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*****
No Deep Dig this week, so I figured I would share a new chart I'm adding into the offensive breakdown column starting next week. It was an idea that Cody and I had on our YouTube show, Football with Friends (on Orangebloods live, weekdays 6-7 central). We thought it would be useful to begin keeping up with explosive play efficiency by-player.
We all know the emphasis that every coaching staff in football puts on explosive plays. Now, it will vary from staff to staff and league to league about what officially constitutes an explosive play, but there is no gray area about how important they are. Big plays make drives so much easier than grinding out first down after first down up and down the gridiron.
Take Texas this season. The Longhorns have scored 30 offensive touchdowns thus far, and on only seven did they manage to score a touchdown without at least one explosive play during the drive. On the other side of the docket, you have Eli Drinkwitz on the SEC media coaches call today having to answer questions about the lack of explosive plays in his team's blowout loss at Kyle Field last weekend.
Touchdown drives in which Texas DID NOT have an explosive play:
(For our purposes we will define explosive plays as runs at or above 15 yards and receptions at or above 20 yards).
Versus CSU: started on the CSU 33 yard line, and Jaydon Blue had a 13 yard run, which is only two yards away from the explosive threshold
Versus CSU: started on the Texas 45 yard line, Wingo had a 15 yard catch, Gibson had a 10 yard run
Versus Michigan: started on the Texas 24 yard line, Wisner had an 18 yard catch, Jerick Gibson had an 11 yard run
Versus UTSA: started on the Texas 16 yard line, Wingo and Bond both had 16 yard catches, Niblett had a 15 yard catch
Versus UTSA: started at the Texas 31, Bond had a 18 yard catch, Cook had a 19 yard catch, Gibson had an 11 yard run
Versus ULM: started at the ULM 13 yard line
Versus ULM: started at the Texas 37 yard line, Cook and Bolden had 15 and 16 yard catches
If we take out the drive versus ULM where Texas took over at the opponent's 13 yard line (a place on the field where an explosive play of any kind is impossible given the fact that the distance to the goal line is less than the threshold for either type) that means that Texas in 2024 has had at least one explosive play on 80% of its TD drives.
Who are the most explosive players on the team so far?
For 2024, the list looks like this so far when sorted by snaps per explosive play:
Here is how the data looks when presenting by explosive plays per opportunity (rushing attempt or target)
The chart shows what has been pretty obvious to a lot of observers: Ryan Wingo is an explosive playmaker who makes the most of seemingly every opportunity. I expect we'll see his playing time rise and rise throughout the season as it has from out of the gate until here at the bye. While Isaiah Bond is the team's WR1 usage-wise and has had a few more explosive plays than Wingo, Wingo creates them more frequently on a per-snap basis.
The chart also shows that no one should be throwing the Jaydon Blue baby out with the bathwater. Frustration over his fumbling is to be expected, but he's been Texas' most explosive runner and it's too small a sample to call the guy a chronic fumbler.
*****
Catching up on Book Reviews
It certainly is not book-reading SZN right now as I have zero time outside of work, but I listen to audiobooks throughout the year while I'm driving, hiking, at the gym or doing yard work. I figured with it being the bye week, it would be a good time to update the old reading list. I've listened to some good audiobooks so far this season and also some snoozers.
(Book titles are hyperlinked to Amazon)
Red Metal by Mark Greaney and Lt. Col. H. Ripley Rawlings IV
From the Publisher: A desperate Kremlin takes advantage of a military crisis in Asia to simultaneously strike into Western Europe and invade east Africa in a bid to occupy three Rare Earth mineral mines that will give Russia unprecedented control for generations over the world's hi-tech sector.
Pitted against the Russians are a Marine lieutenant colonel pulled out of a cushy job at the Pentagon and thrown into the fray in Africa, a French Special Forces captain and his intelligence operative father, a young Polish female partisan fighter, an A-10 Warthog pilot, and the commander of an American tank platoon who, along with his German counterpart, fight from behind enemy lines in Germany all the way into Russia.
ALEX'S THOUGHTS: I can't believe I am about to say this about a book by the guy who has become my all-time favorite author, but here goes: this book is a snoozer. I was convinced that maybe the book starts out with the portion written by Greaney's co-author. The flow was no good and the cadence of everything was taxing and unenjoyable. But I kept listening and when nothing changed for another few chapters, I gave up. Unbelievably, the book does not make the reading list. If you are patient, maybe it will get better but I'm not patient with books generally. Very quick to abort if I don't get hooked relatively early.
