Defensive 2 Deep Guesses

[Hambone]

5 minutes ago, UNDvince97-01 said:

We have moved on from JoJo. He wouldn't make the full commitment to us and we got tired of waiting.  Too bad, I liked him.

That's kind of what I was thinking had happened.  I agree - he would have likely been a good player for us.

[AJS]

20 hours ago, UNDvince97-01 said:

We have moved on from JoJo. He wouldn't make the full commitment to us and we got tired of waiting.  Too bad, I liked him.

You think the coaching staff is looking at bring in a drop down / graduate Senior to backfill spots at Safety / LB, or are they good with what they have on roster?

[UNDvince97-01]

48 minutes ago, AJS said:

You think the coaching staff is looking at bring in a drop down / graduate Senior to backfill spots at Safety / LB, or are they good with what they have on roster?

Safety, yes for sure I think.  Could be a JUCO or FBS guy.

Linebacker I think is less likely at this point unless something pops up and is too good to pass up.

A transfer OL is still being considered though.

 

[AJS]

Going back and reading what SFI had to say about the LB unit after Spring ball:

1. A freshman could be starting opposite Jade Lawrence at outside linebacker.  Lawrence is pretty much a lock to start on the weakside but the emergence of Jaxson Turner and Ray Haas make it interesting (those positions are somewhat interchangeable).  Right now, I would slate Tanner Palmborg as the starter heading into the summer but Haas will push him hard.
2. The inside linebacker position is one big question mark (?).  Donnell Rodgersshould be a starter-we are high on him.  But after that it is a bunch of inexperienced players battling it out.  Jake Disterhaupt is a senior, yes, but he has never played ILB.  After those two there are two freshmen in Jake Rastas and Jake Geier, to go along with Oscar Nevermann, who played RB last year.  They need Dijon Murray to stay healthy and finally get out on the field after being on campus now for over a year.  Cam Hunt could be a wild card but he missed the entire spring and valuable reps.  Mildly worried about the ILB position.

Circling back to the Poole situation and depth at LB, he wasn't mentioned at all by SFI who talked about 11 other LB's in their write up. The LB unit will be young and a lot of inexperience in the two deep, but Poole doesn't appear to be a huge missing piece to what they have next year. Also nice to have a Freshman like Larson who could be in the mix too. 

[AJS]

SFI final write up:

To sum it up:

Positions we are content with:  Defensive Line, Tight End, Cornerback, Wide Receiver, Quarterback, Running Back, Outside Linebacker.

Positions we are concerned about:  Offensive Line, Inside Linebacker, Safety.

They clarified the OL concern saying it needed to go from good to great, which you can't argue. Grady back in the mix, all the returning starting, plus solid RS Freshman class, they should be as deep as they've ever been. In all reality, the only "true" concern I see is with Safety. They need a transfer that can step in and be the 2/3 guy behind Reyes. 

[Midwestern Hawk]

On 5/20/2017 at 9:48 AM, AJS said:

Going back and reading what SFI had to say about the LB unit after Spring ball:

1. A freshman could be starting opposite Jade Lawrence at outside linebacker.  Lawrence is pretty much a lock to start on the weakside but the emergence of Jaxson Turner and Ray Haas make it interesting (those positions are somewhat interchangeable).  Right now, I would slate Tanner Palmborg as the starter heading into the summer but Haas will push him hard.
2. The inside linebacker position is one big question mark (?).  Donnell Rodgersshould be a starter-we are high on him.  But after that it is a bunch of inexperienced players battling it out.  Jake Disterhaupt is a senior, yes, but he has never played ILB.  After those two there are two freshmen in Jake Rastas and Jake Geier, to go along with Oscar Nevermann, who played RB last year.  They need Dijon Murray to stay healthy and finally get out on the field after being on campus now for over a year.  Cam Hunt could be a wild card but he missed the entire spring and valuable reps.  Mildly worried about the ILB position.

Circling back to the Poole situation and depth at LB, he wasn't mentioned at all by SFI who talked about 11 other LB's in their write up. The LB unit will be young and a lot of inexperience in the two deep, but Poole doesn't appear to be a huge missing piece to what they have next year. Also nice to have a Freshman like Larson who could be in the mix too. 

With the report that Jackson is moving back to safety, where does that leave the linebackers?  Without Jackson:

OLB-Lawrence/?

OLB-Palmborg/Haas

ILB-Rodgers/?

ILB-Disterhaupt/?

other linebackers on roster:

Nevermann(Sr), Rastas(RFr), Bungum(Fr), Murray(Sr), Larson(Fr), Hunt(RFr), Reynolds(Fr), Steiger(So), Swenson(Fr), Geier(RFr), Vogel(So), Richman(So), Comstock(RFr)

Of the 2nd bunch only Nevermann and Murray have ever played.  Does anyone know if Murray and Hunt have recovered from spring injuries?    Have the freshman all reported?  Will be interesting to see what happens.

 

 

 

 

[AJS]

I really like Jaxson's size back there, but how is everyone reading into this? First, they clearly like their depth at LB, better than Safety, but I'm hoping they think Jaxson could be a difference maker this year. Possibly looking at the #2 / #3 Safety come fall.

 

Edit: Then the question would be why wasn't this move made earlier. Kind of frustrating that depth of Safety has been an issue forever and it doesn't seem to ever be fixed. Frustrating, because it's a clear weakness on a team that has very few this year.

[77iceman]

So...this thread can kick in again.

Does the Harris injury change anything?  I think the depth back there should keep them afloat.