Thoughts on the offense.

[Scooter1]

OK someone asked for it...here it is.

Thoughts on the offense. With the returning players, this offense has the opportunity to be very good. One of the biggest reasons why this unit is going to be so good is the men that practice against them every day. In order for these guys to look good on the practice field they are going to have to bring their A game to every practice. If I were on the offense, I would look forward to game day for the simple reason of not having to face maybe the best overall defense in the country. I know UNI is supposed to have a great defense..but...I”M A HOMER.

Quarterback: First off, we lose Steve Walker. This is a guy who many, including myself, put on a pedestal and anointed him as one of the best of all time. This may be. The guy was Mr Clutch when it counted. On a little objective reflection over last year, I wonder why Walker had to come back as often as he did if he truly was as good as we made him out to be. I don’t think anyone is THAT good. It is my opinion that he is the new benchmark for current Bison QB’s. One of the best that we have had, but a level of talent that we need to expect from our quarterbacks from here out.

So, what do we have?:
Nick Mertens: Physically better than Walker but now needs to take charge. Working against the Bison defense will salt him up pretty quick. I think by game two Metens will be right at home on in the captains chair.
Troy Jackson: I think this kid will be our number two guy and by mid year actually start to push Mertens to improve to stay out on the field. What I noticed was how large Jackson looked behind the center in some of the pictures.
Andrew Fabre/Jose Mohler: Don’t know enough to tell yet, but it would be the best senario if Fabre were to step it up to ensure that Mohler’s red shirt stayed on. Although unproven players, I’m OK with the quarterbacks we have on the team

Runningbacks: I don’t think I need to elaborate much on this one. We have one of the best running games in the country. Roehl, Paschal, and McNorton will be a three headed monster. I suggest that people stay in the fourth quarter because you are going to see some great running by our backups McNorton and Voitlander are good. Jangula and Vandal have the fullback position locked down so no worries.

Tight ends I think the Bison may have to many good tight ends. There, I said it... the Bison have too many good guys at one spot. Wurzbacher, Hines, Smith, Brown, and Veldman are all good. Wurzbacher is the best right now, I feel that Veldman has the most potential. We are good for the next four years

Wide recievers : after Heckendorf and Belquist there isn’t a drop in talent and that is good. Schultenover really came on at the end of last year and I am excited to see what Holloway and Williams can do. And, is this the year that we finally get to see a pass in the flats to Shamen so that he can make a DB look absolutely ridiculous 1 on 1?

LINE: These guys are going to be good. Harrington is among the best, Buckman as received preseason attention and Ebel is finally going to get a chance to show that he can be a presence. What is scary is that coach Bohl’s offensive line in next year is going to be better still. The Bison have experience and a lot of young talent to go with it. If I were DJ McNorton, the thought of running behind Lund, Richard, Cornick, and Landingham during the final years of my career would make me feel very good.

[HerdBot]

OK someone asked for it...here it is.

Thoughts on the offense. With the returning players, this offense has the opportunity to be very good. One of the biggest reasons why this unit is going to be so good is the men that practice against them every day. In order for these guys to look good on the practice field they are going to have to bring their A game to every practice. If I were on the offense, I would look forward to game day for the simple reason of not having to face maybe the best overall defense in the country. I know UNI is supposed to have a great defense..but...I”M A HOMER.

Quarterback: First off, we lose Steve Walker. This is a guy who many, including myself, put on a pedestal and anointed him as one of the best of all time. This may be. The guy was Mr Clutch when it counted. On a little objective reflection over last year, I wonder why Walker had to come back as often as he did if he truly was as good as we made him out to be. I don’t think anyone is THAT good. It is my opinion that he is the new benchmark for current Bison QB’s. One of the best that we have had, but a level of talent that we need to expect from our quarterbacks from here out.

So, what do we have?:
Nick Mertens: Physically better than Walker but now needs to take charge. Working against the Bison defense will salt him up pretty quick. I think by game two Metens will be right at home on in the captains chair.
Troy Jackson: I think this kid will be our number two guy and by mid year actually start to push Mertens to improve to stay out on the field. What I noticed was how large Jackson looked behind the center in some of the pictures.
Andrew Fabre/Jose Mohler: Don’t know enough to tell yet, but it would be the best senario if Fabre were to step it up to ensure that Mohler’s red shirt stayed on. Although unproven players, I’m OK with the quarterbacks we have on the team

Runningbacks: I don’t think I need to elaborate much on this one. We have one of the best running games in the country. Roehl, Paschal, and McNorton will be a three headed monster. I suggest that people stay in the fourth quarter because you are going to see some great running by our backups McNorton and Voitlander are good. Jangula and Vandal have the fullback position locked down so no worries.

