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| Here come the Aggies!!! |
Those are things we know to start spring football, among several other things, but there's plenty left out there that we should hope to see settled by April 20. At the very least, we should be hoping to see some guys step up and impress the coaches to give an idea about who will compete for the open position battles before fall camp.
So here's part one of a two-part series of what and who to keep a close eye on during spring football in 2013. Today is offense. Let's get at it!
Quarterback
- From what I got to see last fall, Jeff Manning is the real deal. He throws a hard, accurate ball, and should develop into a quality player. He needs to really step up and grab that backup quarterback job by the balls.- If Craig Harrison continues to perform at a solid level, that's just gravy. He never got much of a chance to throw the ball in games last year, so if he can show off an ability to do so, great! Can't have too much depth at this position.
Running back
- Joe Hill is the starter. Bank on that. He was stuck behind a superstar last season, but still impressed when he got his shot. His yards per carry, touchdown totals, receiving everything from his sophomore year are all quite a bit better than what Kerwynn Williams did as a sophomore. Talk to anyone on the team and they'll tell you that the world needs to watch the hell out for Joe Hill!- Depth gets a tiny bit questionable, but Kelvin Lee should be the go-to No. 2 guy here. Coaches seemed very high on him last year, getting him carries late in games whenever they could.
Tight end
- D.J. Tialavea has been a beast and a half as a blocking tight end for the last two years, but never the top receiving option at that spot. Now he should get his turn, and there's no reason to think he won't thrive.- Even if he's not catching passes, Tialavea has tremendous value to the offense, while Keegan Andersen has shown pretty solid receiving ability in previous spring practices. Andersen also hasn't had the chance to be the top receiving option at the spot, but will hopefully make this battle interesting.
*NOTE - Regardless of who emerges as a pass-catcher, there's no reason to think that the offense will stray from using multiple tight ends in plenty formations. I dare say it's been working well.
Wide receivers
- Plenty will change once the junior college guys arrive in the fall. Until then, one of last year's JUCO guys needs to step up and prove himself in year two in the program. That guy is Alex Wheat. If he can step up and impress, that takes away a whole lot of uncertainty from this unit.- Both Travis Reynolds and Travis Van Leeuwen have done well in supporting roles. Still performing against No. 1 and No. 2 cornerbacks is what they need to prove they can do.
- Brandon Swindall is a wild card in this mix. He's got good size, good hands, and now some experience under his belt. If I'm remembering right, he battled some injuries last season. Much like the two Travises, a great spring by Swindall could bring a little more uncertainty to arguably this team's most uncertain position.
Offensive line
- While all five starters return, don't be too surprised to see Logan Malohifo'ou push for the starting job at left tackle. He's got good size, good lateral movement, and has apparently put on 18 pounds this offseason.- On top of that, some other younger linemen NEED some strong showings this spring. Outside of the five returning starters, there are 15 other offensive linemen on the spring roster, 10 of whom are underclassmen. With four of those returning starters being seniors, quality youth is needed to be able to step in come next year. The sooner they prove themselves, the better.
- It would also be plenty refreshing to see a young guy or two really set himself apart as the backup and heir apparent to Tyler Larsen at the center position
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ALRIGHT!!! That's all for today. Tomorrow we'll hit defense!
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