AJS

JT Miller, would have been a freshman the same year as Grimaldi, Gaarder replaced him.

Not saying it's not off the table, but his comments mirror every single player in his position (Drafted by Major Junior team / considering college), when giving interviews after they drafted. I wouldn't look into that at all. Since that article came out him (1) Going #1 and committing to USHL (2) Committing to a school are a lot more telling. Edit: Really happy he wasn't drafted by London though!

Halliday is a potential "cornerstone" type recruit for the class of 2020 (as is Bowen). As good as the 2019 class is going to be for UND (Top 3 in the country), 2020 might actually be better.

Deion's interview last night got me really excited, I mentioned this about a week ago as well, but Harris being fully healthy is about as big of a game changer as there is on the FCS level.

Disappointing for sure, but more than enough time to fill his spot. I know this is one guy, but I do see this as a positive that despite the recruits offers (Westberg only had D2 before UND), that the coaching staff has an eye for talent. If Westerberg is good enough for the NDSU O-Line, he's good. This type of thing is relatively rare as UND can usually hold on to guys once they commit, so here's hoping no one else flips.

When will we get a good idea of the seriousness of the injuries? I believe right now it's Stanley (least concerning for missing Fall Camp), Nguon & Greibel (both important to get reps).

Santiago / Harris named to the Preseason All-Americans list by STATS. What is everyone's actual expectations for Harris this year? Nationally they are as if he is going to pick off where he left off pre injury. Is he fully healthy? Will he be anywhere close to where he was? If he is, that's a real game changer for the defense.

Are the weights current on the roster page? Anybody notice anyone who sticks out in a good / bad way?

My 5: Noah Mortel (LT) Nathan Nguon (OG) Noah Larson (ILB): Jordan Canady (Safety) Ty Shannon (Safety) Four of the five on my list played significant minutes as freshman last year, the other was the most talked about player in his freshman class / would have played significant minutes had he been healthy.

It's almost hard to find words to describe how ridiculous that decision was (Montana game). I never have and never will see a coaching decision (personnel wise) that will be as embarrassing as that. I lost a lot of faith in Bubba and the offensive coaching staff with that single decision. It can be gained back, but it was really, really bad.

I bet 90% of us are on the same page with our overall dissatisfaction with play calling / adjustments / coming from the offensive side of the ball. As far as I'm concerned this is not even close to a Rudolph only issue anymore (it probably never was), but Bubba has now handcuffed himself with Rudolph in my eyes. He had a chance this past summer to separate himself from Rudolph and didn't, so the pressure should be on Bubba more than Rudolph. Ultimately, he's the one that makes the decisions for game plans, ect, if he doesn't like the 2nd and 9 run up the middle for 2 yards every time, he would have stopped it. If Rudolph fails, so does Bubba and they both need to be gone.

I used 1% in the Sam Houston game, simply because I can't picture UND winning the game. At the same point, I realize it's not technically impossible. If you look at my prediction for the season, I'm far from pessimistic, but like I said, just can't picture them going on the road and beating that team. I would love nothing more than to be wrong, because like others said, that game would be a true game changer for the season.

There’s a bye week between the two games

Since we're killing time in the off season, I'll toss out percentages, with the % chance UND has to win: Mississippi Valley State-WIN (100%) Washington-LOSS (0%) Sam Houston State-LOSS (1% - I realize this is extremely low, but right now, I don't see anyway they win this game) Idaho State-WIN (90%) Northern Colorado-WIN (75%) Montana-WIN (75% - I like that this game is (1) At home (2) After a bye week) Sac State-WIN (50% - On the road, but a less than hostile environment against a good team, I think they pull it off -- true turning point in the season) Weber State-WIN (60% - Good team, but home game -- need to win them all at home) Idaho-LOSS (20%) Portland State-WIN (90%) Northern Arizona-LOSS (50% - A lot will depend on the situation for both, if Northern needs this one as well, it's a tough place to play on the road) My swing games end up being Sac State and Northern Arizona. I see two games where I don't see UND really having a chance with Washington & SHSU. Run the table at home, beat UNC on the road and pick off either Sac State or Northern Arizona on the road and they finish 7-4 with no playoffs.

