Spring football will be starting next week. What can we learn?
Roster- By my count we have 87 players on scholarship at this point. That means at least two must be shed by the fall. Any indications about who they are? Does their departure change our depth chart in any significant manner? Does it change our priorities for 2019 recruiting?
Injuries- How is the team’s health? Are any players missing spring practice due to injury? Are any of their injuries significant enough to jeopardize their upcoming season? Their careers?
Conditioning- We’ve talked a great deal about weight training in the last couple of months. How does the team look? What about the players like Braynon Edwards and Devon Johnson who have had trouble making “weight?” Have they shown the discipline to get into shape? What about the newcomers like Jeff Johnson and Davon Wright, both of whom could probably lose a few pounds as they continue to work out? We’re really depending on these kids; how do they look?
Team Speed- Despite the speed shown by Nickerson and Aruna at the NFL combine, we appeared slow last year at several positions, particularly at safety on defense. Speed isn’t the only factor, of course, and we need fast football players, not track guys who aren’t very good football players. But lack of speed is hard to overcome. Has our team speed improved? A few years ago, we had Badie, Doss, Allen, and Nixon who set school records as sprinters on the Tulane track team. Who are our fastest players now? I’d guess Glenn, Dauphine, and maybe Donnie Lewis or another defensive back or wide out. Can they run with the fastest players on other teams?
Defensive Alignment- Last year we lined up with three men down and a variety of players in “stand up” positions either on the end of the line or as linebackers. Quinlan Carroll was listed as the starting defensive end throughout the season but, in fact, he generally lined up in a stand up position I’d probably describe as a “rush linebacker,” though he had no sacks on the entire season. On the other side, Luke Jackson played a similar position, but it was described as a linebacker in the weekly “depth chart.” Interestingly, he led the team with 3.5 sacks (not many for the “leader”). With Marbley playing middle linebacker, Harris also played on the outside (again, no sacks). We’ve added a lot of interior linemen this year so does that indicate a change back to a four man line? Will we learn anything during the spring? I think our lack of pressure on opposing QB’s (14 total sacks) put a tremendous burden on our coverage downfield. What is being done to improve that shortfall?
Position Changes- Some Tulane fans have speculated that some of our more talented players with certain limitations at their current position might be moved to other spots on defense. Could some of our bigger defensive backs move to outside linebacker? Guys like Kuerschen, Teamer, Quentin Brown, and Sean Harper are all over 200# and with a little more weight might be better suited at linebacker. What about redshirt freshman, Tori Singletary. At 215# he’s significantly undersized for a defensive end. Would he be moved? Maybe spring can give some hints on who will be playing where in the fall.
Position Questions
QB: Unless he is injured, everyone expects Banks to take almost all of the snaps this year, so the only questions left open are his health and the maturity and capability of our other two scholarship QB’s, Ledford and Daniels. Ledford was moved to WR last year and returned to QB only after the wholesale defection of other options. Daniels, of course, is brand new. Both players are very athletic but wearing a red jersey and not subject to any tackling, it will be hard to tell much about their running ability this spring. But, how comfortable do they look? How is their passing?
OL: We return six of our top 8 linemen from last year but lose an important cog in center, Raul Diaz. Who is working out at center? Have they overcome the problems with snapping we saw last spring and fall? Where is Bailey Granier practicing? If LeGlue is forced to move to center, can Granier handle right tackle? We never really settled on a left tackle last year. Can LeGlue, Granier, or one of the redshirt freshman prove an upgrade there? At least to me, Briggs was a disappointment at right guard last season. Adequate I suppose, but is this a place where Granier or an incoming freshman (won’t know ‘till fall) can help?
RB: We lost Hilliard and Badie from last year but return a big back (Bradwell), a speed back (Dauphine), and an all-around back (Huderson) who are expected to carry the bulk of our rushing load this season. Dauphine apparently impressed everyone last fall sitting out as a transfer. Is he the “real deal?” And is he wholly recovered from injuries that slowed him last fall? Bradwell, with a year under his belt should be a load but without tackling, we probably won’t learn much about him this spring. And, Huderson, who appeared a little hesitant to me in limited action needs to step up. How does he look? And what about Strickland, the oft-injured back about whom little is known? And, of course, Glenn has apparently returned to the backfield from wide receiver. He’s been a valuable special teams guy but can we learn anything this spring about his potential to contribute on offense.
TE: Jones and Ardoin are known quantities who return and who have improved over their time at Tulane. William Wallace, a redshirt freshman, was one of our most highly regarded recruits a year ago. Does he look ready to make a contribution? Is Hicks still at TE or has he moved back to WR? Can he contribute or is this his last year?
