Top 10 from this winning streak?

[ricko654321]

1 Flynn Nagel- almost single handedly won the Neb game for us
2 Montre Hartage has been lockdown
3 Joe Gaziano
4 Samdup Miller
5 Clayton - not consistent but still crucial to us grinding out wins, making clutch plays
6 Paddy Fisher - I still wonder if he might be hurt a bit
7 Slater? Thomas has been pretty good too
8 Gallagher (backward looking) / Nate Hall (forward looking)
9 Bowser’s emergence
10 JR Pace

Thoughts?

 

[zeek55]

Move Hartage up to 1 and Bowser up to 3 and I agree with most of the rest.


Hartage has taken our defense to another level with how much of an impact he has on our entire pass protection scheme. He's a stud.


And Bowser's emergence was a huge part of that Rutgers win. CT didn't have much that game, and I think if we had to force him to pass an extra 20 times, the result could've been another Akron-like mess...


It carried over (with a huge assist from the OL) to the Wisconsin game where he balanced our offense, kept Wisconsin's D honest, and got critical chunks of yardage to give CT more manageable 2nd and 3rd downs.

 

[DaCat]

I would put Gallagher above Fisher for now.

 

[corbi296]

1 Flynn Nagel- almost single handedly won the Neb game for us
2 Montre Hartage has been lockdown
3 Joe Gaziano
4 Samdup Miller
5 Clayton - not consistent but still crucial to us grinding out wins, making clutch plays
6 Paddy Fisher - I still wonder if he might be hurt a bit
7 Slater? Thomas has been pretty good too
8 Gallagher (backward looking) / Nate Hall (forward looking)
9 Bowser’s emergence
10 JR Pace

Thoughts?

Clayton is way too low. He was so good against Nebraska and MSU. The accuracy of throws he made in those games was unbelievable. Nagle caught them but it was the throws that made the plays.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

1 Flynn Nagel- almost single handedly won the Neb game for us
2 Montre Hartage has been lockdown
3 Joe Gaziano
4 Samdup Miller
5 Clayton - not consistent but still crucial to us grinding out wins, making clutch plays
6 Paddy Fisher - I still wonder if he might be hurt a bit
7 Slater? Thomas has been pretty good too
8 Gallagher (backward looking) / Nate Hall (forward looking)
9 Bowser’s emergence
10 JR Pace

Thoughts?

Where is Jordan Thompson? DT’s get no love,

 

[MRCat95]

Given we might be 1-7 or 2-6 without Thorson, I’d put him #1 by a mile.

#2 Gaz (impacted every game meaningfully except maybe the UW game)
#3 Hartage (lock down island corner)
#4 Nagel (Big plays + consistent production)
#5 Bowser (0-2 in the last 2 without him)
#6 Skowronek (huge game-changing 50-50 ball plays in several close games).

7-15 is rolling week-by-week. A lot of guys fit these slots every week and that’s a good thing.

 

[Alan Smithee]

Inserting some extreme recency bias, I move Hartage up to #1 and slip Nagel down a spot or two. Hartage has been playing like a star. Nagel kind of disappeared against Wisconsin, though he's been sure money in almost every other game. Thorson has had his ups and downs even in the last few games, so I'm ok with where you have him, but in this streak he has, even in the games where he struggled, often pulled things together when we really needed him to.

 

[ricko654321]

Clayton is way too low. He was so good against Nebraska and MSU. The accuracy of throws he made in those games was unbelievable. Nagle caught them but it was the throws that made the plays.

Clayton is completing 61% of his passes at 6.5 ypa with 10 TDs and 10 Ints. Those are decent numbers, but I don’t think he’s playing the best of our team. I take MR’s point that he’s probably been the most valuable guy given the importance of position and also the likely dropoff if injured. But I don’t think he’s been the best player. 5th best is still pretty solid I would say.

Also, if it was just the throws that were making the passing success happen, then I don’t think that Flynn would have nearly 2x the yards and catches that anyone else on the team does. Bennett is a big target for deep balls and had a huge play against Wisconsin, and Cam Green has been solid, but we haven’t had another pass catcher like Flynn who can get open, reliably catch the ball, and then turn upfield for positive yards since AC.

And to someone else’s point, Jordan Thompson maybe should be on the list, if not he’s just off. And I could see ranking Bowser higher, certainly based on only the last two weeks he would be higher than #9.

 

[ricko654321]

I would put Gallagher above Fisher for now.

Yeah, maybe I was still a bit biased based on last year’s performance from Paddy. Think we can agree though that with Nate back now, we have 3 studs at LB.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

1 Flynn Nagel- almost single handedly won the Neb game for us
2 Montre Hartage has been lockdown
3 Joe Gaziano
4 Samdup Miller
5 Clayton - not consistent but still crucial to us grinding out wins, making clutch plays
6 Paddy Fisher - I still wonder if he might be hurt a bit
7 Slater? Thomas has been pretty good too
8 Gallagher (backward looking) / Nate Hall (forward looking)
9 Bowser’s emergence
10 JR Pace

Thoughts?

Paddy looked great last week

 

[Jonny2TheP]

Not at the top, but I’d put Trent Goens game against MSU near the bottom of that top 10. Two huge pass knockdowns at the line on crucial 3rd downs in the 2nd half. He doesn’t knock those down and those drives likely continue. Instead they both turned into punts. To me, each of those is like half a turnover.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

1 Flynn Nagel- almost single handedly won the Neb game for us
2 Montre Hartage has been lockdown
3 Joe Gaziano
4 Samdup Miller
5 Clayton - not consistent but still crucial to us grinding out wins, making clutch plays
6 Paddy Fisher - I still wonder if he might be hurt a bit
7 Slater? Thomas has been pretty good too
8 Gallagher (backward looking) / Nate Hall (forward looking)
9 Bowser’s emergence
10 JR Pace

Thoughts?

