Another year, another round of injuries

'08 Football General67

Un-f*ing believable.

Just last year the NC State Wolfpack lost a staggering number of players to injury, including our three best offensive players – Anthony Hill, Toney Baker and Andrew Brown.

This year, Toney Baker has already been sidelined with another knee surgery and has no scheduled return date; and Andre Brown hasn’t practiced with the squad in recent memory.

So, it should only be consistent that it was announced on Friday that the Wolfpack’s best returning wide receiver is out for the season with a hairline fracture of his spine. #80, Donald Bowens will miss the 2008 season with the freak injury. (Link)

“Bowens is out – he’s done,” O’Brien said. “He’s got a fractured spine… well not a fractured spine I said that wrong. He has a hairline fracture. So he’s out for the year.”

As a sophomore, Bowens posted the team’s best reception average at 15 yards per catch. He totaled 41 receptions for 598 yards and three touchdowns. Bowens had a breakout performance in his start against Virginia, recording 11 catches for 202 yards and two touchdowns. Those were the top marks ever posted by a NC State sophomore.

If there is any silver lining to this story it would be that Bowens has not yet red-shirted so he will still have two years of eligibility remaining (if he can ever play football again). Those two years will match themselves with the play of a more experienced quarterback both/either Russell Wilson and/or Mike Glennon should be more comfortable under center in 2009 and 2010 than they are this season. Additionally, State’s offensive line should be in better shape in the future as opposed to Coach O’Brien’s second season.

Including JUCO transfer and projected starting safety, Clem Johnson, State now has lost at least three projected starters from this year’s team and two weeks remain until the season opener at South Carolina.

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'08 Football General

67 Responses to Another year, another round of injuries

  1. packpigskinfan23 08/16/2008 at 3:54 PM #

    Evans will get the start with Wilson having a couple of possessions or drives written up for him. If Evans struggles Wilson will take over completely.

    Its not the best situation in the world, but TOB is the football coach… not us. Save Glennon for another day, do what you can with what you have for now. If it dosnt work, you have something in the bank for next season, and hopefully its growing interest.

  2. robopack 08/16/2008 at 4:00 PM #

    Damn good posts DAMangun and packpigskinfan23!!!

  3. DAMangum 08/16/2008 at 4:02 PM #

    Well his arm is weak but you don’t have to throw bombs to effectively run an offense. His numbers have been the best in the scrimmages too!

  4. Noah 08/16/2008 at 4:05 PM #

    You have to be able to keep the defense from putting eleven guys in the box like Maryland did.

    Let’s not forget that Evans single-handidly kept UNC in the game last year.

  5. BJD95 08/16/2008 at 4:11 PM #

    Weak arm, no mobility, panics under pressure. Behind our OL. Yep, that’s a sure fire recipe for success.

  6. DAMangum 08/16/2008 at 4:15 PM #

    Marcus Stone and Beck both have a hell of an arm, but they didn’t seem to work out to well. Evans is not Jamarcus Russell but he can throw a 50 yard pass if need be. Wilson should have some packages set up for him for every game to provide mobility and a deep threat. If he can beat out Evans I would be very happy. Glennon is our QB of the future not the guy we want getting pounded every game.

  7. Dogbreath 08/16/2008 at 4:22 PM #

    Evans problem isn’t the deep ball, its the short outs to the flat. He doesn’t have the arm strength to throw the darts into tight spots (hence the propensity for pick sixes), but he actually lofts a nice, catchable deep ball.

    He is a poor man’s Jay Davis.

  8. DAMangum 08/16/2008 at 4:32 PM #

    I completly agree with you Dogbreath, I was refering to Noah. When he was talking about Maryland and them crowding the box. By the way you will never see 11 in the box at the most there will only be 8, maybe 9 if they are feeling frisky. I did play MLB for quite a few years, so I was the coach on the field! So I kind of know what I’m talking about when it comes to defense.

  9. Noah 08/16/2008 at 4:33 PM #

    Evans is not Jamarcus Russell but he can throw a 50 yard pass if need be.

    Only if he’s standing on a tall cliff.

    A poor man’s Jay Davis, that’s an interesting comparison. I’d say that a poor man’s Jay Davis ought to be third-string on any decent team.

  10. Noah 08/16/2008 at 4:34 PM #

    OK. I’m done. Clearly there are always going to be people defending Evans. We don’t need to go into the reasons why, it’s not a hard thing to figure out.

    This is pushing a rope uphill.

