Griz Nation, we're less than 1 week from spring ball getting started! Thought some spring ball discussion would be a welcome point here now that we're so damn close!
As everyone knows spring camps will be open, I'm going to guess that Amie, Nick Puckett, and possibly Kyle will be doing some live tweet updates. I'll be at a bunch but I'll leave the rapid fire updates to the reporters, as always though I'll share some thoughts.
As for spring camp, wanted to take a look at the offense first, I'll put up a defense thread later in the week.
Quarterback - Obviously we've got our returning starter and rising star Gresch Jensen back at the helm and I can't imagine he'll not open as QB1. For Gresch what will be interesting to watch for is his adaptation to Rosy's offense. As it's been widely reported Gresch is a smart kid and a fast learner. I'm hoping to see some improved pocket presence and footwork from Gresch, he's going to have his full compliment of WRs practically so he should be dialed in on his passing game. Behind Gresch the two burning questions are if Sneed will push him and if Hill has made some good leaps forward. These two will be battling for the backup job. I'll be checking for Sneed's cohesion with the team, post-twitter dust up with Buss. I'll also be very curious to see how Hill looks and if he's made some good progression. Wilson's the young buck and will presumably get more of the late mop-up duty but I saw some good stuff from him in the fall, in the last fall camp "closed scrimmage" he lead the freshman team on a tremendous TD drive.
Running Back - RB essentially has all the same dudes from last year. Usually once Bobby has identified his workhorse RB he eases back their workload in camps and then really tests the 2/3/4 guys to figure that role out. Will he do that here? Unsure. Calhoun was dinged up most of the season, not sure if he is 100% for spring. Green should be fully healthy. Lee was the split-starter. Behind them I'm really interested to see if "Tuk" (Terron Moses) is ready to shine, that kid impressed in the fall. There's also McCombs and Eastwood too. I'm thinking this spring will be a great chance for these guys to show Bobby who the best backs are for his offense.
Wide Receiver - So we've had a walk on and a younger guy leave but outside of Horner everyone is back here as well. Obviously there's some things that most of Griz nation wants to see, improved catching especially on contested passes, and improved run blocking. Last year's WR corps really was a self-motivating group, Keenan Curran and Sammy Akem were both big time vocal leaders, with the change in coaching styles and I assume some dynamic, will that still be there? Will any of these current WRs be DBs now? I'm really interested to see how they shake this group up. If the primary offense is to have 3 WRs starting we'll have quite the group to narrow that down.
Tight End / Fullback - The only guy we're for sure that will be at this position right now is Colin Bingham, so I'll be more fascinated to see who else they've got contributing in these roles. I've seen names put out here like Nagler and a few younger guys at TE and maybe a converted LB at FB as well...
Offensive Line - So we know Jackson is out, which is a big loss for developing the starting OL as he was battling Ralston up until the start of the season at RT, I kind of figured Thayne was going to lock down RT right away. We also know Stoner has quit and that there's talk of a few other OL guys missing spring ball as they're on the mend from various things. It's going to be interesting to see if they can form a 2-deep even and if it can effectively work against what appears to be a pretty skilled D-line that's coming back. My prediction was that the #1 OL would be Beaver, Villanueva, Meyer, Scott, Jackson (I think...) so hopefully most of the main guys in contention are going to be able to give it a go. I think most Griz fans are "worried" about the OL simply because we're replacing 4 starters with a group that has virtually no starts under their belts and very limited experience. I believe the talent is there, the size/strength is there, they've got the same coach they've had the last 2-3 years, but they have to prove it and now's the time.
Scheme - It's spring camp, it's install, I don't expect Rosenbach to really "show" much, but I think we'll quickly see more of his design and I want to see how the players adapt and respond to it.
As everyone knows spring camps will be open, I'm going to guess that Amie, Nick Puckett, and possibly Kyle will be doing some live tweet updates. I'll be at a bunch but I'll leave the rapid fire updates to the reporters, as always though I'll share some thoughts.
As for spring camp, wanted to take a look at the offense first, I'll put up a defense thread later in the week.
Quarterback - Obviously we've got our returning starter and rising star Gresch Jensen back at the helm and I can't imagine he'll not open as QB1. For Gresch what will be interesting to watch for is his adaptation to Rosy's offense. As it's been widely reported Gresch is a smart kid and a fast learner. I'm hoping to see some improved pocket presence and footwork from Gresch, he's going to have his full compliment of WRs practically so he should be dialed in on his passing game. Behind Gresch the two burning questions are if Sneed will push him and if Hill has made some good leaps forward. These two will be battling for the backup job. I'll be checking for Sneed's cohesion with the team, post-twitter dust up with Buss. I'll also be very curious to see how Hill looks and if he's made some good progression. Wilson's the young buck and will presumably get more of the late mop-up duty but I saw some good stuff from him in the fall, in the last fall camp "closed scrimmage" he lead the freshman team on a tremendous TD drive.
Running Back - RB essentially has all the same dudes from last year. Usually once Bobby has identified his workhorse RB he eases back their workload in camps and then really tests the 2/3/4 guys to figure that role out. Will he do that here? Unsure. Calhoun was dinged up most of the season, not sure if he is 100% for spring. Green should be fully healthy. Lee was the split-starter. Behind them I'm really interested to see if "Tuk" (Terron Moses) is ready to shine, that kid impressed in the fall. There's also McCombs and Eastwood too. I'm thinking this spring will be a great chance for these guys to show Bobby who the best backs are for his offense.
Wide Receiver - So we've had a walk on and a younger guy leave but outside of Horner everyone is back here as well. Obviously there's some things that most of Griz nation wants to see, improved catching especially on contested passes, and improved run blocking. Last year's WR corps really was a self-motivating group, Keenan Curran and Sammy Akem were both big time vocal leaders, with the change in coaching styles and I assume some dynamic, will that still be there? Will any of these current WRs be DBs now? I'm really interested to see how they shake this group up. If the primary offense is to have 3 WRs starting we'll have quite the group to narrow that down.
Tight End / Fullback - The only guy we're for sure that will be at this position right now is Colin Bingham, so I'll be more fascinated to see who else they've got contributing in these roles. I've seen names put out here like Nagler and a few younger guys at TE and maybe a converted LB at FB as well...
Offensive Line - So we know Jackson is out, which is a big loss for developing the starting OL as he was battling Ralston up until the start of the season at RT, I kind of figured Thayne was going to lock down RT right away. We also know Stoner has quit and that there's talk of a few other OL guys missing spring ball as they're on the mend from various things. It's going to be interesting to see if they can form a 2-deep even and if it can effectively work against what appears to be a pretty skilled D-line that's coming back. My prediction was that the #1 OL would be Beaver, Villanueva, Meyer, Scott, Jackson (I think...) so hopefully most of the main guys in contention are going to be able to give it a go. I think most Griz fans are "worried" about the OL simply because we're replacing 4 starters with a group that has virtually no starts under their belts and very limited experience. I believe the talent is there, the size/strength is there, they've got the same coach they've had the last 2-3 years, but they have to prove it and now's the time.
Scheme - It's spring camp, it's install, I don't expect Rosenbach to really "show" much, but I think we'll quickly see more of his design and I want to see how the players adapt and respond to it.