Starting w/the offense…

Offensive line…Here is my hope, Jeff Spikes develops enough to move back to the Left Tackle. Ben Leuken who played spot minutes as a true freshman grabs the o-line spot…he’s been widely reported a workout warrior so I look forward to seeing the development. This allows Hatch to move to a more natural position at Guard w/either a the surprising Sal Capra or a RS FR John Williams at the other guard spot. In the middle Brad Thorson will take over. This guy was backup at Wisconsin as a freshman and is more than capable to fill the role. As a recap…Spikes, Capra/Williams, Thorson, Hatch, Leuken…now there is a chance the tackles stay put obviously but this would be ideal in many minds.

QB-set

RB-Sharp will obviously be a factor and I don’t want to count out Crawford yet. He seemed to look a lot more comfortable late in the year and with a full offseason I just have a good feeling about him next year. If not…Opurum, Rell Lewis or if we pull a surprise in Wingo all could be factors.

WR-You’ve mentioned the obvious…here’s my thoughts on the others. Rod Harris has been highly spoken of by his teammates and could be a nice addition to the unit. I could see Patterson making the move back over but that’s very much up in the air after the improvement he has shown. Biere will be a bigger factor next year at TE…solid true freshman campaign and he could be very good next year. Also look for AJ Steward to be a factor at that spot, he’s a determined kid with a lot of athleticism. Anyone else would be pure speculation at this point we’ll have to see after spring ball.

Moving onto defense…

D-Line could become a much stronger asset next year…Jamal Greene, Darius Parish, Caleb Blakesly, Richard Johnson and JUCO Travis Stephens will be a strong DT rotation. Duane Zlatnik has also gotten good reviews as a redshirt and up to 300 pounds now could see minutes. At the end spots Laptad, Onyegbule seem to be coming into their own. Add into the mix Quinten Woods and one of the other names out there and the unit could be pretty solid. These are the guys I think contribute meaningful time. Sellers and Dent will likely need a redshirt to put on some weight. Two other possibilities are DJ Marshall and Tanner Hawkinson both redshirting this year and we’ll have to see what they turn in this spring.

LB’s – Running 2nd team at the Insight Bowl was Arist Wright, Steven Johnson and Jake Shermer. If Springer fully recovers we’ll likely see him in the middle. Young guys that could also make an impact…Josh Richardson, tall athletic redshirting this year, also Julian Jones…will be a true freshman but is apparently a specimen physically.

DB’s – The only position for debate here is whether or not Patterson moves back to O. Powell, Brown, Barfield, Murphy, Harris and Rubles will all have a shot at this . I’d leave Patterson but I’m hopeful one of these other guys steps up we can move Patterson back. Additional players here…Lubbock Smith reportedly had a strong redshirt year. In terms of true freshman I would be interested in what Prinz Kande can do and possibly Dexter Linton. Others might need a shirt.

Record prediction…super early and with no explanation here are my thoughts…

Norther Co – W
UTEP – W
Duke – W
Southern Miss. – W
ISU – W
@Colorado 50/50
OU 50/50
@Texas Tech 50/50
@K-State – W
Nebraska – W
@Texas – L
Missouri 50/50

First glance that’s 7 wins 1 loss and 4 50/50 games…win half the 50/50’s and that puts us at 9-3 overall 5-3 in the Big 12…win the right ones and that should get us the North and a shot at the South Champion.

Again…thanks for the post and I look forward to hearing from others.

I think between Esteban and Denver, you guys just about covered it. Only a couple (which now while proofing my post, I felt necessary to interject here and say, "MANY") little tidbits of my own that I’d like to throw in there:

Stating the obvious, Todd-God Reesing is INCREDIBLE. I have nothing but the utmost faith in him to deliver a solid senior year. Not to be a Debbie-Downer, but Misery fans had the exact same feeling about DanielS going into this past season. But I don’t see Todd self-destructing as DanielS did. (He doesn’t eat boogers, anyway.) It would be very nice if Pick could come in and win the #2 job. That way during the early part of the season he can come in and get some PT and game experience, building for the future, as he will likely be the starter in ’10, although I absolutely drool over the though of Christian Matthews running our wide open high octane attack. Imagine what he could do with his athletic ability!!

