Football Time/Primer

1. I’d guess Price wins the job, but it’s hard to say until we see if Montana made some strides.

2. The same way he did last year. Polk will get 22-27 carries a game, Callier will run some fly sweep and specialty stuff, and if they’re lucky Sankey and Cooper will get some left over carries. Cooper is the biggest question mark at this point because he won’t be ready for contact until the fall.

3. Kasen Williams is not our best WR. Jermaine Kearse holds that distinction even with the dropsies. I’d say RB is the strongest, but WR might be the deepest (in terms of known quantities).

4. Our best TE, and maybe in the top 5 conference wide.

5. They’re stronger and meaner. While not the best conference wide, we should be 8 deep with no significant drop off. When’s the last time we could say that?

6. Yes, especially when Tokolahi gets back. DT – Ta’Amu and Tokolahi starting, Lagafuiana, Robinson and Potoae. DE – Jamora and Thompson starting, then Aldrich, Chriton, and Hudson.

7. WLB Tutogi, MLB Dennison, SLB Fuimaono or Kearse. Shirley is good enough, but I think he’ll get beat.

8. Trufant will have another solid if unspectacular year. I see Richardson finally “getting it” and having a big year (4+ INT’s and some key pass def).

9. James Sample will see the field, but not that much. I don’t think Parker will make his mark until 2012, same with Fellner.

10. Marvin Hall and Kevin Smith should get the bulk of the returns, especially if Parker is the starting SS.

4. Jenkins – I will wait and see – Middleton and Izbicki were highly touted coming out of HS
6. Yes based on Holiday Bowl – plus the RS freshmen (Shirely – Hudson – Lagafuaina)
7. Shirely is a DL – will be playing DE – I do not think he will be playing LB. See Bob Condotta http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskyfootballblog/index.html has article on DL today 3/21

We have come a long way in a short time if these are the questions for next year.

Still recovering from the BB disillusionment. What might have been with Syracuse going down.

1. Who knows? Price has the head-start, both in terms of time in the system and actual game experience, but it’s not by enough to guarantee anything. Wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Montana end up winning the job. I’d consider Brown a dark-horse candidate, but pretty unlikely he plays.

2. I think it will work itself out. Unfortunately, injuries are a reality in this game, and injury may quickly make depth decisions for Sark. Polk is obviously the unquestioned #1, but Sark will again try to keep his workload from getting too high to keep him healthy. That, plus what I expect will be a higher ratio of run-plays called I think will enable Sark to fit in some carries for Cooper to go along with what’s already been established for Polk and Callier. Sankey is likely to redshirt unless injury strikes.

3. Kasen may be the most talented, but Kearse is not far behind and has a huge edge in experience. Kasen will get a lot of playing time and may end up our 2nd best WR, but Kearse is #1.

4. ASJ will add a lot in the passing game; he’s shown in camps he has the ability to be a good blocker too, but he’s going to need to show that in practice. Don’t sleep on Hartvigson – if he’s healthy, I expect him to earn a lot of playing time too.

5. The OL should show continued improvement. Another year under Ivan is big, as is the maturation of the ’09 “Cascade Front” class. OL play should continue to move from liability to strength, but they are still probably another year away from consistently strong play.

6. Love the quality of depth that is being built here. Jamora could very well live up to the DTN comparisons, and guys like Hudson and Shirley have a lot of people excited based off what they saw from them in practices last year. Really love the depth that is building up inside, with Ta’amu really coming into his own. It’d be a huge boost if Tokolahi can fully recover, but even if he can’t, I like the futures of Potoa’e and Lagafuaina, with Shelton a nice addition to the mix.

7. Sounds like Shirley is a pass-rushing end at this point; have to figure Cort is a lock for one spot, and Tutogi seems a strong front-runner for a 2nd spot. That 3rd spot will be really interesting, as there are no shortage of bodies, but who will step up? Sark has recruited a lot of smaller guys – hopefully a few gain good weight and really blossom in camp to give us some answers here. Probably the most up in the air position right now.

8. Trufant I expect will bounce back, and hopefully Q builds off the progress he made late last year. A little concerned about the injury bug going around this position – I was looking forward to seeing what Ducre could bring to the table this Spring.

9. There’s enough bodies with experience that I’d be a little disappointed if Sample isn’t allowed to redshirt, but you never know. Hopefully Parker is over his stinger issues, but as we saw with Elisara, they can be a serious deal. Hoping Shamburger can step up after opening eyes last spring, and that Glenn is finally fully recovered.

10. A lot of candidates. Aguilar will probably get a lot of looks again as a PR; I would expect Cooper to be a factor as a KR. Hall could be a really good one, but he’s another guy I’d love to redshirt.

1. I have to go with Price because he is a year older and has game experience. He is also a pretty cool customer. We really didn’t see enough of Montana to know where he is at. I guess we find out next week.

2. You can never have enough quality running backs. We have been blessed with Polk’s durability the last two seasons but you just never know when somebody is going to go down. Keep in mind that if Johri Fogerson isn’t reinstated we only have four running backs.

3. I think WR is indeed one of the deepest positions on the squad. Is Williams the best without ever taking a college snap? I would say no…Kearse and Aguilar have to be ahead of him at this point…but he is our likely number three to star the season but could be number one by the end of the season.

4. I love a tandem made up of ASJ and Hartvigson. ASJ is more athletic and most likely the better receiver but I need to see him block before declaring him ready to be number one. If Hartvigson hadn’t been injured we would have seen a lot more productivity out of the TE spot as the year went on.

5. Adding Porter and Koehler to the starting lineup from day one after a year of Ivan bodes well for this group. The big question is who will be the fifth starter on the line? Is Micah Hatchie ready to start or will it be Colin Tanigawa?

6. Ta’amu will be an all conference selection. I’m not counting on Tokolahi being ready for fall. That was a pretty nasty injury. I think we have the talent to deal with it inside if he isn’t ready to go. I love our DE’s…seems like we are now three deep with some tremendous potential.

7. I am pretty sure that Shirley stays at DE. I am excited about Tutogi and we have plenty of young candidates to choose from for the third spot. It will be interesting to see who rises to the top at these positions this spring.

8. Trufant needs to get bigger and stronger. Hopefully he made some strides in the off season to achieve that. Richardson was a stud over the last half of the season. His game has really come together. Keep an eye on Antavius Sims. I think he will see some major playing time this fall.

9. We are hearing that Parker has recovered from his stingers which is good news. The coaches will continue to be careful with him this spring. He is the obvious heir to NAte Williams spot but don’t forget Taz Stevenson who was possibly more impressive than Parker. I don’t see Sample playing right away unless he cracks the two deeps.

10. Callier, Cooper, and Hall come immediately to mind on kickoffs. The coaches like safe and experienced hands on punts so that means Aguilar unless they gain early confidence in Hall.

It is obviously Montana as the starting QB.