Football: Final spring game thoughts
Couple of final thoughts on spring ball now that I've recovered from Saturday's windstorm.
First, spring ball was kind of a ho-hum affair since all the players who were hurt last season and we were most interested in seeing were held out of most drills. Can't blame the coaches for that decision, but a lot of the personnel battles we're all interested in won't be judged until fall.
The offensive line is fairly settled in, Zane Taylor earned the starting spot at center through a combination of his work and the absence of Tyler Williams, who missed much of spring with an injury.
Let's see if Taylor can hang onto his starting role in the fall. Initially, coaches hoped Brian Johnson would be around 100 percent by the end of spring, but that didn't happen and his recuperation will be one of the biggest concerns going into fall practice.
Offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig told me before spring practices started he wanted Corbin Louks to focus on throwing the deep ball.
Now I wonder if he wanted that development to merely see Louks improve his overall capabilities or because there might be some genuine concern that Johnson isn't going to be able to accurately throw deep? Johnson is definitely a gamer. Knowing him, he's going to push his shoulder as much as he can to be better than ever, I just hope it cooperates with him.
The running back battle is going to be fun to watch in the fall. Darrell Mack looked strong but so did Matt Asiata. I can't wait to see those two compete in the fall.
Eddie Wide had a good spring and Ray Stowers was steady, but I bet we see more of Wide than Stowers as a backup.
The receivers had a decent spring with several sidelined with injuries. Freddie Brown was the most improved player in coach Kyle Whittingham's mind. The addition of David Reed and Aiona Key is going to add much needed play-making capabilities at this spot.
The defensive line is good for now, although coordinator Gary Andersen there could be some movement when fall starts. The linebackers, in the opinion of Andersen, are young but improving. Chaz Walker, in particular, stood out. I have a feeling we are going to
see a lot of Mo Neal in the fall.
The secondary is set, as are the special teams.
Overall a lot of work for the backups. We'll see what kind of impressions they made on the coaches in the fall when the starters get most of the attention.
First, spring ball was kind of a ho-hum affair since all the players who were hurt last season and we were most interested in seeing were held out of most drills. Can't blame the coaches for that decision, but a lot of the personnel battles we're all interested in won't be judged until fall.
The offensive line is fairly settled in, Zane Taylor earned the starting spot at center through a combination of his work and the absence of Tyler Williams, who missed much of spring with an injury.
Let's see if Taylor can hang onto his starting role in the fall. Initially, coaches hoped Brian Johnson would be around 100 percent by the end of spring, but that didn't happen and his recuperation will be one of the biggest concerns going into fall practice.
Offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig told me before spring practices started he wanted Corbin Louks to focus on throwing the deep ball.
Now I wonder if he wanted that development to merely see Louks improve his overall capabilities or because there might be some genuine concern that Johnson isn't going to be able to accurately throw deep? Johnson is definitely a gamer. Knowing him, he's going to push his shoulder as much as he can to be better than ever, I just hope it cooperates with him.
The running back battle is going to be fun to watch in the fall. Darrell Mack looked strong but so did Matt Asiata. I can't wait to see those two compete in the fall.
Eddie Wide had a good spring and Ray Stowers was steady, but I bet we see more of Wide than Stowers as a backup.
The receivers had a decent spring with several sidelined with injuries. Freddie Brown was the most improved player in coach Kyle Whittingham's mind. The addition of David Reed and Aiona Key is going to add much needed play-making capabilities at this spot.
The defensive line is good for now, although coordinator Gary Andersen there could be some movement when fall starts. The linebackers, in the opinion of Andersen, are young but improving. Chaz Walker, in particular, stood out. I have a feeling we are going to
see a lot of Mo Neal in the fall.
The secondary is set, as are the special teams.
Overall a lot of work for the backups. We'll see what kind of impressions they made on the coaches in the fall when the starters get most of the attention.
9:27 AM
| 
7 Comments:
It kills me that the biggest weakness of our rival in Provo is the one thing we can't really capitalize on. Neither Johnson nor Louks can go deep. Too bad - Provo faced just one team that had a good deep passing game all year last season, and Tulsa put 50+ points on the board. Too bad no one in the MWC has a deep game. I guess New Mexico must be the closest thing. Oh well, we'll have to beat people without it.
I would bet that Ludwig wants Louks to work on the deep ball so they can expand the offense for him. When he came in last year, he would either run or throw a short pass. If he can throw intermediate and deep routes in addition to his running and short passes, teams won't be able to jam up the first five yards of the field to stop him without fear of him going over their heads. If he can't throw deep, it won't take long for defenses to bring up the safeties to help stop him.
jefe: I wouldn't worry too much about being able to take advantage of BYU's DBs. In addition to having four new starters in the secondary, they will be fielding 3 new linebackers. BYU is going to have a hard time stopping both the run and the pass this year.
Dream on guys.
This post has been removed by the author.
No dreaming necessary naven. BYU lost almost their entire defense from last year and had it not been for that defense, they likely would have lost to Arizona, New Mexico, TCU, Utah, and UCLA in the bowl game(although, with those three conference losses BYU wouldn't have been in the Vegas bowl). With a very young and inexperienced defense, BYU will have to count on their offense scoring well over 35 points for almost all of their wins this year. As a BYU fan, you are probably optimistic about that, but remember this: BYU's offense struggled mightily against Arizona, UCLA both times they played(they actually played worse the second time around, same points but far fewer yards), they also struggled against TCU, UNM, and Utah. And it's not like they were blowing out the rest of their competition during the season. BYU is going to lose at least four games this year. Conversely, Utah returns a defense and an offense with a wealth of experience due to the barrage of injuries the team suffered last year. I realize Utah's offense was shutout by UNLV, but they also put up 44 against UCLA and Louisville and put 50 on Wyoming. I'm not saying Utah is going to go undefeated, but I am positive they will have a better team and a better record than BYU.
Utethunder is a genius!!! Why is it that Naven feels the need to blog on the University of Utah blog page? You might as well become a Ute fan for all the time you spend reading about the Utes. I guess it is that urge to someday be like the Utes and follow in their footsteps to a BCS bowl. But, "DREAM ON" naven, the FALL has already begun and perfection will not be reached in Provo next year. That has to be the stupidest comment ever made, "quest for perfection." Bishop Mendenhall should really have thought before he said that. It is an automatic curse for the season. And now that most of Crowton's recruits are gone, the level of play has/will be declining. After all, it really was Bishop Mendenhall's ridiculous 3-3-5 defense that cost Crowton his job. It took a UTE, Kafusi, to convince him to use a real defense. But it got the Bishop the head coaching job so he must feel pretty good about being part of the destruction. Revenge is sweet as Crowton has gone on to do great things wil REAL football programs. Luck will run out this year, it can only take you so far. GO UTES!
re Bigutefan:
I agree that Mendenhall's defense didn't help Crowton much, but coughing up 8 turnovers is probably the bigger problem.
I hope they team down south does have a weak defense. Mendenhall does seem to have a knack though for getting scrubs to overachieve.
Post a Comment
<< Home