A Look Ahead to 2018 Depth

[EC8CH]

What would be the odds of seeing a RB (I’m thinking Wilson) get put in a slot receiver spot a la Ryan Smith? Smith came in as a RB and ended up being one of the best receivers to wear a Bison uniform.


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Think Williams already fills that roll so I would doubt it.

[EagleBison]

Depth at LB might be an issue. They will rely on two guys that had major injuries this year. Leader for the defense will need to emerge as they lose their vocal and silent leaders in Dempsey and Deluca.

Other than replacing a 4 year pstsrting Ls will be pretty important. And need couple WR to emerge as Shep seems to always have nagging injuries Williams and Cain have shown flashes so hoping they take the next step. The rest I would feel fairly confident they can have guys step up. Always seem to have good OL waiting in the wings. An depth at QB will be huge as well as we seen Stick was limited by the coaches for fear of injury due to no backup

Somebody said Cain was working with Dbacks during warm-ups. Would he switch over like Bridges?

[TAILG8R]

I wonder if Cain at DB was precautionary for this game. It tells me more about the health of our other DBs for the game than about his future here.


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[AKBison]

My take on next year's squad: returning QB with solid experience and I have a hunch that the depth situation will be excellent. RB is loaded but I would honestly be happy to see a Brooks/Anderson show. Depth is unreal with Dunn being good and Wilson I think will become a great all situation back. I think he was really impressive running and receiving as a true freshman. O-line I think will miss Kuhnert but overall (with experience and great young talent) will maybe be better. WR- I love RJ but I am not worried about much drop off here. Lots of returning talent and I think Watson will be an immediate impact. He looks really fast and athletic. Also the TE will pick up any WR drop off and then some. I have another hunch that, even losing some good Sr TE's, we are about to see the best TE unit Bison fans have seen. Overall the offense has a definite up arrow.

Defense: DE is as loaded and skilled as I've seen in an NDSU DE unit. I like Butler and I'm excited to get Menard back but little Tuska has impressed me all year and it's really exciting the way he stepped up yesterday on the big stage against elite competition. He was basically beating double teams on some of those plays. He could be in for a monster 2018. Also you just know that one or more of the 3 freshmen from this last class will look great as well. DT- lose a couple good players and the depth will be interesting to see unfold. I'm not concerned about this unit but if I recall, they have had some recruiting attrition over the past few seasons. Who will step up as an interior disrupter next year? Question mark, but not really worry on this unit. LB- I love Deluca but I'm not worried about this unit at all. Marlette was a big time play maker/game changer before he was injured. Honestly in those couple games he looked all Americanish. Cox is experienced and may be bigger/faster and the depth fighting for the other side looked really good. That unit may take a few games but they will be elite. CB- I am worried somewhat here because it is the position that maybe hasn't been recruited up to par with other positions but I think Allison and Bridges will be solid but I worry about depth. Bridges is the best cb on this team and looks like the kind of playmaker that will get into QB's heads. S-I love Dempsey but this unit will be solid. Grimsley has turned into a good player and Jaxon Brown looks really athletic...plus still have Hendricks and other unknowns...that unit will be fine. Overall, defense also gets an up arrow...which is amazing with losing a guy like Nick and Nate as well.

Special teams: I agree with others, it's just plain time to get serious about the punting game, and also the return game. I get having guys that are just safe catching the ball but they are just not impacting games. Time to get better playmakers back there or get better blocking schemes or something. Overall- up arrow because I would imagine that is all going to get more attention going into next year.
In short: 2018 NDSU could very well be better

This is crazy talk, Dunn is clearly our #1 going into next year with Bruce at 1A. Brooks is turning out to be special but at this point I can't see him carrying 50% of the load and staying injury free.

[TateMosersneighbor]

2017 will go down as one of the top 3 Bison teams of all-time. (2013 and 1986)
2018 has the potential to be the best ever. Need a LS and a couple WRs to do their job and look out...we are so spoiled when there's likely only 20 college football teams or so in America that we'd have to be truly worried about on a neutral field.

[KNOW IT ALL]

He hasn't been good for the 2 years he was here for flipping the field. On pooch kicks he did decent job pinning teams but could never flip the field when needed. They showed his stats for punting and he had the 9th best average in the mvfc so that shows he's not a good punter.

His only frkn job is to punt a football high and deep. I have no question there are position players on the Bison roster right now that can punt a ball further than Koonce, with consistency. With all the talent this team puts on the field and spends thousands of hours and miles recruiting, you would sure think they could find a better punter. This SHOULD have cost the Bison this years title, thank a great defense for that not happening. A DECENT punter in Frisco would have given the Bison an extra 6-9 pts (field position) in field goals Saturday as well. A team this loaded every year from top to bottom should not have the poor to average kicking game that it did, there has to be more competition for those spots, A dome team playing for national titles every year should make for easy recruiting for kickers. it comes down to priority recruiting and more specialized coaching in that area.

[wagsabison]

2017 will go down as one of the top 3 Bison teams of all-time. (2013 and 1986)
2018 has the potential to be the best ever. Need a LS and a couple WRs to do their job and look out...we are so spoiled when there's likely only 20 college football teams or so in America that we'd have to be truly worried about on a neutral field.

It would have been fun to see this team against an FBS team.

[Hammerhead]

2017 will go down as one of the top 3 Bison teams of all-time. (2013 and 1986)
2018 has the potential to be the best ever. Need a LS and a couple WRs to do their job and look out...we are so spoiled when there's likely only 20 college football teams or so in America that we'd have to be truly worried about on a neutral field.

Sagarin ratings from before the championship game has just 10 teams favored by more than 10 points over NDSU on a neutral field.

[ZHerd]

This is crazy talk, Dunn is clearly our #1 going into next year with Bruce at 1A. Brooks is turning out to be special but at this point I can't see him carrying 50% of the load and staying injury free.

Brooks is the most explosive offensive playmaker I have seen at NDSU. Not sure how much he can carry per game but I'd love for it to go up

[THEsocalledfan]

Brooks is the most explosive offensive playmaker I have seen at NDSU. Not sure how much he can carry per game but I'd love for it to go up

Agree with AK, though. They are going to have to be careful with Brooks. Treat him like Easton running; only really unleash it when all the chips are in.