Blythe is waived

Alright - this discussion has run it's course and is getting a little testy.

Some think Todd's play/effort/skills were adequate, some don't. And Brett is getting drug in as well.

Regardless, they both were fine players for ISU. The both played four years, never left the program, never got in any notable trouble that I can recall, and never put themselves or the program in a bad light.

Totally agree.

While they may not have reached the potential we thought they could, and didn't take the program to new heights, they were great kids that did a lot as Cyclones.

I am not going to badmouth them for that.
 
Clones85' - I don't think anybody is saying he was terrible. I think people are expressing disappointment in that he could have been much better. He was a very solid ISU WR. However, in my mind, and I could be completely wrong, he just never really blew me away with the exception of a few games. The A&M game was amazing. The CU game was amazing last season. The OT's against Toledo were great. Todd was also plagued by inconsistency throughout his career including the 2005 season which was his only All-Conference year.

How much of that was his fault is debateable, but I don't think it's all the O-Line's fault or Meyer's fault as you make it out to be. Some games he was great and I'll never forget him for that. Some games he was almost non-existent, but ultimately he was never as good as he probably could have been and he will likely never play a down in the NFL. He had a great career as a Cyclone but it will ultimately be forgotten by the masses as the team never won a lot and he never really made a name for himself as a great player nationally.

+1
 
And yet you forget to mention all those plays that Blythe took off ON THE FIELD when the ball wasn't going to be thrown in his direction. That and you fail to mention all those times he gave up on a play when he'd have to lay out side-to-side in order to make the play. If the ball wasn't thrown in a 3' wide x 8' tall box the guy gave up on the play.

Wrong. How many times did Meyer throw the ball high and Blythe went up to get it? Only to get hammered? This post lacks knowledge

Todd's job was always safe, from the moment he stepped foot on the field for the first time to when he left. It was a known fact - no doubt at all.

The biggest benefit for our team and individual receivers this fall - not one single person's job is safe. Including Hamilton and Sumrall. We have some very nice young talent that reportedly has been shining in practice. This will only make each player better.

Todd was never really pushed like that. Complacency goes a long way toward taking a person with phenomenal potential and making them just average or good - instead of great.

He was never really pushed but yet put up numbers that put him in the top 10 nationally in YPC. Top 20 in TD's, and Top 20 in yards in the country as a freshman and sophomore?

The people that downplay his success mind boggle me. He was a Cyclone. We should be embracing him, not nit picking at everything he didn't do as well as we would have liked
 
Wrong. How many times did Meyer throw the ball high and Blythe went up to get it? Only to get hammered? This post lacks knowledge

Things are getting testy, no doubt. From just one side.


He was never really pushed but yet put up numbers that put him in the top 10 nationally in YPC. Top 20 in TD's, and Top 20 in yards in the country as a freshman and sophomore?

Again, many of us are disappointed that after those seasons, the guy was very quiet both compared to those years and nationally. He came out of the gate strong but finished poorly.

The people that downplay his success mind boggle me. He was a Cyclone. We should be embracing him, not nit picking at everything he didn't do as well as we would have liked

Loved Todd, a lot. Still do. But I don't blindly worship the players I love. They're often the ones I'm harder on, because I know they can be better. Todd is a perfect example of such.
 
I saw mild improvements in both route running and some blocking last season. Which goes toward my point I've made many times - I feel we'd be having a very different chat about Todd had be been with this staff more than just one season.

I have to disagree somewhat on this. I was down on the sidelines at the Texas game and was disappointed in Blythe's efforts that game. Seemed like he was not giving his full effort sometimes, almost "dogging" it and going through the motions at times and his teammates didn't seem too receptive to him when he was trying to play the cheerleader on the sidelines which I think came from even them seeing that he had bailed out and given up on that game early. There were threads here that backed some this assumption too how he wasn't really the leader that the fans made him out to be when it came to how he was around the team and his effort on the field. Very talented kid but like Meyer he kind of peaked early then had a gradual fall off in production from season to season.
 
Trav, I will not pull punches. Against Texas, pretty much every single player on the football field quit that day, and quit hard (if such a thing exists). And for whatever reason, they quit that day before the game even started.

For the life of me, I'll never understand what happened there and even more, how we played like we did against OU and most of the remaining teams. I thought that was the end for us that season, that OU would only be worse.

I was embarrassed to be a Cyclone the day we played Texas but very proud they day we faced OU.
 
Totally agree.

While they may not have reached the potential we thought they could, and didn't take the program to new heights, they were great kids that did a lot as Cyclones.

I am not going to badmouth them for that.

Yes, what he said.
 
Blythe was a decent college player but he is not NFL caliber.

He does not have the speed to play in the NFL...period. I'm not sure how many of you regularly see NFL games in person but I have attended LSU games on a Saturday night and then a Saints game on Sunday afternoon several times...and the step up in speed is unbelievable (and LSU has had some pretty darned fast teams).

He brings nothing else to the table that is typically expected from reserve receivers that are deeper on a team's depth chart. NFL teams only carry 53 guys and there is no room for a reserve receiver that cannot play special teams (coverage or return teams).

I'm just glad that Chizik has set a course to correct our longstanding lack of team speed. I think he has recruited some guys with speed that are going to make people forget about guys like Blythe.
 
