UTEopia
04-22-2013, 01:42 PM
The best thing to happen in spring ball was that the projected starting OL was able to work together every practice, without injury or distraction. In fact, with the exception of York, who missed a number of practices due to a lingering foot injury, the entire projected starting offense was able to get a lot of reps together. It appears that with the exception one WR and possibly the RB position, the starters solidified their positions and made positive strides. I believe that without question, the biggest addition to the offense was Erickson. From all accounts he arrived without ego and is a very positive influence on the offensive side of the ball.
QB: When all was said and done, it appears that Wilson, while not spectacular, showed improvement and the potential for additional improvement. While he still has a funky delivery and does not throw a great long ball, his decision making improved and he showed that he can make the majority of throws necessary for the offense to execute at a high level. He is able to use his feet in the run game and when the pocket breaks down and that is a big deal in keeping drives alive. IMO, Wilson struggled most during the 3rd week of camp when Shultz was making a push and challenging for the number 1 spot. Wilson seemed to settle down after that and finish camp on an upswing.
Shultz continues to impress with his big arm and bullet passes. He had some very good days causing some to believe that he could possibly take over the No. 1 QB spot, but IMO he then began to push the envelope a little too much, taking chances that he had not taken earlier in camp, and probably finished on a bit of a slump. Shultz can throw the long ball and can fire the ball into tight quarters. He has good pocket presence and moves his feet well. I like Shultz and think he is a QB that can win games for us if called upon to do so. I don’t think the war for the QB position is over, but I would say that Wilson won this battle.
It is a shame that Cox could not complete the spring. He showed very well in the second scrimmage and appeared to be heading in the right direction. He runs well and has a better and more accurate arm then I expected. If given time to mature and improve, I think he has a future at QB.
It will be interesting to see what happens this fall when Manning and Thomas join this group. Five young QB’s and after the first couple of weeks of fall camp only two can get meaningful reps when the team switches to game prep mode. Will Wilson and Shultz be 1 and 2? Will they have a Cox package? I know, I know. Can Manning really make all of the throws? What does Thomas bring to the table?
RB: I believe that if York can stay healthy he will be the guy. He brings the most to the running game. Although Lucky is a personal favorite and had a very good camp, his spring game showed what has kept him off the field in previous years. A fumble and an almost fumble. If Lucky continues to have this problem he will see limited action. I really like Poole. He runs well to the outside. Is the best receiver out of the backfield and showed some toughness running between the tackles. Karl Williams is a trooper and my guess is that he will be in the mix for backup. If he loses some weight he might even push for regular reps. With 4 RB’s coming in the fall, it is clear that the battles are far from over. While a couple of these guys might eventually move to other positions, it will be interesting to see if any can get in the mix for real playing time.
WR/TE: Both Dres and Scott picked up their games. Pedroza, Denham and Fitz each got a shot at the No 3 WR spot but nobody grabbed. Both McClellen and Allen showed glimpses but are still behind the other 3. Juco Lewis will get a shot to show that he can be the third receiver in the fall, but my guess is that it will ultimately come down to Pedroza and Denham and that the battle may go back and forth throughout the year. The lack of a clear 3rd WR is not a real problem IMO as we clearly have two sold TE’s who need to get on the field. One thing I liked about the spring is although the two outside receivers will always be WR, the slot guy can just as easily be a TE as a WR.
OL: Continuity is the name of the game along the OL and it is a huge positive that the group played together throughout the spring. I don’t see any of those guys losing their positions in the fall unless there is an injury. They seemed to improve individually and as a group. The good news is that the 2’s also made significant improvement and closed the gap from the beginning of camp to the end.
While I am bullish on the O, I have huge concerns about the D. I don’t think there is one group that does not have question marks. More importantly, they consistently showed themselves to be terrible tacklers, a problem that we saw a number of times a year ago.
DT: Palepoi is solid, but none of the other 3 stepped up and performed on a consistent basis. Stevie started strong but seemed to disappear as camp went along. Not unusual for a RM freshman, but I think we all hoped he could really step up. LT and Seni are both what they are. High energy, undersized guys who rely on speed and technique. IMO they are going to have a hard time being every down guys. Hopefully the JUCO kid will be ready and that the two freshmen can play immediately.
