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YSU Penguin Athletics => YSU Penguin Athletics => Topic started by: ytownchief22 on August 02, 2018, 10:14:26 PM
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Players reported today. Let's get excited folks!
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Saw a new face on the roster. Charles Baldwin, a 6-5 305 OT. #1 OT coming out of JUCO. Signed with Alabama and was in competition for their RT job before being dismissed and ending up at Kansas but never played there either. Possibly an immediate starter here.
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McCaster on preseason Payton Award list👌
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Saw a new face on the roster. Charles Baldwin, a 6-5 305 OT. #1 OT coming out of JUCO. Signed with Alabama and was in competition for their RT job before being dismissed and ending up at Kansas but never played there either. Possibly an immediate starter here.
Not sure YSU ever had a 5 star recruit before. Hopefully it will show on the field.
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McCaster on preseason Payton Award list👌
This is an article on Warren Tribune on the topic:
McCaster part of Payton watch
LOCAL SPORTS
AUG 3, 2018
Tribune Chronicle
sports@tribtoday.com
YOUNGSTOWN — Senior tailback Tevin McCaster, from New Castle, Pa., leads the preseason honors awarded to Youngstown State football players by being named to the Walter Payton Award watch list.
He is one of 25 FCS offensive standouts named this week by STATS FCS.
McCaster (5-10, 195 pounds) is one of four Missouri Valley Football Conference representatives on the watch list. Other MVFC standouts on the list include North Dakota State running back Bruce Anderson, NDSU quarterback Easton Stick and South Dakota State quarterback Taryn Christion.
In his first year as starter in 2017, McCaster rushed for 1,066 yards on 221 carries and scored 13 touchdowns. He was named first-team All-MVFC for his efforts. In the past two seasons, McCaster has scored 24 touchdowns in 27 games played.
McCaster also joined three teammates on the STATS FCS Preseason All-American team. McCaster was a second-team pick, while linebacker Armand Dellovade (6-0, 215, Sr., Imperial, Pa.), guard Gavin Wiggins (6-4, 310, Sr., Philadelphia) and long snapper Steven Wethli (6-0, 230, Sr., New Castle) were named third-team All-Americans.
In his YSU career, Dellovade has been credited with 235 total tackles in 38 games played. He has started 36 contests in his three years with the Penguins.
Last year he had 76 total tackles — second best on the team — and as a sophomore registered a career-high 105 stops during the Penguins’ 16-game campaign.
Wiggins has started the last 31 games at offensive guard. Wethli has started all three years as long snapper.
The MVFC led all conferences with 16 overall selections on the STATS FCS preseason All-America teams.
On the All-MVFC preseason teams, McCaster, Wiggins, Wethli and senior center Vitas Hrynkiewicz (6-4, 300, Somerset, N.J.) were all chosen to the first team on offense, while Dellovade made first team on the defensive side, and sophomore cornerback Bryce Gibson (5-10, 180, Johnstown, Pa.) was a second-team choice.
Gibson had a breakout year in 2017, starting all 11 games at cornerback as a true freshman. He was named to the Valley’s All-Newcomer Team in 2017.
Joining McCaster in the first-team All-MVFC backfield are North Dakota State’s Bruce Anderson and Illinois State’s James Robinson on the first team. The other three offensive lineman joining Hrynkiewicz and Wiggins on the first team are Illinois State’s Drew Himmelman and North Dakota State’s Zack Johnson and Tanner Volson.
A two-time second-team All-MVFC pick, Dellovade is joined on the first team by North Dakota State’s Jabril Cox, Missouri State’s Angelo Garbutt, UNI’s Rickey Neal and South Dakota State’s Christian Rozeboom at the linebacker position.
Coming off a 6-5 season, the Penguins open the 2018 campaign Sept. 1 at home (2 p.m.) vs. Butler. Preseason camp opens today.
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Saw a new face on the roster. Charles Baldwin, a 6-5 305 OT. #1 OT coming out of JUCO. Signed with Alabama and was in competition for their RT job before being dismissed and ending up at Kansas but never played there either. Possibly an immediate starter here.
