Football 2008 Prospectus/Depth Charts Out

[zephyr]

_ I sure hope some of our key players add weight in the off season. I know these are the same weights they had last Sept. at the start of the season, so nothing was changed in the spring. But, some of the players on our depth chart have high school size:

DT - 265 lbs. & 253 lbs.
DE - 214 lbs. & 223 lbs.
LB - 210 lbs., 205 lbs., 195 lbs., 198 lbs.
TE - 225 lbs.
C - 256 lbs.
G - 266 lbs.

How do you win in 1A football with players of this size? Fortunately, most of these guys have good height and can handle added weight. I know speed is important, but this borders on the rediculous. I will be very interested to see how these players report in the fall and what our depth chart looks like at that time, when it really matters. _

I have some of the same concerns. I understand what others are saying to refute the size issue but if these guys ran 4.4 in the 40 or had some special skills it wouldn't bother me as much. The problem is that many of these guys are being put into different positions that what they were originally. Some, who may have been at TE may be getting put at OT (Windsor) or Te from WR like Aubrey or LB from SS like Accime etc.... Guys like Fleming have a lot of upside because he has a good blend of skills and his frame will support him getting in the 225 range while still keeping his speed and I think the same holds true for several of these other guys.

The area that size worries me the most is DT and LB. We do seem to be a little thin at both positions and we've gotten blown off the ball for as long as I can remember so I'd like to see some meat eaters get in the middle, sorry Kevin Foote....

[HoustonCajun]

_ I have some of the same concerns. I understand what others are saying to refute the size issue but if these guys ran 4.4 in the 40 or had some special skills it wouldn't bother me as much. The problem is that many of these guys are being put into different positions that what they were originally. Some, who may have been at TE may be getting put at OT (Windsor) or Te from WR like Aubrey or LB from SS like Accime etc.... Guys like Fleming have a lot of upside because he has a good blend of skills and his frame will support him getting in the 225 range while still keeping his speed and I think the same holds true for several of these other guys.

The area that size worries me the most is DT and LB. We do seem to be a little thin at both positions and we've gotten blown off the ball for as long as I can remember so I'd like to see some meat eaters get in the middle, sorry Kevin Foote.... _

I may be more worried about DE. We have never had DE of any size, always around 230 -235 and our defensive line gets pushed around every year. If you look at Boise State, they are pretty balanced accross the front with DE at 265 and 245. We have a 214 and 235 lb. DE. And, remember, we are at the lower end of recruiting nationally and the middle to lower end within the SBC, which puts UL pretty low. So, we are small (light), short on depth and not particularly talented at most positions. Not a good combination for success. How do we overcome that and have a good year, especially given our early scheduling issues? While we have performed well offensively the past 2-3 years, our defense has been horrible and that has lost us a number of games. Glad to see Gerald Broussard now coaching the Defensive Line and a shakeup in who coaches the secondary and linebackers. This is/should be a make or break year for our coaching staff, so our Defensive Coordinator had better pull some rabbits out of his hat.

[zephyr]

_ I may be more worried about DE. We have never had DE of any size, always around 230 -235 and our defensive line gets pushed around every year. If you look at Boise State, they are pretty balanced accross the front with DE at 265 and 245. We have a 214 and 235 lb. DE. And, remember, we are at the lower end of recruiting nationally and the middle to lower end within the SBC, which puts UL pretty low. So, we are small (light), short on depth and not particularly talented at most positions. Not a good combination for success. How do we overcome that and have a good year, especially given our early scheduling issues? While we have performed well offensively the past 2-3 years, our defense has been horrible and that has lost us a number of games. Glad to see Gerald Broussard now coaching the Defensive Line and a shakeup in who coaches the secondary and linebackers. This is/should be a make or break year for our coaching staff, so our Defensive Coordinator had better pull some rabbits out of his hat. _

This has always been a troubled area for me as well since we've always had trouble putting any pressure on the qb and stopping the outside run. However, I think it is a little different right now. We've had decent ends in the recent past and this year we have Terrell Richardson as a sophomore at about 230-235 and he's a beast. He started much of last year and I thought he played quite well. Jeremy Cook has also looked really, really good this spring. He also has about 225-230 weight and I think they will both be really good for the next couple of years. This is not my concern. I'm more concerned with CB actually covering somebody and allowing the DC to actually call some more aggressive plays.

At LB, we need Fleming, Fred Davis and Zanders to get the snaps... I love Burkhalter but he is so limited as to what he can do, especially in the passing D.

[cajunmaniac]

_ I have some of the same concerns. I understand what others are saying to refute the size issue but if these guys ran 4.4 in the 40 or had some special skills it wouldn't bother me as much. The problem is that many of these guys are being put into different positions that what they were originally. Some, who may have been at TE may be getting put at OT (Windsor) or Te from WR like Aubrey or LB from SS like Accime etc.... Guys like Fleming have a lot of upside because he has a good blend of skills and his frame will support him getting in the 225 range while still keeping his speed and I think the same holds true for several of these other guys.

