First off, the captains for next year:
Most Improved D-Lineman: Junior Grant Kasal:
Most Improved Defensive End: R-Freshman Kyle Williams:
Most Improved Offensive Lineman: Senior Jordan Detweiler:
Most Improved Running Back: Sophomore Max Norris:
I plan on doing my usual full preview of the individual positions and stuff later into the summer, but I just wanted to put this out there, see if you all want to discuss it some...
Who do you think will have a breakout year this season? Specifically, someone who hasn't played much (or at all) in the past. Like...we know Sean McGuire and Brett Taylor are likely to have some big numbers...but what about the guys we haven't heard much about?
Personally, I'm really excited to see quite a few of our RBs...the previously mentioned Max Norris (big, solid dude...not quite as heavy as Nikko Watson was, but big for a RB), but also Vic Johnson, as well as how Joe Turk handles the move from TE->RB this year.
At the WR...do we see someone step up and be the next Lance Lenoir...or do you think we'll just have a couple of guys who are really solid? I'm interested to see Tre Cervantes...especially if they put him on the line with LeSure...couple of 6'3" WRs with good hands could cause some serious headaches for DBs.
TE Chris Age was really well regarded coming out of HS and was redshirted last year, as well as doing well in the spring game.
Obviously McGuire is going to be our #1 QB, but in games that are out of hand, or if Coach Fisher just wants to rest Sean for a play or two here and there...who's #2? We actually only have 4 QBs on the roster right now, with two of them being true freshmen. The other one is R-Freshman Connor Sampson, so I think we'll see him at #2 most of the season, and hopefully we won't have to worry about burning the redshirts of either of the other guys. He probably won't play much, but based on some of what he did in the spring game, I think he'll do well when he does play.
On the line, I like Sophomore Max Gober. He's part of the Wisconsin recruiting connection that we seem to be doing fairly well with. With only one DI football team in the entire state, it's a smart way to play it...it's relatively close to home, and we have good chances to get guys who aren't quite good enough to be Badgers, but are still good enough to play well at the DI level. Gober was also a well-regarded recruit a year ago, and I think he'll be a solid lineman this year. I also wanted to give a shout out to R-Freshman Kyle Sanft, who was one of the few players recruited by the previous coaching staff to stick with his commitment to Leatherneck Football. Not sure if he'll get much playing time, but I think he deserves a mention.
On the other side of the line, I'll be interested to see how R-Freshman Eryk Preston rebounds from his injury last year. He played in three games as a true freshmen before having a season-ending injury, which I think means that they were able to use his redshirt for last year instead. So, a DE who was good enough to play as a true freshman, but now has an extra year to get stronger and learn the playbook better...could mean good things.
With us moving to the 3-4 defense this year, LBs will end up getting more playing time, which probably fits this team well since I think we have more talent at LB right now than we do on the D-line. There's a few obvious players that are going to be taking up the bulk of playing time, but I'll be interested to see how R-Freshman Tre Hendon fits into the mix. Hendon is a phenomenal local talent (from Peoria) who played 3 sports, and played multiple positions very well on both sides of the ball in HS, scoring TDs by pretty much every way possible (passing, receiving, rushing, kickoff return, and defensively). He was scout team defensive player of the year last year, and I just feel that he could have a real breakout year this year.
Further back are the DBs...we've only got one R. Freshman in the DBs, so I feel like this will be a big year for the sophomore DBs to take a big step forward. Both Mike Viti and Darron Wheeler got playing time last year (with Viti starting the last two games), and were ok, but both were true freshmen. I think the year of experience will really help them and we'll start to see them start to shine. Hopefully that plus the additional LB help in the middle (from moving to the 3-4) will help reduce the number of "long bomb" passes that we give up.
As for special teams...I must admit, I feel rather clueless. We've got three kickers/punters and one listed as just a kicker. Sophomore Nathan Erickson had an XP in the spring game, sophomore kicker Sam Crosa had some really impressive stats in HS and was a preferred walk-on at Bowling Green (MAC, FBS) before coming here last year. and redshirt-freshman Adam Fellner did really well punting at the offseason kicking camps. Not sure who the guy(s) is/are going to be for next year, so we'll have to wait and see who's doing well in the late summer practices.
So...what do you guys think? Am I way off base (you can tell me if you think I'm wrong...this is all just educated guesses and gut feelings at this point anyway)...see anything that I missed?
Scott Lawson - Board Admin
