Crickets sounds coming out of spring football practice.........no news ? no improvements in individual players worth noting ? No standouts so far ?? No Nothing ? WTH !!!
Crickets sounds coming out of spring football practice.........no news ? no improvements in individual players worth noting ? No standouts so far ?? No Nothing ? WTH !!!
There's plenty out there - this is just what I pulled from Bison 1660's Facebook page:
Spring practice day 1 (3/20): https://fb.watch/r2I2PtWY5U/
Spring practice day 2 (3/21): https://fb.watch/r2H_U-5MA2/
Polasek on The Insiders (3/21): https://www.spreaker.com/episode/nds...trLM6EeRInrzOQ
Cam Miller on The Insiders (3/22): https://www.spreaker.com/episode/bis...F0zcSU6vj2xhXg
Cole Wisniewski on the Insiders (3/26): https://www.spreaker.com/episode/bis...2024--59183068
Carlton Littlejohn on the Insiders (3/27): https://www.spreaker.com/episode/for...2024--59198283
Polasek on the Insiders (3/28): https://www.spreaker.com/episode/nds...2024--59210327
Pretty sure Izzo has had a lot of interviews as well talking about spring ball so far.
I guess I need to listen to Izzo's podcasts (it takes so much time, tho).... shame on me.........I like reading that spring football stuff on BV; after all, this is one place where you can read the truth.........
Some names I've heard of young guys who are looking very promising:
WR Mekhi Collins
WR Bryce Lance
LB Nathaniel Staehling
RB Marty Brown
CB Najee Nelson
Polasek also mentioned being encouraged by the offensive line group. Sounds like a lot of emphasis being put on tackling - Polasek knows how to talk the talk when it comes to talking about competing to get better and showing the toughness and physicality that is a hallmark of Bison football so it's easy to get pumped up listening to him talk. I've also heard a lot of rave reviews for new Safeties coach Devin Klieman.
One interesting nuggets from Polasek's interview on 3/21 was he mentioned wanting to see the guys show a little more fire when they're out there competing in practice - I thought that was an interesting comment. I'm thinking the intensity of practice is getting amped up a little from the Entz era (and I'm sure Entz-led practices weren't a church service by any means).
I heard an interesting anecdote from Grant Olsen about the installation of the defense and how TP wants to install starting with the basics and work through those even if the offense can see what's coming because it's not about winning plays in spring ball, it's about the players truly understanding their alignments and fits. Made me wonder how different that style is from the Entz era and possibly why we saw the defense decline and heard comments about "getting back to basics" halfway through the year last year. Were they trying to do too much too fast instead of just teaching the guys how to line-up, find their responsibility and tackle.
Hegerle is a name of note for this year for sure. As for he should have played last year, not true.
Problem is how many balls are there to go around to all these pass catchers? This offense throws the ball 20-25 times per game tops. They've got Eli Green who's a bona fide stud. They've got Raja Nelson who is electric with the ball and needs to get his touches to keep the offense dynamic. Henderson is solid and they've got Stoffel as a very capable tight end. Zach Mathis' departure opens up a spot at the X so I'd assume one of the trio of young guys with bigger bodies (Lance/Collins/Hegerle) would take that spot but for the other two I'm thinking they're still going to be buried with only a few snaps per game (barring injuries to guys in front of them).