Although it was hard to take anything away from the spring game due to "thud" 1st half and tons of backup play in the 2nd half, I've watched the highlights repeatedly to try to gain some analysis. I'll go through each position group below and offer some of my overall thoughts on each unit. I encourage others to offer up insights and analysis of their own as well.
QB: First off, I just have to say that at this point I'm really not impressed with Smothers. I see him as 3rd or 4th string at best in a completely objective situation anyway. I believe Haarberg has much more upside, even with the INT that he threw. It was a bummer to not see more of CT...would've been more fruitful behind a different lineman grouping IMHO. He'll likely be the starter, but I gotta say, I was more impressed with Purdy than I thought I'd be. I didn't even think he was going to be playing, and I was blown away by his ability to run (better than Smothers from what I could tell, or more effective anyway). He had a couple of the day's best passes too. Probably looking at this pecking order by gameday: CT, Purdy, Smothers, Haarberg or Masker (who like Dingle, I still wonder if he's our best QB for a more pass oriented offensive system, and he can run enough for what we expect of a QB in NE).
RB: Grant is our starter out of the gates (hoping to not jinx injury or anything...). He seems like our most complete back we've had in awhile. The 60 yard TD run could likely have been stopped in real live tackling action, but I believe his jump cuts would've still been enough for a big gain (maybe not TD though). Otherwise Yant seems like the hammer we'll succeed with in the short yardage game, as well as a solid spell back. Johnson is Johnson at this point - our best receiving back as well as pass pro back, so I'd say he should def be our third down back (unless short yardage). After that it's up to whoever wants it the most while knowing they're not going to be the starter. We'll see how Ervin comes back from injury, as well as Stepp. Grant, Yant, Johnson, and then whoever.
WR: We didn't get to see a ton here sadly. Whatever passes were thrown Manning's way were crap passes, most from Smothers. Palmer will be huge, we just didn't get to see it this scrimmage. I'm sure our starters will be Manning, Palmer, and Martin, but it's after that where it gets fun. Grimes had the best showing (although his TD catch would be an incomplete pass in live action, as Farmer would've lit him up and not let up in what was otherwise "thud" tackling. I was wondering where Belt was after all the spring ball hype. Otherwise I expect Brown to play a bigger role this year. Somewhat a lack of opinion on the group due to the nature of the scrimmage, limited roles, etc. Hopefully Garcia-Castenada is legit and gets/stays healthy.
TE: Volkolek is going to be the guy and I believe he will excel in Whipple's version of this offense (which we likely really didn't see much of Saturday). Sad about Fidone...but such is life I guess. Can't have anything nice! I was really encouraged with the play of young guys though, such as Boerkircher and Rollins. Rollins arguably had the finest catch of the day. Overall I think this group will excel more than years past so long as they can get/stay healthy. If Fidone is out at the start of the season, I could see one of the above mentioned young guys starting behind Vokolek as he will be the clear cut #1.
OL: This is where this gets interesting, so bear in there with me for a moment. Overall, the run blocking looked MUCH better. I think that'll finally be a strength for us and not be solely due to QB run game. We looked closer to Wisconsin in the scrimmage than I've seen from us yet. Riola must be doing something well there. Pass pro needs improvement though, but that's probably more of getting the right guys as starters than anything else (don't eff this up Frost - be objective!). The first group that went out is nowhere near the starting group IMO. They struggled other than a couple of guys who are likely starters. The second group was much more fundamentally sound from what I could tell, though not starters across the board there. Banks is awful at LT, and should probably just stick to guard (backup). Miller was even worse somehow, and had the worst footage of the day with Butler literally owning him on a bull rush for sack. I was especially impressed when Anthony was in at RT, and Lutovski at RG...those two should start come gameday at those positions as of right now without factoring in Corcoran's return from injury (who did not play).