The area that size worries me the most is DT and LB. We do seem to be a little thin at both positions and we've gotten blown off the ball for as long as I can remember so I'd like to see some meat eaters get in the middle, sorry Kevin Foote.... _

First of all, do you even go to the games? Our linebackers are some of the better athletes on the team. I guess your saying that the votes for all-sunbelt were rigged, since 2 of our linebackers recieved all-sunbelt honors?(zanders and flemming) and if you want a linebacker who runs a blazing 5.3 forty, put fred davis in. you think burkhalter can't cover the pass, haha.......The zanders, flemming, burkhalter combo is working fine.

[HoustonCajun]

_ First of all, do you even go to the games? Our linebackers are some of the better athletes on the team. I guess your saying that the votes for all-sunbelt were rigged, since 2 of our linebackers recieved all-sunbelt honors?(zanders and flemming) and if you want a linebacker who runs a blazing 5.3 forty, put fred davis in. you think burkhalter can't cover the pass, haha.......The zanders, flemming, burkhalter combo is working fine. _

Our LBs may be pretty good, but our D Line has not been. Too light and slow and no pass rush. We played well enough offensively last year to win more games, but our defense sucked. We may be even smaller this year. We need better size balance on the D Line. For that matter, some of our O linemen are light as well. Our projected starting Right Guard is only 266 lbs. That is rediculous. Many of our other linemen are at 280. I will be curious to see what kind of weight these guys put on in the offseason. Size alone doesn't mean anything, but questionable talent and no size is not a good combination.

[zephyr]

_ First of all, do you even go to the games? Our linebackers are some of the better athletes on the team. I guess your saying that the votes for all-sunbelt were rigged, since 2 of our linebackers recieved all-sunbelt honors?(zanders and flemming) and if you want a linebacker who runs a blazing 5.3 forty, put fred davis in. you think burkhalter can't cover the pass, haha.......The zanders, flemming, burkhalter combo is working fine. _

I go to every single one of them and certainly don't think I should be questioned by you. Burkhalter aside, I do think our LB's are decent athletes but that doesn't always translate into making good football plays. Burkhalter does not have the footwork or the speed to play in any pass situations which is why you saw his playing time dwindle last year. We had to run zone the majority of the time due to lack of speed and still got burned. The only reason our Pass D numbers weren't worse is because people were too busy running the ball on us.

[CajunNation]

Guys.

The thing that will save this defense, this season, from breaking some rather dubious school records is the fact that we can run the clock when we have the ball with Fenroy and Desmo keeping our defense off of the field.

[cajunmaniac]

_ I go to every single one of them and certainly don't think I should be questioned by you. Burkhalter aside, I do think our LB's are decent athletes but that doesn't always translate into making good football plays. Burkhalter does not have the footwork or the speed to play in any pass situations which is why you saw his playing time dwindle last year. We had to run zone the majority of the time due to lack of speed and still got burned. The only reason our Pass D numbers weren't worse is because people were too busy running the ball on us. _

Ok, i know you go to the games. i wasn't being literal. i agree with you, about burkhalter's footwork and i would much rather have 6 DB's when we get passed on, but we can't do that bc of our DB's inability to make open field tackles, with the exception of Keyes. Zanders and Burkhalter are prob. the 2 best open field tacklers on the D. The thing is, we need more speed at mlb. Burkhalter is good on the run....but bottom line is he can't keep up with recievers. You know what I would like to see.....A 4-4 defense with Zanders, Fleming, Burkhalter, and Vance. I don't know why Johnathan Vance hasn't been getting much playing time......he is an athlete and if we are going to run a zone, i think a 4-4 would give us a better chance.

[cajun4life]

Ok, i know you go to the games. i wasn't being literal. i agree with you, about burkhalter's footwork and i would much rather have 6 DB's when we get passed on, but we can't do that bc of our DB's inability to make open field tackles, with the exception of Keyes. Zanders and Burkhalter are prob. the 2 best open field tacklers on the D. The thing is, we need more speed at mlb. Burkhalter is good on the run....but bottom line is he can't keep up with recievers. You know what I would like to see.....A 4-4 defense with Zanders, Fleming, Burkhalter, and Vance. I don't know why Johnathan Vance hasn't been getting much playing time......he is an athlete and if we are going to run a zone, i think a 4-4 would give us a better chance.

You will see a lot more of Fred Davis at MLB and Daylon McCoy playing a hybrid type linebacker. Davis will eventually replace Burkhalter at MLB he is much more gifted athletically.