15 Questions

[zipboy]

With spring ball just a few weeks away, here are my top 15 questions that I have. I doubt that the majority will be answered in spring ball but here goes.

1. Is Ringer eligible? If not, which one of the FR gets the nod? Or do we scrap and go to the no back? Just kidding

2. Who emerges as the #2 behind Charlie, Arthur or Ferguson?

3. Who gets the open OL slot?

4. Will the run blocking be better?

5. Is Jason Montgomery recovering well?

6. Is Drew Higgins the next emergring WR star?

7. How much of the offense is in? How has the team picked the offense up?

8. Who stepped up in offseason workouts? Who did not step up?

9. Will there be changes in positions on D?

10. Is Reggie Corner around?

11. Is Shippy practicing? Is he in shape?

12. Who is in grade trouble?

13. Will the D be improved? Almost certainly yes. Will they be improved enough?

14. Does Dwayne LeFall show signs of the breakout year that we have all been waiting for?

15. Who steps up in leadership on D with Hayes leaving?

[ZipDude]

1. Don't know and haven't heard.. Maybe 42 gets a 6th year of eligibilty to answer this question mark.

2. If PW and Co were still here, I say Arthur but not for reasons you expect. I think he is more of a player than Fergy. Fergy did not come from a real strong HS program, good coach but not a strong progream over the long haul. I think Arthur is ready. Querstion is whether JD thinks he is.

3. Once again, if previous gang was still here it would be a toss up between Little Gres (71) and thie kid who got hurt last year and the freshman(68). It would depend who wanted it more. Dont have a feel for how the new OL coaching crew handles business and who has worked the hardest over the winter.

4. Question is will the running be as good as last year. It all went to hell in a hand basket last year in summer camp when they made a commitment to the "spread" offense and zone blocking. They did not concentrate on run blocking. The middle of the Ol is big , mobile, quick and smart. The left tackle is smart (book wise) but i think has an attitude problem and a temper problem. By the second scrimmage this spring we will see for sure.

5. ST (stay tuned)

6. I would give that nod to Jamie Goodwin and perhaps Mo Ellington.

7. NC (no clue)

8. ST

9. God I hope so .

10. NC

11. NC

12. Better question might be who is not! They do not do a very good job of keeping this under control., at least the last bunch did not.

13. Question is the level of talent and will some people STEP-UP.

14. ST

15. Chase is the man!

[OLZIP]

ZB...........nice post. It gives us a way to keep truckin thru the down time.

Here are my thoughts..........

1. Jerrell is OK, but barely. He's a good solid back. He'll get us a thou if we construct and execute any kind of running game. No fall off here...........plus he's a real good kid. The only question mark is how good can he defend. 42 was outstanding at sawing off incoming flack for 5.

2. I want Arthur at trigger. I don't know how accurate or strong his gun is, but if he's just average, his athleticism could take us a long way. Ferggy may be fine also, but let's wait and see...............we may be on the brink of another Nick/Charlie type dealio here.

3. This opens up the biggest piss off I had about last season. As the little man (the dude) explained, in the summer LO et al sacked any kind of running attack in favor of the spread and "zone blocking" schemes. The only problem was that our O-Line staff had no experience with that type of offense.............so they couldn't teach our big guys anything. Hence, we (the sluggies) have little idea about who is good and who is not. It all depends on the new staff, and how they want to do business.........I know this, we do have the physical specimens on the roster to do a good job anywhere along the front if lead properly.

4. It couldn't possibly be any frikin worse..............no fault of the guys.

5, 6, 7, 8 Nobody can answer these at this moment...........we'll have to wait a few more weeks I guess...........

9. We can't know until we see some spring ball, and get a feel for how the new guys want to go................then we'll give our valuable guidance

10. Good Q..............I think he's there and he'll be a big time assist on D. Too bad we didn't have him last season.............

11. I get the impression Shippy had a taste of what could happen if he lost this chance at an education, experience and maybe even a career. He's a neat young man, and I hope he's in the mix for 04.