Pre-Fall practice predictions: Ceiling: 8-3 Prediction: 7-4 Floor: 6-5

It is an excuse, but it's also a fact. The way this team was trending in previous years and the roster they had in fall ball was considered better than the previous year. They way they started the year against Utah and Missouri State, they were a legitimate Top 10 team and then we all know what happened from there. The injuries were catastrophic to certain positional groups and it snowballed from there. I will agree with you partially on the overall depth of the team with certain positional groups. Let's look at the ILB position, where were the juniors and seniors last year? Losing O'Brien early was huge, but they went into fall camp with Rodgers (SO), Larson (true Freshman), Hunt (RS Freshman) and Rastas (RS Freshman). As great of a player as Larson will be, should you rely on a True Freshman as your #2 option? Everyone knew that was one of the positions of concern and after two games we instantly don't have the 3 best players, leaving Rastas as a starter much too early. On the other hand, at the FCS level (Non-NDSU), what is the expectation for depth? I know we all want every position to be 6 deep, but is that realistic? Even for great FCS programs, would many positional groups excel with both "starters" gone for the year and your down to that teams #4 / #5 option to start (when Hunt was injured as well)? Same can be said for the secondary last year, you have two All-Americans that played a total of 3 games. Would you consider Blubaugh (great recruit, offers from Wyo and UNC) or Canady (PWO Wisconsin) as bad players? Blubaugh had a tough time yes (understatement), but he was a true freshman. They are both going to be great players, they were forced into action much too early. As bad as last year was, what gives me a lot of optimism going forward is you had a lot of young guys get very valuable minutes. That will help this team this year and moving forward. It can be tough to remember how this team was trending before game 3 last year, but overall there has been a lot more good than bad over the past 3 years. This year is very important for the program and the coaching staff though. They need to bounce back and I truly believe they will. I have no doubt that defensively, they will bounce back and pick up where they left off in '15 and '16. It's hard to emphasis enough how much that will change the overall trajectory of the team. The ILB goes from what was possibly one of the worst in the FCS to a strong unit again. The CB will have talent and depth, the safety position will be better. Offensively, they have weapons, still concerned about play calling, but they will be adequate (will more upside than downside). I'm very excited for the 2018 football campaign.

This is my thought as well. UND has some serious offensive weapons on the offensive side of the ball, with just a tiny amount of creativity, UND's offensive would be a lot better. If a team is stacking the box, you can't fun it up the middle twice. My optimism on the offensive side comes from the fact like others have said, that coaching is a results driven profession. They will want to get this figured out. I've said it before and will continue to say it, but I'm very excited for the defense to return to form this year. It's going to be night and day difference.

Just to clarify, even though I think we're on the same page, I'm shocked he didn't make it based on my expectations going into the week. Based strictly on his numbers this week, I would have been shocked if he did make the All-Star game. One thing I enjoy about the early recruiting in hockey is being able to track a recruits progress from year to year. These Development Camps definitely give you a great idea of how someone is tracking against his age group. The closer they get to their draft year / incoming college year, the more important they are (01 Camp > 02 Camp > 03 Camp).

Kunz didn't make the All-Star game that will take place this morning. I'm definitely surprised, based on the reports out of the NTDP Camp earlier this summer, I would have thought he'd be one of the top handful of forwards this past week. Oh well, like was said, only one week.

The 03' camp roster is out, any local players to keep an eye on?

Final day of games at the US Development Camp (2002). Kunz with a pretty quiet week on the scoring front with only 2 assists in 4 games.

I've experienced a lot of disappointment as a fan over the years (throughout many sports), like most have, but I've never experienced anything close to what happened last year as a UND football fan. I've never been more excited for a year and to say I was blindsided by the result would be an understatement. It's really hard to comprehend how off the rails it went. Back to 2018, after reading the Top 5 Fr list and some included transfers, ect, I'm even more excited for this defenses potential. I'm sold on their front 7 going back to the norm, I have no doubt about that. I think that the CB will be solidified as well. That leaves one position group that is a question mark.

Offensively: Below Average (On a 1 to 10 scale about a 4) My big questions would be: Offensive Line QB - I think this is the most quality depth this team has had in a while at the QB position, the question would be can one of them be great? WR - Do we think one of the young receivers will be a true deep threat If you break down each offensive unit, I actually really like the depth and talent at QB, RB, WR and TE. Like everyone else has said, it really comes down to the O-Line. Will they be better next year? Like others, I think the Sophomore class can be a pretty special group. Will we see 4 Sophomores starting this year? Prediction: 5 or 6 (Average Offensively) Overall: I think this team bounces back, there's been a lot more good than bad during the Bubba era. Like I've written before, after the Missouri State game last year, I would have never believed they would have finished the way they did. I truly believe they will be back defensively, which will completely change everything about this team. I don't think I can emphasis enough how big the ILB difference will make from this year to last. All eyes on the offensive line next year, if they can be average, they should be ok. Prediction: 7-4

That's great news! Those three are all tracking very well. I can't get over how loaded the D-man pipeline is for UND. The potential D-man class of '20 could potentially have 3 of the Top 10 / 15 defensive recruits in the country in Miller, Reid and Kleven. Mancenelli keeps checking off the boxes as well. Solid first year in the USHL as a 16 year old, now named to the Hlinka team, now it's time to take the next step and be around a PPG guy in the USHL during his draft year. With UND's Top 2 Centers being Seniors this year, they are going to need Rizzo / Mancinelli to step into those roles as freshman.

Miller with a goal in the All-Star game. The US Roster for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup will be announced this afternoon.