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What are the biggest questions heading into spring practices?

Duff Man

Duff Man

Club Member
Club Member
Junta Member
We are just over a week away from spring practices starting. With that in mind, what are your biggest questions about this team? Here are mine:

1. Can Connor Wood establish himself as the clear #1 at QB?
2. Will Alex Lewis be the starting LT heading into the summer/fall?
3. Do we have another legit starting WR aside from Paul Richardson?
4. How much progress will Nick Kasa show at TE?
5. Can Parker Orms entrench himself at safety opposite Ray Polk?

I am sure there are many more. We may not get many answers this spring either, but hopefully the QB position has an answer going into the summer. BTW, I have the O/U at 5 for wins in 2012 (for the moment).
 
1. Lewis not ready to start at LT
2. Don't see a Starting QB named this spring. A lot of hype going on around here. I remember a few years ago, people were saying Cody Hawkins should start, he is a top recruit.
 
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The goal should be bowl game next year. We need last year recruiting class guys to step up and contribute in the fall.
 
5. Will the hype about grey shirt alex Kelly pan into any sort of fight for a spot on the interior line, or will he have to wait a few years to make an impact?

6. How good is sherrard Harrington? He's officially been moved to safety, and with Washington moving to Lb, he needs to show that he can provide quality depth.
Other questions:
7. How far along is nembot? Excited to see his development.

8. Young lbs are gonna get a lot of snaps, but the most important thing to see is if major is starting to get his speed back.

9. Had CUD developed enough so that he can set the edge and be a true starting De? How about Juda?
 
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8. Will Unleash not pass a roasted fire chicken gas bomb while sitting next to random people at the spring game.
 
9.) who will step up at RB
10.) will we be able to run the ball at all?
 
In terms of assessing the overall team spring ball is pretty useless. I love it because it gives me a football fix but remember we are practicing against ourselves in a situation controlled by ourselves.

Remember all the spring practice superstars we had under ChickenHawk that promplty dissapeared as soon as they lined up against a team not called the Buffs, remember how great the "player groupings" looked and how lil' Hawk tore up the defense.

The clear and obvious national champion comes out of Lincoln every spring, They sell tens of thousands of tickets to people willing to pay to see the first team beat up the fourth team then talk about if they will lose a game the following year or go undefeated.

You can get some idea of individuals in spring ball, who has gotten bigger and stronger, who is coming back from injuries. In terms of who can actually play, you won't know until fall.
 
MtnBuff said:
In terms of assessing the overall team spring ball is pretty useless. I love it because it gives me a football fix but remember we are practicing against ourselves in a situation controlled by ourselves.

Remember all the spring practice superstars we had under ChickenHawk that promplty dissapeared as soon as they lined up against a team not called the Buffs, remember how great the "player groupings" looked and how lil' Hawk tore up the defense.

The clear and obvious national champion comes out of Lincoln every spring, They sell tens of thousands of tickets to people willing to pay to see the first team beat up the fourth team then talk about if they will lose a game the following year or go undefeated.

You can get some idea of individuals in spring ball, who has gotten bigger and stronger, who is coming back from injuries. In terms of who can actually play, you won't know until fall.
Click to expand...

Somewhat disagree, especially in regards to the QB position. During Hawkins' tenure, there were only two springs (2007 and 2008) where there were any sort of definitive questions answered about the QB position. The rest of the time, the team was negatively impacted by too many questions surrounding the QB position, and the fact one of them was the coach's son did not help matters. Nothing creates a circus more than a QB competition (read: controversy) swirling into fall camp.

I do agree that spring practices can be overblown, especially with the incoming class arriving in June, but no good news at certain positions could spell trouble.
 
The 2012 team is a huge mystery. To what degree will these players buy into the Embree/Bienemy system?
With Hansen, Stewart, Miller and Clemmons gone, the offense takes on an entirely different personality. CU loses most of their offensive production and snaps. This isn't a reload. It's a sizable renovation.

Will PRich assume a leadership role and thrive, or will he be streaky and undependable? Which players have the talent and respect to lead this team? And is all this young unknown talent capable of doing damage in the Pac12? How fast will this young talent gel?

Honestly, the newness of offensive playmakers and lack of depth at O-Line has me worried and a bit pessimistic about CU becoming bowl eligible. I need to see this offense in action before I drink the kool aid. Which players are going to be fan favorites and win me over. Can Embree exceed expectations in Folsom like whay Tad Boyle has done at the keg?
 
I am pulling for Sherrad Harrington this spring. The QB battle, and the 2011 class are my main focus.
 
Quarterback play remains the question. Our QB play has generally been very unremarkable. CU football will take its first step out of mediocrity when we find a game-changer at QB, and probably not before. I know a lot of fans that post here favor a run-oriented offense, but teams that do that effectively in high-scoring environments (i.e. the pac-12) tend to really outclass their opponents across the board from a talent perspective (think Oregon). I think it is more realistic to hope for the turnaround to start with a great quarterback than it is to expect CU to bring in a stable of blue-chip running backs and a dominant run-blocking OL.
 
