Biggest surprises of Spring Ball?

[tony]

One of the biggest surprises for me was Esley Thorton getting time at MLB. Yeah, yeah, some of you were saying that he should go to middle all winter long, but I was thinking that at some point he'd be allowed to settle into one position. Sounds like he's getting time at all three LB positions. Instant depth.

[344Johnson]

One of the biggest surprises for me was Esley Thorton getting time at MLB. Yeah, yeah, some of you were saying that he should go to middle all winter long, but I was thinking that at some point he'd be allowed to settle into one position. Sounds like he's getting time at all three LB positions. Instant depth.

My only concern is he becomes a jack of all trades and a master of none. Coaches know what they are doing though I'm sure. If I made the decisions we'd still be running the veer.

[Professor Chaos]

A lot of my observations are based on the spring game since I only had second hand information after that.

Darius Anderson - I wasn't sure he was going to even be with the team this year after his fumbling issues last year but he looks like he could be much more than just a scat back if given the opportunity.
Landon Lechler - Man alive, this kid has beefed up over the course of his redshirt season.
Trey Dempsey - I was really impressed during the spring game with his willingness to tackle and be physical for a guy his size.
Jeff Illies - This kid flashed some speed for a TE. I'm excited to see if Polasek utilizes the TE in the passing game a little more than Vigen did with guys like Illies and Marcus Collins coming down the pipe.

I was a little disappointed in the passing game during the spring game. I think Wentz needs to improve as do 1-2 other receivers outside of Vraa and Gebhart.

[Bison"FANatic"]

That middle triangle of D tackle, nose and MLB still concerns me. If a team can beat us in the middle things can go bad in a hurry and it starts a domino effect that is hard to stop.

Illies was the surprise for me, the depth at TE is looking quite good.

[Bison Dan]

A lot of my observations are based on the spring game since I only had second hand information after that.

Darius Anderson - I wasn't sure he was going to even be with the team this year after his fumbling issues last year but he looks like he could be much more than just a scat back if given the opportunity.
Landon Lechler - Man alive, this kid has beefed up over the course of his redshirt season.
Trey Dempsey - I was really impressed during the spring game with his willingness to tackle and be physical for a guy his size.
Jeff Illies - This kid flashed some speed for a TE. I'm excited to see if Polasek utilizes the TE in the passing game a little more than Vigen did with guys like Illies and Marcus Collins coming down the pipe.

I was a little disappointed in the passing game during the spring game. I think Wentz needs to improve as do 1-2 other receivers outside of Vraa and Gebhart.

Passing game usually sucks in the spring game as the D knows all the routes by heart.

[ZHerd]

Ill go with Desouza on offense and Dempsey on D. Desouza wasn't as good in the spring game but on that long run in the scrimmage he broke several tackles and outran a db. Pretty impressive, and I hadn't even heard of the guy. Dempsey surprised me simply because I hadn't pictured him as being so physical in run support.

[HerdBot]

Not sure who is a surprise since many of these guys were known to be talented. Maybe Plank was a surprise. DeLuca playing so well early is a surprise but not a shocking revelation. We all knew Ilies was fast but the speed on his td catch was eye opening. I was actually most impressed with Chase Morlock. Looks like a guy who could be a good feature back and will give Frazier a run for his money and could be a great combo when Crockett graduates. Darius looked great too. Reminds me of DJ. Dempsey looks talented but I think Colvin will be a stud. Board looked fast on his pick but DeJong lead the team in tackles during a scrimmage

[dgoergs]

I only saw the Spring Game, but really like the increased size and play of Plank, Goergen, and Dempsey as newcomers.

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[ndsubison1]

One of the biggest surprises for me was Esley Thorton getting time at MLB. Yeah, yeah, some of you were saying that he should go to middle all winter long, but I was thinking that at some point he'd be allowed to settle into one position. Sounds like he's getting time at all three LB positions. Instant depth.

probably more to do with carlton out and just experimenting with different personnel

[Professor Chaos]

Passing game usually sucks in the spring game as the D knows all the routes by heart.

True but it wasn't so much that the WRs weren't open, it was that they just weren't connecting. That could be an inaccurate pass or a route that's not precise. In any case, they have a lot of time to improve and considering the timing in this pass offense takes repetitions to perfect I would expect that to improve as the Iowa St game gets closer.