RB: Obviously Sharp will go into the season #1, but after going back and watching some of Joc’s HS and JUCO film, I almost can’t envision a way that he doesn’t end the season getting more carries a game than Sharp. Jake is versatile enough that OCEW can use him in a variety of ways to get him the ball. He can be lined up in the slot, used as an HBack, etc. But he IS a guy that we NEED to get the ball to 15-18 times a game, somehow. But Crawford’s upside, in my eyes, is just tremendous. You don’t win Nat’l JUCO POY by being a slouch.

WR: Briscoe, Meier, Wilson are all locks, obviously. As I just mentioned, I think once Joc comes along Sharp could be used to fill the slot at times. I look for Daymond Patterson to stay at CB. He had WAY too much of an impact when he switched to take that away from the D, especially in the pass-happy Big 12. Pendleton will likely be the #4 option (although I’m with Esteban in saying, “I hope not.”) The 5th guy that will fill out the spread?? I’ll give the nod to Xavier Rambo, based solely on the fact that 1) he has a COOL AS HELL name 2) he went to the same HS as Darrell Arthur. (I know nothing about him or most of the other guys on the roster.)

Candidate for Big 12 Newcomer of the Year: Chris Omigie (BEAST)

http://www.martinfootball.com/Football/Gallery/Game20Photo20Gallery/Varsity20vs20Bowie/images/Martin%20DSC_5080.jpg

He LITERALLY looks like a man among boys, and that is in Texas HS football. I know Rivals rates Erick McGriff (Crime Pup) higher, but comparing films and going with gut instinct, I think Omigie contributes as soon as given the chance and McGriff redshirts.

TE: Just looked up A.J. Steward’s profile coming out of HS on Rivals and compared it to what he is listed at now: 6’4" 210 in ‘07, 6’4" 240 now. I like him to get a good shot to play, seeing as he is more athletic and more of a receiver than Biere. Biere, while very good, was HCMM’s preferential choice probably because he is a better blocker and we needed help there this year.

OL: Spikes, Williams, Thorson, Hatch, Leuken. Just seems to make sense that way.

DL: Will be much improved, based on Addition-by-Subtraction in my eyes. Minus Brorseon & Larson= More pass rush by default. This was one of the biggest things that bugged me this past year was why they continually ran those two out there game after game. I understand being Seniors and having been hard working, dedicated members of the team, but Onyegbule and Laptad would have (and did) provide(d) a better pass rush, while also building towards the future. DE rotation should be MO, JL, Quintin Woods who looks to be a freak, and hopefully Hawkinson (would be HUGE to get a RS FR some time in ’09 as he will be a key contributor in ’11 after the JUCO guys of this year are gone.)

Randall Dent will be a DT for sure. JUCO recruit Travis Stephens, 6’3" 265, was told to come in “as big as possible” by the coaching staff, so he will be a DT as well. Blakesley and Greene would start for me at DT, with Parish and Zlatnik getting their fair share of reps.

LB: Gets a little hairy for me here. Schermer, Springer, Wright are the obvious choices. But, really, after lurking on a few threads over on The Slant, I think I am in favor of the “Rover LB” position. Sort of a LB/S hybrid. Now I’m not totally sure who this should be, but in the Big 12, I find it almost necessary to keep up with the strong offenses. Thinking back now about the Misery games that I watched this year, I realized that really the only thing they did to get the ball to Maclin (other than reverses) at WR was a quick crossing slant in front of the LB’s and let him wiggle and dash his way past. With more of a S playing the wide side of the field at LB, I think this would be much harder to accomplish. This doesn’t only pertain to Maclin, but Broyles (OU), Detron Lewis (TTU), Bryant (OSU), Collins and Kirkendoll (UT) too. Possible candidates, anybody?? Does Oguntodu have the athleticism to fill such a spot? He has the measurables at 6’0" 220. I think Stuckey would look GREAT in that spot, but he is set in stone at S.

