A Guess As To What The Two-Deep Roster Will Look Like After Spring Practice

[Kermit]

Van Voorhis should step up at safety. He broke his foot last fall which cost him some practice time. Jackson had some speed but not a football guy....8 tackles in 9 games according to the article, not exactly a nose for the ball from the safety position. Good luck to him in track, he should do well.

Thanks for reminding me about Van Voorhis. I was skeptical about him when he was recruited, probably largely because he is only 5'8". Nonetheless he was co-defensive player of the year in a good conference in high school and was all-metro in the Twin Cities.

Our safety situation going into spring ball now looks something like this:

SS: Lemon, Ollman, Gion
FS: Eaves, Horner, Van Voorhis

When the freshmen come in next summer, I'm guessing Dudzik will be a FS, Heagle could be FS or SS, Pfeiffer will be a SS.

[blizzard]

Good post. Not all of those players will be full go for spring ball due to off-season surgery and some other players won't be present for spring ball. So expect some changes on the list.

Hank Jacobs had shoulder surgery on February 19th.

[Bison Dan]

Thanks for reminding me about Van Voorhis. I was skeptical about him when he was recruited, probably largely because he is only 5'8". Nonetheless he was co-defensive player of the year in a good conference in high school and was all-metro in the Twin Cities.

Our safety situation going into spring ball now looks something like this:

SS: Lemon, Ollman, Gion
FS: Eaves, Horner, Van Voorhis

When the freshmen come in next summer, I'm guessing Dudzik will be a FS, Heagle could be FS or SS, Pfeiffer will be a SS.

I'm thinking that Horner will step up in a big way. He and Kittleson were 2 bright spots on special teams play last year.

[Kermit]

Hank Jacobs had shoulder surgery on February 19th.

Ouch. Sorry to hear that. A bunch of us are looking forward to seeing Hank play!

[OldBison]

Hank Jacobs had shoulder surgery on February 19th.

That hurts, bummer

Do you know why? Major or arthroscopic?

[ndsubison1]

Looks like Jackson has dropped football to focus on track. Safe to say that a true freshman will be in the 2 deep at safety. good luck to him in track.

The area where losing a guy like Jackson hurts the team is on special teams. Normally backup safties and linebackers are the core of your kickoff teams. Could be a long year with those 2 units.

Hopefully with better coaching this season, we will see an improvement with the free and strong safeties. I'm a lot more concerned about those two positions, than any other positions on the team.

Just saw the article. You're right.

[BisonNeil]

I've been told that Leevon Perry was already moved to DT, and that the coaches are very high on him. Ryan Drevlow was a forgotten man among last year's freshman class, but he is a very athletic kid who will eventually be a very good defensive end. I think Jirik will get playing time this season. Juckem is getting bigger and he could play some DT. Garrett Johnson moved inside to DT during some clear passing situations last year. With several good young players who can play DT, I wouldn't be surprised if Gimmestad gets a look as an offensive guard at some point. Some schools were higher on him as offensive lineman coming out of high school than as a defensive lineman.



We know Anderson will not be ready for contact this spring. I haven't heard any updates on Beson's status. Isaac Kolstad will be a backup on the outside and then we are down to several walk-ons.

I loved Willson's highlight video, but he was an outside LB in juco not a MLB. We NEED Willson and Forbes to step in and make an impact.

This is another position where a true freshman could play. I think that Grant Olson WILL play next fall. Don Carter and Carlton Littlejohn also are the type of athletes who could conceivably play as true freshmen.



This unit needs some major upgrades. Marcus Williams will not be in spring ball, but I still think that he will have a great opportunity to be a starter at CB in the fall.

Zach Colvin could challenge for playing time as a true freshman. It would say quite a bit about the state of the Bison secondary if we have a true freshman playing corner for the second consecutive season, but it could happen.

I thought our safeties were miserable last year. I think Ollmann will be a strong challenger at SS. Kevin Jackson looked very good at FS in last year's spring game--but then he was mysteriously playing CB in the fall before being temporarily moved to LB. I hope he goes back to safety, and then maybe Josh Horner will get a shot at corner.

Safety is another spot with some very promising freshmen coming in. Colton Heagle and Christian Dudzik could be good enough to play right away.

Good info all the way around Kermit. Thanks!!

[westnodak93bison]

I'm thinking that Horner will step up in a big way. He and Kittleson were 2 bright spots on special teams play last year.

yes, I saw that and imho you must reward special team performers with opportunity. Sometimes guts is what it takes.

[BisonNeil]

Changes in my original two deep roster before spring practice are bolded. I didn't go to the spring game, so this is based on my reading Kolpack, Dom Izzo's interviews of Bohl, and the chatter on BV. Comments?

(starter/backup):

Offense

Offensive Line
LT-Arndt/Jerve
LG-Lund/Landingham
C- Richard/Lund
RG-Beckius/Anderson
RT-Cornick/Britt

Tight End

TE-Smith/Veldman

Wide Receivers

WO-Howard/Holloway
SE-Williams/Mack

Runningback

FB-Vandal/Hushka
TB-McNorton/Voitlander

Quarterback

QB-Mohler/Jensen

Defense

Defensive Line

DE-Boyer/Jirik
DT-Gratzek/Gimmestad
NT-Phillips/Juckem
DE-Hagen/Stoczynski

Linebackers

SLB-Willson/Anderson
MLB-Evans/Forbes
WLB-Jemison/Kolstad

Defensive Backs

CB-Gatlin/Banks
FS-Eaves/VanVoorhis
SS-Lemon/Ollman
CB-Pierre/Colvin

[DjKyRo]

Changes in my original two deep roster before spring practice are bolded. I didn't go to the spring game, so this is based on my reading Kolpack, Dom Izzo's interviews of Bohl, and the chatter on BV. Comments?

I think Holloway and Veldman are almost locks as the starters for the WR and TE position respectively, they were everywhere in spring ball and Veldman's got some NFL size - I really think the spring game was a message that anyone could start, though if that was the case (which it certainly might not have been), Howard's performance certainly threw a monkey wrench into that idea.

Cooper Wahlo has to start somewhere at the WR spot, and IMHO I think he gets the nod over Titus Mack. Better size, better hands. Put Titus on as a return man for punts and kickoffs if he strikes you as one of those "put him somewhere" guys.

Other than that...I really think Bobby Ollman should get a hard look at the starting SS position. Guy was great in coverage though tended to get beat if it was a deep route, so I could see how Lemon could look more favorable. This is one of the positions that a freshman has a chance to step up if they can blow it up in fall ball.

Aside from those points, I agree with what you've got down - keep in mind I'm an amateur at this sort of thing and my points are not guaranteed to be in any way valid or accurate.