Tight ends I think the Bison may have to many good tight ends. There, I said it... the Bison have too many good guys at one spot. Wurzbacher, Hines, Smith, Brown, and Veldman are all good. Wurzbacher is the best right now, I feel that Veldman has the most potential. We are good for the next four years

Wide recievers : after Heckendorf and Belquist there isn’t a drop in talent and that is good. Schultenover really came on at the end of last year and I am excited to see what Holloway and Williams can do. And, is this the year that we finally get to see a pass in the flats to Shamen so that he can make a DB look absolutely ridiculous 1 on 1?

LINE: These guys are going to be good. Harrington is among the best, Buckman as received preseason attention and Ebel is finally going to get a chance to show that he can be a presence. What is scary is that coach Bohl’s offensive line in next year is going to be better still. The Bison have experience and a lot of young talent to go with it. If I were DJ McNorton, the thought of running behind Lund, Richard, Cornick, and Landingham during the final years of my career would make me feel very good.

Good analyisis... the run game will be tremendous again! THe line is huge. The TE/FB is loaded. RB is deep and versitile. WR is loaded. Shultenover was a bright spot in the Poly game and emerged as a deep threat. We saw some flashes from Willliams. This is the year we unleash Holloway. Heckendorf is one of the best ever. Belquist earned his spot as a starter and should improve. Shamen is there. And then we have the scrambling ability of Mertens to add another dimention. Of course we don't want him taking many hits since our depth is thin. We've got the same offensive coordinator and most coaches too!

[fargocyclone]

OK someone asked for it...here it is.

Thoughts on the offense. With the returning players, this offense has the opportunity to be very good. One of the biggest reasons why this unit is going to be so good is the men that practice against them every day. In order for these guys to look good on the practice field they are going to have to bring their A game to every practice. If I were on the offense, I would look forward to game day for the simple reason of not having to face maybe the best overall defense in the country. I know UNI is supposed to have a great defense..but...I”M A HOMER.

Quarterback: First off, we lose Steve Walker. This is a guy who many, including myself, put on a pedestal and anointed him as one of the best of all time. This may be. The guy was Mr Clutch when it counted. On a little objective reflection over last year, I wonder why Walker had to come back as often as he did if he truly was as good as we made him out to be. I don’t think anyone is THAT good. It is my opinion that he is the new benchmark for current Bison QB’s. One of the best that we have had, but a level of talent that we need to expect from our quarterbacks from here out.

So, what do we have?:
Nick Mertens: Physically better than Walker but now needs to take charge. Working against the Bison defense will salt him up pretty quick. I think by game two Metens will be right at home on in the captains chair.
Troy Jackson: I think this kid will be our number two guy and by mid year actually start to push Mertens to improve to stay out on the field. What I noticed was how large Jackson looked behind the center in some of the pictures.
Andrew Fabre/Jose Mohler: Don’t know enough to tell yet, but it would be the best senario if Fabre were to step it up to ensure that Mohler’s red shirt stayed on. Although unproven players, I’m OK with the quarterbacks we have on the team

Runningbacks: I don’t think I need to elaborate much on this one. We have one of the best running games in the country. Roehl, Paschal, and McNorton will be a three headed monster. I suggest that people stay in the fourth quarter because you are going to see some great running by our backups McNorton and Voitlander are good. Jangula and Vandal have the fullback position locked down so no worries.

Tight ends I think the Bison may have to many good tight ends. There, I said it... the Bison have too many good guys at one spot. Wurzbacher, Hines, Smith, Brown, and Veldman are all good. Wurzbacher is the best right now, I feel that Veldman has the most potential. We are good for the next four years

Wide recievers : after Heckendorf and Belquist there isn’t a drop in talent and that is good. Schultenover really came on at the end of last year and I am excited to see what Holloway and Williams can do. And, is this the year that we finally get to see a pass in the flats to Shamen so that he can make a DB look absolutely ridiculous 1 on 1?

LINE: These guys are going to be good. Harrington is among the best, Buckman as received preseason attention and Ebel is finally going to get a chance to show that he can be a presence. What is scary is that coach Bohl’s offensive line in next year is going to be better still. The Bison have experience and a lot of young talent to go with it. If I were DJ McNorton, the thought of running behind Lund, Richard, Cornick, and Landingham during the final years of my career would make me feel very good.

I thought this was a CABison post when I first saw it! :D Great analysis!

[Scooter1]

I thought this was a CABison post when I first saw it! :D Great analysis!

Is my nose bleeding?...I just got tagged!!!!!!

[mebisonII]

Soooo....you're saying we might win a game? :P

[OldBison]

I hope the interceptions Mertens keeps throwing ARE because our defense is so good this year. Otherwise...

