Post Spring thoughts

[Onlyu]

1. Need to find a kicker. I don’t believe our game 1 kicker is on the roster. 2nd question in Fall camp.

2. We have 3 LB’s…Thompson departure hurts. Lloyd is much improved and is the number 3. Andrew still needs to add more weight but shows real potential. Lund needs to be much better…someone will need to step up to be the 4th guy. Fabrizio could surprise (Folau next year) Manny and Francis are REALLY GOOD. Have to stay reasonably healthy. Could see a portal guy here. 4th question in Fall camp.

3. Were at least 4 deep at DT and at least 3 deep at DE with upside at both spots. Can afford injury with no drop off. Have a chance to be really good. Who are you going to double? Anae or Fotu? John or Maxs? Can’t get both.

4. O-line will be fine as long as one of the newcomers is good enough to start (Olaseni). If we get that then we have 2-3 that can offer quality depth to keep everyone fresh. TE’s Fotheringham and Kuithe are very good and will help take some pressure off the O-line. Ludwig knows how to properly use the TE’s so they will be a weapon again. Keaton Bills tearing his ACL hurts the current group depth but he will be really good before he’s done here. Newcomers have to be right. That’s what you’re watching in Fall camp…critical. 1st question in Fall camp.

5. Blackmon is Marcus-like in his field coverage. As long as the D-Line does their job and we stay reasonably healthy at LB he won’t have to come down and make plays often. He’s not as physical as Marcus but similarly gifted against the ball in the air. Burgess is a solid SS…stable and solid. Lewis probably the back up today, Hubert close. Plenty of talent with King/Lowe. Guidry the nickel and very good.

6. Need a WR to step up. Dixon and Covey are impossible to cover. So shifty and will give Tyler so many options. Simpkins looks really good but did at this time last year as well and didn’t perform as expected. Betting he’ll have a strong Sr. year. Thompson needs to stay healthy. Enis, Nacua, Vele (very pleasant surprise – kid is really good) give us options…who will step up? Smith is having another surgery…will be back in time for Fall but needs reps. Danton probably more upside than Perriman but he should help in the return game at some point. 3rd question in Fall camp. Perriman could get some jet sweep work. Plenty of that in this offense.

7. Depth is still excellent with Shyne leaving. Moss, DHC, Green and I suspect Wilmore in the 4th spot. Could be Brumfield. I expect Micah to RS but he’s got a chance to be good down the road.

8. QB room has to be close to the best we’ve ever had. Rising is liked 10 times more than Jack was…not a knock per se, Jack was just an immature 18 year old kid with big aspirations…plenty talented. 2 experienced QB’s, a really good young guy in Rising waiting in the wings and a glue guy in Lisk bringing it all together. Tyler will have an excellent year.

9. DB’s…excellent group…Zero concerns here…ZERO!! I’m curious to see who throws to JJ’s side.

10. Ludwig has been well received. Even keeled guy that is highly experienced. TT was up and down emotionally. Choice routes mostly gone, jet sweep and TE’s back. Similar terminology and experienced returners help with uptake.

11. Lennon shouldn’t miss a beat…We’ll see when the lights go on.

12. Look at SC’s schedule games 2-7…unreal stretch for them.

13. Need to stay healthy at LB (portal?) and to some degree, Safety. Need Thompson or Enis (or both) to step up as the big body WR. Find a kicker and the 5th
O-lineman.

14. Schedule sets up nicely. Only 2 starting positions imperative to figure out…K, OL. Have some depth concerns in a few spots but front line guys very good. Tyler needs to stay healthy (there I said it).

15. 9 is coming

[iamthepreacher]

Good thoughts. Hope we can find a decent kicker in the transfer portal. I’m also a little more concerned about our WR group than most are. IMO, we needed to either land Puka Nacua or Darren Jones and we came away with neither of them. Our current group is servicable, but if we’re being objective, most of our PAC-12 competition have much stronger groups than what we have at WR. This would be a great year to have another Darren Carrington type of player fall into our laps. Otherwise I hope our TE’s can carry more of the offensive load.

Agree on LB. Manny and Francis are solid, but there is little to no proven talent behind them. We’re one injury away from being in really bad shape there. None of the transfer guys bothered me except Thompson…I really wish he would have stuck around, I think he would have gotten a good amount of playing time this year.

A lot to like about this team, just a few areas that could become an achilles heel if we don’t address it over the summer/fall.

[Tednab]

Thought we had jones..Did he not qualify academically ?

[PlainsUte]

I recall Mike Leach once found a placekicker for TexasTech by grabbing a student who had won some sort of half-time promotional kicking contest.   It worked.

“Recruiting” a kicker

 

 

 

[gUrthBrooks]

Tareke Lewis is the CB opposite of JJ? If so,I like it, Lewis is much faster than Blackmon. But you said Lewis is backup safety?

[crazyute]

I bet Josh Nurse starts opposite JJ

[gUrthBrooks]

That sounds good. Nurse is 6’3”

[BD]

Excellent information. We can’t thank you enough for taking the time to keep us informed!

15. 9 is coming

Can’t wait for the season to start (a long ways off, I know!). I sometimes lurk on Cougarboard, and their fans are supremely confident they will finally get their win this year, simply based on the way they played in last year’s first half – injuries blew it for them in the 2nd half they think. Whatever. I guess too much looking forward to the Pac-12 championship got our guys looking forward a little too much in that half – can’t blame our guys for that.
Anyway, I am looking forward to #9, and I say, let’s beat them convincingly – from the first snap to the end. Tired of the one-score victories that gives their fans the idea again and again that they should have won the game.

Anyway, have to endure the drought without football now until fall camp.

[concerned]

Cougarboard saying Mo Untuoa transferring to the Y to play with his brother. True?

[Puget Ute]

That wouldn’t make any sense, but I can see the life of playing with a sibling. He has only seen action on 4 plays in his career, but now we a RS Soph he is the #2 at LT. We need depth and it would be best for us if he stays.

If he leaves he would lose this year, the be a 2 to play 2 guy who has only been in the field for 4 plays in his career. Unless he is a warrior in practice he might not even earn a starting spot at byu. He would be a 4th-year player with zero experience.

[Puget Ute]

And now after I typed that, I checked the roster and he isn’t even on there. If he does transfer I wish him nothing but success wherever he lands.

[Utah5410]

yes and T. Lewis will oppose JJ. Was the second best corner last year for the second half of the year. When he was in teams didn’t through at him much also.

[Duhwayne]

15. 9 is coming

I had no idea what this was. Is there a player number nine? Did he hit send accidentally? I never think about BYU. Actually I don’t see the point of playing them. Playing them actually boosts their program and recruiting. They’re a naturally top 40 team that can crack the 20s temporarily if they pick off a couple they should have lost. Switch home games with USU and someone in the WAC.

Never play in November again at least. With a November game, they get all their tough games up front then they pkay their preseason in November with UMass and Idaho State and Liberty. Then they play us as we’re getting ready for our bowl. That should stop.

[Anfernee]

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