I'll open with Frank Gogola had a piece he published the other day. It generally captures a lot of the basic discussions we've been having on here and on other social platforms. You can find his article here:
https://406mtsports.com/college/big-sky-conference/university-of-montana/storylines-to-follow-as-montana-kicks-off-camp-ahead-of-highly-anticipated-season/article_4cd79f96-6020-54e8-b73e-a209237a4cf3.html
He basically states storylines of note for most positions, his first four are OL, QB, RB, K/P.
Here's what I'm wanting to follow as what I think is maybe our most deep/talented roster in over 10 years gets ready for the season:
1. Of course, the offensive line. Forbes appeared to me in the spring as the guy that has taken on that role as the leader of the group. Supportive of the group, but challenges them. Tests them and celebrates their successes. I think our interior grouping on the 1st team is good, I think the backup interior team is serviceable. We've got a new transfer at tackle (appears to be LT from a video Shaun tweeted) and Casey at RT. How's that 2nd team looking? Want to see this group once the pads come on and they're blocking guys. Running game even in the spring looked good, how's the pass protection?
2. Where will all of these transfers fit in? Today UM announced new additions to the roster, 9 new guys. 4 from Pac12 schools, 2 from B1G schools, 1 from Sam Houston by way of a JuCo, a freshman, and a senior kicker with quite the tiktok following. Is Abbott here to challenge Johnson for the starting spot, or is this more to see if he or Brown are the backup? Can Travillion take the role apparently vacated by Soe who appears to no longer be on roster? Assuming Walker is a starter and Botkin will challenge for kicker/punter. The other guys are more underclassmen. Will their experience at bigger programs help them or will their relative new arrival have them stuck back in the ranks?
3. Will they share the wealth at RB? Bobby protects his RBs well in camps so I kind of wonder how much live hitting Knight and Ostmo might see. On the other hand maybe he wants them to take some shots before a live game. Will Childs and Harris be a bigger part of the 2022 running game?
4. How can they get Flowers the ball more? Malik Flowers is the best kick returner Montana's ever had, and one of the most electric players on this team. He's never really broken through much for steady work at WR though. Will that change this year? Using him in the slot for run plays worked against EWU.
5. Who's our starting DE's? Or does it even matter? There's at least 4 guys that'll be rotating in this group, if not more. Todd, McGourin, Hustedt, Hurlburt, Edwards... This group has really transformed from what it's previously been. They're going to add quite a bit more strength in those trenches.
6. QB Competition? Johnson looked like he fits the role in the spring, now with more time with the team over the summer he's presumably got a leg up. Abbott is an unknown, will he come in on fire or will he show that he's adding to depth/support here? This is a spot I really want to see develop as having mobile / tough QBs is a must for this offense to click.
7. Any changes on defense? EWU both times and JMU knew how to best attack the Grizzly defense, Sac did a little bit - although the Griz really had so many self-inflected wounds in that game. Putting their best WRs in the slot and going for 1-on-1 matchups against a Griz safety rather than our corners worked at times. Will Baer and company have some wrinkles and changes? Or is it a personnel change that's needed?
8. How are some of the 2-deep spots shaping up? Football quite frequently is a game of next man up and this spring really seemed like a plan to develop who that 2nd team is going to be. There's positions where I'm really curious to see who the backups are. I think I have an idea in some spots, others though there's still a lot of options. LB, DE, S, WR, CB.
What about you guys? Anything else on your radar that you'd like to see come out of this camp?
https://406mtsports.com/college/big-sky-conference/university-of-montana/storylines-to-follow-as-montana-kicks-off-camp-ahead-of-highly-anticipated-season/article_4cd79f96-6020-54e8-b73e-a209237a4cf3.html
He basically states storylines of note for most positions, his first four are OL, QB, RB, K/P.
Here's what I'm wanting to follow as what I think is maybe our most deep/talented roster in over 10 years gets ready for the season:
1. Of course, the offensive line. Forbes appeared to me in the spring as the guy that has taken on that role as the leader of the group. Supportive of the group, but challenges them. Tests them and celebrates their successes. I think our interior grouping on the 1st team is good, I think the backup interior team is serviceable. We've got a new transfer at tackle (appears to be LT from a video Shaun tweeted) and Casey at RT. How's that 2nd team looking? Want to see this group once the pads come on and they're blocking guys. Running game even in the spring looked good, how's the pass protection?
2. Where will all of these transfers fit in? Today UM announced new additions to the roster, 9 new guys. 4 from Pac12 schools, 2 from B1G schools, 1 from Sam Houston by way of a JuCo, a freshman, and a senior kicker with quite the tiktok following. Is Abbott here to challenge Johnson for the starting spot, or is this more to see if he or Brown are the backup? Can Travillion take the role apparently vacated by Soe who appears to no longer be on roster? Assuming Walker is a starter and Botkin will challenge for kicker/punter. The other guys are more underclassmen. Will their experience at bigger programs help them or will their relative new arrival have them stuck back in the ranks?
3. Will they share the wealth at RB? Bobby protects his RBs well in camps so I kind of wonder how much live hitting Knight and Ostmo might see. On the other hand maybe he wants them to take some shots before a live game. Will Childs and Harris be a bigger part of the 2022 running game?
4. How can they get Flowers the ball more? Malik Flowers is the best kick returner Montana's ever had, and one of the most electric players on this team. He's never really broken through much for steady work at WR though. Will that change this year? Using him in the slot for run plays worked against EWU.
5. Who's our starting DE's? Or does it even matter? There's at least 4 guys that'll be rotating in this group, if not more. Todd, McGourin, Hustedt, Hurlburt, Edwards... This group has really transformed from what it's previously been. They're going to add quite a bit more strength in those trenches.
6. QB Competition? Johnson looked like he fits the role in the spring, now with more time with the team over the summer he's presumably got a leg up. Abbott is an unknown, will he come in on fire or will he show that he's adding to depth/support here? This is a spot I really want to see develop as having mobile / tough QBs is a must for this offense to click.
7. Any changes on defense? EWU both times and JMU knew how to best attack the Grizzly defense, Sac did a little bit - although the Griz really had so many self-inflected wounds in that game. Putting their best WRs in the slot and going for 1-on-1 matchups against a Griz safety rather than our corners worked at times. Will Baer and company have some wrinkles and changes? Or is it a personnel change that's needed?
8. How are some of the 2-deep spots shaping up? Football quite frequently is a game of next man up and this spring really seemed like a plan to develop who that 2nd team is going to be. There's positions where I'm really curious to see who the backups are. I think I have an idea in some spots, others though there's still a lot of options. LB, DE, S, WR, CB.
What about you guys? Anything else on your radar that you'd like to see come out of this camp?