WR: We return our top four wide receivers from a year ago plus two sophomores who lettered on special teams and the huge (6’5”) Kevin LeDee who redshirted. I’m really interested in LeDee this spring. How does he look? That size would be a huge advantage downfield and around the end zone. Can he contribute? We’ve got some talented freshmen coming in August; current roster guys need to make their mark now.
Special Teams: An obvious disappointment for several years, we probably won’t know a whole lot until the fall. Nonetheless, it should be interesting to see how the Neenan/Glover competition is going prior to the arrival of Stockwell in the fall. We need someone who is deadly inside the 40 and capable out to 55 yards. Do we have that guy? We haven’t since Santos left. As for punting, we know what we have in Block. He has the leg and can boot it plenty far but he has had the tendency to misfire at the most inappropriate moments. We need more consistency in our punting. Again, until Wright arrives in the fall, we probably won’t know where we stand.
Defensive Line- The graduation of Aruna, Wilson, and Washington has left many Tulane fans very concerned about our defensive line that has only Kennedy, Edwards, and Woullard as multi-letter returnees. But the performance of Sample and Patrick Johnson as true freshmen and the signing of six highly talented high-schoolers has improved the outlook somewhat. Lots of questions, however. How do the returning seniors look? What about the two big freshmen? Are they competing for time already? What about DeAndre Williams, Kubiet and Michael Scott? Can they join the rotation this fall? Again, now is the time for current roster guys to establish themselves.
Linebackers- Zach Harris our only truly experience linebacker coming back and he’s suffered more than his share of injuries. Lawrence Graham and Larry Bryant haven’t played much on defense but have experience on special teams. They need to step up. How do they look? What about Moody and the redshirt freshman, Vault? Until the freshmen, La’Dedrick Jackson and Keitha Jones, arrive on campus, we are dangerously thin at this position. Who looks ready to make a serious move for playing time?
Defensive Backs- Two of our biggest losses from last year are clearly Nickerson and Franklin though we return five guys who started at least one game in our five-man nickel backfield. For the spring, I’m interested in who will replace Nickerson. Who is working at the nickel position owned by Franklin? Who are being worked at the two safety positions?
Anyway, like every season, we have many questions. Most won’t be answered until we take the field in regular season play. But, it would be nice to get some “hints” on how things are going during the spring.
Roll Wave!!!
Roster- By my count we have 87 players on scholarship at this point. That means at least two must be shed by the fall. Any indications about who they are? Does their departure change our depth chart in any significant manner? Does it change our priorities for 2019 recruiting?
Injuries- How is the team’s health? Are any players missing spring practice due to injury? Are any of their injuries significant enough to jeopardize their upcoming season? Their careers?
Conditioning- We’ve talked a great deal about weight training in the last couple of months. How does the team look? What about the players like Braynon Edwards and Devon Johnson who have had trouble making “weight?” Have they shown the discipline to get into shape? What about the newcomers like Jeff Johnson and Davon Wright, both of whom could probably lose a few pounds as they continue to work out? We’re really depending on these kids; how do they look?
Team Speed- Despite the speed shown by Nickerson and Aruna at the NFL combine, we appeared slow last year at several positions, particularly at safety on defense. Speed isn’t the only factor, of course, and we need fast football players, not track guys who aren’t very good football players. But lack of speed is hard to overcome. Has our team speed improved? A few years ago, we had Badie, Doss, Allen, and Nixon who set school records as sprinters on the Tulane track team. Who are our fastest players now? I’d guess Glenn, Dauphine, and maybe Donnie Lewis or another defensive back or wide out. Can they run with the fastest players on other teams?
Defensive Alignment- Last year we lined up with three men down and a variety of players in “stand up” positions either on the end of the line or as linebackers. Quinlan Carroll was listed as the starting defensive end throughout the season but, in fact, he generally lined up in a stand up position I’d probably describe as a “rush linebacker,” though he had no sacks on the entire season. On the other side, Luke Jackson played a similar position, but it was described as a linebacker in the weekly “depth chart.” Interestingly, he led the team with 3.5 sacks (not many for the “leader”). With Marbley playing middle linebacker, Harris also played on the outside (again, no sacks). We’ve added a lot of interior linemen this year so does that indicate a change back to a four man line? Will we learn anything during the spring? I think our lack of pressure on opposing QB’s (14 total sacks) put a tremendous burden on our coverage downfield. What is being done to improve that shortfall?