DE: Wow. We struggled here a year ago and although we did not see Reilly or Orchard, the other guys did not step up and show that they can play the edge. It seems a little desperate to move Whittingham, another LB, to DE. Orchard will need to be much better against the run then he was a year ago and Reilly will need to return to his pre-injury form to make this a serviceable group.
LB: Injuries and lack of athleticism still abound. The more athletic guys like Hooker and Hale don’t seem to be able to stay healthy. The other guys don’t seem to be able to cover anyone out of the backfield. I know the coaches keep saying that the LBs will be okay with Blechen and Reilly, and maybe they will, but we were unable to see that in spring and will need it to happen quickly in fall.
S: The two guys who stepped up on the defense this spring were both at this position. Charles Henderson and Tyron Morris, both had solid if not spectacular springs, and I think their improvement made it possible for the coaches to believe that Blechen can move full time to LB. If Carter can make it in the fall and is everything they say he is, then it looks like we will have a solid group at safety.
CB: Another group that scares the crap out of me. I am not sold on any of them. A lot of inexperience. McGill is as soft as can be. Thomas was burned repeatedly. The backups did not show any better. This group will need to make huge strides in fall camp to be serviceable.
I heard a number of people at the spring game talk about how this team should win 8 or 9 games and to be honest I just don’t see it. Although we had chances to win a couple more games last year (USU and Oregon St.) and were in a couple of others until late (Ariz., UCLA, USC and Wash), it is hard for me to see room for a drastically improved record when you add Oregon and Stanford. I hope that we can win 6 games and get bowl eligible. I think that would be an accomplishment for this team with this schedule. The key will be the start. We need to go 3-1 or 4-0 in the first 4 games in order to have a shot to get bowl eligible and that will be no easy task. USU is a good team that returns a lot of experience and a dynamic QB. They will miss Andersen, but they will not be a push over. Oregon St. is a good, solid team and BYU will be better offensively then they were a year ago and I believe will be almost as good defensively. October is a bitch - UCLA, Stanford, at Arizona, at USC - is there a win in that group? Arizona State (who has owned us) and Oregon to start out November at is not beyond the realm of possibility that we are on a 6 game losing street heading to Wazzu and hosting Colorado, needing both games to reach .500.
I am excited to see how this plays out.
QB: When all was said and done, it appears that Wilson, while not spectacular, showed improvement and the potential for additional improvement. While he still has a funky delivery and does not throw a great long ball, his decision making improved and he showed that he can make the majority of throws necessary for the offense to execute at a high level. He is able to use his feet in the run game and when the pocket breaks down and that is a big deal in keeping drives alive. IMO, Wilson struggled most during the 3rd week of camp when Shultz was making a push and challenging for the number 1 spot. Wilson seemed to settle down after that and finish camp on an upswing.
Shultz continues to impress with his big arm and bullet passes. He had some very good days causing some to believe that he could possibly take over the No. 1 QB spot, but IMO he then began to push the envelope a little too much, taking chances that he had not taken earlier in camp, and probably finished on a bit of a slump. Shultz can throw the long ball and can fire the ball into tight quarters. He has good pocket presence and moves his feet well. I like Shultz and think he is a QB that can win games for us if called upon to do so. I don’t think the war for the QB position is over, but I would say that Wilson won this battle.
It is a shame that Cox could not complete the spring. He showed very well in the second scrimmage and appeared to be heading in the right direction. He runs well and has a better and more accurate arm then I expected. If given time to mature and improve, I think he has a future at QB.
It will be interesting to see what happens this fall when Manning and Thomas join this group. Five young QB’s and after the first couple of weeks of fall camp only two can get meaningful reps when the team switches to game prep mode. Will Wilson and Shultz be 1 and 2? Will they have a Cox package? I know, I know. Can Manning really make all of the throws? What does Thomas bring to the table?
