OFFENSE
QB James Vandenberg: At Quarterback we have a very good passer in Vandenberg he has a chance to have a huge season. I believe we will be more of a passing team out of the shotgun this season due to the new offensive coordinator Greg Davis. We should have an uptempo offense and James has shown that he can be lethal throwing out of the shotgun. I think the offense could look a lot like the one we had against Pittsburgh last year in the 4th quarter. I think if Vandenberg has a big year this team could be very good if he doesn't play well and has trouble with pressure again the team may not reach there potential.
RB The biggest question on the team is who will play running back and how many people will play running back. Right now we have 3 guys that seem to be above the rest in Damon Bullock the starter right now, and 2 freshmen Barkley Hill and Greg Garmon. Right now Bullock will get the first crack and he is a versatile running back that can run and catch the ball out of the back field. The two Freshmen have a lot of potential with Barkley Hill who from watch some of his videos reminds me a little bit of Adam Robinson. Greg Garmon is the break away threat of the two running backs but the key to getting on the field as a freshmen which both will do is who can pick up the blitz the best because that is going to be a huge key to the offense giving Vandenberg time to throw. I'm not as worried as a lot of people about the running back position because I think someone will either emerge or as a collective group they should be pretty good with the versatility of each player.
WR. We have 2 good receivers in Keenan Davis and Keyvonte Martin Manley. Both have the ability to be very good receivers for us next year. This is Keenan's time to really step up and become that number 1 receiver threat because he is going to be one of the focus's of the defense against us. This is also a year where we will find out more about Martin Manley and what kind of talent he has plus we will need him to step up and be a very solid number 2 receiver. Now here's where one of our question marks is who will be the number 3 receiver from what I have read and heard after seeing the big ten network preview it looks like Don Shumpert will be that 3rd guy for us. We also have Jacob Hillyer who is a big tall receiver that could create match up problems, Jordan Cotton who I thought looked pretty good in the spring game and Steven Staggs another solid option. We also have a number of freshmen that could get some time at the position so it could very interesting to see who starts against Northern Illinois. I think this Wide receiver group could be very good if Keenan can really become that number 1 and we get a 3rd guy to really step up. We lost maybe our best receiver ever in McNutt so we have a lot of numbers to replace. This group is talented enough to have a very good season as a group. I really think Keenan will step up and have a tremendous year next season if he can stay healthy.
TE This could be the position where we cause most of our match up problems. We have a lot of talent at the tight end position. CJ Fiedorowictz should have a huge season look for us to use him a little big like the Packers use Jermichael Finley lining him up on the outside against shorter corners and throwing the fade to him down at the goal line. CJ will cause a lot of match up problems for defenses because if you put a linebacker on him he is too fast and if you put a corner on him he's too big and strong. This should be the year he emerges as the next great Iowa tight end. The other tight end spot should be Zach Derby who is also very solid and played very well last season. They also have some talent behind them with Ray Hamilton and Henry Krieger Koble and Jake Duzey. This could be are deepest position on the team this season on offense and should be very good.
OLINE The offensive line is going to the most important part of this team this season because if turn into a team that passes the ball a lot Vandenberg will need time to throw the football and that lands on the shoulders of the offensive lineman. With Brandon Scherff moving to left tackle we seem to have put together a decent line with Matt Tobin, James Ferents, Austin Blythe and Brett Van Sloten. This line is very deep and 3 of the 5 have gotten decent playing time plus we are lead by possibly the best center in the nation James Ferents. I'm excited about all of these guys and think this could be a very special offensive line. We also have a lot of depth with Jordan Walsh, Drew Clark, Nolan McMillan, Connor Boffeli and Tommy Gaul. This line will be extremely important to the success of this offense because if we can't run the ball we are going to be leaning heavily of Vandenberg to throw a lot.
The Offense as a whole has a lot of potential to be a very good group but there are still big question marks that need to be answered in camp before we play Northern Illinois. I think this could a year where Vandenberg has a monster year. I think that the receiving core as a whole will be very good we just need someone to become that 3rd threat on the offense. I'm excited about this offense and think it could be very special but we will have to wait till Northern Illinois to see how good this offense can. My next blog I will break down the defense, key positions and how good I believe this group can be.
Thanks
Andy
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