tOfficial Pre-Season Sound Off Thread

[ForkEmBucky]

I'll start. My first bold statement of 2013. I watched the youtube channel from spring football, and I think this team will be better than last year. Four reasons.

1. Quarterback. I don't see O'Brien getting in the game. That's enough right there. You guys cover the rest.

2. OL. Majorvtalent has moved on. But I wasn't impressed with how Fredrick handled the change last year. He was throwing a highly respected coach under the bus from day one instead of manning up and being a leader. Attitude alone could turn these guys around. Dan Voltz is my guy.

3. No Montee. But Derek Watt is a year bigger and stronger, and will help White and Gordon with power. Jackson?

4. Abbredaris' counterparts can't be worse. Frederick and Doe both looked improved.

 

[Jonny Valtimore]

QB: all I know here is that Phillips will probably end up on the sideline. Stave has an impressive arm, great playaction, and fantastic poise. I'd be happy with him as QB1. If McEvoy can come in and best him out, well UW is in very good shape then. O'Brien has transferred FYI.

RB: White, Gordon and a Clement will make for a very potent backfield. One of the best in the country. Jackson tore another acl.

OL: this is a tough one. I too was let down by Frederick last season. I think having a group of guys who can come together and identify themselves as a unit will be key. last year it just didn't feel like that. Look for the Ole Miss transfer to potentially step in and get some playing time.

WR: Shoukd be improved. No reason that with Abbrederis, Doe, Frederick, Duckworth, Love, Hammond, they can't get some consistent contributions. Also, TE is VERY deep and with Pedersen back should also be a top unit in B1G.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

Hopefully we actually use our TEs this year. Very few defenses in college football seem to be able to consistently cover them. With Abby drawing double and Stavevable to throw deep... No reason to neglect our studs.

 

[Doctor Krieger]

McEvoy starts the first game.

Gordon gets more carries than White (don't know if this is bold)

Vince Biegel becomes a playmaker off the edge in the 3-4

 

[Smart]

Just based on what i'm hearing:

- Stave has looked like the best QB in camp, but Tanner has the athletic upside to actually make plays on our defense. While Curt obviously has been in the program awhile, he seems to be less mobile than Tanner and doesn't have an arm like Stave. My hunch is Tanner gets the start because I think Coach A would prefer a mobile QB.

- Clement has been the talk of camp at running back. There are people saying he is the best freshman UW back since Ron Dayne. While it may be economical to redshirt him, it sounds like he is going to be the #3 back and will get carries.

- Wheelwright, Doe, and Frederick are battling for #2 WR. The consensus is that the freshman has been the best at camp and is the favorite.

- The O-Line is looking fairly settled: Groy at LT, Havenstein at RT, some combination of Llewallen, Matthias, and Costigan at guard, and Voltz at center.

- The front seven is beating expectations. Borland seems to be a great fit at 3-4. Biegel is ready to take off as a blitzer. If Armstrong can stay healthy, we have a nationally elite front seven.

- The secondary has been a big concern, but it seems to be sorting itself out. Sojourn, Peniel, and Hillary all look like worthy starters at corner. For all of Southward's struggles his first year and a half as a starter, he's really put his game together since the end of last year. The last safety spot is the big question. Jeff Lewis seems to be the favorite. That scares me a lot, but I guess JJ made the offense to defense change work.

All in all, I am really excited for this season. I will be disappointed with anything worse than 10-3.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

Are you going off of articles? I've heard that Moose, I assume they mean Musso, is a strong case for safety.

Groy still doesn't play with low pad levels. I think that may be a factor in picking McEvoy over Stave. Pass protection is going ti break down.

Every year someone is the best freshman back since Dayne. Until someone like that comes along again, I just don't care. Dayne alone could knock White and Gordon off their carries. If Clement can't take over the offense like that, he's still got plenty to prove.

A lot of players switch positions in college. Lewis has speed and power. I hope he learns fast, he could be a very good safety.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

Brandon Kelly at LB. Really curious to see who the starting 4 ends up being. Biegel, Borland, Armstrong, Kelly is how it looks. They are absolutely loaded at linebacker.

Looks like Caputo and Musso are fighting it out for 5he other safety position, but according to Andersen, Southward will be going nickle at times so they both need to be ready, and so does Lewis.

 

[Smart]

Are you going off of articles? I've heard that Moose, I assume they mean Musso, is a strong case for safety.

Groy still doesn't play with low pad levels. I think that may be a factor in picking McEvoy over Stave. Pass protection is going ti break down.

Every year someone is the best freshman back since Dayne. Until someone like that comes along again, I just don't care. Dayne alone could knock White and Gordon off their carries. If Clement can't take over the offense like that, he's still got plenty to prove.