  11. BJD95 08/16/2008 at 4:42 PM #

    Poor man’s Jay Davis is very accurate (including the tendency to lock on his receiver and throw pick sixes). Like noah says, in no way is being a poor man’s Jay Davis a GOOD thing.

    It’s hard to believe we could go much lower at the QB position than Davis, but then we got to know Marcus Stone and Daniel Evans. Not only did it get worse – it got significantly worse.

    Evans by the numbers last year – YPA under 6 (FYI, 7.0 is the bare minimum acceptable number, you want to see 7.5 or better), more INTs than TDs. His YPA was right at 6 in 2006. I think we have a pretty good read on what he can do by now. He’ll never be a good, or even an adequate starting QB.

    FWIW, Davis did post a minimally acceptable 7.04 YPA in 2005.

  12. DAMangum 08/16/2008 at 4:47 PM #

    I’m by no means a huge Evans fan and he is definetly not the most talented QB on the team, but he has the most experience and is the most familiar with the offense and gives us the best chance of winning. You’ve got to go with the guy that gives you the best chance. Noah you usually make great posts, I just don’t agree with you on this matter. There seems to be alot of people agreeing with us on both sides of this debate and everyone has really good reasons to feel the way they do. I’m just giving my opinion from what I’ve seen and from my football knowledge.

  13. b 08/16/2008 at 5:14 PM #

    Unless he is incapable of making good decisions, Wilson should be the QB. Strategically, Wilson would at least force a defense to recognize his run threat.

    Evans is a decent game manager against poor defenses (like ECU, Uva, and UNC) but he provides NO threat to a defense that would make them adjust their scheme or force them to think. He is a pocket QB with a slow release, on a team with an unproven offensive line. Most defenses will know they need to focus on the run game and press on the outside. Evans can’t beat you deep with any consistency, and he can’t move the pocket effectively. Defenses can play vanilla, blitz when they want, and the LBs can drop deeper without fear of a scramble and even turn their back in man coverage.

    Couple that with his propensity to throw off his back foot under pressure, and often in the flats late against zone and with a weak arm to boot, and you have a 3-9 football team with the schedule we’ve got.

    I support the staff, they obviously have forgotten more about football then I’ve ever known. But since it is likely a throw away year, IMO we should develop some younger players. Particularly Wilson as he is likely a backup in the future and may never get another chance to get ready.

    Wilson may not do any better than Evans, but he is at least an unknown. With Wilson, the blitzes are risky and the LBs would need to keep an eye in the backfield. Evans would be more valuable as a backup, or a change of pace if we are playing a defense that can’t put great pressure on the QB. You can do this in reverse, and that may be the plan, but I would choose to give Wilson the first chance to succeed.

  14. DAMangum 08/16/2008 at 5:24 PM #

    http://northcarolinastate.scout.com/2/780076.html

    This is a new article on packpride.com about the injuries, and it confirms what I already knew. Thanks to the people who believe me.

    “Baker’s injury doesn’t appear to be as serious. The redshirt junior went down in the Central Florida game and was back in action to open fall practice. Baker thinks he’ll be back on the field very soon.

    “He was out there similar to Donald,” said O’Brien. “It just didn’t feel right. They decided they should go in and take a look, and it was actually a positive. It wasn’t a negative when they went in there. Now he’s getting back from the surgery and starting the rehab all over again.”

    “I believe in the next week and a half or two weeks,” said Baker. “Pretty much whenever I get all my strength back, they are going to let me back out there. I’ll probably work my way back, but definitely soon after that it will be full contact.”

    Probably can’t see it all unless you’re a premium subscriber.

  15. packalum44 08/16/2008 at 5:33 PM #

    i will put faith in the staff but as a fan, who never played football in his life, i say God help us if evans is the best we got. i don’t even think he was on scholarship his first year, he was 1-star recruit who made the team b/c of a courtesy to his father…amato, what is wrong with you…wake forest recruited riley skinner and ben mauk, unheralded qb’s from who knows where and amato gets justin burke and d. evans??? he only recruited wilson by accident (thank you Coach Avent)

    one thing that keeps us state fans going is hope and just the hope provided by a wilson or glennon is enough for us to cheer. i can’t bear to watch evans in there…i just can’t, he makes me more nervous than a whore at church. God, we ask you every year but please answer our prayer this time…please!!!

  16. Dogbreath 08/16/2008 at 5:40 PM #

    “The poor man’s Jay Davis” comment was tongue in cheek, and in no way an endorsement of Evans’ skills.

