Longtime fan

Good looking athlete! Hope bubba and crew can wrangle him in.

Spot on. The talent and coaching is there but it's the big grind it out, lean on you types of teams that have me a little concerned. The speed will undoubtedly help more then hurt.... plus it should be fun/entertaining to watch them flying around. Should be a record setting "sack city" season!!

The Deion talk got me thinking about the pro potentials on the roster. I came up with my top 5 players, in order, that I believe have the best chance to go to the next level based on size for NFL averages, speed, athletic ability, hip movement, footwork, intangibles..... 1). Grady 2a) Donnell 2b) cole 4) tank 5) Deion Honorable mentions mason torrey Demon A lot of work and dedication is needed yet, but the potential exists in each one of them. Grady's potential is off the charts

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Offensively UND is going to have some issues. Utahs front is incredibly massive and talented. Bull rush every play. Keaton will be using his legs quite often in this game.

The utes had seven draft picks, four of those were OL ....one of which was the first lineman taken. I'm hoping the combination of UNDs talented,deep and experienced d line and fast lBs on the edge.....that they might be able to exploit or take advantage of their inexperience.

Without a doubt, I have him pegged as a NFL talent. When you watch his high school hudl tape ......a 6'5" 290lb linebacker/TE that was high stepping, out running secondaries, diving for INTs.....big guys shouldn't be able to do that. Watching him play in 2015, much of the same, quick nimble feet and above average athletism for a OL, allowing for fantastic lateral movement in pulling schemes and containing the edge. His "hip pop", mobility, fluidity, agility give him the leverage point over the defender on most plays . Always in front of his guy. Uses his hands very well....I would only imagine boxing assisted with that. Sounds like a smart dude as well. He needs to improve his pass blocking skills and strength & conditioning, but still a very young man....has the time to get it done. When he hits the weight room, the skies the limit. He was thrown into the fire his true freshman year ....and he wasn't just ok.... he flourished! Most of Santiagos big runs were behind him. The OL is without question the toughest position to play as a true fresh as it usually takes years to be physically and mentally ready to play. Not only did grady play, he was a difference maker those last 5 games. Just a incredible specimen. If he puts in the time and effort, he can/will definitely play at the next level. After reading the herald article, I have 100% respect for the young man. He was completely torn.. keep playing football while gaining an education or be a dad and take care of your newborn....ultimately he chose the right one.....family, faith, football... in that order. Hard to argue why he left

Yup. He was actually taken 1 at pick 4th round.

Congrats to Kenny. Two recruits from the 2012 class went 3rd round in the draft....not bad.

With Demon and Grady on one side....just wow! The o line will have experience and options. Grady, demon, aj, aplin, Rooney, bell, Tobin, Blair, cox, miller, Nguyen. The run game has the potential to be very very good this year.

He is a difference maker that would significantly improve the o line over night. With out a doubt, he has All-American talent. I hope this works out for both sides.

They had 5 DL on the pac12 all conf teams. 3 were seniors. The best and biggest in my opinion will be back....he was a fresh all American , 1st team PAC 12 as a soph and possibly injured last year....Hon mention PAC 12 as a jun. He's a 6'3" 320lb senior. His partner is a 6'3" 290lb senior....HM PAC 12. Big big Samoans!!! They also bring back DE (ucla transfer) that was inj game 3. He was leading the team in sacks and TFLs before the injury. He will be a senior as well. They will be very difficult to run against. They lose their entire o line except one. Glad to get them in first game of season. They have only 4 upper class men here ....2 sen 2 jun. Our quickness could create problems for them. Their secondary loses 5 of top 6 guys...but the one coming back is a stud ...6'3" 220 jun. need to be able to pass on them They return a first team all American punter.....field position field position field position!! They are going up tempo this year and they are built for it.....the majority of the skilled guys are smallish....5-9ish 175 lb ish. Quickness. und brings back a ton of experienced men ....and they know how to win. cant wait!!!

“I’m going to remember how much the coaches actually cared about the players,” Cook said. “You hear some schools where the coaches care about winning, nothing else. I mean that’s kind of the attitude that it was when I went to NDSU (North Dakota State) and visited there and was talking to them. It was hard for me to consider a program where they are focused more on the games to win rather than developing the players into men of character". Sounds like a reoccurring theme there at cow college. Very refreshing to have bubba and staff.