Benhart seemed...better, but still hardly our top option there which is sad considering his ranking as a recruit who's now in what, his 3rd or 4th season here? As for Center, I was pleasantly surprised to see Hixson has improved after initially showing some promise when he first got play time, then receded into poor play, particularly in the run game. He held his own and could very well start. Hard telling with Piper out due to injury. The third string guy (another Boerkircher) was serviceable, but lacked overall talent to hold up. LG we'll probably see Nouli retain his starting role, although I was impressed with Williams' play. Could go either way if judging purely off of Saturday's film. LT should be and must be Prochazka...let's all pray right now that he conquers this injury and remains healthy for the season. If not, maybe this is where Corcoran can come in too. My starters today based off this game and what we already know would be from left to right: Prochazka, Nouli or Williams, Hixson or Piper, Lutovski, and Anthony or Corcoran.
DL: First off, I was very impressed with our pass rush. I actually believe that will be a strength of ours this season (finally!) as we have several edge guys who can get the job done at a high level (Nelson, Butler, Tannor, and Gunnerson). This is especially so if we get Mathis. I really think Butler is our next Randy Gregory (body composition, size, ability to bend, etc.) I hope we (Frost and co) don't mess that up. Overall I think these guys will all set the edge well and hold up in the run game. It's the interior guys where I'm concerned, as most of us are. I just don't think Hutmacher has what it takes to be our starter. Good backup, but nothing more. It'll be up to Robinson and hopefully a healthy Rogers to hold down the interior this season. Yikes. Could use a portal guy here more than anywhere else IMHO. However, I was pleasantly surprised with Feist. He showed up several times in the highlights and at this point I believe is a better option than Hutmacher. I personally hope we go with more of a 2-4-5 setup than a true 3-4, or even maybe some 4-3 with guys like Nelson and Butler or Gunnerson (or Mathis!) at DE. My main guys here would be: Nelson, Robinson, Rogers, Feist, and Butler or hopefully Mathis.
LB: This is arguably our strongest position group on defense which is impressive considering the lack of overall star talent in the unit. Depth has gotten there over the years, and I think we have a solid two deep here. If our run defense is going to be decent this year, it's these guys who will be the reason - in spite of lack of depth and dominance on the interior line. Kolarevic had a great blitz which disrupted a pass that was otherwise blocked tremendously well, and showed great speed for a LB to get home in such a scenario. Starters will likely be a mixture of Reimer's coming back from injury (and could have an all conference year) Henrich, Kolaravic, and one of the edge guys. Mauga-Clements finally showing he'd worthy of being in the two deep. Excited and looking forward to seeing Wright can do as well. Not sold on Gifford quite yet.
DB: This is arguably our second strongest position group, on defense anyway. I came away impressed with Johnson's play Saturday...as a former 5 star guy, this was good to see. I hope to see him start opposite of what I'd assume is Newsome who is our best returning starter. I wasn't overly impressed with Hill who had a lot of off season hype. I'm sure he'll grow into his role and settle in over time, but if I had to decide today, he's in the rotation but not starting. Clark is the other guy who probably won't dominate, but he's healthy, experienced, and should do the job. Farmer will be one of our starting safeties, and will hopefully improve from last season. Showed up a lot in Saturday's film. As for the other safety, I'm wondering if Buford makes it his own. He looked like a little ball of pent up fury out there, and allegedly hits the hardest (according to a guy who lays wood himself in the running game - Yant). What the hell happened to Pola-Gates? Seems to just be unable to get himself on the radar for a starting role that should be his by now. Otherwise Brown seemed like he might have enough to offer as a part of the two deep. Starters are likely: Newsome, Johnson, Clark, Farmer, and Buford.
ST: Buschini needs some refinement, but the dude's got a leg on him! Desperately awaiting Bleekrode's arrival on campus...we are still without a serviceable kicker without apparently. We didn't get to see anything for return game, but punts that were fielded were done so without drama, and coverage units seemed on track. Jury is still out here, and we need it to not be. Fingers crossed with the new kicker! He can't get here soon enough.
I still think this team wins at least 6, maybe 7 this season with an easier schedule than the past few years. We didn't get to see enough Saturday to determine otherwise, and was supposedly on purpose (which I believe is only half true). Hopefully Whipple's offense is truly great, digestible for the athletes and they're able to apply it in a high standard. I think the defense will surprise many who thought that side of the ball would suffer a huge drop off from turnover of starters from last year. My only real concern there is the depth on the interior DL. An elite or even just improved pass rush might help offset that some, especially if our LBs are the core to our hopefully competent run defense. Not too worried about Fisher's guys continuing the standard, even with so many new faces.