DB: Stuckey and Strozier at the two S spots. I’d like to see Lubbock Smith on the fiels as much as possible though. Guy has great upside. Thornton (assuming he get out of MM’s doghouse) and Patterson at CB. Also would like to see Corrigan Powell in there too. I don’t think the freshmen should see too much of the field this year. I realize they are the #8 DB corp of recruits, but don’t get too caught up in that and expect immediate results. This IS the Big 12 and it takes a while to get to the level where they are not a liability. These offensive schemes are complex and i hope MM procedes with caution using the young guys.

ST: You guys forgot to include this. K: Branstetter was solid and I hope he gets stronger this offseason and adds another 5-7 yards of range to go along with his above average accuracy. P: Alonso Rojas was absolutely brilliant down the stretch this year. I remember him shanking one in the USF game that really hurt us, and from then on, they went to that rugby style kick and he killed opposing teams. PR: I liked DP this year, but he ran backwards a bit too much for my liking (but I’m just knit-picking at this point). KR: I have no idea, to be honest. I would LOVE to see Dez return kicks, as I think he could be a huge asset back there and force teams to pooch it to the 35 everytime as Minnesota did, but in any event that they ACTUALLY kick it to him, I think returning kickoffs puts our greatest offensive weapon at too great of a risk. IDEA: Clone him. That way we have one to play WR and one at KR.

OK, I know that was long, so sorry if you guys actually read all of it ;)

I don’t mean to put the load on them but look at the stats. The closest receiver in terms of yards after them is Johnathon Wilson with 573. Sharp and Briscoe have double that.

So many good players leaving the division…..I’m still optimistic that ISU can squeak out 6 wins…

I think this gives even more optimism for 2009 and beyond…KU football is on the right track right now.

I almost created a new fanpost for this but figured I’d throw it in this thread, as it’s still been getting posts throughout the week.

I just recently got a chance to check out some of the exclusive Rivals info and videos that paid subscribers get and I checked out Toben Opurum’s videos. Let’s just say I’m very impressed and I think he has a great chance to play along with Sharp next season. What I was most impressed with was his ability to come out of the backfield and make catches and then make plays after those catches.

In his Junior year he had 27 catches for 574 yards (21.3 yds/catch) and 6 TDs…on a lot of these he would come out of the backfield and be wide open and that seemed like the reason for the TD’s and yards. His senior year he had more catches but fewer yards and TDs. 31 catches for 228 yards (7.4 yds/catch) and 0 TDs. It seems obvious that opposing teams started keying in on Opurum coming out of the backfield and adjusted nicely. There is no doubt that he has great hands and he came out of the backfield in a shotgun formation.

On the rushing side of things, Opurum rushed only 8 more times his senior year than junior, but managed to get 873 yards rushing with an 8.2 yrds/carry average and 8 TDs. It was a nearly 2 yard/carry better than his Junior year with 4 more TDs.

I could really see this guy splitting carries with Sharp the way B-Mac and he did in ‘07. He could also be really key for the passing game as a screen option and check down if Reesing can’t find any receivers. Even though he has some size (6’’2, 229) he really has some great speed and quickness.

I’m excited for this guy and had to share it. Can’t wait for Spring Ball.

Anyone else have a particular recruit they’re pumped about?

Matthews, McGriff and Omigie develop…great size with all three.

Julian Jones looks like a beast…

Kevin Young, Tyrone Sellers, Jordan Webb, Tyler Patmon…really enjoyed the interviews with these three and think that while they may not be immediate stars they’ve got some tremendous longterm upside and potential to be leaders.

Deshaun Sand…Tony Sands son…enough said.

Randall Dent…great upside in the middle

Toben Opurum…been playing in a spread all his list

Kande, Linton…I think these two will be VERY good when it’s all said and done.

I could go on and on…this class as a whole looks as good as any we’ve had on paper, how they pan out will be answered in time. Truthfully If I were to pick a few it would be….