O line: really like tobin. The one on one drills he was the boss. Interior o line is much better then the outsides. The D owned the edges, but given the fact half of our backers were once safeties, they will be doing the same thing against most opponents. Fast! Johannesson will play a lot. Big dude and hard to take down. IZimmerman in my humble opinion could be the starter. Very confident and throws a beauty of a ball. Give him the summer to learn the playbook and he is all but cemented in as #2. (Or maybe better?). Best pure passer on the team. McKinney is explosive. Great get for UND. Rudolph, finally injury free, is going to push for a starting position. Loved his hudl tape out of high school and loved him live tonight. Great talent Flowers made some noise as well Great crowd ....excited for 2017!

Torrey hunt in a sling??

Holy !@#$ .....ton of people !! Love it!

Ive attended two practices this year and really like the speed on D. Disterhaupt is a tad small for ILB but he "brings" it every play and is very twitchy....great move by the staff. Believe he will have a great senior year. Haas is still on the slight side but much like disterhaupt he brings it every play. Love the potential. His length and aggressiveness separate him. Palmborg making the move to OLB makes the LB crew as whole extremely fast! UND could very well have one of the fcs' fastest units. Really young and inexperienced but very talented group. Schmitty will have them ready! With connor retiring and the inexperience ....look for true fresh Noah Larson to have his shirt pulled. I have heard nothing but great things about him. Big solid fast and tough. Donnell is an extremely talented young man and is the lone LB with game time experience at that position. My favorite player on the team. The guy is a true football player.....he will have a big big year!! Im going to keep my eyes on the qbs tonight. This position has had me the most concerned in the bubba years. Hearing good things about Zimmerman but I would love if Brad could be the guy. Time to prove yourself

I agree on the slow part of it but I'm talking more of a simple slant, screen or dump down. He has missed he target numerous times by 2 yards or more...weather it be the te, rb or wr. That's my knock on him.

Agreed. His leadership skills and/or huddle presence seems to be what sets him apart and of course the fact he doesn't turn the ball over. Und is not and will never be known as a passing team in a bubba run offense, ultimately though, at the most basic level, a team needs the ability to complete passes on any given play to keep defenses honest. Opposing defenses have not respected unds passing game as shown with constantly stacking the box. That doesn't mean they need to throw for 300 yards every game but they need to be able to complete the easy dump downs and screens. Studsrud has a career 54% completion rate, with most of those attempts coming 10 yards or less. With the short passing game that should be around the 65% rate. For UND to take the next step, studsrud needs to bring his A game every play every game. If he does, UND will make a run in December. The three year averages per game are: 21 att 11 completions 149yards 1.1 td and .5 int per game. The most worrisome stat is the 54% completion. Completing half of your passes will not get it done, especially in the playoffs. He cannot take all the blame as the WRs are also responsible for hanging onto the ball but after watching him for three years now....his accuracy needs to improve. Also of note, love hearing the positives on Haas. I was very impressed with him last but was about 30 lbs away from playing. His length and athleticism could create big problems for opposing offenses.

As much as I like Connor, could you imagine the combo of Disterhaupt and Rodgers at ILB!!! Crazy athletes. The first step that those two have is just incredible. I hope Haas put on some weight..his height and athleticism at OLB would wreak havoc on offenses. Staying healthy at safety is beyond crucial. Seems like the one area that hasn't filled in with depth. Love the Reyes/ Stewart combo however. We all know what Reyes brings but Stewart looks like a gamer.....excited to see it march 3rd. This years defense has the makings of something special. Hope it all comes together on the field.......and stay healthy.

I agree. They were "in" most games they played this year. They lost by 1,7,7,7 and 10 points in the mvfc. Seems like they compete real well. Finishing those games is another story.

Wouldn't be able to respond to a quote of yours? You said the mvfc doesn't need as much depth in the secondary as the big sky. Why is that?

Yeah I read it. I left my response very vague.....my reference was that bubba is adding depth at the other positions as well, not just cb and safety. Your implication is that since und plays in a pass happy league, they distinctly rely heavily on secondary recruiting...not true. They of course look for the best recruit as the secondary is a vital part of any D but there are other positions to fill and bubba knows damn well the gamw is won....trenches. UND will be ready defensively speaking for the mvfc. But I need to ask ... you say teams don't need to be as deep at those two positions in the mvfc then the big sky...why? Injuries don't happen to the secondary positions in the mvfc?? How many safeties and cbs did ndsu have last year on the roster? They had 17. UND had 15. Can you explain that ?

Bubba is building depth.

The mvfc is not known as a passing league, just that you guys had the #2 overall draft pick at qb.