Looking ahead to the 2015 Bison

[Kermit]

Have you heard anymore on this years redshirt freshman class on how they are progressing, how talented they are, etc.? I realize it takes longer for some, but just curious if they seem as good as they looked on paper when recruited.

I am hearing that the redshirt class is very good. SamsRams' opinions above are solid. Many of the redshirts have the ability to contribute soon. Two relative surprises have been walk-ons Levi Jordheim and Aaron Steidl. Multiple people have compared Jordheim's athletic ability to Travis Beck.

[HerdBoy]

OL: Good. Lord. Return 4 of 5 starters (All American Haeg, Kuhnert, Kelly, Lechler), get Johnson back (all conference in 2013, I believe), and Plankers saw a ton of time as a backup. Add in one or two of the youngsters (Ziemer, Connor, Bacon, Volson, Triplett) as they develop and we should have all kinds of depth.

Good Lord is right. Losing 1 Zac(k) Johnson and gaining 2 more.

[VirginiaBison]

Yeah, losing in more than one way... he proposed to his GF on the field after the game so no longer available either.

[BadlandsBison]

Zach Johnson is not a human but actually a Bison that wears a helmet.

[A1pigskin]

I am looking ahead and forward to the lowering of the Championship Banner at the first home game 2015.

[Herd890]

Great thread and interesting analysis so far. A few other thoughts I have:

As mentioned Oline will be stacked but the question I wanted to pose is who replaces Hinz at center? Does Zack Johnson get first crack at it to keep others in their existing positions or does one of the other starters move? Johnson is too good to not be on the field day one so will be interesting to see how this unfolds and how they get him back on the field.

Also mentioned before but Menard was absolutely amazing this year as a true freshman and made a huge impact in pass rush situations. I can't imagine what will happen after Kramer puts 15-20 lbs on him in the next 6 months. I truly believe he is the next special DE to come through the program.

The talent at TE is absolutely ridiculous as mentioned but Albers was an absolute monster this year when he was able to get on the field. He looks like an NFL body and has become an absolute red zone stud. Him and Wentz seem to have developed great chemistry and excited for what this tandem will bring in 2015.

The future is bright!!!!

[MAKBison]

Good stuff and loved seeing who the others teams are losing. Solid stuff.

IMO
RB: I see Dunn starting
TE: Jenson is the TE to keep an eye on. And Ellefson might be too good to redshirt
LB: Stumpf has actually shown more than PGT. It will be interesting to see who starts on each side of Deluca
DE: Tuska's have a better chance than Jones. I love Jones, just think he needs another year to get stronger
K: really interested to see how Barneson does

PGT has had some bad luck with the injury bug.
I am excited about Bo and MJ now is their chance....what can they do

[Kermit]

Great thread and interesting analysis so far. A few other thoughts I have:

As mentioned Oline will be stacked but the question I wanted to pose is who replaces Hinz at center? Does Zack Johnson get first crack at it to keep others in their existing positions or does one of the other starters move? Johnson is too good to not be on the field day one so will be interesting to see how this unfolds and how they get him back on the field.

Johnson is a stud. He will be a starter. That means we have 3 starters returning at guard with ZJ, Kelly, and Kuhnert. My guess (and this is truly a wild guess) is that Kuhnert moves to center. One reason is that he has 3 years left and it would be great to potentially have the same starting center for 3 years.

[KyleK]

Have you heard anymore on this years redshirt freshman class on how they are progressing, how talented they are, etc.? I realize it takes longer for some, but just curious if they seem as good as they looked on paper when recruited.

Khayvon Hawkins may make an impact next year.

[MAKBison]

Khayvon Hawkins may make an impact next year.

True!

Is JC little brother still going to walk on? I admit I only seen the blub of him as a Cat, but they showed some sick catches. Plus you gotta think a Bfluffy team knows how to pick wideouts