  17. john of sparta 08/16/2008 at 5:45 PM #

    as “just about” always, Noah is right.
    DE starts at QB. we limp away with a
    minimum of 2 season-ending injuries
    after SC. that may include staff,
    because the SEC doesn’t quit
    after the first whistle.

  18. Dogbreath 08/16/2008 at 5:59 PM #

    NC State, always a few cards short of a full deck.

  19. choppack1 08/16/2008 at 6:11 PM #

    If you can read a scrimmage stat sheet – it would appear that Evans would have to be the guy. I’m not sure what is going w/ Wilson, but it looks like Evans is earning the job for opening night.

    Evans has had his moments. I think last year he threw 12 TDs and 12 INTs – in theory, if his shoulder is better, more experience and better coaching, maybe he ends up being a 14-10 guy.

    Still, I don’t know if you are bowl eligible w/ Evans as your QB – especially since our best target is out for the year.

  20. packpigskinfan23 08/16/2008 at 6:33 PM #

    Does no one else think that starting Evans is just a move to get an experienced guy in there and see what he can do in a “winnable(at least it was with Bowens… now, I dont know)” game and then let Wilson in slowly(in the SC game) so he can calm his nerves down!?

    Evans may start the season… but there is no way he finishes it unless Wilson gets hurt. Evans will be our go to guy to start the season off, come in when Wilson is in trouble, and be a leader on this team. Its not that hard to figure out!

  21. Otis 08/16/2008 at 8:08 PM #

    I thought Daniel was leading the QB race because of his play on the practice field. It is not impossible to imagine the he has gotten better at making decisions. He might be our best QB right now, not raw talents, but in overall performance. His numbers seem to show that from the scrimmages, but who is to say it would be Wilson a month from now. Remember, Daniel has a lot more experience than any of the others. If Daniel is the starter – it would not surprise me to see him yanked after the Clempson loss (potential loss – i can still hope. Put in Wilson and tell the team the season starts over now, and forget about the previous losses. After SC and Clempson – our schedule gets a little easier. At that time TO’B can score a psychological boost for the team, after a few games we probably can’t win anyway.

  22. Otis 08/16/2008 at 8:14 PM #

    More thoughts – I would worry if DE was still our starter for ECU or maybe the game after that. By running DE out there for games we have little chance to win, he saves the other guy (presumably Wilson) psyche from those loses, and limits film for our opponents to study on the new guy. Also, it gives our new O-line a little more time to jell and keeps our future QB (for this year or next) from taking a pounding on those two road games.

  23. haze 08/17/2008 at 10:12 AM #

    No reason to confuse the DE issue.

    It isn’t that DE is an unmitigated disaster or is incapable of improvement or of having good games. It’s that DE is a known quantity and is, pretty much unarguably, a physically limited kid as compared to even average D1 starters. If DE can throw in rhythm, he’s OK. If DE has to throw without his feet set, he’s a pick-6 waiting to happen and, with our OL, he’s likely to have problems setting his feet, as he did last year. Perhaps most importantly, DE’s limitations suggest a QB that needs to play from the lead. You cannot often come from behind with a soft armed QB. If the D knows he’s coming, it’s lights out. Now, this doesn’t mean that strong armed QB’s are great (see Beck, Stone), just that arm-strength is a demonstrated weakness for DE.

    As importantly, if DE is your QB you are forced to acknowledge that your RS-Fr QB (Wilson) and your true Fr (Glennon) are not believed to be even average D1 QB’s right now. That pretty much means that Glennon is RS’ing and that we shouldn’t expect much QB improvement throughout the season if there is a QB change (injury or otherwise). That, in turn, means that you can project the DE-driven season to the whole season and that looks like a losing record against our schedule. That’s not a happy prospect but we’d better get used to the thought.

    Hope I’m wrong.

  24. Astral Rain 08/17/2008 at 11:22 AM #

    Don’t hairline fractures improve with rest? I don’t think this will be a career ender, just a season ender.

    As for DE- I think part of the reason for defending him is the same reason people defend Javi- they’re not the most talented kids out there, but they show guts.

  25. Astral Rain 08/17/2008 at 11:22 AM #

    Don’t hairline fractures improve with rest? I don’t think this will be a career ender, just a season ender.

    As for DE- I think part of the reason for defending him is the same reason people defend Javi- they’re not the most talented kids out there, but they show guts.

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