What do you all think??
QB: First off, I just have to say that at this point I'm really not impressed with Smothers. I see him as 3rd or 4th string at best in a completely objective situation anyway. I believe Haarberg has much more upside, even with the INT that he threw. It was a bummer to not see more of CT...would've been more fruitful behind a different lineman grouping IMHO. He'll likely be the starter, but I gotta say, I was more impressed with Purdy than I thought I'd be. I didn't even think he was going to be playing, and I was blown away by his ability to run (better than Smothers from what I could tell, or more effective anyway). He had a couple of the day's best passes too. Probably looking at this pecking order by gameday: CT, Purdy, Smothers, Haarberg or Masker (who like Dingle, I still wonder if he's our best QB for a more pass oriented offensive system, and he can run enough for what we expect of a QB in NE).
RB: Grant is our starter out of the gates (hoping to not jinx injury or anything...). He seems like our most complete back we've had in awhile. The 60 yard TD run could likely have been stopped in real live tackling action, but I believe his jump cuts would've still been enough for a big gain (maybe not TD though). Otherwise Yant seems like the hammer we'll succeed with in the short yardage game, as well as a solid spell back. Johnson is Johnson at this point - our best receiving back as well as pass pro back, so I'd say he should def be our third down back (unless short yardage). After that it's up to whoever wants it the most while knowing they're not going to be the starter. We'll see how Ervin comes back from injury, as well as Stepp. Grant, Yant, Johnson, and then whoever.
WR: We didn't get to see a ton here sadly. Whatever passes were thrown Manning's way were crap passes, most from Smothers. Palmer will be huge, we just didn't get to see it this scrimmage. I'm sure our starters will be Manning, Palmer, and Martin, but it's after that where it gets fun. Grimes had the best showing (although his TD catch would be an incomplete pass in live action, as Farmer would've lit him up and not let up in what was otherwise "thud" tackling. I was wondering where Belt was after all the spring ball hype. Otherwise I expect Brown to play a bigger role this year. Somewhat a lack of opinion on the group due to the nature of the scrimmage, limited roles, etc. Hopefully Garcia-Castenada is legit and gets/stays healthy.
TE: Volkolek is going to be the guy and I believe he will excel in Whipple's version of this offense (which we likely really didn't see much of Saturday). Sad about Fidone...but such is life I guess. Can't have anything nice! I was really encouraged with the play of young guys though, such as Boerkircher and Rollins. Rollins arguably had the finest catch of the day. Overall I think this group will excel more than years past so long as they can get/stay healthy. If Fidone is out at the start of the season, I could see one of the above mentioned young guys starting behind Vokolek as he will be the clear cut #1.
OL: This is where this gets interesting, so bear in there with me for a moment. Overall, the run blocking looked MUCH better. I think that'll finally be a strength for us and not be solely due to QB run game. We looked closer to Wisconsin in the scrimmage than I've seen from us yet. Riola must be doing something well there. Pass pro needs improvement though, but that's probably more of getting the right guys as starters than anything else (don't eff this up Frost - be objective!). The first group that went out is nowhere near the starting group IMO. They struggled other than a couple of guys who are likely starters. The second group was much more fundamentally sound from what I could tell, though not starters across the board there. Banks is awful at LT, and should probably just stick to guard (backup). Miller was even worse somehow, and had the worst footage of the day with Butler literally owning him on a bull rush for sack. I was especially impressed when Anthony was in at RT, and Lutovski at RG...those two should start come gameday at those positions as of right now without factoring in Corcoran's return from injury (who did not play).
Benhart seemed...better, but still hardly our top option there which is sad considering his ranking as a recruit who's now in what, his 3rd or 4th season here? As for Center, I was pleasantly surprised to see Hixson has improved after initially showing some promise when he first got play time, then receded into poor play, particularly in the run game. He held his own and could very well start. Hard telling with Piper out due to injury. The third string guy (another Boerkircher) was serviceable, but lacked overall talent to hold up. LG we'll probably see Nouli retain his starting role, although I was impressed with Williams' play. Could go either way if judging purely off of Saturday's film. LT should be and must be Prochazka...let's all pray right now that he conquers this injury and remains healthy for the season. If not, maybe this is where Corcoran can come in too. My starters today based off this game and what we already know would be from left to right: Prochazka, Nouli or Williams, Hixson or Piper, Lutovski, and Anthony or Corcoran.