Depth at WR is potentially very good, but not very experienced, so it is tough to really know. Schultenhover and Williams basically missed the second week of practice and that will obviously slow their development and jelling with Mertens. If Hakeem has left the team, that is not good either despite his being a Fr.

OL has the potential to be good, but again, some inexperience that is of some mild concern. Ebel hasn't played much when the game is on the line. The two OG have played but Foster has a bad habit of making mistakes at very, very critical times. Hopefully being the full time starter will give him the confidence to not press and play his game during crutial downs rather than hold, leg whip, illegal hands to the face, illegal motion, etc.

[imported_Bisongold]

I do not feel we are deep at WR. Gary Williams has knee problems and is Belquist's backup at flanker. Who else fits that spot? Is there a soph or freshman that we havn't heard of yet? You can get lit up pretty good working the middle so I think this is critical. Wideouts are not a problem with depth that I can see.

[X-Factor]

These comments about depth at WR not being very experienced is kind of making my scratch my head as well. We return both starting WRs one of which is a 4 year starter. The WR's behind him that have seen extensive backup duty all return including Shultenover who has even had a game with over 100yards (as a backup mind you!) and Washington and Williams both seeing the field last year plenty of times. These guys are not greenhorns. How much more game time experience could there possibly be for a WR corps in a west coast style offense? Sorry, but that is about as good as it is ever going to get. Holloway, who has no game experience, has also emerged as one of Mertens favorite targets.




I hope the interceptions Mertens keeps throwing ARE because our defense is so good this year. Otherwise...

Depth at WR is potentially very good, but not very experienced, so it is tough to really know. Schultenhover and Williams basically missed the second week of practice and that will obviously slow their development and jelling with Mertens. If Hakeem has left the team, that is not good either despite his being a Fr.

OL has the potential to be good, but again, some inexperience that is of some mild concern. Ebel hasn't played much when the game is on the line. The two OG have played but Foster has a bad habit of making mistakes at very, very critical times. Hopefully being the full time starter will give him the confidence to not press and play his game during crutial downs rather than hold, leg whip, illegal hands to the face, illegal motion, etc.

As far as Foster, I think you might be referring to the one play he made a couple years ago in the Minnesota game as a redshirt freshman...otherwise I have no idea what you mean. Give the guy a break, he was young and forced into duty because he was one of the most physically ready lineman we had and we were a little short on depth caused by a few injuries. That is extremely unfair to label him as a player with bad habits or mistake prone. He is a great lineman and I'm glad he is on our side of the football bench and not the opponents.

Ebel is going to rock. Put it this way, Ebel and Buckman were in a deadlock for the starting right tackle position almost the entire fall camp last year until the coaches finally, and after extensive evaluation, chose Buckman as the starter. Buckman is now a preseason All-American and All-Missouri Valley preseason. What does that say for the talent we have competing for starting spots? I wouldn't exactly say Buckman's lack of experience cost us much last fall as he was first team All-GWFC. The entire OL is stacked this year, they just need this next week or two in order to get their blocking assignments down to be able to work as a team.

[TransAmBison]

Washington and Williams saw the field...but not much more. Washington really only contributed on trick plays. Williams will be good I'm hoping, but he's still pretty green.

[BisonNeil]

These comments about depth at WR not being very experienced is kind of making my scratch my head as well. We return both starting WRs one of which is a 4 year starter. The WR's behind him that have seen extensive backup duty all return including Shultenover who has even had a game with over 100yards (as a backup mind you!) and Washington and Williams both seeing the field last year plenty of times. These guys are not greenhorns. How much more game time experience could there possibly be for a WR corps in a west coast style offense? Sorry, but that is about as good as it is ever going to get. Holloway, who has no game experience, has also emerged as one of Mertens favorite targets.

I can't argue with what you said, but Old Bison makes a point about two of these guys missing a lot of fall camp. That has to hurt development.

And don't forget, the #1 guy (Heck) is coming of Lyme disease. That is not easy to come back from. I doubt he will be able to go full boar for the first 1/4 to 1/2 of the season as he gets himself back into shape. All in all I think there have to be some concerns about the true "depth" based on practice time and overall health.

[X-Factor]

I can't argue with what you said, but Old Bison makes a point about two of these guys missing a lot of fall camp. That has to hurt development.

And don't forget, the #1 guy (Heck) is coming of Lyme disease. That is not easy to come back from. I doubt he will be able to go full boar for the first 1/4 to 1/2 of the season as he gets himself back into shape. All in all I think there have to be some concerns about the true "depth" based on practice time and overall health.

very true. There is really not much we can do with it besides accept the fact that injuries do happen to every team that plays football including the Bison. We should be fine for this season and next, but the next few recruiting classes will need some more quality WR that stick in the program. Just looking at the roster we will lose 3 guys after this season.