2014 Preseason Grades by Position

[Herd]

Grade positons 1-5 (5=top grade) for 2014; Base you grades on . . . historical strength of position, depth of position, and overall ability of position.

DE 4: Good depth in 2014 with Emanual, Hardie, Hahn, and Ambro. Emanual one of the best ever; Hardie might be needed at DT; Should be lots of metings in the backfield.
DT 1: Completely unproven and very limited depth for 2014; Area of concern
LB 5: Depth at historical level. 6-8 guys can play vs. 3-4 in most years. Littlejohn one of the best ever.
S 4: With Dudlik, Heagle, Board and Smith, very solid, esp vs. Run. If the young guys can play, this will be a sig. strength.
DB: 3: Solid here with Smith, Champion, Colvin and Dempsey. Need to develop some of the young guys.
QB 3: Probably the most talented group of four QBs since DI Football, but unproven. Could be a 4 rating. Wentz should accel, but no guarantee.
RB 4: Solid Depth and great potential in 2014. Gotta love Crockett, Morlock, Frazier and Anderson as a group. FR group solid for the future.
FB 3: An injury here could really hurt. Very Solid with Cyr and Bonnett, but is the 3rd guy ready; Looking forward to seeing the next in line.
OL 2: Poential, but unproven talent. Departures and Injuries have this as an area of concern.
TE 4: The return of Vaadland put the TE position at a 4; More depth and talent than I ever recall when you include the RFr and Fr; Vad, Arp, Albers and lots of youth.
WR: 5: Best group of receivers overall since DI move; I like Vraa & Woods to be the top 2, with Wrice, Gebhardt and Gray making significant contributions. 8 can play; With Wentz, more balls will be in the air in 2014.
K 4: Very solid, 2 deep
P 4: The tradition of difference makers continues; Not sure behind LeCompte, but who cares.

[scottietohottie]

I would say maybe receivers a 4 Ryan Smith made a lot of catches on 3rd downs and some one will need to step up agree with everything else

[Bison"FANatic"]

Good analysis but the positions you forgot were the coaches. It is going to be interesting watching the little things. How aggressive is Klieman going to be and the flow and art of play calling from Polasek will be very interesting to watch and see develop.

The little things will be interesting, like how late the last coach would bring in the backup qb in a blow out and how Klieman will do it. The little nuances will be interesting to watch and of course what is going to be Kliemans "whale".

[Herd]

I don't know where the coaches should be rated, but I think our defensive coaching will be fine with Klieman and Entz. I'm more concern with offense and Sp Teams coaching. Could be some offensive growing pains, but I hope we come along quickly. I have confidence in Wentz, but the play calling needs to be there too.

I predict:
More players will play under Klieman; esp on Defense
The offense will throw the ball more, a little less conservative than in past years.
Wentz will use Cary Woods as a go to guy, along with Vraa.
The Ryan Smith position will fluorish under Wrice and Perkins
TEs will catch 2x the balls with Wentz throwing
OL will struggle to run the ball in week 1; but D will win it.

[GOBISON123]

CJ Smith plays with lot of heart, that shows in every play.

Brock had something unique/special about him, he always made plays when it came down to the wire. Wentz has big shoes to fill.

Zach Pumpkin Pie Vraa is smooth, he is already flying in the air.

[Ndsu84]

Great thread! I'm really excited to see the new team. Many will be surprised how great they are!

Our previous coaches did well but they had plenty of screw ups. The new coaches don't have to be perfect to do as well.

[Scooter1]

Interresting analysis.

DE - Kyle E is one of the best DE in the country. Hardie was good enough to start on any team that we played last season. I am looking forward to seeing Hahn play. I agree with your ranking of 4

DT I thought you were a little tough on the DT position. Farnlof, Schaetz, and Tanguay and possibly Morgan might impress. I heard that Tanguay was looking really good in spring ball. I'd go as high as a 3

LB spot on, Herd. 5

S With Heagle and Dudzik back....gotta go with a 5 regardless of the experience behind them.