DL: First off, I was very impressed with our pass rush. I actually believe that will be a strength of ours this season (finally!) as we have several edge guys who can get the job done at a high level (Nelson, Butler, Tannor, and Gunnerson). This is especially so if we get Mathis. I really think Butler is our next Randy Gregory (body composition, size, ability to bend, etc.) I hope we (Frost and co) don't mess that up. Overall I think these guys will all set the edge well and hold up in the run game. It's the interior guys where I'm concerned, as most of us are. I just don't think Hutmacher has what it takes to be our starter. Good backup, but nothing more. It'll be up to Robinson and hopefully a healthy Rogers to hold down the interior this season. Yikes. Could use a portal guy here more than anywhere else IMHO. However, I was pleasantly surprised with Feist. He showed up several times in the highlights and at this point I believe is a better option than Hutmacher. I personally hope we go with more of a 2-4-5 setup than a true 3-4, or even maybe some 4-3 with guys like Nelson and Butler or Gunnerson (or Mathis!) at DE. My main guys here would be: Nelson, Robinson, Rogers, Feist, and Butler or hopefully Mathis.
LB: This is arguably our strongest position group on defense which is impressive considering the lack of overall star talent in the unit. Depth has gotten there over the years, and I think we have a solid two deep here. If our run defense is going to be decent this year, it's these guys who will be the reason - in spite of lack of depth and dominance on the interior line. Kolarevic had a great blitz which disrupted a pass that was otherwise blocked tremendously well, and showed great speed for a LB to get home in such a scenario. Starters will likely be a mixture of Reimer's coming back from injury (and could have an all conference year) Henrich, Kolaravic, and one of the edge guys. Mauga-Clements finally showing he'd worthy of being in the two deep. Excited and looking forward to seeing Wright can do as well. Not sold on Gifford quite yet.
DB: This is arguably our second strongest position group, on defense anyway. I came away impressed with Johnson's play Saturday...as a former 5 star guy, this was good to see. I hope to see him start opposite of what I'd assume is Newsome who is our best returning starter. I wasn't overly impressed with Hill who had a lot of off season hype. I'm sure he'll grow into his role and settle in over time, but if I had to decide today, he's in the rotation but not starting. Clark is the other guy who probably won't dominate, but he's healthy, experienced, and should do the job. Farmer will be one of our starting safeties, and will hopefully improve from last season. Showed up a lot in Saturday's film. As for the other safety, I'm wondering if Buford makes it his own. He looked like a little ball of pent up fury out there, and allegedly hits the hardest (according to a guy who lays wood himself in the running game - Yant). What the hell happened to Pola-Gates? Seems to just be unable to get himself on the radar for a starting role that should be his by now. Otherwise Brown seemed like he might have enough to offer as a part of the two deep. Starters are likely: Newsome, Johnson, Clark, Farmer, and Buford.
ST: Buschini needs some refinement, but the dude's got a leg on him! Desperately awaiting Bleekrode's arrival on campus...we are still without a serviceable kicker without apparently. We didn't get to see anything for return game, but punts that were fielded were done so without drama, and coverage units seemed on track. Jury is still out here, and we need it to not be. Fingers crossed with the new kicker! He can't get here soon enough.
I still think this team wins at least 6, maybe 7 this season with an easier schedule than the past few years. We didn't get to see enough Saturday to determine otherwise, and was supposedly on purpose (which I believe is only half true). Hopefully Whipple's offense is truly great, digestible for the athletes and they're able to apply it in a high standard. I think the defense will surprise many who thought that side of the ball would suffer a huge drop off from turnover of starters from last year. My only real concern there is the depth on the interior DL. An elite or even just improved pass rush might help offset that some, especially if our LBs are the core to our hopefully competent run defense. Not too worried about Fisher's guys continuing the standard, even with so many new faces.
What do you all think??
