Post-training camp grades: Offense

Part 2 of 3: Offense

OFFENSIVE LINE
Where it all begins for the offense, and USU has five returning starters. This unit is anchored by a trio of stars in Jamie Markosian, Eric Schultz, and Tyler Larsen; all three guys earned all-WAC honors last season. Kyle and Kevin Whimpey took huge steps forward as the season rolled on in 2012, and while both might be better suited as interior linemen, Kevin still was solid enough at left tackle by season's end.
Depth is still a big question here, and I'm still crossing fingers that Kevin Whimpey can handle some of the bigger guns around the edge that the early part of the schedule will test him with, but there's no doubting the prowess of five returning starters.

Preseason grade: A-

Practice moves over to Romney Stadium on Tuesday

To calm a lot of people's nerves, Tuesday marked the first sighting of wide receiver Ronald Butler practicing with the team. Due to the rules stating that players must have x-amount of practices before adding shoulder pads, and then full pads after that, Butler was limited in what he do, but it appears everything is sorted out now.

Things are starting to look more crisp all around as guys look to have the bulk of their rust shaken off after a few practices. Now with contact entering the mix, you can see just how competitive so many of these guys are. Even after some plays are blown dead, you'll see ballcarriers still running, while defenders are still trying to stop them, and both sides trying to get the best of one another. Things get a little chippy at times, but after those little shoving matches are over, you've still got two guys competing at a high level. Pretty alright if you ask me.

Shoulder pads enter the mix for third practice

On day one of practice, the theme was mostly to get a feel of where guys were and see how they progress as camp rolls along. Monday in the third practice of camp, shoulder pads entered the mix, along with a light amount of contact.

There's still obviously plenty to keep an eye and position battles to be won throughout camp, but there are still observations to be had. So here's what I spotted on Monday...

• Alex Wheat looked okay when camp opened on Friday. Monday, Wheat looked like the best of all the wideouts. He's practicing hard, catching balls, and even made a few very eye-opening catches in one-on-one drills against the cornerbacks. Much like how Rashard Stewart was the my star of Friday's practice, I'd dub Wheat as Monday's overall standout.

What to watch for during spring ball: Offense edition

Here come the Aggies!!!

Chuckie Keeton is going to be the quarterback, the linebackers are a dynamite unit, and the offensive line returns all five starters.

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!