[NU Sports] Next Year

[Roy Lamberton]

IMHO: [based on watching a whole bunch of games this year]

 

1. There will be quite a QB controversy come the end of Spring Drills -
Kafka has to be the heir apparent for 2009, but Persa or one of the other
backups could easily emerge as "the guy" because of Kafka's erratic passing.
Of course Kafka could emerge as a better passer with a lot of work in the
spring. He needs to get the same relationship with his senior wide outs the
way CJ has with his. I'd wait until the Kenosha scrimmage to draw any firm
conclusions.

 

2. The O-Line is a year older with 12 games experience. They have the Spring
to come together and cement a better relationship on the field. When
critiquing their play, you have to go look at how long they've been playing
for NU - (hint: most of our guys are RS-Sophs and Frosh). Give them another
Spring blocking the NU spread and we'll see what happens.

 

3. Defense will miss the seniors, but there is every indication that the
rest of the guys on our present Defensive 2-deep will be able to continue
the level of play. Case in point - Arrington goes down and Nate Williams
stepped in led the underclass defense in tackles last night. 2010 is the
year I'm really concerned about the defense because of the key players due
to graduate, 2009 should not be a problem.

 

4. Wide Receivers - last night it seemed that all we had were seniors
catching the ball. The guys behind Lane, Peterman and Ward will have to sort
themselves out in the Spring, and right now you can see a couple of guys
emerging (they always do) but I'd be hard pressed to put names on any
position with the exception of Brewer (taking the Peterman role) and Ebert.
Maybe Kafka also goes to a slot, and Persa throws a couple - like the Ravens
do with Smith and Flacco. (a good play from Cam Cameron BTW NU offensive
guys).

 

5. Running Back - We are going to miss Tyrell Sutton's fire and his desire
to get the ball in key situations. Simmons appears to have the skills, he
needs a little more blocking. He did have 108 all purpose (return) yards in
the Alamo Bowl - second on the team to Tyrell which is a good sign for the
future.

 

6. Kicking game - Demos will probably take over the FG/PAT duties and will
star at that just the way he did in Phoenix. I had pegged Amando Villareal
as the future kicker when he was a walk-on Frosh. I see the same talent in
Stephan Demos. However, the Cats will need to figure out who punts in 2009.


 

Remember that Fitz is also of that Randy Walker school of coaching that
states that "every job is open and challengeable by  any better player." It
will be hard to say who will step up next Spring or August and take a
starting or backup role because we can't really figure out who among the
incoming frosh will challenge early.

 

In any case, the Cats have had 15 more practices and an impressive bowl
showing in the Alamo. Sports Center is running a 10 minute recap of the
game, and the tone of the report, unlike the game, is that Mizooo was lucky
to get out of San Antonio with a win. 

 

Any comments?

 

rsl

 

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Roy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate & Unix Guru.

Computer Applications & Support Associates

-------------------- Also ----------------------

Publisher: Purple Reign (Scout.com/Fox Sports)

Commissioner Delaware American Legion Baseball

Retired Senior Chief Cryptologic Technician [R]

Northwestern University - Sp 1974 - 

Chi Phi: Pi74, KD68

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