Pinetime - Aaron Mends

[hawkjunkie]

I am looking for answers here. Not that Bower is horrible (although noted by Hawkeyegamefilm & others, that he was at times having a poor game). But Bower didn't look lights out, he looked the same.

This was lowly Miami of Ohio, 10 true freshman played, and Mends was our #1 WLB from January until about 10 days ago. Everybody and their brother were getting rotated in, Why did Mends not see some significant minutes....?

Is Mends hurt? Or was he hurt in camp and that has carried on through now? Or worse, is he in the KF dawg house???

Or was his being ranked #1 by the coaches since January, just a huge error in judgment??

I would certainly like him to show his gameday skills, at least for a few series. We have not seen nearly enough of that. NOR have the coaches...
There is definitely a difference in playing in practice, compared to playing under the lights... It's not like Bo Bower has looked All-B1G, or even quicker from what we already knew.

Just looking for some answers, as we have not seen it on the field. Anyone have some insight or input?

 

[IAHAWK1982]

The only answer is that the coaches who are paid big bucks to evaluate the players have decided that Bower is better at this time. I'm sure they will re-evaluate things after they look at film and either get Bower better or give Mends a chance to show what he can do. 1st game no need to panic.

 

[PCHawk]

The only answer is that the coaches who are paid big bucks to evaluate the players have decided that Bower is better at this time. I'm sure they will re-evaluate things after they look at film and either get Bower better or give Mends a chance to show what he can do. 1st game no need to panic.

That answers why Bowers was named the starter, but it doesn't answer why Mends didn't play at all until mop up time. It was weird that in a game where people rotated in like crazy, the closest position race of the fall stayed with the same played the whole time.

 

[hawkjunkie]

The only answer is that the coaches who are paid big bucks to evaluate the players have decided that Bower is better at this time. I'm sure they will re-evaluate things after they look at film and either get Bower better or give Mends a chance to show what he can do. 1st game no need to panic.

Yes, I understand the - they get paid big bucks thing. In some cases I get that(eg. Ruddock vs CJB), in other cases I call horse crap(eg. Christensen vs Stanzi). I'm calling horse crap on this one. I am Not buying it....

There has to be something wrong with him. Either he isn't any good, and the coaches threw him at #1 just to motivate other players(the Paki O'Meara clause), he has an undisclosed nagging injury, or he is in the dawg house....

We rotated in tons of players. Mends was not one of them. Heck We even played TWO freshman LB and a walk-on!?! If Mends is any good, and there is nothing wrong, then that's a huge kick to the nuts....
Going from #1 for almost 8 months, to nothing? There is something more here. I would just like to know what is behind this story...

 

[PCHawk]

Yes, I understand the - they get paid big bucks thing. In some cases I get that(eg. Ruddock vs CJB), in other cases I call horse crap(eg. Christensen vs Stanzi). I'm calling horse crap on this one. I am Not buying it....

There has to be something wrong with him. Either he isn't any good, and the coaches threw him at #1 just to motivate other players(the Paki O'Meara clause), he has an undisclosed nagging injury, or he is in the dawg house....

We rotated in tons of players. Mends was not one of them. Heck We even played TWO freshman LB and a walk-on!?! If Mends is any good, and there is nothing wrong, then that's a huge kick to the nuts....
Going from #1 for almost 8 months, to nothing? There is something more here. I would just like to know what is behind this story...

He did play at the very end but I agree, there is something up for sure. One of the 3 things you listed seem like the only possibilities.

 

[IAHAWK1982]

It might just be that Mends isn't ready to play yet. I coached for many years, and many times you intend to insert players in games, but in the heat of the battle the moment just doesn't come. The thing is that Kirk and the coaching staff aren't going to tell us that a player isn't any good. They won't throw a guy under the bus. You just have to interpret that from whether or not they are playing.

 

[PCHawk]

It might just be that Mends isn't ready to play yet. I coached for many years, and many times you intend to insert players in games, but in the heat of the battle the moment just doesn't come. The thing is that Kirk and the coaching staff aren't going to tell us that a player isn't any good. They won't throw a guy under the bus. You just have to interpret that from whether or not they are playing.

But if that's the case, it doesn't make sense that he was ever on the 1 line. When has Kirk ever put a guy who wasn't ready on the 1 line over a guy with experience? It's not necessarily weird that he hardly played. It's weird that he went from being listed a started over a guy with experience (which is rare to see on a depth chart) to losing a "close race", to not getting rotated in playing a bad team.

 

[SpecialKHawk]

I am very surprised by Mends disappearance also. I thought he had a chance to bring some athleticism at that spot to our defense. The coaches must see something they do not like.

This leads me to wonder if they are super excited about Jones the freshman and this amounts to moving Mends aside by playing Bower early until Jones is fully ready. It gives Bower a few thank you for your time in our program starts also and makes it easier to move him aside later for Jones. By listing Mends as number 1 for awhile keeps him in the program a little longer as an insurance policy should Bower/Jones get hurt.

 

[hawkjunkie]

I am very surprised by Mends disappearance also. I thought he had a chance to bring some athleticism at that spot to our defense. The coaches must see something they do not like.

This leads me to wonder if they are super excited about Jones the freshman and this amounts to moving Mends aside by playing Bower early until Jones is fully ready. It gives Bower a few thank you for your time in our program starts also and makes it easier to move him aside later for Jones. By listing Mends as number 1 for awhile keeps him in the program a little longer as an insurance policy should Bower/Jones get hurt.

I do not know about the ethics of naming a guy number 1, just to keep him around as an insurance policy. But for the program, I am sure it happens at a lot of places...

My hope? Is that Mends tweaked something, and isn't up to full speed yet, but will be soon. But usually the coaches mention when that happens. Actually about every case they do that. Unless a player is holding back, "staying tough" and keeping quiet, just so they do not get taken out of the rotation.

Either way, we will find out real soon if Mends is deemed to be a bench player. He is in his 3rd season with the program. Same as Bower. So, we will have an answer in the next week or so...

 

[desihawk]

It's almost certain that Mends just recovered from a minor but undisclosed injury. The Captain alludes to a couple recently recovered guys getting in for a bit while scheel didn't (even though he too could have.) One of the couple guys who saw just a bit of action is likely mends.

 

[hawkjunkie]

I am very surprised by Mends disappearance also. I thought he had a chance to bring some athleticism at that spot to our defense. The coaches must see something they do not like.

This leads me to wonder if they are super excited about Jones the freshman and this amounts to moving Mends aside by playing Bower early until Jones is fully ready. It gives Bower a few thank you for your time in our program starts also and makes it easier to move him aside later for Jones. By listing Mends as number 1 for awhile keeps him in the program a little longer as an insurance policy should Bower/Jones get hurt.

Looking at the depth chart again got me thinking about this. With Lots of good compliments on Jones. Maybe this is true? Add a 4th reason why Mends went from #1 to nothing in a couple of weeks...

If Jones is all that and a bag of chips, does he supplant Bower soon,or is it a next year thing?

Jones does love to hit. If he can close quickly, this defense could certainly use him. Now.