12. Here's the skinny..............the old guys got a lot of pub on what a nice job they did with the "student side" of the program...........well guess what? If you run down the facts, I think UA is in the bottom 2 or 3 in the MAC in player GPA and graduation rates. I never understood how the crap we were fed got thru the "truth gauntlet". We've got a LOT of guys on the grade bubble. It's scarry. Take Shippy for example.............he has a "mentor" who virtually has become his "father in Akron" to keep him in the action.....there are many like this and we're always just a blink away from disaster.

13. Ya know................OK, "how can it be worse?"...............everybody says that, but you know what? These poor players are on their 3rd coach in 4 years. So you know what? It can be worse. I hope the hell it's not, but it could be. Good thing we've got so many returning players on that side of the ball...........

14. Dewaynes an enigm...........sometimes he's a monster, other times a kitten. He's certainly got the package, but whether or not he brings it to the field seems to totally be between his ears...........

15. ZB..........how could you even ask this.............Blackie is the real deal in every way.

ILFSITF

[ZIP1983]

I am more excited about this coming season than any since my last under Coach D back in '83. Being on campus I have the chance to watch some of the early moring workouts in the JAR. Love the effort from the guys so far. The new staff is no joke and they like to scream and run the guys. Frye is always first in his group. Some of the walk-ons are the fastest guys on the team. Some of the older guys on the OL and DL are dragging hard and don't seem to "get it". If they do not pick it up they will probably be sitting down.

1. Ringer proved last season he cannot be counted on, off or on the field. Someone new carries the ball in the fall.

2. Ferguson will be the backup. The word is Arthur will move to WR.

3. Could be a lot of movement on the OL - not just one position. Those guys gave up nearly 40 sacks last season and got the QB hit more than any other signal caller in the MAC. Some of these guys are just fat and slow.

4. Couldn't be any worse.

5. Not an impact player.

6. Not an impact player.

7. There has not been one down of Spring Practice yet, why would the offense be in? No answer on this until after Spring Ball.

8. No one gains a position in workouts but you can lose face with a new staff. See #3 above.

9. Don't look for many starters in the secondary to be there come fall - could be a whole new group.

10. Yes.

11. Yes. He is round. There are two very fat guys out running who look more like Subway commercial participants than college athletes.

12. Who knows.

13. The group could not be any worse than what we have all seen for the past @#$%^ years.

14. LaFall is a paper tiger. All hype and no delivery. He was a fluke as a freshman and has not played hard for the past two seasons. He played like a Pu$$y against Can't and UConn last year. Earl can join that classification as well.

15. Blackburn was the leader last season, not Hayes. Hayne never made a play all season but kept getting reps because of his age. Blackburn is still the leader and may be one of the few "older players" to see a lot of time. Spring ball starts in 10 days and that is when the players separate from the pretenders.

[zipboy]

Great responses, thanks. To clarify #15, I know that #44 is the leader of the D. I definitely did not mean to disrepsect him. I love that guy.

My take was always Hayes and Earl were the 2 other leaders on the D. You always need 3 to 4 guys. I imagine that Hixon becomes a captain this year?

[ZipDude]

Domiinic H will contiinue to evolve this year IMHO

There has always been a problem here (since Jason T was here) with the Dline. They always get more attention and a kit more credit than they are entitled to on both counts. As most D polayers di, they trash talk louder but cannot back it up. Marcus H was overrated lat year , the D stunk but was awarded the most outstanding lineman. What up with that?

[Guest CK]

Before I hit the sack, here are my thoughts:

Good topic starter, ZB. Same questions are on a lot of people's minds (except David Lee Morgan's)

Shippy: Everything I've heard is that he's in school, but in sorry shape. Dr. Z and I are the guy's biggest fans...maybe his only fans? Hope he gets motivated. I like him at nose guard in the 3-4 if he get redistribute some of that mass.