Not sure YSU ever had a 5 star recruit before. Hopefully it will show on the field.
He's had immaturity issues from what I've heard but physically he is a stud. Fills a big need here. Only one year of eligibility left.
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Saw a new face on the roster. Charles Baldwin, a 6-5 305 OT. #1 OT coming out of JUCO. Signed with Alabama and was in competition for their RT job before being dismissed and ending up at Kansas but never played there either. Possibly an immediate starter here.
Not sure YSU ever had a 5 star recruit before. Hopefully it will show on the field.
He's had immaturity issues from what I've heard but physically he is a stud. Fills a big need here. Only one year of eligibility left.
This will be a very interesting story to watch. Thanks for the info.
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https://tribhssn.triblive.com/norwin-linebacker-gianni-rizzo-commits-to-youngstown-state/
LB verbal
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VanGorder and Mays splitting reps so far, as we expected.
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On Vindy today:
YSU returns bigger, deeper roster this fall
By Brian Dzenis
bdzenis@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
Visitors to Stambaugh Stadium wouldn’t be incorrect if they thought they were seeing double or triple as Youngstown State kicked off its fall camp on Friday.
Seeing six quarterbacks, three kickers and two punters working out were some of the more noticeable increases in the Penguins’ numbers. That’s not an optical illusion, YSU is a bigger team in 2018. With 109 players to last year’s 95, more depth makes for a merrier Bo Pelini.
“I thought that was huge. You’re able to give guys breaks here and there,” Pelini said of the increased numbers. “It takes stress off of some guys and when you have all those guys, it’s hard to give them quality reps. For different skill positions and special teams, you get a lot of flexibility.”
Combine the increased depth with the NCAA’s new redshirt rules where players can play in up to four games without burning a redshirt, YSU has time and options to solve all sorts of quandaries.
Some of those include figuring out who’s filling the tackle spots on the offensive line, finding the right replacement for injured defensive end Justus Reed and establishing a hierarchy at quarterback.
Incumbent Nathan Mays was the first-team QB on day one, with Notre Dame transfer Montgomery VanGorder with the twos and true freshman Jayden Cunningham and redshirt freshman Joe Craycraft filling out the reps.
There wasn’t a major drop-off in quality between the four, and the newcomers impressed. Cunningham earned shouts “good ball!” from the coaching staff as he completed passes to reserve receivers.
The newer guys on the team going beyond the quarterbacks still have some hurdles to clear.
“Across the board, we have some new faces. We’ll evaluate them as we go. I think there are some guys who can help our team, but they need to bring a level of consistency in their level of understanding,” Pelini said. “I told the guys last night that if you want to play, we have to trust you. We have to trust that you know what to do and you’re going to handle things the right way.
“We have a chance to be a good football team. I really believe that. We have good ingredients, but we have to figure out how to move those ingredients around to make them better.”
One of those new ingredients — Pitt transfer Charles Reeves — has to wait a little bit before getting the chance to show his stuff. He attended practice, but wasn’t a full participant as he still has “red tape” to navigate, Pelini said. Reeves should be ready to go Monday.
The prospect of two four-star tight ends in Reeves and Ohio State transfer Kierre Hawkins adding to the offense is exciting for running back Tevin McCaster.
“They block good and they catch good. They’ve got dual dimensions,” McCaster said. “It’s great. It’s what we need as a team. We have to be versatile.”
Another trait Pelini likes seeing more of with his team in 2018 is leadership, the growing of which was a summer project for the head coach.
“We’ll see how they apply those lessons now that the bullets are flying,” Pelini said.
Mainstays from the 2016 national championship run, linebacker Armand Dellovade, center Vitas Hrynkiewicz, defensive lineman Savon Smith and McCaster are some of the guys who can fill the leadership need.
“[We’re] guys who have seen things, been through close games and been through tough games,” Dellovade said. “We’ve been through the close games and hopefully that will carry us this season.”
