Potential sleepers and busts, the view on Bradford and more (cont.)

Stewart Mandel's Mailbag Submit a question or an opinion to Stewart. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

Stewart, I'm curious what type of impact you see Paul Johnson's triple-option having at Georgia Tech. Can it actually work? Will any wide receiver recruits want to play there? Will fans grow restless when Johnson runs the ball on third-and-nine?
-- Brian, Akron, Ohio

I can't believe how much skepticism there is out there surrounding Johnson and his offense. It reminds me of all the people who predicted Urban Meyer's spread offense would never work in the SEC (you know, because the defenses are "too fast.") It's as if there's this misconception that Johnson is bringing not only bring his playbook, but all of the same players, to Georgia Tech.

First of all, there's not that much of a difference between the Johnson's triple option and the kind of offense West Virginia ran the past few years with White, or what Meyer runs at times with Tim Tebow, or what Oregon ran last season with Dennis Dixon. The basic concept is the same: A quarterback with running ability takes the snap, reads the defense and, based on what he sees, either runs it himself or gets the ball to another player. At Navy, Johnson usually employed a fullback and two slotbacks on either side of the QB, who could either hand off to the fullback or pitch to one of the slotbacks.

If the offense was sound enough to lead Johnson's Georgia Southern teams to two I-AA national championships and his Navy teams to five straight bowl games, I see no reason he won't have similar success at Georgia Tech. For one, he'll have access to much better athletes. For another, he's a smart, experienced coach who knows how to adapt. He knows he won't win any ACC titles running the ball 86 percent of the time. He's not going to run the ball on third-and-nine. He's going to have to go out and sign some quarterbacks who can both run and pass (though it appears he has one on hand already in sophomore Josh Nesbitt). And while it's unlikely a receiver who wants to catch 90 passes is going to sign with Georgia Tech, the offense should be fairly appealing to the type of playmaker who doesn't mind being utilized in a variety of different ways -- a la a what Florida does with Percy Harvin, what Missouri does with Jeremy Maclin and what Oregon State does with James Rodgers and Sammie Stroughter.

While I do think the Yellow Jackets will struggle mightily this first season due to the lack of personnel on hand to fit his system, I have little doubt Johnson will eventually win like he's always done.

Stewart, haven't heard any plugs for your book in a year. Got any updates on it? Is there another book in your future or is that book "one and done" for you?
-- Russ, Dyersville, Iowa

How nice of you to ask, Russ. I don't know why it took so long for this to sink in, but the interesting thing about writing a book is that once it's out there it never goes away. Even now, nearly a year after its release, I'm still getting all kinds of notes from you guys attached to your Mailbag questions letting me know how much you enjoyed the book. Now, I'm sure there's some ulterior brown-nosing at play, but I appreciate the kind words nonetheless.

For those of you who have not yet had the chance to read Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls, I'm happy to report that the paperback edition comes out August 18. It's cheaper, it's softer and it comes with an update chapter about the 2007 season. It's like the IPhone 2.0 -- only it won't crash on you.

I'm a Kansas State fan and the Wildcats have recruited a Big 12-record number of juco players (19) this year. Can you talk some about the advantages and disadvantages of juco players, and do you see the Wildcats rebounding from last year's disappointing finish to have a great year?
-- Matt Durst, Herndon, Va

I will be very curious to see how K-State's season plays out, because, like you said, this is a fairly unprecedented experiment being orchestrated by third-year coach Ron Prince. While juco recruiting was one of the staples of Bill Snyder's success in Manhattan, even he never went this juco-heavy in a single recruiting class. Prince, a former juco player himself, has repeatedly stressed that this was a premeditated strategy aimed specifically for the 2008 season, when he knew the Wildcats would be inexperienced in several key areas. Thayer Evans of the New York Times wrote an interesting piece about Prince's strategy last week.

To me, it still seems incredibly risky.

Obviously, the potential advantage is that these players are already further developed than high-school recruits and will therefore be able to contribute immediately. If even four or five of them emerge as solid starters from day one, the Wildcats stand to benefit tremendously. Yet there would seem to be far more potential disadvantages. While not every player that starts out at a junior college is an academic or disciplinary risk, in a class of 19 one can probably assume there will be at least a few. Secondly, there's the issue of team chemistry. There's something to be said for a group of players arriving as freshmen and bonding together over a four- or five-year period. These new guys are almost like free-agent pick-ups who will need to come in and immediately mesh with current Wildcats players (many of whom they'll be competing with for playing time) who have already become close. And then there's the obvious question of, what happens in two years when these guys all leave? Does Prince do the same thing all over again? How will he produce program continuity?

I plan to keep an open mind and see how this thing plays out. But as for predicting whether K-State will have a "great year" -- I don't have the foggiest idea. For all I know, they'll be trotting out a lineup full of guys we've never seen before.

When you do your annual preseason top 25, what stands out as your biggest blunder? In 2004, when you had Minnesota at No. 9, even I, as a long-suffering Gopher fan, thought you were insane.
-- John, Bemidji, Minn.

You had to go there, John. Yes, that is my all-time worst preseason prognostication. While there have been plenty of other highly ranked teams on my preseason ballot that crashed and burned over the years (Tennessee in 2005, Louisville last year), they were usually just as high on everybody else's ballots as well. I was pretty much on my own private island with those Gophers, which had won 10 games the previous year and started that season 5-0 -- only to wind up 7-5.

What can I say? I really thought that was going to be their year -- and with Marion Barber and Laurence Maroney in the same backfield, it really should have been. I guess that's why Glen Mason is no longer coaching, while I'm ... still getting paid to make the same, bad predictions.