Worst Case Scenario by TJ Newman
From the Publisher: The International Nuclear Event Scale tracks nuclear disasters. It has seven levels. Level 7 is a Major Accident, with only two on record: Fukushima and Chernobyl. There has never been a Level 8. Until now.
In this heart-stopping thriller, ordinary people—power plant employees, firefighters, teachers, families, neighbors, and friends— are thrust into an extraordinary situation as they face the ultimate test of their lives. It will take the combined courage, ingenuity, and determination of a brave few to save not only their community and loved ones, but the fate of humanity at large.
ALEX'S THOUGHTS: This is a book about an airplane flying into a nuclear power plant. Total mess that could end the world. Of course it is going to be a page-turner, but in the end, the characters in the book aren't really memorable and the plot is straight forward and extremely simple. I did enjoy it in an easy-reading kind of way so it makes the list, but it'll be toward the bottom of my recommendations unless you're just really into the disaster genre. I give it 3.5 stars.
This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti
From the Publisher: After the film in her camera is mysteriously destroyed at a small-town festival, reporter Bernice Kreuger knows she’s found something worth covering up. She brings the investigation to her boss, Marshall Hogan. Along with the local pastor of a struggling church, Hank Busch, they find something much bigger than they expected—a demonic plot to enslave their town and, eventually, the world.
The tiny college town of Ashton becomes the unlikely battleground in a cosmic clash between good and evil. Unseen by the human protagonists, armies of angels and demons wage war against one another in the spiritual realm for the souls of the people of Ashton. Up against supernatural forces, the future of the town seems bleak – but the power of prayer might be able to influence the outcome of the fight.
ALEX'S THOUGHTS: Let me just say right off that perhaps this book is really good. When I started it, I actually thought it was going to be special. It just drags on, though. I guess I really just like books with a little more action, because the stuff with the angels fighting the demons and angling to stop them in various ways was great. However, the story was more about the people of Ashton, and particularly the goings-on at a local newspaper with a transplanted ex-NYC big shot as editor that dominated the first part of the book. Once again I lost interest and the book does not make the list.
American Assassin by Vince Flynn
From the Publisher: Before he was considered a CIA superagent, before he was thought of as a terrorist's worst nightmare, and before he was both loathed and admired by the politicians on Capitol Hill, Mitch Rapp was a gifted college athlete without a care in the world...and then tragedy struck.
Two decades of cutthroat partisan politics has left the CIA and the country in an increasingly vulnerable position. Cold War veteran and CIA operations director Thomas Stansfield knows he must prepare his people for the next war. The rise of Islamic terrorism is coming, and it needs to be met abroad before it reaches America's shores. Stansfield directs his protégé, Irene Kennedy, and his old Cold War colleague Stan Hurley to form a new group of clandestine operatives who will work outside the normal chain of command - men who do not exist.
ALEX'S THOUGHTS: The only question with this book is whether or not to just dive in and read the whole Mitch Rapp series. My gosh is he hardcore. American Assassin is his origin story and while I personally don't put him on quite the same level as sickos like the Gray Man, James Reece or John Dempsey, I'm pretty sure that all the authors who dreamed up those characters were GREATLY influenced by Flynn's development of Mitch Rapp. Killer book, you should read it if you're into this genre. I give it 4.5 stars.
Four Minutes by Jeffrey Wilson and Brian Andrews
From the Publisher: Special Operations Chief Tyler Brooks might not know quantum mechanics, or have an eidetic memory, but he is the very best in the world at one thing: leading covert ops. When an unpredictable enemy causes the catastrophic loss of his entire SEAL team, Brooks is recruited by Pat Moody to lead a new elite squad, Task Force Omega. Moody’s promise—access to mind-bending tech that grants a glimpse of the future.
Together with Navy Intelligence Specialist Zee Williams, Brooks leads a new kind of counterterrorism task force, one that collects intel from the future to stop attacks in the present. But there’s a catch. Each mission can only last FOUR MINUTES. Stakes quickly escalate when Omega discovers an unprecedented future attack against America threatening the lives of millions—including Tyler’s daughter.
ALEX'S THOUGHTS: You can feel comfortable reading any book by this prolific team of writers and know it's going to be good; I have no idea how they crank out banger after banger. Four Minutes is probably my least favorite thing I've read from the duo, but it is still exciting and fun. I don't think I'll continue to read the Tyler Brooks series as I do with so many others, but I would not be surprised if it gains steam -- the characters on Omega team are super-memorable and quirky since they all basically have at least one superhuman gift. It's worth reading and it makes the list with 3.75 stars.
