Spring ball is still a little ways out, but I thought we could get a few discussions going on what to expect and see for the Griz on both sides of the ball this spring. Thought I'd start with the offense.
First of, this fan's total guess at a spring 2-deep to open camp (leaving out guys I'll assume are injured for spring ball)
Possible opening 2-deep
QB: Sneed / Humphrey
RB: Eastwood / Turner OR Knight
WR: Toure / Flowers
WR: Akem / Roberts
WR: JLM / Sulser
TE: Bingham / Deming OR Rensvold
OT: Beaver / Kanouse
OT: Keintz / Anderson
G: Villanueva / Eickmeyer or Ganoung
G: Martin / Sain
C: Sirmon / Meyer
Positions that seem to be in good shape
1. Wide Receiver. The WR corps returns all 3 starters from the end of last season, essentially. Basically 80% of all the receiving yards returns and 92% of all caught TDs returns from the 2018 squad. The biggest questions I see from this group revolve around developing depth in Flowers, Roberts, Germer, and more. Also if Toure can have a bounce back season and get back on track with the type of dude we all know he can be.
2. Quarterback. Sneed is the reigning conference newcomer of the year and should be a guy that will have some consideration for preseason MVP talks. By no means is Sneed perfect though, this spring I want to see continued improvement on accuracy/consistency. Also want to see how the depth comes along there too, Humphrey and then who behind him makes a move, Wheeler, Wilson, or Graves... if Graves stays at QB.
3. Tight End. This spot surprised me from the range of production we saw last season. The trio of Bingham, Deming, and Rensvold flashed some great developing potential. Bingham was a little dinged up last season as I recall, would be good to see him really take a big leap forward. Obviously want to see continued improvement in run blocking here.
Positions in need of a lot of work
1. Running back. First off... they're razor thin at this group. With the graduation of Lee and departure of Green the spring roster technically has just 3 running backs on roster. Eastwood, Turner, and Knight (JuCo). There's talk of Graves getting some RB reps... and why not? Also there's guys like Janacaro and Le Texier listed as fullbacks. Will they see more use? Janacaro had a modest showing in the SUU blowout. Lots of questions here, can Eastwood show some improvement getting through the front line, shedding tackles, and with ball security? Are Turner or Knight ready/prepared to push for the job? How is pass protection coming along? Can this group stay healthy?
2. Offensive Line. I'm going to just assume that every job is open on the OL and that my guess at a 2-deep could be 100% incorrect. Unlike RB this group is has A LOT of guys... but the question is... do they have the right guys? Last year's OL seemed like a weekly experimentation at who to start where. Add in this year some touted freshman could be ready to steal some jobs and we'll have quite the battle get started for this group. Can guys like Anderson, Sain, Kanouse, and so on push to take a job? Will holdover starters at tackle, Beaver & Keintz, show improvement enough to hold onto their spots? Will Sirmon make a successful move to center? Will Villanueva practice / be in playing shape for spring? How about those that missed last season to injury, Scott and Hart?
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I'm looking forward to spring ball, there's going to be some fascinating position battles to watch and some other spots where hopefully we can see some up and coming guys start to show they're ready for an increased role.
First of, this fan's total guess at a spring 2-deep to open camp (leaving out guys I'll assume are injured for spring ball)
Possible opening 2-deep
QB: Sneed / Humphrey
RB: Eastwood / Turner OR Knight
WR: Toure / Flowers
WR: Akem / Roberts
WR: JLM / Sulser
TE: Bingham / Deming OR Rensvold
OT: Beaver / Kanouse
OT: Keintz / Anderson
G: Villanueva / Eickmeyer or Ganoung
G: Martin / Sain
C: Sirmon / Meyer
Positions that seem to be in good shape
1. Wide Receiver. The WR corps returns all 3 starters from the end of last season, essentially. Basically 80% of all the receiving yards returns and 92% of all caught TDs returns from the 2018 squad. The biggest questions I see from this group revolve around developing depth in Flowers, Roberts, Germer, and more. Also if Toure can have a bounce back season and get back on track with the type of dude we all know he can be.
2. Quarterback. Sneed is the reigning conference newcomer of the year and should be a guy that will have some consideration for preseason MVP talks. By no means is Sneed perfect though, this spring I want to see continued improvement on accuracy/consistency. Also want to see how the depth comes along there too, Humphrey and then who behind him makes a move, Wheeler, Wilson, or Graves... if Graves stays at QB.
3. Tight End. This spot surprised me from the range of production we saw last season. The trio of Bingham, Deming, and Rensvold flashed some great developing potential. Bingham was a little dinged up last season as I recall, would be good to see him really take a big leap forward. Obviously want to see continued improvement in run blocking here.
Positions in need of a lot of work
1. Running back. First off... they're razor thin at this group. With the graduation of Lee and departure of Green the spring roster technically has just 3 running backs on roster. Eastwood, Turner, and Knight (JuCo). There's talk of Graves getting some RB reps... and why not? Also there's guys like Janacaro and Le Texier listed as fullbacks. Will they see more use? Janacaro had a modest showing in the SUU blowout. Lots of questions here, can Eastwood show some improvement getting through the front line, shedding tackles, and with ball security? Are Turner or Knight ready/prepared to push for the job? How is pass protection coming along? Can this group stay healthy?
2. Offensive Line. I'm going to just assume that every job is open on the OL and that my guess at a 2-deep could be 100% incorrect. Unlike RB this group is has A LOT of guys... but the question is... do they have the right guys? Last year's OL seemed like a weekly experimentation at who to start where. Add in this year some touted freshman could be ready to steal some jobs and we'll have quite the battle get started for this group. Can guys like Anderson, Sain, Kanouse, and so on push to take a job? Will holdover starters at tackle, Beaver & Keintz, show improvement enough to hold onto their spots? Will Sirmon make a successful move to center? Will Villanueva practice / be in playing shape for spring? How about those that missed last season to injury, Scott and Hart?
---------
I'm looking forward to spring ball, there's going to be some fascinating position battles to watch and some other spots where hopefully we can see some up and coming guys start to show they're ready for an increased role.