Trae Williams has played sensational! I got him fifth

 

[CatManTrue]

Where is Jordan Thompson? DT’s get no love,

Jordan Thompson’s play to reforce the fumble against Wisconsin, recovered by Nate Hall, was a thing of beauty for a big man. I must have rewatched that individual highlight 10 times.

 

[SmellyCat]

I've got no problems with Pace at #10 on your list, but he seems like he's been really productive over the last month or so. Just always in the middle of things.

 

[hdhntr1]

1 Flynn Nagel- almost single handedly won the Neb game for us
2 Montre Hartage has been lockdown
3 Joe Gaziano
4 Samdup Miller
5 Clayton - not consistent but still crucial to us grinding out wins, making clutch plays
6 Paddy Fisher - I still wonder if he might be hurt a bit
7 Slater? Thomas has been pretty good too
8 Gallagher (backward looking) / Nate Hall (forward looking)
9 Bowser’s emergence
10 JR Pace

Thoughts?

You forgot walk on kicker and RB

 

[MRCat95]

Clayton is completing 61% of his passes at 6.5 ypa with 10 TDs and 10 Ints. Those are decent numbers, but I don’t think he’s playing the best of our team. I take MR’s point that he’s probably been the most valuable guy given the importance of position and also the likely dropoff if injured. But I don’t think he’s been the best player. 5th best is still pretty solid I would say.

Also, if it was just the throws that were making the passing success happen, then I don’t think that Flynn would have nearly 2x the yards and catches that anyone else on the team does. Bennett is a big target for deep balls and had a huge play against Wisconsin, and Cam Green has been solid, but we haven’t had another pass catcher like Flynn who can get open, reliably catch the ball, and then turn upfield for positive yards since AC.

And to someone else’s point, Jordan Thompson maybe should be on the list, if not he’s just off. And I could see ranking Bowser higher, certainly based on only the last two weeks he would be higher than #9.

I ranked mine based on most valuable. The standard is the degree to which it would be more difficult to win games if they were suddenly no longer on it. To me, most valuable also = best.

If I’m an NFL scout, I look at it differently. I am not an NFL scout.

 

[corbi296]

Clayton is completing 61% of his passes at 6.5 ypa with 10 TDs and 10 Ints. Those are decent numbers, but I don’t think he’s playing the best of our team. I take MR’s point that he’s probably been the most valuable guy given the importance of position and also the likely dropoff if injured. But I don’t think he’s been the best player. 5th best is still pretty solid I would say.

Also, if it was just the throws that were making the passing success happen, then I don’t think that Flynn would have nearly 2x the yards and catches that anyone else on the team does. Bennett is a big target for deep balls and had a huge play against Wisconsin, and Cam Green has been solid, but we haven’t had another pass catcher like Flynn who can get open, reliably catch the ball, and then turn upfield for positive yards since AC.

And to someone else’s point, Jordan Thompson maybe should be on the list, if not he’s just off. And I could see ranking Bowser higher, certainly based on only the last two weeks he would be higher than #9.

His accuracy and decision making have been inconsistent for sure but his best games have been outstanding and probably the only reason we won those games. Furthermore, given the significant drop off between Thorson and Green, it's hard to argue that he should not be at or near the top of the list.

 

[BarefootCat]

I ranked mine based on most valuable. The standard is the degree to which it would be more difficult to win games if they were suddenly no longer on it. To me, most valuable also = best.

If I’m an NFL scout, I look at it differently. I am not an NFL scout.

I understand your ranking system, but think it may be a little off. You essentially are ranking the back-up, and not the player or the player’s impact on the field. If TJ Green magically became Hunter Johnson, then Thorson’s value would go from 1st to much further down your list.

 

[MRCat95]

I understand your ranking system, but think it may be a little off. You essentially are ranking the back-up, and not the player or the player’s impact on the field. If TJ Green magically became Hunter Johnson, then Thorson’s value would go from 1st to much further down your list.

I’d say I’m ranking the player based on their contribution to winning. That’s all that matters.

Slot in an average B1G QB for Thorson (instead of TJ Green), we’re still screwed.

What Thorson was able to accomplish with no running game and while spending much of his time under pressure was remarkable particularly in the Michigan State and Nebraska games.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Backup kicker deserves HM

 

[ricko654321]

His accuracy and decision making have been inconsistent for sure but his best games have been outstanding and probably the only reason we won those games. Furthermore, given the significant drop off between Thorson and Green, it's hard to argue that he should not be at or near the top of the list.

Yeah - probably a distinction of most valuable vs who is playing best. I agree he is probably the most valuable to our team in terms of impact of losing him. I was probably ranking something different. Though, to be clear, it’s not like I had a 100% defined methodology, this was done off the cuff...

 

[zeek55]

Yeah - probably a distinction of most valuable vs who is playing best. I agree he is probably the most valuable to our team in terms of impact of losing him. I was probably ranking something different. Though, to be clear, it’s not like I had a 100% defined methodology, this was done off the cuff...

List was fine imo for a nebulous ranking of importance of players for the past 4 wins.

Feels like different players stepped up at different points in each of the 4 games to deliver the wins. Obviously, CT and Nagel had their fingerprints all over the first 2 games. Bowser's were all over the last 2 games. CT's 2 runs might take up a half of his top 4 best plays against Wisconsin, which sort of shows how he's struggled a bit in the passing game these past 2 weeks. Hartage and Gaziano have been great.


Wisconsin feels like the first game this year where we've had the whole team executing at a high level simultaneously. Hard not to be optimistic right now given that like last year, we're peaking right when the most important stretch of games occurs.