Greatest Enemy (David Rivers Series Book 1) by Jason Kasper
From the Publisher: David Rivers is an Army Ranger—a combat veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He has almost completed his final year at West Point when his world is turned upside down by a sudden discharge from military service. Angry and confused, David soon hits rock bottom.
And that's when they appear.
Three mysterious men. Men who know David's dark secret—they know that he has murdered someone in cold blood.
And they want him to do it again.
ALEX'S THOUGHTS: I don't know if I've ever done a book review like this before, but I guess I'll just call it like I felt: this book sort of creeped me out. After I saw a quote from Mark Greaney saying it was a great thriller, I insta-bought it. I love thrillers, clearly, and this book is about a guy in David Rivers who doesn't know anything but living for thrilling moments -- a total addict and a very, very flawed person. After leaving the military, he's wildly suicidal and constantly talks and writes about killing himself. The audiobook reads excerpts of his journal where he just drones on about the different ways he'd like to do the deed. Then on top of all of this, he's a skilled killer, but he just sort of kills people -- sometimes innocent people with no remorse. I sort of want to add it to the list because I've never really read anything like it and it did leave me feeling something, but the problem is I really, truly don't like the book and sort of hate the character. In the end it will not make the list.
- Alex's Daily Short Reading List (updated 10-9-2024)
Books I've read or listened to on Audiobook since I've been sharing these reviews on OB (this list is not encompassing of all of my favorite books although it certainly includes a few of them - books I recommend reading/listening to start at 3.5 stars - I will review every book I read, but only list those that I awarded 3.5 stars and up here).
Books Are Linked Below
Lonesome Dove (5 stars)
Joe Pickett Series (5 stars)
The Undoing Project (5 stars)
The Accidental Superpower (5 stars)
I Am Pilgrim (5 stars)
Empire of the Summer Moon (5 stars)
Gridiron Genius (5 Stars)
The Cartel (5 stars)
Disunited Nations (5 stars)
Lone Survivor (5 stars)
The Terminal List Series (5 stars)
The Gray Man Series (5 stars)
The Year of the Locust (5 stars)
The Son (4.75 stars)
Seasons of Man Series (4.75 stars)
The Lincoln Highway (4.75 stars)
The 4-Hour Work Week (4.75 stars)
Astroball (4.75 stars)
Project Hail Mary (4.75 stars)
Tier One Series (4.75 stars)
Armored Series (4.75 stars)
Shantaram (4.5 stars)
Dueling With Kings (4.5 stars)
Wanderers (4.5 stars)
Damascus Station (4.5 stars)
American Assassin (4.5 stars)
Back of Beyond (4.25 stars)
Blue Heaven (4.25 stars)
The Border (4.25 stars)
Wrath of the Khans - Dan Carlin Podcast Series (4.25 stars)
The Time it Never Rained (4.25 stars)
Hard Country (4.25 stars)
This Tender Land (4 stars)
Supermarket (4 stars)
Ready Player Two (4 stars)
When Christmas Comes (4 stars)
Hollywood Park (4 stars)
Fields of Fire (4 stars)
Terminal Rage (4 stars)
Eruption (4 stars)
Orphan X (3.75 stars)
The Great Alone (3.75 stars)
Hunting El Chapo (3.75 stars)
The President is Missing (3.75 stars)
The First Conspiracy (3.75 stars)
REAMDE (3.75 stars)
American Wolf (3.75 stars)
The End is Always Near (3.75 stars)
Second Wind (3.75 stars)
The End of the World is Just the Beginning (3.75 stars)
A Strange Habit of Mind (3.75 stars)
The River (3.75 stars)
The House of Love and Death (3.75 stars)
The Sandbox (3.75 stars)
This Side of Night (3.75 stars)
Four Minutes (3.75 stars)
A Bright Shore (3.5 stars)
The Lost City of the Monkey God (3.5 stars)
The Summer That Melted Everything (3.5 stars)
The North Water (3.5 stars)
Deep Survival (3.5 stars)
The Boy From the Woods (3.5 stars)
The Frackers (3.5 stars)
Arliss Cutter Series (3.5 stars)
The Drifter (3.5 stars)
Worst Case Scenario (3.5 stars)
AS ALWAYS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW ANY BOOKS YOU WOULD RECOMMEND, PREFERABLY THAT ARE AVAILABLE ON AUDIOBOOK. MANY OF THE BEST BOOKS ON THIS LIST HAVE COME VIA RECOMMENDATIONS ON ORANGEBLOODS.