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Cunningham doing most of the head-turning with reps really being equal. I have only seen VanGoeder in with the 1's a single time, seems to be leading the two's with Mays leading the ones. Those of you that were talking positive about Cunningham know what you are talking about. Craycraft is very crisp but no time to do much. This is just a fantastic year to have early weak games & I hope we build early leads then bring in C&C to take some snaps.
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Interesting that they have Becker trying out for LT. He's never played tackle before. Shows how weak that position is right now...
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I think he played some tackle early in his HS career. It is very alarming that we didn’t recruit a tackle in the offseason.
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It's Becker and Yoboue competing at LT and Robinson and Baldwin competing at RT.
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I think he played some tackle early in his HS career. It is very alarming that we didn’t recruit a tackle in the offseason.
True, unless you count Yoboue, Robinson, and Baldwin! I have no idea how these guys will work out on the field, but I'm damn sure glad I don't have to pay for their training table expenses! They are some big dudes!
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The problem is we have all new tackles and mostly new DE's, so if you lack pass rush in practice, is it the new tackles doing good, or the new D ends doing poorly? Ditto if the pass rush is great: good DE's or bad OT's?
We won't have a good idea until the second week on the season!
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While we are on the subject of new names on the roster, how could I possible have missed Charles Reeves from Steubenville? He was signed by Pitt out of HS and redshirted last year, but this guy was a BEAST for the Big Red!
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O-Line combos so far:
Becker/Yoboue, Wiggins, Vitas, Sharp, Robinson/Baldwin
Hauschild Zinni Creek Wilson
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Offense a work in progress....
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What aspect specifically chief? Oline? Oline on the outside? Wide receivers? QB? Just wondering from what you're seeing
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I should be there tomorrow and Saturday Chief. I was there twice last week as well, so we can see if anything has changed. If anyone is going, Saturdy's practice will be at Falcon Stadium in Austintown.
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What aspect specifically chief? Oline? Oline on the outside? Wide receivers? QB? Just wondering from what you're seeing
Just all of it in general. Doesn't look crisp. WR's need work. OL is getting beat early and often, getting pushed back a lot.
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Also, lots of guys banged up so they are having starters out so some guys playing out of position. Not ideal for the start of camp.
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Banged up already? Camp just started. We are what 5 days into camp? That's very concerning
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Farrar, Hawkins, Durkin on the offensive side. Taylor who’s going to be the starting safety is also banged up.
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Chapman impressed today with the 2nd team. Lots of starters didn't play at all or very little so tough to gauge. VanGorder using his legs a lot which I like.
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Farrar, Hawkins, Durkin on the offensive side. Taylor who’s going to be the starting safety is also banged up.
Taylor is done for the year
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Farrar, Hawkins, Durkin on the offensive side. Taylor who’s going to be the starting safety is also banged up.
Taylor is done for the year
Bummer. Hawkins is week to week. Durkin should be back next week so it looks like it's Reeves at TE for now.
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- I like Chapman as well. He was impressive last fall as well.
- Any word on what is going on with Mays? He was limping most of the practice & missed all of his reps in the last hour of practice. - VanGorder had a bad first quarter, then turned into "Mr. Mobile" ...very nice.
- Craycraft saw all the work with the 2's.
- Torbert's one-hander looked nice and Cumming looks very nice as well on the left side WRs.
- Gonya looking much more stable at kicker.
- Liked what I saw out of Crenshaw (a #2) working over on the right side. He knows how to tackle. I was on the other side, was that Smalls over on the left?
- I could not see the number onthe one TE that was catching very well and quite tall. Might have been Reeves. Anyone else see him? Could have been Durkin.
I will go through my pictures later today to get some numbers.
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- I like Chapman as well. He was impressive last fall as well.
- Any word on what is going on with Mays? He was limping most of the practice & missed all of his reps in the last hour of practice. - VanGorder had a bad first quarter, then turned into "Mr. Mobile" ...very nice.
- Craycraft saw all the work with the 2's.
- Torbert's one-hander looked nice and Cumming looks very nice as well on the left side WRs.
- Gonya looking much more stable at kicker.