RB: I believe that if York can stay healthy he will be the guy. He brings the most to the running game. Although Lucky is a personal favorite and had a very good camp, his spring game showed what has kept him off the field in previous years. A fumble and an almost fumble. If Lucky continues to have this problem he will see limited action. I really like Poole. He runs well to the outside. Is the best receiver out of the backfield and showed some toughness running between the tackles. Karl Williams is a trooper and my guess is that he will be in the mix for backup. If he loses some weight he might even push for regular reps. With 4 RB’s coming in the fall, it is clear that the battles are far from over. While a couple of these guys might eventually move to other positions, it will be interesting to see if any can get in the mix for real playing time.
WR/TE: Both Dres and Scott picked up their games. Pedroza, Denham and Fitz each got a shot at the No 3 WR spot but nobody grabbed. Both McClellen and Allen showed glimpses but are still behind the other 3. Juco Lewis will get a shot to show that he can be the third receiver in the fall, but my guess is that it will ultimately come down to Pedroza and Denham and that the battle may go back and forth throughout the year. The lack of a clear 3rd WR is not a real problem IMO as we clearly have two sold TE’s who need to get on the field. One thing I liked about the spring is although the two outside receivers will always be WR, the slot guy can just as easily be a TE as a WR.
OL: Continuity is the name of the game along the OL and it is a huge positive that the group played together throughout the spring. I don’t see any of those guys losing their positions in the fall unless there is an injury. They seemed to improve individually and as a group. The good news is that the 2’s also made significant improvement and closed the gap from the beginning of camp to the end.
While I am bullish on the O, I have huge concerns about the D. I don’t think there is one group that does not have question marks. More importantly, they consistently showed themselves to be terrible tacklers, a problem that we saw a number of times a year ago.
DT: Palepoi is solid, but none of the other 3 stepped up and performed on a consistent basis. Stevie started strong but seemed to disappear as camp went along. Not unusual for a RM freshman, but I think we all hoped he could really step up. LT and Seni are both what they are. High energy, undersized guys who rely on speed and technique. IMO they are going to have a hard time being every down guys. Hopefully the JUCO kid will be ready and that the two freshmen can play immediately.
DE: Wow. We struggled here a year ago and although we did not see Reilly or Orchard, the other guys did not step up and show that they can play the edge. It seems a little desperate to move Whittingham, another LB, to DE. Orchard will need to be much better against the run then he was a year ago and Reilly will need to return to his pre-injury form to make this a serviceable group.
LB: Injuries and lack of athleticism still abound. The more athletic guys like Hooker and Hale don’t seem to be able to stay healthy. The other guys don’t seem to be able to cover anyone out of the backfield. I know the coaches keep saying that the LBs will be okay with Blechen and Reilly, and maybe they will, but we were unable to see that in spring and will need it to happen quickly in fall.
S: The two guys who stepped up on the defense this spring were both at this position. Charles Henderson and Tyron Morris, both had solid if not spectacular springs, and I think their improvement made it possible for the coaches to believe that Blechen can move full time to LB. If Carter can make it in the fall and is everything they say he is, then it looks like we will have a solid group at safety.
CB: Another group that scares the crap out of me. I am not sold on any of them. A lot of inexperience. McGill is as soft as can be. Thomas was burned repeatedly. The backups did not show any better. This group will need to make huge strides in fall camp to be serviceable.
I heard a number of people at the spring game talk about how this team should win 8 or 9 games and to be honest I just don’t see it. Although we had chances to win a couple more games last year (USU and Oregon St.) and were in a couple of others until late (Ariz., UCLA, USC and Wash), it is hard for me to see room for a drastically improved record when you add Oregon and Stanford. I hope that we can win 6 games and get bowl eligible. I think that would be an accomplishment for this team with this schedule. The key will be the start. We need to go 3-1 or 4-0 in the first 4 games in order to have a shot to get bowl eligible and that will be no easy task. USU is a good team that returns a lot of experience and a dynamic QB. They will miss Andersen, but they will not be a push over. Oregon St. is a good, solid team and BYU will be better offensively then they were a year ago and I believe will be almost as good defensively. October is a bitch - UCLA, Stanford, at Arizona, at USC - is there a win in that group? Arizona State (who has owned us) and Oregon to start out November at is not beyond the realm of possibility that we are on a 6 game losing street heading to Wazzu and hosting Colorado, needing both games to reach .500.
I am excited to see how this plays out.