Most Indispensable Player

[Overly_Invested_Cat]

He Who Should Not Be Named

I'm assuming this is a reference to Kain Colter...and I continue to be saddened that he is made to feel unwelcome or under-appreciated by 'Cats fans and the university. He brought a level of effort and excitement to the team and was one of the key contributors that got us to the Gator Bowl and helped us win after a successful season.

He also displayed a degree of leadership - through his labor organizing efforts - that all Northwestern grads should be proud of. Did he make some dumb comments? Yes. Did his efforts coincide with a couple of down years (that can be attributed to a plague by injuries)? Yes.

Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with his efforts, he embodied the "And is in our DNA" message that the university is so proud to promote.



Star Quarterback \ Labor Organizer

 

[hdhntr1]

Justin Jackson the Ball Carrier. I'm a big fan of WML and Vault, but JJ is the man.

With all due respect to Thor and his future, we won 10 games last year with one of the worst performing QB's in FBS. I think he will improve and I support him, but, no, it ain't him. It's JJTBC

Most indispensable has to do with the player with little or no replacement for. JJ is for sure a talent and likely our best player but we have other talented running backs. Walker fits into that category as well but again, other guys have played the position. But Thorson at QB is the one position with no visible viable backup. ZO is gone and Alviti has not shown much to date and others are Frosh or not even in school yet. Not saying one or more of them cannot be a good replacement but reality is we just do not know. Therefore for now, Thorson has to be considered most indispensable

 

[hdhntr1]

You're underselling just how special JJ really is. He has a natural ability to read and set up blocks that is very uncommon. Long has more physicality, but not nearly the same "feel" for running the ball.

PS -- Vault won the Duke game with a kick return, not a run from scrimmage. He struggled pretty mightily running the ball last season (56 rushes for 159 yards, or 2.8 YPC; 2 rushes for 10 yards in the Duke game), which likely in part precipitated his move to WR.

I don't think he is trying to undersell JJ. Yes he is very special. The question was not who is the best player or even most valuable, but rather who was most indispensable. Not who adds the most but more whose loss would have the biggest impact. For now that is CT as while there are backups at RB, as of now there is no viable backup at QB. As other QBs develop, that answer can change.

 

[Gladeskat]

You're underselling just how special JJ really is. He has a natural ability to read and set up blocks that is very uncommon. Long has more physicality, but not nearly the same "feel" for running the ball.

PS -- Vault won the Duke game with a kick return, not a run from scrimmage. He struggled pretty mightily running the ball last season (56 rushes for 159 yards, or 2.8 YPC; 2 rushes for 10 yards in the Duke game), which likely in part precipitated his move to WR.

BOOM! ^^^THIS^^^!!!! You took the words right out of my fingertips, GCG! JJ is a special back who is at a whole 'nother level or two above our other RB's. His vision, cutting ability, and, as you said, read and set up blocks, and ability to deflect tacklers and finish runs are extraordinary. IMO, he's the best in the B1G, and perhaps the best RB NU has ever had, at these skills. He's like watching water flow downhill...he'll find the path of least resistance no matter where it is and gain positive yardage. We ran plays that specifically took advantage of his gifts, e.g., stretch plays and when we pull a center and guard to create some space for JJ to pick his way among his blockers and find openings.

To me the MIP is close between JJ, CT, and AW...and I'll give the nod to CT because of the players behind them. AW also has to be considered here because of his extraordinary playmaking ability. We would not have won the Stanford game (and others) without his HUGE flying TFL's in that game that shut down their RB's before they could get started.

 

[DaCat]

If we narrow the discussion down to the upcoming season only, I think CT is the strongest candidate for MIP, just because the QB position is awfully thin at the start of the season as Alviti is still recovering from a significant surgery and none of the other backups have any college experience. We're talking Yates, Smith, Green... a RS FR who is a candidate to switch positions, a true freshman, and a walk-on RS FR. It should be keeping Fitz and McCall up at nights. If CT goes down, it would be disastrous. JJ and AW are equally valuable, but at least we have some solid backups for them.

 

[Deeringfish]

There is a difference between MVP and MIP (Most Indispensable Player). Clearly the defensive MVP is Ant, and the offensive MVP is JJ. It is also clear to me that Thorson is the MIP for the upcoming season, just because his backups are nowhere near ready to fill in compared to the backups for Ant and JJ.