A lot of players switch positions in college. Lewis has speed and power. I hope he learns fast, he could be a very good safety.

The source for Lewis is articles. A lot of the rest of the post is from fans I know who watch practice. Musso has been doing well, considering that he is a RS Freshman who was going to walk-on until we got an extra scholly at the last moment.

As for Clement, there seems to be at least some discussion that he might contend for being the feature back. In their last scrimmage that was open to the public, he got about 70% of the carries and averaged about 5.5 YPC on our defense. And the people there said that the defense was dominating the offense the rest of the time. The kid is a keeper, for sure.

McEvoy has struggled big time the last week or so. Curt has upped his game. The more I hear, though, the more I think Stave is going to be the starter.

 

[Smart]

Brandon Kelly at LB. Really curious to see who the starting 4 ends up being. Biegel, Borland, Armstrong, Kelly is how it looks. They are absolutely loaded at linebacker.

Looks like Caputo and Musso are fighting it out for 5he other safety position, but according to Andersen, Southward will be going nickle at times so they both need to be ready, and so does Lewis.

If the team is committed to Kelly at LB, he'll start. As we've seen the last couple of years, the guy is a beast at getting to the QB. For whatever reason, he struggles when he gets there. I'm really hopeful Coach A and Dave Aranda can help him be a better tackler, because he does have All-Big Ten game.

Right now, I see our starters as:

QB- Not settled, likely Stave
HB- James White likely to be listed as starter with 3 man rotation (Gordon and Clement)
FB- Derek Watt
#1 WR: Jared Abbredaris
#2 WR: Major battle. Frederick, Doe, Wheelwright, Love, and Erickson are all competing
TE: Jacob Pedersen
#2 TE: A lot of guys competing. Wozniak will likely be listed as starter because he is a Senior, but Arneson and DeCiccio could steal major time.
LT: Ryan Groy
RT: Rob Havenstein
C: Dan Voltz
Guards: A three man rotation of Costigan, Lewallen, and Matthias
NT: Beau Allen, with a side of Warren Herring
Ends: Hemer and Muldoon. Tyler Dipper could slip in. There is also the chance Kelly will move back here.
OLBS: Kelly and Biegel. Armstrong is supposedly an OLB, but I just don't know why the staff would keep him there. We already have two solid OLBs, and Armstrong is very capable of playing inside.
ILBs: Borland and Armstrong. If Armstrong plays at OLB, O'Neill is the other starter.
CBs: Peniel Jean, Darius Hillary, and Sojourn Shelton
SS: Dezmen Southward
FS: Lewis or Musso

 

[ForkEmBucky]

Andersen said earlier this week that the other safety spot is between Musso and Caputo. Lewis is a work in progress.

 

[Doctor Krieger]

Andersen said earlier this week that the other safety spot is between Musso and Caputo. Lewis is a work in progress.

Hope Musso wins the job...has a lot more upside than Caputo.

 

[Doctor Krieger]

Sounds like Phillips might be the front runner @ QB right now....I'll have to check out the reports after today's scrimage to see how him and Stave do.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

Well. If that's the case. Abbredaris will haveva dull season.

 

[Doctor Krieger]

Sounds like freshman Leon Jacobs has been tearing it up in practice lately....coach A said yesterday that he will not RS. Sounds like he's making a legit push for the 2 deep. Love it.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

Yea I just watched Jacobs run down Melvin Gordon 60 yards down field. Granted Gordon got tripped up a couple of times and that probably took some gas out of him. But still. That is one fast LB.

 

[Smart]

Has anybody heard any talk about Armstrong moving inside? It makes too much sense to not happen, but the time seems to be running out. Based on what everyone else is saying, it sounds like Kelly, Armstrong, Jacobs, Schobert, and Biegel are all out-performing O'Neill and Landisch. If we want to get the best four LBs on the field, one of those guys should move inside and Armstrong is the obvious pick.

Can you imagine a LB corp of Kelly, Borland, Armstrong, and Biegel/Jacobs/Schobert? I think last year was the best LB corp we've had in my lifetime, and this crew is even more dynamic.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

Inside backers can drop into coverage a lot against some offenses. I wouldn't becsurprised to see Jacobs there. Andersen loves Armstrong. Not sure what's happening there. But they like Kelly's chances setting the edge, which is something Armstrong wasn't asked to do as much in the 4-3.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

I'd like to see what Landisch can do backing up Watt at fullback.

 

[ForkEmBucky]

As of Andersen's latest post-practice. There will be a lot of rotation in the defensive front seven. Armstrong will see action.