Sioux94

Oh I realize you need a lot more than finding a great player once every 4 years. Just commenting more on it's nice when you find a gem of a player that maybe wasn't that highly recruited. We got Grady and Santiago in the same class, if you can get two guys like that in every class and a bunch of other solid players you'll be in good shape.

Same thing can maybe be said about Santiago.......if he was taller maybe he would have gotten some offers from some bigger schools etc.. We got a gem in Will and probably an even bigger gem in Santiago, glad we got them both!

You all may have already read this in the Notes from Day 11 Spring practice....but it does sound like Oliveira wasn't at full strength entering camp. Which that does surprise me a little since it sounded like he may have been available if we ended up making the playoffs. Here is what Bubba said......... "Plus, Brady is coming back and getting healthier. It was really important for him to practice this spring. He was limited early, but he is now able to take some good quality reps."

Crazy how solid we will be at RB this year after it being such an uncertainty last year. Both Santiago and Oliveira should be even better this year with a year under them. Although Santiago could be better than last year but not end up with more yards, that will depend on the O line. Also having 2 other strong RB's may give him more of a rest.......although he barely played in the second half of some of the games last year when he had around 200 yards at halftime....crazy what he would have done if he played a full 4 quarters in all of the games. His rushing totals were also impressive given the egg that was laid by the offense in the second half verses Drake and against NDSU. I doubt he'll have 6 quarters like that again this year. Even though it's nice to spell him to give him some rest, it's always nice having him out there because he can take it to the house on any given play. Hopefully he is working on holding on to the ball so that won't come up and be a concern again this year.

How has Oliveira looked, does he look like he is back to 100%, has he been fully participating in practices?

Another guy I know down here said there is going to be one at the other RT O'Sullivans off the 60 and Superstition Springs. I know NDSU has football watch parties at that one, so I was wondering if that might be the logical place to have them now. I don't see it on the UND list at this point yet though.

Just saw this posted........maybe he has an outside shot at that 7th round with Tampa! http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/bucs/bucs-go-to-north-dakota-to-work-out-lb-turned-fb-will-ratelle/2271534

I'm assuming most of us are thinking he will sign on with somebody after the draft as a free agent to try and make a team, but won't actually get drafted. Or do you think he will actually get drafted?

I'm glad he seems to be getting a lot of looks, he deserves it. His Pro Day numbers were really good, and he obviously has the football instincts on the field which is even more important. Good luck Will!!

That is the best news I've heard in a while! Especially after the dissappointing news about the WR's. All other positions this coming year should be as good or better than last year, with the O line the one exception or question mark.

Dang that stinks. There is a place in Gilbert that I go to quite a bit, the Copper Still, I could check with them if they were interested in having one. Their setup probably isn't quite as good as O'Sullivans though. There is another RT O'Sullivans in Mesa that I believe hosts Bison football watch parties, they could possibly be interested. Thanks for passing the information along that the Stapley one closed, if you hear of anything down here let me know. Have a great time in Tampa!

Looks like he has a decent arm too.....throw him a quick pass in the backfield and have him hit Georges over the top deep like in the one highlight. Having those two guys on the field would definitely help keep things opened up!

Wow nice.......if we could land him that would help me forget about the loss of Smith real quick!

Is anybody planning on setting up a watch party at RT O'Sullivans in Mesa? They usually have one but I don't see it on the list.

I somewhat agree and somewhat disagree on this. Santiago was recruited as a WR and I think if he wasn't switched to RB he would have been good, Toivenen could also be pretty good, Georges was a nice get as well. Smith was going to be a WR and sure seemed to have a lot of potential, although I guess he didn't stick so it probably doesn't count. I do agree though that WR should be a focal point in recruiting next year, get at least one stud WR and a couple of solids. Need to land a really good QB next year too.

I think some young guys will step up, they will have to. I think back to Bubba's first year when the top 3 WR's from the previous year were gone....one graduated and the other two transferred. Then during the year, the top 2 WR's went down...one got hurt for the year and the other left the team I believe. So at that point towards the end of the season our #1 WR was really what would have been our 4th or 5th WR. Seibel ended up stepping up big time, and the rest weren't great but ok...and we got through it. Those departures along with Seibel's injury certainly give me concern, but i think guys will step up. We won't be able to afford any more injuries at that position however. Also if those guys were going to leave, better that they left now so other guys can get more time now and realize now is there chance. Much better than hearing in August that those two are not coming back. That said......it really would have been interesting to see if Smith could have developed into a stud....he definitely had the potential.

Dang...that sucks!! Especially Smith.....was hoping they'd be able to get him the ball in space this year. Walker certainly would have been good for depth, but probably not considered a key loss. Although it is a bigger deal with Smith gone and Seibel injured, hopefully Seibel will be back at full strength come August. With spring ball going on I've been super antsy for updates on the team and have at times felt like I haven't heard that much, but I was also thinking no news can be good news because when you get news in the off season often it's not good.

Defending that type of offense will be a big test for sure. In the event we don't come out with a win in that one it will be a good game experience against that type of offense. We don't play Montana in the regular season this year, but we certainly have to get a lot better defending wide open passing offenses so this will be a good gauge to see where we are at and how much we have to improve. If we can run the ball successfully and control the clock and limit their offensive possessions, and make a few plays on defense (particularly on 3rd down) we could pull it out.

Exactly, we may be better off losing to Bowling Green than beating them, you know......so we can make sure we have a good quality loss on our resume.

We'll likely find out early in the season against Bowling Green how far the DB's have come along. I'm glad we play Stony Brook first to hopefully iron out early season wrinkles. Would be awesome if we could pull the upset against Bowling Green! Will still need to take care of business against Stony Brook firs though.

Totally agree!

It sure will be nice to have both Arnell and Reyes back out there this year, hopefully for the entire year (knock on wood). It will be interesting to see who ends up starting at corner. Hopefully they all have improved and will be able to play more on instinct this year because they will know the system and be able to make a lot more plays, instead of thinking too much. If the secondary steps up in a big way this year it's going to be really fun to watch the D again this year. Can't wait until football season....super excited about this coming fall!

He still made a very strong claim of ND being his home though, and held 13 title fights in Bismarck to recognize his home state. I'm sure he could have gotten more money having them in Vegas etc..

I was thinking the same thing, he'll be screwed if he goes to Cleveland! However now that the Browns have picked up RGIII it sounds like there plan is to have him as the starter, so Wentz would still be able to ease into it, and not have to be considered the savior and start from day one......and get beat to hell and never be able to recover.

Exactly......right now this story is a big deal, and I think most UND fans obviously agree that it is a big deal too. Most UND fans I doubt would really talk or say anything bad about Wentz and the story except for when Bison people have to come over here and gloat and look for further validation, well then you are going to get push back. Since Wentz is from Bismarck, I am curious to see where he goes and how it all ends up and hope he does well. If he was a recruit from another state.......I'd be totally ok if he crashed and burned. This is a big story right now because we are living it, and now days with social media and channels dedicated to a single sport....it's going to get a lot of coverage. Plus media loves underdog..........to quote Bill Murray "Cinderalla Story. Outta Nowhere." Everybody loves that story....especially the media. If he ends up becoming a viable starter and does well in the NFL the story has some more long time meat to it. But if he ends up being Ryan Leaf 2.0......or Brandon Weeden then 10 years down the road this story will be not be as big of a deal. He's got talent.....I could see him doing quite well, I'm definitely not rooting against the Bismarck kid even if he went to NDSU.