Every week, PowerMizzou.com publisher Gabe DeArmond answers questions from Tiger fans in the mailbag. This format allows for a more expansive answer than a message board post. Keep your eye out each week to submit your question for the mailbag or send them to powermizzou@gmail.com. On to this week's inquiries.
jdw985 asks: When Drew Buggs is in the game why do opposing teams play him so tight? He's terrified to shoot outside of 5 ft. If I'm an opposing team I sag way off of him and double Tilmon when both are in the game. Does it surprise you opposing coaches either haven't figured this out or have chosen not to do this?
GD: I'll be honest, I don't think I've paid that much attention to how other teams are playing Buggs during a game. Which probably means you're right and they're not backing way off of him giving him a green light to shoot the three. Which is kind of silly. He's taken ten and none of them have gone in. At Hawaii, for whatever he did well, he was a 26.8% three-point shooter. He's unlikely to take them and less likely to make them. So if they are guarding him closely, I would recommend they not do that until he gives them reason to believe they need to. Even inside the three-point line he's only 7/19 so far this year. Buggs is much more likely to beat you by passing the ball--he's averaging an assist every 6.5 minutes, by far the best ratio on the team--than he is by shooting it.
neb_nolan asks: If you were the GM of the Chiefs what's your 1st off season move?
GD: Figure out what I'm doing at wide receiver. If it were me, I'd let Sammy Watkins and DeMarcus Robinson both walk. Then I'd go find a No. 2 receiver, whether that's in the draft or free agency, because that's never going to be Mecole Hardman. I know people will say "But what about the offensive line?" And, yes, that needs to be addressed. The thing is, there were people criticizing the Chiefs for not investing in the line and that's just not true. They lost three guys to season-ending injuries and two more to opt outs. Their top two tackles and top three guards had seasons end for reasons no one could have foreseen last spring. It wasn't that they didn't invest in it. It was that those investments all fell apart before the Super Bowl. They had enough guys. But when those guys went down, the second-string wasn't good enough to win the Super Bowl. This should not be a surprise. I don't think there's another team in the league that could have lost five of its top six offensive linemen and even made the playoffs, much less won a conference championship.
