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Spring game countdown, newer players to keep an eye on

BWahlberg

Well-known member
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Tomorrow's the big spring game - make sure to get your tickets and come out to support the Griz and support the facility improvements! Kickoff is at 6pm, festivities begin earlier at 4pm!

I'm not sure if I'm going to have time to get another done tomorrow so I thought I'd give you all a list of a few new/newer players to make sure you keep an eye out for tomorrow night:

#86 Austin Carver - WR illnesses and various injuries have vaulted Carver up the depth this spring and he's been making the most of it. Not afraid to go over the middle and from what I've seen, he's made some great catches.

#51 Tucker Schye - Schye gets talked up a lot on here and from what I've seen he's been backing it up in practice. He passes the eye test of being that big and burly middle linebacker a team wants. He'll be on the 1st team during all of the contact drills, where Kose will be 1st team in the 7on7 stuff. Good speed to the ball carrier and a sound tackler.

#18 JR Nelson - JR played last year as an RS Frosh but this spring it seems to me that he's really turning the corner and is ready for more duty on the field. I've seen some defensive sets that have Nelson, Dennard, and Harris all on the field at the same time. What's really impressed me is that in the 1 on 1 drills which are inherently tipped in favor of the receivers - JR was pretty dominant to break up passes and stick to his man (from what I've seen).

And then there's the position battle which is getting the most attention this spring: kicker. Keep an eye on all three kickers. From the first game and some practices (all from before spring break) there was no clear-cut front runner. Ben Worst held an early slight edge but Harrison Greenberg might have closed that gap. Both Worst and Greenberg have added some good power to their kicks. Lider has all the power he needs, accuracy has been his main goal of improvement. He had a pretty bad first scrimmage but that's just 1 day over the course of many practices. Look for all three kickers to probably get 5 or 6 attempts. If you recall Delaney said that he wants to select a kicker this spring and have that guy enter fall camp as the locked in starter.
 
grizcountry420 said:
Hows Connor Strahm looking? I haven't heard much about him this spring...

From what I've seen (and that's a fairly limited scope) he's had a marginally quiet spring. In the first scrimmage he was 2nd team, think he had maybe 1 or 2 tackles. So far the coaches have been using Gamboa, Van Ackeren, and Lebsock more at OLB.
 
BWahlberg said:
grizcountry420 said:
Hows Connor Strahm looking? I haven't heard much about him this spring...

From what I've seen (and that's a fairly limited scope) he's had a marginally quiet spring. In the first scrimmage he was 2nd team, think he had maybe 1 or 2 tackles. So far the coaches have been using Gamboa, Van Ackeren, and Lebsock more at OLB.


Lots of competition at the LB positions....
 
grizcountry420 said:
BWahlberg said:
grizcountry420 said:
Hows Connor Strahm looking? I haven't heard much about him this spring...

From what I've seen (and that's a fairly limited scope) he's had a marginally quiet spring. In the first scrimmage he was 2nd team, think he had maybe 1 or 2 tackles. So far the coaches have been using Gamboa, Van Ackeren, and Lebsock more at OLB.


Lots of competition at the LB positions....

I have a feeling that Kose, Schye, Strahm, Lebsock, Van Ackeren, and Gamboa are going to rotate a ton this season. Makes me think back to the 2006 and 2007 Griz teams that had a bunch of LBs they'd rotate on a steady basis. Could work out pretty well for the defense.

One thing that was pointed out to me while I was watching a practice, this group of linebackers really has a "swarm" mentality. They rush to the ball carrier as a group, lots of group tackles. It seems to be working well though, especially in the running game.
 
I hope our kicking is the same as last year. Nonexistent and forcing us to score TDs or lose, you know.....the way football was meant to be played.
 
Heard the kickers have been doing fairly well this spring, or at least better. 3 kickers in competition. 1 punter.
 
PlayerRep said:
Heard the kickers have been doing fairly well this spring, or at least better. 3 kickers in competition. 1 punter.

PR, I think that is the safest post you have ever made on egriz. Why? I hope the kickers could not be any worse than last season. :thumb: :lol:

Brint, how are the younger OL and DL looking? How about the other qbs other than JJ and SSH?
 
mtgrizrule said:
PlayerRep said:
Heard the kickers have been doing fairly well this spring, or at least better. 3 kickers in competition. 1 punter.

PR, I think that is the safest post you have ever made on egriz. Why? I hope the kickers could not be any worse than last season. :thumb: :lol:

Brint, how are the younger OL and DL looking? How about the other qbs other than JJ and SSH?

Younger OL: both backup tackles (Kelly and LaRowe) were starters for a while thanks to small injuries to Poole and Schmaing (who are both back now). They had a real hard time against Wags and Holmes. Todd was out for a while, he's back this week. Dietrich I'm told is having a very good spring.

Younger DL: Ryan Johnson is continuing to improve. Zach Peevey is making a good adjustment to DT but needs to put on more weight. Bo Harris is still not making much of a noticeable presence - at least when I watched.

Backup QBs: I've not seen much, honestly. I like Simis quickness and pocket presence but both him and Gus throwing have been pretty choppy. Again, my opinion is limited to a handful of observations though.
 
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