Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Injuries

One area where the NMSU Aggie football team was fortunate in during the 2009 campaign was on the injury front.

Really, there wasn't a rash of banged up players like we saw in the previous seasons.

The secondary remained healthy and the linebacking corps, for the most part, remained intact. The defensive tackle position saw some bodies get moved in and out of the lineup, but defensive ends Donte Savage and Pierre Fils took every snap — at least it seemed that way.

The offensive line had some guys go down here and there. Still, you'd expect that to a degree along such a physical unit. On the surface, the health of the O-line was nothing out of the ordinary, perhaps even solid.

Todd Lee was hurt at receiver for a handful of games but, again, this group was pretty much healthy throughout. And running back Seth Smith played the second half of the season with an injured shoulder, yet he still ran hard and with a purpose.

This topic might seem obscure in late January — heck it probably is. But I wanted to blog about something and it popped into my mind.

The reason I do mention it is to simply address that the Aggies were fortunate in this area last year and it wasn't really talked about all that much. I've heard it from a handful of coaches in the past — the Aggies' starting lineup can compete with just about anyone. It's the depth that becomes an issue and building that depth is paramount in building a football team. Once guys start going down, their backups are exposed and the season typically wears down as the schedule winds down.

I think the Aggies have good depth on the offensive line and in the secondary. Outside of that, I'm not so sure. This is where years of recruiting pays off. This upcoming season, will the team remain as healthy as it did in 2009? If they do, it'll be a stroke of luck.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Injuries happen in Football. However, the conditioning program can help minimize those injuries and Coach Gary Uribe can take credit for that.

During the Dumme years, kids were injured left & right for lack of conditioning.
Heck, the conditioning program was so bad, we had kids getting the same shoulder injury in the WEIGHT ROOM!

We have one heck of a staff with both college and pro experience and they are running this program like a top college program!
The wins will come as a result! Go Aggies!

Jefe

on the island said...

Give credit to the new strength coach. He emphasizes flexibility and speed over bulk.

AAD said...

If you are looking for blog topics, about something on Aggie baseball. This may be a great season for them. They came so close to going to the Regionals last year. If they do well at the Cactus Classic in Tucson in February and have a solid season perhaps they can get an at large bid if they don't win the WAC tournament. I don't how their pitching will hold up but with Sodders back they should again be one of the top batting teams in the nation. At any rate I believe it will be a good year for baseball and worthy of a blog entry or two.

Anonymous said...

The Aggies were fortunate due in large part to the VERY GOOD Strength Coach that they have. This guy is not locked into the Strength Mentality of the 1970' & 80's that were focused on Bulk & Size. He brings a true science to the program that without Walker bringing this guy in from USC you would not have seen. We would have been stuck with the "Old Meathead Routines" of yesteryear!

Anonymous said...

I think Depth on the O-line and secondary will both be good. I am a little concerned with the D-line and LB's RB should be ok with a lot of young guys backing up smith. I think the TE will be much improved with Nelson and Hipp. I think the WR who underachived last year will have a break out season.

Anonymous said...

On your 1/18 post you added a link that had the rankings of the WAC teams recruiting. At the time I think we were 4th or 5th. But now we've dropped to a tie for 7th out of 9 teams in the WAC.

Anonymous said...

i wouldn't even begin to worry about the rankings until after signing day. There will still be lots of changes. Guys will decommit, others will sign. Some will be ineligible academically, so will not be offered a grant in aid.

Look at the final signings. those are the folks that will probably actually be here in August.