Biggest spring ball position battles

[Mayville Bison]

Looking forward to seeing the battles on both sides of the line. I think with all the young guys fighting for time on the dline, we will be pleasantly surprised.

Any idea on what kind of a format there will be this year? 2 seperate full teams? Offense vs. Defense (can't figure out how to word this one to not get the "offense always goes against a defense" replies)? Probably still too early for anyone to know as I'm pretty sure CK has other things on his mind

[HerdBot]

Pretty sure Austin got the green light and is 100% a go for spring

I heard that. He was a big signing a few years ago and I'm sure he's ready to show what he has! 8 months of recovery has to suck.

[Mayville Bison]

Oh and I'm really excited to see how Polasek does calling plays. Will we see a vanilla offense (moreso than a usual spring game I mean)?

[HerdBot]

QB: Carson will come in the #1 but will be fun to watch Derek and Cole fight for #2 and push Carson
RB: King and Morlock.
FB: Cyr, Bennie Wilson (I still see Bonnet as more of an H-Back/TE)
WR: See the development of our slot guys... DeSean and Tyler
TE: See the past years development of Illies, Wentz and also see the newcomer Marcus
OLine: obvious battles all over the place. Too many to name.
DLine: Dtackle... lots of inexperience. Farnlof
LB: Excited to see some new guys and their dev: Plank, PGT, Alex Hahn who's up to 220, James Gates
DB: Chris Board, enough said.

And our All Lumberyard Team: Plank, Plankers, Board, Woods, Stumpf, Stick

Board packs some serious punch. I heard Liekus is moving to linebacker which is interesting. He can tackle as we've seen on special teams but for a linebacker he will be very fast and obviously good in coverage.

[Jay]

Board packs some serious punch. I heard Liekus is moving to linebacker which is interesting. He can tackle as we've seen on special teams but for a linebacker he will be very fast and obviously good in coverage.

Already did move. Played their last year.

[tony]

I know Kolpack has been mentioning Board as a guy to watch.

This will be the most interesting spring game since 2003 (that's the year that they benched Joe Mays for abusing the offense after an interception, right?)

[HerdBot]

I think you could say that Woods has answered questions. That TD catch he had against UNI was huge. He was probably #3 on the depth chart this year getting equal playing time if not more than Gebhart. I'd say the questions will be who steps up behind Vraa, Gebhart, and Woods? Gray hasn't shown much. Perkins looks like he will compete with Wrice in the slot. Warren hasn't stepped on the field in two years due to knee injuries. Personally I think Woods and Vraa offer a lot of athleticism on the outside, Gebhart is steady. Hopefully a couple of others step up.

I don't think their is a question at MLB. I see our defense using multiple packages between base and nickel like last year. CLJ can play any linebacker spot on the field. DeLuca looks like the real deal. My guess is that towards the beginning of the year you will see more of Esley, CLJ, and Beck. But as the year goes on DeLuca will play more MLB, giving CLJ more time at the his natural weakside linebacker spot. Carlton will be our middle on our nickel, his range in our cover 2 is huge.

Overall I just don't see their being many questions in the the linebacker core. Our staff is only recruiting Marlette. We have all 3 starters returning (CLJ, Beck, Thorton). Stumpf, DeLuca, and PGT all saw the field last year. Plus we have redshirt guys like Plank, Hahn, and Gates. Not to mention the possibility of Liekhus playing OLB. I think our staff is pretty comfortbale with our situation.

Dee Gray will be amazing if he can add some weight. Right now he's too skinny and struggled when jammed at the line. Hes the tallest and one of the lightest. Some people struggle to add weight based in their frame. This is an important off season for him

[DakotaKid]

Dee Gray will be amazing if he can add some weight. Right now he's too skinny and struggled when jammed at the line. Hes the tallest and one of the lightest. Some people struggle to add weight based in their frame. This is an important off season for him

I agree on Gray. I also think this is an important off-season and season for Woods. His athleticism and ability certainly showed at times (such as the UNI catch referenced earlier), but he lacked consistency IMHO.

[steelbison]

QB: Carson will come in the #1 but will be fun to watch Derek and Cole fight for #2 and push Carson
RB: King and Morlock.
FB: Cyr, Bennie Wilson (I still see Bonnet as more of an H-Back/TE)
WR: See the development of our slot guys... DeSean and Tyler
TE: See the past years development of Illies, Wentz and also see the newcomer Marcus
OLine: obvious battles all over the place. Too many to name.
DLine: Dtackle... lots of inexperience. Farnlof
LB: Excited to see some new guys and their dev: Plank, PGT, Alex Hahn who's up to 220, James Gates
DB: Chris Board, enough said. Tre Dempsey(heard very good things) Zach Colvin is a player as well

And our All Lumberyard Team: Plank, Plankers, Board, Woods, Stumpf, Stick

Added a couple that I think will make an impact next year..

[EightyfourBison]

And our All Lumberyard Team: Plank, Plankers, Board, Woods, Stumpf, Stick

Maybe we should just call them Team MENARD.