can have on this season moving forward...

Sumler was the listed starter last week, too.

Whoops - thanks for catching that!

[WVAPPeer]

78 - when Sumler made the comment about this being his last year wasn't there something from him where he implied moving onto pro ball? - guess he can always change his mind and come back for that extra year ---

[AppGrad78]

Not to dispute your contention of the coaches favoring youth over experience because it is certainly possible. However, it could also be a matter of talent winning out or injury slowing a player's contributions. As for Sumler, I do recall reading an interview with Coach Stepp indicating that what had been holding Sumler back was his inconsistent practice performance.

You certainly have a valid point. I don't see practice. All I can go by is what I see in the game. Based on that, I think we're missing an opportunity to target him more.

[Goapps15]

Sumler was targeted 5-6 times last week and took a huge hit on the sideline. He looked much improved. Lamb's biggest advantages are his pocket awareness and his ability to spread the ball around. Kam would lock onto certain WRs and throw it to them regardless of coverage.

[hapapp]

Not to dispute your contention of the coaches favoring youth over experience because it is certainly possible. However, it could also be a matter of talent winning out or injury slowing a player's contributions. As for Sumler, I do recall reading an interview with Coach Stepp indicating that what had been holding Sumler back was his inconsistent practice performance.

You certainly have a valid point. I don't see practice. All I can go by is what I see in the game. Based on that, I think we're missing an opportunity to target him more.

I think we all hope he can begin to show his talent, we really need a speedster who can break open a long one.

[Goapps15]

Sumler has had a double dose of the coaches' doghouse. First it was the knee injury that kept him off the field in 2012 and limited his playing time in 2013. This year, he's healthy but he fell out of favor with the coaches the minute he announced he would graduate with his class rather than use his fifth year of eligibility. As a player in his final season, he finds himself in a similar position to that of seniors Deuce Robinson, Graham Fisher, Will Corbin and Drew Bailey, guys who have been successful in the past but now aren't playing so much. For good or bad, our coaches have shown a clear preference toward younger players -- i.e. players they recruited -- over upperclassmen. That's unfortunate because I believe we're going to wish we had better utilized Sumler's speed and playmaking ability. Although he has just four receptions this season, he is second on the team (behind Montez McGuire) in average yards per catch and is almost certainly the team leader in average yards after catch (stats not available). Unless things change, Sumler will be remembered as one of the most underutilized players in our history.

I think you hit a very important point. Our coaches are playing their guys over upperclassmen. But most of the players aforementioned did not play well in the fall and have struggled this year when given the opportunity.

Deuce and Fisher were two of the bigger disappointments this fall. Deuce has played soft during his career and isn't strong enough vs the run. Fishers issue was inconsistencies snapping the ball. Last week on multiple occasions he snapped it low or in the ground.

My point is if you are going to go down as a coach/coaching staff, I would be doing it with my players. Scott knows if he has a dud this year and next he's gone.

[GoApps70]

Guess tonight could well be a make or break game.
About time to see something.

[JTApps1]

I doubt anyone is getting playing time because they were recruited by Satterfield instead of Moore. Keep in mind that all but 2 of these coaches were on Moore's staff so they did in fact recruit most of these players. The simple fact is we are getting more talented players now than we did the last few years Moore was here. I'm glad our coaches are playing the best player regardless of class.

[bigdaddyg]

The hope is that we are truely recruiting and signing better talent now but the reality is that you just never know. Where would a few big names from recent years fall on the current depth chart? I ask this question based on the fact that some of the big names were recruited for an FCS level program:

Armanti- over Lamb and others?
Brian Quick
Kevin Richardson
Corey Lynch

Probably a far-fetched question but certainly one that has to make you think and realize that our current upperclassmen may not be that good.

[EastHallApp]

Sumler's not really sitting behind younger players. Maybe Barbour when he was healthy, but he's out with an injury now. If anything, one might argue he should be on the field more instead of Beathard.