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Blythe was a decent college player but he is not NFL caliber.

He does not have the speed to play in the NFL...period. I'm not sure how many of you regularly see NFL games in person but I have attended LSU games on a Saturday night and then a Saints game on Sunday afternoon several times...and the step up in speed is unbelievable (and LSU has had some pretty darned fast teams).

He brings nothing else to the table that is typically expected from reserve receivers that are deeper on a team's depth chart. NFL teams only carry 53 guys and there is no room for a reserve receiver that cannot play special teams (coverage or return teams).

I'm just glad that Chizik has set a course to correct our longstanding lack of team speed. I think he has recruited some guys with speed that are going to make people forget about guys like Blythe.

I think the team speed between Iowa State to LSU is very significant as well, so I agree with your point about Todd's speed. It would have been nice to see if he could develope into a position receiver at the NFL level.
 
Wrong. How many times did Meyer throw the ball high and Blythe went up to get it? Only to get hammered? This post lacks knowledge



He was never really pushed but yet put up numbers that put him in the top 10 nationally in YPC. Top 20 in TD's, and Top 20 in yards in the country as a freshman and sophomore?

The people that downplay his success mind boggle me. He was a Cyclone. We should be embracing him, not nit picking at everything he didn't do as well as we would have liked

Great response - rep for you! Apparently in the minds of some posters, being a current Cyclone fan means that one must dismiss and/or criticize accomplishments and records of the previous coaching staff and players. If Blythe had such an attitude and took so many plays off, why did he see the field so much last year?
 
Isn't he the greatest receiver ever to step on a football field?

No, that's Jerry Rice.

It's okay. We understand, you're just an iowa fan afterall...

BTW - this isn't the rivals forum. Run along now. Bye bye.
 
Wrong. How many times did Meyer throw the ball high and Blythe went up to get it? Only to get hammered? This post lacks knowledge

Wrong? Lacks knowledge? Meyer throwing a ball high and Blythe going up to grab it suggests that it was thrown into a particular 3' x 8' window, where all he had to do was use his height to outjump the secondary. Sounds more and more like I actually KNEW what I was talking about...
 
If Blythe had such an attitude and took so many plays off, why did he see the field so much last year?

For real? Now this thing is getting ridiculous.

Once Todd showed up, the staff didn't make much of an attempt to recruit over him. One of the ways teams get better is the staff tries to continually recruit players that are better than the guys currently on the roster. Not just getting guys of the same or worse caliber.

He'd still start this year, if he was on the team. But if certain guys progress as expected, I'm not so sure Todd would be the #1 receiver in '09.
 
Great response - rep for you! Apparently in the minds of some posters, being a current Cyclone fan means that one must dismiss and/or criticize accomplishments and records of the previous coaching staff and players. If Blythe had such an attitude and took so many plays off, why did he see the field so much last year?

As opposed to the countless number of of some fans here that choose to worship their accomplishments as if they actually mean something? Those records they broke were practically broken by the end of their sophomore years. Funny it took them until closer to the end of their senior years to break them. It's not that I don't think they were great Cyclones - they do hold the records. But to me those records feel just a little hollow. Maybe if they played their junior and senior years in a similar fashion to how they played their freshmen and sophomore years, or at the very least if Blythe didn't dog it on the field/mail it in like he did numerous times I'd think - or did a small thing known as win - maybe I'd think a little bit higher of them right now.

It's funny - Blythe and Meyer were RAILED on throughout their entire junior and senior seasons - and now that he's gone people can't get on the apologetic bandwagon quick enough, especially when people bring up the very same faults that were brought up during the seasons...
 
For real? Now this thing is getting ridiculous.

Once Todd showed up, the staff didn't make much of an attempt to recruit over him. One of the ways teams get better is the staff tries to continually recruit players that are better than the guys currently on the roster. Not just getting guys of the same or worse caliber.

He'd still start this year, if he was on the team. But if certain guys progress as expected, I'm not so sure Todd would be the #1 receiver in '09.

I'd definitely say if Chizik & Co. install the kind of work ethic I expect them to, SedJ would EASILY be the #1 starter over Blythe...
 
Blythe was a decent college player...

When he showed up to play.

...but he is not NFL caliber.

I will disagree with this one - Blythe definitely could have CHOSEN to be NFL-calibur. There are plenty of receivers in the NFL that aren't burners. However, he certainly doesn't have NFL-like work ethic - that is issue #1. Issue #2 is someone without wheels is going to have to have the courage to make his catches in the middle of the field and take the hit. I could probably count the number of times he went over the middle for a catch on both hands. Going up high for a pass on the sidelines is quite different than going up high for a pass in the middle of the field - fewer 200-lb projectiles to deal with..
 
Regardless of what Blythe did or did not do in college he made it to an NFL camp which tells me that someone who is paid to be a pro scout thought he had potential. Since WR is the deeped position in the NFL (5-6 per team) don't be shocked if he catches on with some team that is short on WRs. (no height pun intended) Look at the Bengals, they need WRs so bad they just re-signed public enemy #1 (Chris Henry) even though he gets to sit for the first 4 games of the season. If its a matter of route running technique that can be taught. If it is heart and desire, Todd will have to find that within himself. I have a feeeling he will end up on a practice squad somewhere due to his size and red zone ability.
 

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