- Liked what I saw out of Crenshaw (a #2) working over on the right side. He knows how to tackle. I was on the other side, was that Smalls over on the left?
- I could not see the number onthe one TE that was catching very well and quite tall. Might have been Reeves. Anyone else see him? Could have been Durkin.
I will go through my pictures later today to get some numbers.
The TE was Reeves. Both Durkin and Hawkins are hurt and didn't play. Smalls was the one who had the pick 6.
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Looks like Richmond, Cook, Louigene, Bynum and Jackson all getting snaps at DE with Smith and Ragland starting in the middle backed up by Thompson.
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Per The Pittsburgh Post Gazette Freshman LB Ricky Guss is transferring to Robert Morris.
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Mays is banged up so he won't practice for a few days. VanGorder is the guy.
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Mays is banged up so he won't practice for a few days. VanGorder is the guy.
Permanently?
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I see nothing has changed at QB. We can’t keep anybody healthy since Coach Pelini has been here. Why is that?
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I see nothing has changed at QB. We can’t keep anybody healthy since Coach Pelini has been here. Why is that?
Not just QB this year. Lots of guys going down... Strength and Conditioning ?...
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Don't run the QB and get an OL that can dominate.
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You're going to see more QB runs this year than ever. Partly because the OL can't sustain blocks in passing situations.
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Mays is in a walking boot.
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Starting safety Kyle Hegedus has torn his ACL and will be out for the season. Another huge blow to this team which is slowly sinking due to injuries. Don’t see playoffs this year.
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It's not looking our year this year. Kids dropping like flies this early. The depth will be tested big time.
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So we have a converted LB coming off a torn ACL starting at safety and a converted nickel corner at the other safety.... Yikes.
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Starting safety Kyle Hegedus has torn his ACL and will be out for the season. Another huge blow to this team which is slowly sinking due to injuries. Don’t see playoffs this year.
He is also our holder, any word on replacements there? Understated, but such a crucial position
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So You are telling me none of the other QB’s on the roster are better than the one and done QB. I think red shirt rules have changed where a kid can play like what 4 games. The one and done guy isnt our future and Mays cant stay healthy ala Rickey Davis. Play the other QB’s. Or did Montgomery whiff on those kids.
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So You are telling me none of the other QB’s on the roster are better than the one and done QB. I think red shirt rules have changed where a kid can play like what 4 games. The one and done guy isnt our future and Mays cant stay healthy ala Rickey Davis. Play the other QB’s. Or did Montgomery whiff on those kids.
So you're not going to play VanGorder because he's only here one year ? Lol...
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The moment that YSU accepted VanGorder's transfer, it was obvious that he was going to play. Perhaps not start, but play significantly. The injury to Mays just accelerated that process.
The new redshirt rule is both an opportunity and a challenge. Coaches must be very wise in their use of it. For example, if Cunningham is deemed to be our quarterback of the future, do you give him playing time in the easy games in September, or hold him back for the second part of the conference schedule if disaster strikes our quarterbacks....again. Tough call. I say play him once early and keep three appearances "in the bank."
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Cunningham "may" be the guy for the future, I'm not sold yet. Craycraft has out played him and is still #3 on the depth chart for now. O-Line was my biggest concern going into camp, but I think the D as a whole has surpassed them. With all these injuries, you have 2 guys STARTING at safety for the very first time in their careers. Pass rushers are banged up a little. Count me as skeptical....
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It just bothers me that if Van Gorder is our starter that we will be in the same boat again next year. With all these injuries this could be a long year. I hope not
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It just bothers me that if Van Gorder is our starter that we will be in the same boat again next year. With all these injuries this could be a long year. I hope not
Doesn't bother me one bit. He's the best QB on the roster. Blame Montgomery or Bo for not being able to recruit well.
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Many "training camp" injuries aren't as serious and "regular season" injuries, and "playoff" injuries are the worst.
Let's see in a couple weeks in WVU who is where.
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The moment that YSU accepted VanGorder's transfer, it was obvious that he was going to play. Perhaps not start, but play significantly. The injury to Mays just accelerated that process.