Boulder Buff said:
Somewhat disagree, especially in regards to the QB position. During Hawkins' tenure, there were only two springs (2007 and 2008) where there were any sort of definitive questions answered about the QB position. The rest of the time, the team was negatively impacted by too many questions surrounding the QB position, and the fact one of them was the coach's son did not help matters. Nothing creates a circus more than a QB competition (read: controversy) swirling into fall camp.

I do agree that spring practices can be overblown, especially with the incoming class arriving in June, but no good news at certain positions could spell trouble.
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Agree with you about specific positions, or probably more specifically certain individuals. We need to see individuals at a number of positions step forward and show that they are ready to compete and contribute. We need to see not only the normal maturation process but also to see guys who make the leaps that come from dedicating themselves to being standout performers.

In regards to the Hawkins era, most of it was a giant cluster________, but I am refering to the impression that lots of people had from the media coverage and our natural optimism as fans. I remember every year (except the last one when we were all so sick of the Hawk show that we weren't going to believe it any more.) we all started to believe that we had some new guys ready to step up and play at the level we needed to compete and that Hawk's crap about new schemes and plans were going to work. We then believed right up to the first delay of game penalty or illegal procedure penalty when we got to real games.
 
One advantage will be the fact that this will be the second season in a row (wow, thanks Hawk) with the same offensive system in place. IMO this gives newcomers a leg up. The kids know expectations and they should know their assignments. Hopefully Spring will be where separation at every position begins to occur.

ot sure about the defensive side
 
Who will emerge at RB is my biggest question. The QB thing will play itself out, but RB could be the kind of situation that never fully settles.
 
sackman said:
Who will emerge at RB is my biggest question. The QB thing will play itself out, but RB could be the kind of situation that never fully settles.
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Tony Jones and Davien Payne will provide a nice one two punch but I think Jones will emerge, but Ford may give him a run for his money.
 
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I think the only thing that can really get answered this spring is the passing game. Do we have WRs on the roster that can step up and play opposite PRich? Is Wood the answer? (hint: if he doesn't distinguish himself from Hirschman in the spring, then I'm going to guess the answer is no) Can Kasa step up and provide a decent option at TE?

Considering our lack of a DL, I doubt we will be able to tell much about the running game or OL.
 
Fellas. NDSU will crush csu. I believe NDSU would beat CU.in fargo we would blow you out. Your team is not too sharp.
 
Creatini said:
I'm really refraining from saying a phrase Goose told me not to so how about just....

**** you.
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:stupid:

We had a stray cat that kept hanging around our house because my youngest kept feeding it.

As soon as she stopped, the kitty went away
 
Do you guys expect to have an experienced O-line? I'm not trying to flame just asking...I don't recall if you recruited what you need here or how injuries/attrition are playing a part. Honestly, I don't even know if you have good OL players returning. Obviously QB, WRs, TEs and RBs are key positions but isn't a solid O-line traditionally linked to better play at QB and RB? It looks like your CB and DB issues from last year should be fixed and your D-Line should be stabilized plus I recall you got some good D-line players. Nobody in the PAC ever believes they have enough talent at OL however, if I recall correctly, only furd landed a stellar O-Line. What are your strengths on O-Line?
 
liverflukes said:
Do you guys expect to have an experienced O-line? I'm not trying to flame just asking...I don't recall if you recruited what you need here how injuries/attrition are playing a part. Honestly, I don't even know if you have good OL players returning. Obviously QB, WRs, TEs and RBs are key positions but isn't a solid O-line traditionally linked to better play at QB and RB? It looks like your CB and DB issues from last year should be fixed and your D-Line should be stabilized plus I recall you got some good D-line players. Nobody in the PAC ever believes they have enough talent at OL however, if I recall correctly, only furd landed a stellar O-Line. What are your strengths on O-Line?
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Our strengths on the OL are Bahktiari and the amount of questions we have about who is gonna play around him.
 
liverflukes said:
Do you guys expect to have an experienced O-line? I'm not trying to flame just asking...I don't recall if you recruited what you need here or how injuries/attrition are playing a part. Honestly, I don't even know if you have good OL players returning. Obviously QB, WRs, TEs and RBs are key positions but isn't a solid O-line traditionally linked to better play at QB and RB? It looks like your CB and DB issues from last year should be fixed and your D-Line should be stabilized plus I recall you got some good D-line players. Nobody in the PAC ever believes they have enough talent at OL however, if I recall correctly, only furd landed a stellar O-Line. What are your strengths on O-Line?
Click to expand...

We had a lot of guys get reps at OL last year that are young. It probably looks to be the least of our worries at the moment. We graduated 2 guys. We get back 1 from a broken ankle. We played 2 guys at center due to injury and the oldest of the two was a Soph. We will be young, but we should overall be quite a bit better at OL.
 
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