Position Changes- Some Tulane fans have speculated that some of our more talented players with certain limitations at their current position might be moved to other spots on defense. Could some of our bigger defensive backs move to outside linebacker? Guys like Kuerschen, Teamer, Quentin Brown, and Sean Harper are all over 200# and with a little more weight might be better suited at linebacker. What about redshirt freshman, Tori Singletary. At 215# he’s significantly undersized for a defensive end. Would he be moved? Maybe spring can give some hints on who will be playing where in the fall.
Position Questions
QB: Unless he is injured, everyone expects Banks to take almost all of the snaps this year, so the only questions left open are his health and the maturity and capability of our other two scholarship QB’s, Ledford and Daniels. Ledford was moved to WR last year and returned to QB only after the wholesale defection of other options. Daniels, of course, is brand new. Both players are very athletic but wearing a red jersey and not subject to any tackling, it will be hard to tell much about their running ability this spring. But, how comfortable do they look? How is their passing?
OL: We return six of our top 8 linemen from last year but lose an important cog in center, Raul Diaz. Who is working out at center? Have they overcome the problems with snapping we saw last spring and fall? Where is Bailey Granier practicing? If LeGlue is forced to move to center, can Granier handle right tackle? We never really settled on a left tackle last year. Can LeGlue, Granier, or one of the redshirt freshman prove an upgrade there? At least to me, Briggs was a disappointment at right guard last season. Adequate I suppose, but is this a place where Granier or an incoming freshman (won’t know ‘till fall) can help?
RB: We lost Hilliard and Badie from last year but return a big back (Bradwell), a speed back (Dauphine), and an all-around back (Huderson) who are expected to carry the bulk of our rushing load this season. Dauphine apparently impressed everyone last fall sitting out as a transfer. Is he the “real deal?” And is he wholly recovered from injuries that slowed him last fall? Bradwell, with a year under his belt should be a load but without tackling, we probably won’t learn much about him this spring. And, Huderson, who appeared a little hesitant to me in limited action needs to step up. How does he look? And what about Strickland, the oft-injured back about whom little is known? And, of course, Glenn has apparently returned to the backfield from wide receiver. He’s been a valuable special teams guy but can we learn anything this spring about his potential to contribute on offense.
TE: Jones and Ardoin are known quantities who return and who have improved over their time at Tulane. William Wallace, a redshirt freshman, was one of our most highly regarded recruits a year ago. Does he look ready to make a contribution? Is Hicks still at TE or has he moved back to WR? Can he contribute or is this his last year?
WR: We return our top four wide receivers from a year ago plus two sophomores who lettered on special teams and the huge (6’5”) Kevin LeDee who redshirted. I’m really interested in LeDee this spring. How does he look? That size would be a huge advantage downfield and around the end zone. Can he contribute? We’ve got some talented freshmen coming in August; current roster guys need to make their mark now.
Special Teams: An obvious disappointment for several years, we probably won’t know a whole lot until the fall. Nonetheless, it should be interesting to see how the Neenan/Glover competition is going prior to the arrival of Stockwell in the fall. We need someone who is deadly inside the 40 and capable out to 55 yards. Do we have that guy? We haven’t since Santos left. As for punting, we know what we have in Block. He has the leg and can boot it plenty far but he has had the tendency to misfire at the most inappropriate moments. We need more consistency in our punting. Again, until Wright arrives in the fall, we probably won’t know where we stand.
Defensive Line- The graduation of Aruna, Wilson, and Washington has left many Tulane fans very concerned about our defensive line that has only Kennedy, Edwards, and Woullard as multi-letter returnees. But the performance of Sample and Patrick Johnson as true freshmen and the signing of six highly talented high-schoolers has improved the outlook somewhat. Lots of questions, however. How do the returning seniors look? What about the two big freshmen? Are they competing for time already? What about DeAndre Williams, Kubiet and Michael Scott? Can they join the rotation this fall? Again, now is the time for current roster guys to establish themselves.
Linebackers- Zach Harris our only truly experience linebacker coming back and he’s suffered more than his share of injuries. Lawrence Graham and Larry Bryant haven’t played much on defense but have experience on special teams. They need to step up. How do they look? What about Moody and the redshirt freshman, Vault? Until the freshmen, La’Dedrick Jackson and Keitha Jones, arrive on campus, we are dangerously thin at this position. Who looks ready to make a serious move for playing time?
Defensive Backs- Two of our biggest losses from last year are clearly Nickerson and Franklin though we return five guys who started at least one game in our five-man nickel backfield. For the spring, I’m interested in who will replace Nickerson. Who is working at the nickel position owned by Franklin? Who are being worked at the two safety positions?
Anyway, like every season, we have many questions. Most won’t be answered until we take the field in regular season play. But, it would be nice to get some “hints” on how things are going during the spring.
Roll Wave!!!
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