The new redshirt rule is both an opportunity and a challenge. Coaches must be very wise in their use of it. For example, if Cunningham is deemed to be our quarterback of the future, do you give him playing time in the easy games in September, or hold him back for the second part of the conference schedule if disaster strikes our quarterbacks....again. Tough call. I say play him once early and keep three appearances "in the bank."
Your thinking is strategic. I think you hit the nail on the head here.
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VanGorder has been named starter for week 1 by Bo.
Also I heard Muransky is back taking over as analyst on radio next to Hannon.
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VanGorder has been named starter for week 1 by Bo.
Also I heard Muransky is back taking over as analyst on radio next to Hannon.
No surprise in VanGorder. When he announced his transfer I assumed he would be the guy. Too bad he is one and done. Muransky is a welcome return.
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Cunningham "may" be the guy for the future, I'm not sold yet. Craycraft has out played him and is still #3 on the depth chart for now. O-Line was my biggest concern going into camp, but I think the D as a whole has surpassed them. With all these injuries, you have 2 guys STARTING at safety for the very first time in their careers. Pass rushers are banged up a little. Count me as skeptical....
I like your post here. Cunningham and VanGorder both have trouble keeping their passes from "sailing" on the run, or just after (have to stop and plant). However, they both do what BO wants ... run. I think Bo liked Montgomery's QB rotation (with a less mobile QB and adding Cunningham in wildcat formations) & may be one of the few things he keeps (if Mays wins the spot back). If not, I am with you and leaning toward Craycraft. Better Command, field of vision and so far seems to be a better overall QB.
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Cunningham and Craycraft will play out over the next year, but if we are going to the playoffs this year, it will be VanGorder, backed up by Mays.
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Cunningham and Craycraft will play out over the next year, but if we are going to the playoffs this year, it will be VanGorder, backed up by Mays.
They can probably red shirt Cunningham for this season. I believe he is a true Freshman.
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Cunningham and Craycraft will play out over the next year, but if we are going to the playoffs this year, it will be VanGorder, backed up by Mays.
They can probably red shirt Cunningham for this season. I believe he is a true Freshman.
yes he is.
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Put up a depth chart...let's see what we have by position.
GO GUINS
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VanGorder is better than Mays. Simple as that.
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VanGorder is better than Mays. Simple as that.
I honestly feel the other way around & I do not think there was anyone on the team that expected VanGorder to start after spring. Mays has been far more consistent & has starting experience; but he has yet to show any "flash", as VG has done. However, flash will not give VG the starting nod, an injured Mays will.
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VanGorder is better than Mays. Simple as that.
I honestly feel the other way around & I do not think there was anyone on the team that expected VanGorder to start after spring. Mays has been far more consistent & has starting experience; but he has yet to show any "flash", as VG has done. However, flash will not give VG the starting nod, an injured Mays will.
Well Mays has nerve damage so he's not playing.
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Jakkar Jackson, a DB transfer from Central Michigan has joined the team. 2 star recruit out of high school with a bunch of MAC offers. Has 3 years of eligibility left.
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Assuming his high school ranking is substance and not just hype, he should be a welcome addition. I wonder if he has experience at safety? He should be able to contribute by the Western Illinois game.
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As an aside comment, I have a friend that HATES the "make up" names parents give kids these days. But it does make checking player on highlight websites like HUDL much easier. You do check Bob Jones you fine 45 different ones but only 1 Jakkar Jackson!
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Assuming his high school ranking is substance and not just hype, he should be a welcome addition. I wonder if he has experience at safety? He should be able to contribute by the Western Illinois game.
He has played safety before. I expect him to play regularly.
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Will be interesting to see the depth chart for the start of the season.
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Sounds like Mays is done for the year from what I was told.
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Sounds like Mays is done for the year from what I was told.
Let's hope Bo can grab Gebbia from the Cornhuskers, Nebraska admin gave him his release yesterday. As long as we are still keeping our basic "O", he will be a great fit. He red-shirted, so he has 4-years left.