Montgomery: He's a good WR. Ditto Goodwin and Ellington. However, none seem to be on the level of the three we lost from 2003? We'll see what "Mr WR Coach "JD can do with them. I think Higgins has the physical tools to be great, but word is he's pretty raw. Look out for Johnny Long in 2004. He was by far the most outstanding Fr recruit, in my opinion (which is unfortunately based upon a bunch of 45 second film clips).

Jabari to WR? I guess I understand it because the top 3 WR spots are essentially up for grabs, and he'd just rot behind Charlie all season as the #2 QB. I liked what I saw of Jabari @ QB in the spring game (2003). I look forward to seeing Fergie this year.

The mystery of Reggie Corner rolls on...

Where does John Fuller fit in now a days? It will be interesting to see what the new staff does in the defensive backfield. Vitale should be a lock at safety? Hixon too. Dionte Henry is predicted to have a break out year by yours truely.

I'll stick up for Marques Hayes. 6' 1" and 250 lbs, battling 300 pounders all season long...with no help whatsoever. Everyone on our line was 255 or less. He seemed to be the classic "tweener" (too slow to be LB, too small to be DL) that needed help to be effective. "Help" being anyone else on the line drawing a double team. Marques had a great attitude and was a good Zip. I wish his #'s would have been better but then again, unless your Dwight Smith, who's numbers on the defense could be with the coaching we had?

Someone (Zips1983?) mentioned that walk ons were among the fastest players at the moment? What walk ons? If Owens was fired in November 2003, are these kids "Owens' walk ons" from the fall of 2003, or did a bunch of guys enroll in the Spring semester due to the new coach? Just curious.

[Dr Z]

2. Ferguson will be the backup.  The word is Arthur will move to WR.

Jabari to WR. I like that move. He is a big target at 6'4"

I guess when the coach of Antonio Bryant and Larry Fitzgerald

tells you he thinks you can be a WR, you better listen.

Standing next to Jabari, he is an physical speciman.

I like the way Brookhart is thinking so far.

[ZipDude]

No one has any reliable infor at this point. 'Everything is under wraps. March 31 is next week! We will see. We need sl;ug reportsers at practice.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Another interesting battle to watch will be Sullivan vs. Swiger for the field goal kicking and kick off duties. Does Sullivan win the job back?

[zipboy]

Sullivan has the leg. If his release is quicker, I think he can rewin it. I love his punting.

[ZipDude]

I think Billy wins back the FG job cause he wants it. He got hosed by LO the in charge coach of special teams because he was not "delivering quickly enough foot to the ball on FG's" BS. He also was taken down on some KO's in favor of the "pop-up Kick-off, because he kicked off "too far" HELLO !!!!!! What up with that? Hw will be an All Mac punter and take back the FG duties becasue he has and will work his ass off this spring and summer to get the job back. I love Billy Sullivan!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[zff]

I have talk to Billy grandpa at a scrimmage. He is a very nice and funny man. I wihs Billy the best of luck he seems like a good kid from a good family. Now I have nothing aganist Swiger so may the best kicker win.

[ZipDude]

Billy's Dad and Mom are really super cool! I watched her so tactfully tell him to go pound sand after a game last year (Miami) when he asked for some "walking around money" cause he was short!

[Guest Guest_ZIP1983]

Walk-ons can join the program at the start of each semester.

From what I hear about 20 guys joined the team in January, mainly small guys who can play RB, DB, or be return players. About half have already quit but theones who have stayed are prospects. They may not play but they will contribute and be a part of the team in the Spring.

[mnhouse]

jabari is in one of my classes this semester. i've been asking him some questions, well last week, and he just tells me how everyone is really kicking some butt and super anxious. he sadi it's like having a fire under you when coach brookhart is in your presence. right now he is #2 QB. he will be working out at WR though, with hopes of being a starting wideout, but if charlie goes down for any reason (heaven forbid) JA steps in that #2 role. That's the official word as of last thursday.