AJS

Haven’t seen a mock draft recently where both Boisvert & Emery aren’t first round picks.

Love the St. Thomas addition. I do hope these leads to the Summit League absorbing the NCHC as well as a Summit League Football conference. That would be a big deal on multiple fronts.

Good problem, but fairly frustrating though. Hopefully some don't transfer elsewhere. https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/local/with-dorm-applications-up-some-und-students-waiting-to-find-out-if-theyll-have-fall-housing

They seemed to have done really well in the Portal (both additions / not losing many), but you're right on, they seemed to have been hit pretty hard defensively to graduation. Over 50% of their tackles, two All-Americans. Agree, their offensive weapons are scary.

Here's what I got. There were a few teams that really were hit hard by graduation / portal (ISU-B, Youngstown, UNI). Some that weren't. 4 - Win or season over - Idaho St at home, San Diego at home, Murray St. at home, at ISU-B 4 - Tossup games - UNI at home, at Youngstown, USD at home, at Illinois State 1 - Not Likely - Montana at Home 3 - No past indicators of Victory games - Iowa St on the Road, NDSU on the Road, Jacks at Home

I’m not saying they are, but one reason I would accept is the FCS outside of a few teams isn’t great. Look at a team like USD that’s preseason Top 5. They return a lot from a mediocre offense & lost some studs on defense. If that’s a Top 5-7 team, then even with the questions UND has no reason they couldn’t end up Top 15. I’m not optimistic the defense gets fixed, but UND was a playoff team with an awful defense last year.

The hope I have defensively, and you'd think I'd know better by now than to use this phrase, but there's certain aspects where I genuinely believe "It couldn't be worse" than last year. (1) Pass rush / disruption from D-Line (2) OLB play (3) 3rd and Long (4) Getting to the QB

I do find it incredibly odd that a playoff team from the previous year would be left off of any Top 25 poll. Edit: Granted, I couldn't have my finger on the pulse of non-MVFC teams any less but do find it somewhat surprising that (1) All the hits UND has taken got to the "national" FCS personalities (2) That other schools presumably haven't had some of the same issues (especially outside of the Top 10 teams).

Interested what people think. Either rank these in order of most likely to least likely or how many (if any) of the three do you think are likely. Improved QB play over last year O-Line being average MVFC unit (Step back from last year, but still adequate) Defense being average MVFC unit (Step or two better than last year)

Matt Larson's theory has been around for a long time, and it looks like it's more than possible. My question is, what are the theories around what's considered the "upper echelon" of the FCS? Would it be current G5 conferences inviting a handful of FCS programs? Current FCS conferences moving up (ex: MVFC & Big Sky)? New FBS conference forming (Top of MVFC & Big Sky)?

@Benny Baker I've been there too. It's one of the many factors that makes this board almost unbearable. Unfortunately, if there is an exception, somebody will need to bring it up.

Seemingly since the Sac State game, it's just been one hit after another for this program. It's so incredibly frustrating to see other peer institutions (Dakota / Montana schools) navigate the transfer portal this off-season so much better than UND. Pre-season polls are coming out, you'll find all of schools in the Top 5 / 10, while UND in nowhere to be found. Losing coaches / players to "peer" schools. It's embarrassing. Need something to turn the tide. The outlook for this program has never looked so bleak. Note: Very possible perception does not equal reality. Since the program gets such embarrassingly poor coverage, we won't know if things are as bad as they appear until the games are played.

Exactly what I was hoping for with one of the last two F spots. Slot him in as the 14F, long term development. Won't take minutes from the other FR.

I know we don't do optimism here very well but let's try. At the very least, I have questions that I don't know the answers to. Concentrating exclusively on the offense. I would make the argument that things went perfectly this off-season with the QB, RB, WR, TE positional groups. if I was the GM, everything would have happened according to plan. I believe the portal exits of Schuster and Wright were mutual. We'll see if that was the right call on Schuster, but I'm happy they did it. Turnover in general is healthy (there's an ideal amount). Those four positional groups had the ideal amount. Key Covid year returners in Belquist and Vaughn. Offensive-Line. There's a huge difference as well between Graduates / Portal exits in the Fall vs Spring. How did the Coaching staff feel about the O-Line following Spring ball. Starting 5 Two-Deep Was Egunjobi part of the two-deep following Spring ball, or was his exit directly tied with his "rank" within the group Do they feel confident they have a starting 5 as things stand right now. Are the guys they are offering in the portal right now players that they NEED to start? Or are they more key reserves? I really have no idea on any of those O-Line questions. All very important.

Below is a list of names that were on the 2023 Roster but will not be on the Fall 2024 Roster. Graduation / Portal exits. Included Martens as well. Defense DB Siegel Buckner Ocansey Fort Kauppinen Martens DL Griffin Jr McNaboe Ogbu Saltonstall Johnson LB Koshiol Mullin Offense OL Carroll Egunjobi Bryant Borud Lavell Ventrelli Hagen Kilty QB Schuster RB Skokna WR Elidor Wilson Wright TE Gehin Schusted Special Teams Stevens 29 total

Article up on the Herald site. It was Terry. Great article, I came away impressed.

Was listening to Isaiah Wright's interview on Izzo's show this morning. He was talking about how he committed in person this past Saturday while on a visit. Found this interesting. "Right before that talk he had another person commit from I believe a JUCO college". Something to keep an eye out over the next few days.

Are you talking in general, or are there more on the horizon?

Huge loss. Would have been one of the Top WR’s in FCS. Dominant in last years playoffs.

Not necessarily the coaches telling him, but writing could have been on the wall. I mean, playing time would be the only reason that would make sense in this case.

What an absolutely bizarre move. I'd withdraw the offer as well.

We are talking about the 2024 season, aren't we?

*Except the other Dakota schools or Montana Otherwise, a great point that needs to be highlighted. Between Graduation / Portal departures this winter, ISU-Blue, UNI, Murray & Youngstown were decimated. All things considered, UND made it through the winter portal relatively unscathed. Spring portal is a different animal, unfortunately, UND's two losses so far might break the offense. Not sure if the four teams I mentioned had any type of big losses this Spring as well.

No, but that wasn't the issue I was highlighting.

Really want to give this a closer look. I don't believe Berry's issue is he puts too much emphasis on the regular season. I do believe, what @Oxbow6 is pointing out here is his issue. We can find examples every year where Berry favors Age / low ceiling over Youth / high ceiling. Next year's Freshman class will have it appears 4 pretty high-end guys (Boisvert / Swanson / Emery / Strathmann). Boisvert / Swanson (Top 6), I'd like to see Emery as the 1st RHD. In October / November, would there be safer plays? Of course. Jamernik / Wilkie probably will look better than Boisvert. Zmolek is a rock. What about in March? We can all agree something needs to change. IMO, it's building a line chart in October that will maximize the talent on your team by March.