BSD Fantasy Matchup: Jared vs. Patrick

The final match-up of the BSD Penn State Big Ten Era fantasy draft quarterfinals is shaping up as an instant classic between Jared and Patrick’s teams. You can see their rosters below, as well as their own respective takes on how their team will put themselves over the top.

Patrick’s Game Plan

I don’t expect my offensive game plan to change all that much no matter who I’m facing. Like I said in my team preview, Curtis Enis is going to be the focal point of my offense. With the offensive line he has in front of him, it would be silly if he wasn’t utilized in that way. But the upside with my offense is that the talent and size we have on the outside — Allen Robinson, Joe Jurevicius, and Andrew Quarless — allows us to still be balanced. If you want to go mano a mano with my offensive line, we’ll happily enjoy watching Enis scamper into the endzone over-and-over again. Stack the box to take away Enis? We feel pretty confident about ARob, Jurevicius, and Quarless in single coverage — especially Robinson.

Defensively, the plan is obvious here: we’re not going to let Ki-Jana Carter beat us. Tyoka Jackson and Matthew Rice will seal the edges defensively, forcing Carter to stay inside where he’ll be met by Jared Odrick, Jay Alford, and Paul Posluszny.

To be honest, I expect Jared’s game plan to be similar: stop Enis, make the quarterback beat you. So it comes down to two questions for me:

• Who has the better offensive line, while taking into account the defensive line matchup?
• Which wide receiver group do you have more faith in, while once again, taking into account the cornerback matchup?

We here at Team Patrick feel confident in both those battles.

Jared’s Game Plan

Like Patrick, I feel confident in the personnel of my offense to tailor the gameplan toward their strengths regardless of the opponent. It all starts with a healthy dose of Ki-Jana Carter, either running up the gut behind Jeff Hartings or using his speed to bounce it outside. This sets up the play-action perfectly, as Wally Richardson finding Kyle Brady down the middle, and then some deep strikes to Chris Godwin. If the defense is able to adjust, then it’s time to find Jordan Norwood over and over, as he has no problem finding the soft spots in the defense as he did time and time again during his time as a Nittany Lion.

I would need to have the discipline to keep Ki-Jana on the sidelines for at least a couple series, letting Aaron Harris take a turn battering the defense. This gives my first overall pick fresh legs against a tired defense, making him only destined to bust a long touchdown late in the game to hopefully put it away.

The interior of my defense is stout with Devon Still, Kevin Givens and Dan Conner helping to shut down the middle of the field, even for a powerhouse runners like Curtis Enis and Michael Zordich. Patrick did get it right that my focus would be to force McGloin to win the game through the air, and Gerald Hodges and Brandon Bell can help Carl Nassib bring pressure, while each member of a very physical secondary can be used to keep McGloin guessing and not allow him to find a rhythm with pressure coming from all different areas from play to play.

If this game goes, I should have the advantage in the kicking game. While there’s no question who had the better NFL career, the college version of Brett Conway was much more reliable than Robbie Gould in the blue and white.

I really liked the way my team cam together, but facing Patrick in the first round is a tough draw. I think Team Jared would outlast Team Patrick in the highest scoring game of the BSD Fantasy Draft quarterfinals. But what do you think?