Things to look for in the 09 football season

Since this was second in voting from the most recent poll, I thought I would post it now and I'll do the basketball recruiting blog next week (there's an AAU tourney in Lawrence this weekend and we should be able to have some good info from that)

 

so without further ado.....

 

 

1 -Kerry Meier's progression at WR

 

With Kale Pick taking the backup QB duties off of KM's plate it'll be interesting to see how this helps KM and in turn the offense as a whole. (this hasn't been stated publicly that KP is going to be the #2 QB but his Spring Game performance should have pretty much locked that up)

 

Its pretty hard to top 97 catches and over 1,000 yards, but if anyone can do it it'd be Kerry. I think if anything it'll help with his route running and reading defenses from the WR position better and maybe getting off the line (when getting jammed).

 

 

2-Who is the #2 running back?

 

Jake Sharp has the starting spot locked up tighter than a nun's V card but somebody has to help him out.

 

Candidates-

Rell Lewis

Toben Opurum

 

Rell Lewis was pretty solid in the spring game, but if I was betting (keep in mind I don't bet like Johnson, but who does) I'd got with Toben.

 

He's bigger and is a natural RB (Lewis was converted from WR) who has shown the ability to block and catch the ball out of the backfield which will give him a leg up on Lewis, plus I believe he's bigger than Lewis.

 

Also keep in mind that Rell Lewis came up lame a couple of times in the Spring Game and there's no telling how serious that injury(s) is.

 

 

3- Who is going to get to the QB?

 

This should be the first and most important thing to look forward to and that needs to happen.

 

Let's just break this down to the bandit and the front 4.

 

Bandit-

Angus Quigley- at least the spring game gave us the impression that Angus would be manning this spot. And I think he'll prove quite capable from this slot. So that's a plus, will he be as good as James Holt was last year? I doubt it, but Holt put his hand on the ground the second half of the year to get most of his sacks.

 

Front 4-

Jake Laptad-

i know he was solid last year, not great not bad- just good. He did an interview that was up on the KUAC website where he stated in so many words that Tom Sims ( new DL coach) has taught them a lot more technique than that tool Joe Bob (who is now in Manhattan- how great is it to get rid of a shitty coach and him go to your in state rival) so just based on better coaching Laptad should be better, plus he'll be a year stronger and quicker.

 

Travis Stephens-

A quick DT that is coming to us from JUCO he'll be used to create chaos in the backfield

 

Maxwell O-

DE- looks much bigger than last year and had a nice Spring Game, this is another guy that I think will benefit from the new coaching on the DL and he was kind of poised for a good year anyway, he made some big plays against Iowa St and Mizz last year.

 

Quinton Woods-

DE, he should be the best DE we have by the time conference rolls around (I'm going to give him some adjustment time between arriving on campus in the summer from JUCO and conference play) He's a pass rusher for sure. And is exactly what Bowen ordered off the edge.

 

Obviously we'll see Wheeler in some at DE and DJ Marshall and Kevin Young are some young guys that might get reps at DE.

Darius Parish, Duane Zlatnik, RIchard Johnson JR (Real), Caleb Blakesly and Jamal Greene also should help out.

 

I'll have to dig up some numbers to see how many sacks and tackles for loss we had last year because I think we'll blow those numbers out of the water.

 

 

4-Will us changing our base defense depending on who we are playing help us or hurt us?

 

With KU going to a 4-2-5 D against the spread, it'll be interesting.

I think it helps in one area is  that there is less importance our your LB's to be studs and since we'll be young at that spot, I think this is a great idea.

The other bonus that I'm looking at is we have some ball players in the secondary.

Stuckey is a BEAST.

Who knows what will happen with Chris Harris but he has shown some flashes and is a VERY good tackler.

Justin Thorton will be a senior and could finish out his career as a nice CB or Safety.

Daymond Patterson has all the talent in the world and will only get better.

Corrigan Powell was good enough to not red-shirt last year and should be improved.

Greg Brown made some plays in the Spring Game.

Lubbock Smith has been mentioned numerous times by both the staff and players as a guy to watch for the coming year.

 

And on and on, including some of the freshmen that we have coming in, our secondary should be right at the top, but as I'm sure Bowen would admit the secondary looks a lot better when the front 4 brings the noise.

 

 

 Rock Chalk