DB agree with your assessment. The one thing I might add is the play of Zach Colvin when he is on the field. He is a playmaker and plays better on saturday than in practice. Champion is solid. Rank 3

QB unproven. I wish that Wentz had a few more snaps under his belt Rank generous 3

RB Crockett is one of the best in the country. I like every back Rank 4.5

FB FB has consistently been solid and I am looking forward to seeing the Rfr out of the cities who appears to be built like Joe Mays. Seriously a 5'9 240 pound kid that ran the 100 in high school?! Rank 3.5

OL Three seniors to go with the lone returning starter.... we should be OK but no room for error. We definately are going to see how good the new O Line coach is in a hurry. I heard he did some great things at Sac St. (it was sac st, right) Rank 3

TE with Kevin back they sit at a solid 4

WR alot coming back but we lost Smith. I can't rate them at a 5 even with Vraa. I find it interresting you rated Heagle and Dudzick lower than Vraa and Woods. IMO Dudzik and Heagle > Vraa and Woods Rank 4

K - rock solid proven performer 5

P - rock solid who consistently flips the field 5

[MNLonghorn10]

Im going to think last years WR's were better than this years...Woods has big(oxymoron) shoes to fill with Smith.

Smith was as dangerous of a slot receiver Ive seen in college football. But it is a position of strength

[ndsubison1]

Grade positons 1-5 (5=top grade) for 2014; Base you grades on . . . historical strength of position, depth of position, and overall ability of position.

DE 4: Good depth in 2014 with Emanual, Hardie, Hahn, and Ambro. Emanual one of the best ever; Hardie might be needed at DT; Should be lots of metings in the backfield.
DT 1: Completely unproven and very limited depth for 2014; Area of concern
LB 5: Depth at historical level. 6-8 guys can play vs. 3-4 in most years. Littlejohn one of the best ever.
S 4: With Dudlik, Heagle, Board and Smith, very solid, esp vs. Run. If the young guys can play, this will be a sig. strength.
DB: 3: Solid here with Smith, Champion, Colvin and Dempsey. Need to develop some of the young guys.
QB 3: Probably the most talented group of four QBs since DI Football, but unproven. Could be a 4 rating. Wentz should accel, but no guarantee.
RB 4: Solid Depth and great potential in 2014. Gotta love Crockett, Morlock, Frazier and Anderson as a group. FR group solid for the future.
FB 3: An injury here could really hurt. Very Solid with Cyr and Bonnett, but is the 3rd guy ready; Looking forward to seeing the next in line.
OL 2: Poential, but unproven talent. Departures and Injuries have this as an area of concern.
TE 4: The return of Vaadland put the TE position at a 4; More depth and talent than I ever recall when you include the RFr and Fr; Vad, Arp, Albers and lots of youth.
WR: 5: Best group of receivers overall since DI move; I like Vraa & Woods to be the top 2, with Wrice, Gebhardt and Gray making significant contributions. 8 can play; With Wentz, more balls will be in the air in 2014.
K 4: Very solid, 2 deep
P 4: The tradition of difference makers continues; Not sure behind LeCompte, but who cares.

DE: 3- Depth is issue. Emmanuel will be a huge focal point by other teams. Hardie should be solid
DT: 1- Totally unproven as you said
LB: 4- Love the depth. Esley should be improved. Littlejohn I think could get drafted
S: 4- Good experience here. Backups should get some decent reps still
CB: 3- Love having Smith as #1. Champion has promise. Need to develop depth, but like the potential

QB: 2- Wentz is unproven. I love his intangibles and potential. I think he will struggle early, but improve a lot towards middle of season
RB: 4- Love Crockett. Morlock should be #2. Frazier should see reps
FB: 2- Bonnett is solid pass catcher. Can he block?
OL: 3- Need to develop depth. Ill give them benefit of doubt, I love their potential
TE: 3- Good depth. Still some unproven players
Wr: 3- Like the depth. Loss of Smith puts them at 3
K: 4
P: 4

[El_Chapo]

Little birdie told me Wrice> woods and he was sad to say so because woods was so promising but he lost some quickness