I have literally no idea what to expect from this year's team.
There are so many new faces. The scheme will probably be a lot more diverse this year, but I have no idea where we will sit on the spectrum from PJ's offense here as compared to what he had those last couple years at Western Michigan.
Is CC gonna play some LB? Mods have hinted he will, but I didn't see it in 3 practices with the team.
Would love to see a CC/Cashman or CC/Martin lineup at LB on passing downs. But maybe CC plays the 'R' the whole time. Hope not though.
They've done a good job of moving AW around the field. Hope we see the same with CC.
But yeah: Can we run the ball? People think the OLine is gonna be a strength, but I'm worried about that second tackle spot opposite Greene; am also concerned about pass blocking. We need Dickson to be a legit Big 10 quality starter at RT.
Can we stop the run? Stephen Richardson was such an anchor for us for all those years. I don't know what to expect us to look like when he's not getting double and triple teamed every single play.
Can we pass the ball? I thought Vic was the best QB, but he sure didn't show it in the spring game. None of the QBs looked Big 10 ready to me. We need VV to get all the way up to speed ASAP so there can be a real battle between him and Morgan come fall.
Also, the WRs are totally unproven outside of Johnson.
Can we stay healthy enough to be effective at DB? Cause from where I sit, I think we need Thomas, Williamson, Huff, and Winfield to stay healthy. If any of those guys are out, I don't have the foggiest notion what we're gonna look like. And even this I can only say 'cause I'm taking the coaching staff's word for how good Williamson is, as translated via the Gopher mod-verse.
We need Kiondre Thomas to come into his prime now. He's a redshirt soph, and if he's gonna be the next great Gopher CB, he's gotta show it this year. It was about halfway through his soph season that Eric Murray went from just another player to arguably the best boundary CB in the Big 10. Would be amazing if Thomas could follow a similar trajectory.
Both Kill and Brew had a habit of talking up guys who never amounted to a hill of beans. Although to be fair, they also talked up guys who did. Well, Kill did anyway.
I don't even know if we have a power 5 quality punter on the roster. The kicking game during the Mortell/Santoso/Carpenter years was a consistent bright spot here. I'm not gonna overreact to the spring game, but there was no punting in open practices, so this is a total mystery to me.
To recap. All I know is that we have good LBs, decent depth for blocking TEs, a great kicker, and a small handful of legit standout players: Winfield, CC, Greene, etc.
There are so many new faces. The scheme will probably be a lot more diverse this year, but I have no idea where we will sit on the spectrum from PJ's offense here as compared to what he had those last couple years at Western Michigan.
Is CC gonna play some LB? Mods have hinted he will, but I didn't see it in 3 practices with the team.
Would love to see a CC/Cashman or CC/Martin lineup at LB on passing downs. But maybe CC plays the 'R' the whole time. Hope not though.
They've done a good job of moving AW around the field. Hope we see the same with CC.
But yeah: Can we run the ball? People think the OLine is gonna be a strength, but I'm worried about that second tackle spot opposite Greene; am also concerned about pass blocking. We need Dickson to be a legit Big 10 quality starter at RT.
Can we stop the run? Stephen Richardson was such an anchor for us for all those years. I don't know what to expect us to look like when he's not getting double and triple teamed every single play.
Can we pass the ball? I thought Vic was the best QB, but he sure didn't show it in the spring game. None of the QBs looked Big 10 ready to me. We need VV to get all the way up to speed ASAP so there can be a real battle between him and Morgan come fall.
Also, the WRs are totally unproven outside of Johnson.
Can we stay healthy enough to be effective at DB? Cause from where I sit, I think we need Thomas, Williamson, Huff, and Winfield to stay healthy. If any of those guys are out, I don't have the foggiest notion what we're gonna look like. And even this I can only say 'cause I'm taking the coaching staff's word for how good Williamson is, as translated via the Gopher mod-verse.
We need Kiondre Thomas to come into his prime now. He's a redshirt soph, and if he's gonna be the next great Gopher CB, he's gotta show it this year. It was about halfway through his soph season that Eric Murray went from just another player to arguably the best boundary CB in the Big 10. Would be amazing if Thomas could follow a similar trajectory.
Both Kill and Brew had a habit of talking up guys who never amounted to a hill of beans. Although to be fair, they also talked up guys who did. Well, Kill did anyway.
I don't even know if we have a power 5 quality punter on the roster. The kicking game during the Mortell/Santoso/Carpenter years was a consistent bright spot here. I'm not gonna overreact to the spring game, but there was no punting in open practices, so this is a total mystery to me.
To recap. All I know is that we have good LBs, decent depth for blocking TEs, a great kicker, and a small handful of legit standout players: Winfield, CC, Greene, etc.
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