Stenhouse looks for jump-start in Talladega return
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. can now lean on the same guy he turned to for advice at times as a young driver trying to make it to the Cup Series.
He’s hoping the hiring of Matt Kenseth, and a return to Talladega Superspeedway , make for much-needed boosts for struggling Roush Fenway Racing this week.
The 30-year-old Stenhouse’s victory at Talladega last spring was the first Cup win of his career and put a Roush car in the playoffs, no small feat for the organization.
“I would like to back up what we were able to do last year with qualifying on the pole and then winning the race,” he said. “That is what we came down here to do. We feel very confident in our race cars when we come here.”
Roush could use a jolt of confidence. Once considered among the top teams in the garage, Roush saw its drivers win 15 races in 2005 and had five cars finish in the top 10 in the standings.
But that domination declined over the ensuing decade, and Roush’s top drivers all moved on to different teams.
Although Stenhouse added a second victory last season, at Daytona in July, the organization has not won anything but restrictor-plate races since 2014.
Now Kenseth has come on board to share the No. 6 Ford with Trevor Bayne, who has seen a drop in performance through the first nine races.
Stenhouse has been better but has had to go to a backup car in three of the first nine races this season because he crashed in practice sessions. He has one top-five finish this season, is 19th in the standings and needs to improve on 1.5-mile tracks to legitimately contend for a championship.
Stenhouse is embracing the return of Kenseth, who worked with him some in what is now the Xfinity Series.
“He would run a couple races with us throughout the year, and he was in our Cup cars,” Stenhouse said. “I leaned on Matt a lot my rookie year in the Nationwide Series. I called him and would ask him questions trying to figure out when I was struggling. I really had to get back on track.
“I think he did a really good job with me on that. So fast forward to now, after he left and went to ( Joe Gibbs Racing) and drove different race cars, for me I am looking forward to his feedback on how our cars drive relative to another organization that is clearly one of the class of the field.”
Kenseth’s debut will be next month at Kansas Speedway, a 1.5-mile track. Roush is hoping he’ll have a positive impact on both Bayne and Stenhouse.
“Our goal is to have Trevor continue to grow and mature on the track,” Roush team president Steve Newmark said. “We hope that Matt’s assistance with all of this will elevate not only Trevor’s performance, but also Ricky’s performance.”
Kenseth, who was not pleased with his exit at the end of last season from a full-time ride, said he’s motivated to help the organization improve.
“I feel like I can be a real asset in a lot of different ways besides just driving,” Kenseth said. “I’m really competitive, obviously, with whatever I do, and if I’m not in the car, there’s nothing I want more than Ricky or Trevor to be out there running up front and improving and doing better and working hard at it and hopefully being successful.”
Now that the Great QB Grab of 2018 is over, what’s ahead for the five first-round quarterbacks selected might be more daunting than getting selected on opening night of the draft.
When NFL teams get desperate at the position, they tend to reach. Or mortgage portions of their future. Or sometimes simple blow it.
Of course, in many other instances, they nail it, from top overall selections Eli Manning, Cam Newton and Andrew Luck to wise lower picks on the first night such as Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan and, yes, Aaron Rodgers. It really is a crapshoot. “Everybody’s draft board is set up differently, and when I recite to you all the best available players in this draft for the Cleveland Browns organization, this was the best available player,” general manager John Dorsey said of taking Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma to begin proceedings.
As the New York Jets felt with Southern California’s Sam Darnold; the Buffalo Bills with Wyoming’s Josh Allen, for whom they traded up five spots with Tampa Bay to get; the Arizona Cardinals with Josh Rosen of UCLA, also by using a trade, with Oakland; and the Baltimore Ravens, who concluded Round 1 with — you guessed it — a deal with Philadelphia so they could grab 2016 Heisman recipient Lamar Jackson of Louisville.
Five QBs, the most since the 1999 draft and second to the epic 1983 first round that produced three Hall of Famer quarterbacks ( John Elway, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino) of the six QBs selected.
So what are the challenges ahead for these five potential franchise quarterbacks?
BROWNS
History certainly plays a role here. Since re-entering the NFL in 1999, the Browns haven’t had anything more than stopgap QBs. That’s almost two decades of searching, with the last two seasons’ record of 1-31 as abysmal as it gets.
Enter Mayfield, who eventually should beat out newly acquired veteran Tyrod Taylor, if not immediately.
Dorsey adeptly evaluated the pros about Mayfield:
“It is a combination of things. I talk about hand size; he has 9 6-8th (inch) hands . ... That is good for the elements in November and December. He has feet to extend the play. He has really good accuracy. He has a quick release. He has a strong arm. His efficiency in the red zone offense is uncanny.”
Mayfield also has to adjust to the pro-style offense of coach Hue Jackson. And while teammates adore him for his leadership skills, there’s also a cockiness and borderline rebelliousness that can take a player (and team) in several directions, not all of them positive.
JETS
Size is no issue with Darnold. Nor is arm strength or competitiveness. Like Mayfield, he can sit behind a veteran, Josh McCown, who is a good teacher, though that won’t be for too long, either. What must be cured is Darnold’s penchant for turnovers and sloppy plays.
“Obviously, we don’t want turnovers on any level,” coach Todd Bowles said, “but we think his upside and his ability far outweighs the turnovers.”
BILLS
Allen might have a higher ceiling than any of the QBs taken Thursday. He’s tall and solid and won’t be bothered
CARDINALS
All three of Arizona’s 2017 quarterbacks were gone, most notably the retired Carson Palmer. Although the Cardinals signed Sam Bradford in free agency, it’s conceivable Rosen will win the starting job. Indeed, many NFL personnel people rated him the most ready QB for the pros.
Rosen certainly has an edge, which cuts two ways. His competitiveness and desire to outdo anyone and everyone can be a major plus. It also can backfire and lead to impatience and bad decisions.
RAVENS
In some ways, this is as intriguing as any first-round selection.
Baltimore’s starter, Joe Flacco, is diametrically opposite in style to Jackson. Where Flacco is anchored to the pocket, Jackson is a dynamo outside of it. Where Flacco is lead-footed, Jackson is a flash. Jackson’s creativity with the ball works best in a different-type offense than Flacco’s strong-armed, traditional manner. His biggest challenge, a huge one, is adapting to a totally different scheme from the one he ran in college.