But shouldn't Alviti be more ready this year than last? This what I don't get. The lack of development of the next guy up. There were games where Trevor should have been playing in a wheel chair but they couldn't or wouldn't take him out.

Self edit, OK I forgot about the surgery

 

[No Chores]

Throughout Trevor's NU career, the WRs were a bigger issue in our passing game.

gocats, that is simply not true. Take a look at the receivers in Trevor's RS Freshman year, 2011. We had many excellent receivers that year, including Jeremy Ebert, Rashad Lawrence,Demetrius Fields, Drake Dunsmore,Christian Jones, Tony Jones and several good running back receivers. Then in 2012, we had Lawrence, Fields,Christian, Tony, Vitale Colter, Venric, Treyvon and Tyrus Jones. So now we are half way through Trevors career, and he has had many good wide receivers at his disposal. The same was true in 2013. So it is really unfair to say that "throughout Trevor's NU career the WRs were a bigger issue in our passing game" Trevor was simply not a spread QB, and he threw far too many critical interceptions.

 

[Deeringfish]

I'm assuming this is a reference to Kain Colter...and I continue to be saddened that he is made to feel unwelcome or under-appreciated by 'Cats fans and the university. He brought a level of effort and excitement to the team and was one of the key contributors that got us to the Gator Bowl and helped us win after a successful season.

He also displayed a degree of leadership - through his labor organizing efforts - that all Northwestern grads should be proud of. Did he make some dumb comments? Yes. Did his efforts coincide with a couple of down years (that can be attributed to a plague by injuries)? Yes.

Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with his efforts, he embodied the "And is in our DNA" message that the university is so proud to promote.

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Star Quarterback \ Labor Organizer

Actually, I agree with you but in the context of my post, I was writing to what I project to be the audience for reasons you state above. Including Colter as one of the great recent QBs is as politically charged as saying one of the current presidential candidates is much more highly qualified for the job than the other. Many people have their opinions made already.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

gocats, that is simply not true. Take a look at the receivers in Trevor's RS Freshman year, 2011. We had many excellent receivers that year, including Jeremy Ebert, Rashad Lawrence,Demetrius Fields, Drake Dunsmore,Christian Jones, Tony Jones and several good running back receivers. Then in 2012, we had Lawrence, Fields,Christian, Tony, Vitale Colter, Venric, Treyvon and Tyrus Jones. So now we are half way through Trevors career, and he has had many good wide receivers at his disposal. The same was true in 2013. So it is really unfair to say that "throughout Trevor's NU career the WRs were a bigger issue in our passing game" Trevor was simply not a spread QB, and he threw far too many critical interceptions.

OK, fine. I was perhaps a bit too broad with my statement. I was thinking most of 2013 and 2014, when the WRs severely underperformed -- ESPECIALLY in 2014, Trevor's lone year as the full-time starter. If you didn't see how poor the WRs played in 2014 (likely costing us games against Cal and NIU, missing a ton of opportunities against Notre Dame, etc.), I'm not sure what you were watching. I would love to see Trevor's statistics net of drops, because I suspect they would be stellar.

I still stand behind my statement that our WR performance was a much bigger factor in our passing game struggles in 2013 and 2014 rather than Trevor's performance.

 

[No Chores]

OK, fine. I was perhaps a bit too broad with my statement. I was thinking most of 2013 and 2014, when the WRs severely underperformed -- ESPECIALLY in 2014, Trevor's lone year as the full-time starter. If you didn't see how poor the WRs played in 2014 (likely costing us games against Cal and NIU, missing a ton of opportunities against Notre Dame, etc.), I'm not sure what you were watching. I would love to see Trevor's statistics net of drops, because I suspect they would be stellar.

I still stand behind my statement that our WR performance was a much bigger factor in our passing game struggles in 2013 and 2014 rather than Trevor's performance.

OK, .but that's not what you said. 2014 was the year of the hideous performance by our wide receivers, 2013 not so much. Yes Trevor was injured in 2014, but his lack of mobility, fumbles, and and ill-timed interceptions didn't help. In 2013 against Ohio State his pick - 6 when we were ahead did us in. Trevor was OK, but he never was the QB that Colter was.

 

[ToledoCat]

It is CT by a huge margin... we do not have a backup who has been proven to be able to play D1 football. We may struggle with CT, without him we are in real trouble. We have D1 RBS, and a D than can cover a lost LB, but without a QB - teams die. Not much different than a baseball team without a pitcher... the 8 other guys are important but you need a guy who can throw