Football
Here is my synopsis of the new depth chart…
Quarterback — No suprise here. Chris Jacquemain starts. Matt Rodgers is the backup. The question is: How will J.D. Brookhart use Rodgers, as he has promised he will?
Offensive line — We have known these starters since spring. It's nice to see four redshirt freshmen and three sophomores make the depth chart behind them.
Running back — Alex Allen is the starter. Joe Tuzze is the backup. I like seeing Tuzze get some carries. It appears Brookhart will make Dale Martin, Norman Shuford and DeVoe Torrence earn their carries. If everything works out OK here, it would be fine to redshirt Shuford, in my opinion.
Wide receiver — Andre Jones and Deryn Bowser are Nos. 1 and 2. No doubt about that. We will hear from Jeremy Bruce and Dashan Miller, who will split the third spot. Also, Jeremy LaFrance should get in there. I expected to see Curtis Brown, who is always active in practices. True freshman Anthony Meriwether is Bowser's backup, which is another surprise.
Tight end — Let's see what the redshirt freshman, Rhyne Ladrach, can do. Any production is gravy. Why did Jose Cruz transfer?
Defensive line — Almondo Sewell, Dan Marcoux and James Harvey are the starters. The three-deep, which includes Ryan Bain, is very strong.
Linebacker — I'm surprised to see Sean Fobbs starting over Shawn Lemon, but Lemon is learning a new position. Redshirt freshman Jared Province has pushed Aaron Williams, and that position battle has not been decided. We knew Brian Wagner and Mike Thomas would start.
Secondary — Manley Waller and Miguel Graham will start. If Emmanuel Lartey, Marvase Byrd and Diamond Weaver can improve, it will make for a young, athletic cornerback unit. The battle for the free safety spot is still up for grabs between Wayne Cobham and Jalil Carter. Tyler Campbell is the strong safety. Need more depth here.
Special teams — Dashan Miller and Carter will return kicks. Bruce is the punt returner, with Weaver as his backup. True freshman Adam Steiner immediately takes the role he was born to play as the long snapper. Igor Iveljic and Branko Rogovic are still dueling for the place kicker job.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I wonder if Akron will pull a Bear Bryant and play one of their WRs (or multiple RBs) in the TE position. They have an experienced O-Line so they are not desperate for the extra blocker. They can use a speed player there to get the mismatches in the secondary.
I'm suprised at how much Igor has struggled at Akron. He was rated pretty high among kickers out of high school.
Consistency is a MUST at the D-1 level for kickers, esp. a team that relies on field-goals so often. Is it a lack of concentration? Sloppiness? Or just…not as good as previously billed? I'm pulling for Igor, but he's gotta do better.
The whole TEAM's gotta do better. Please, no more bad football.
Razor where did you play college ball or did you play football.I think Shuf and Devo were clearly the best backs. They were the fastest,the most agile and ran the hadrest.Alex was definitly struggling trying to keep up with them.To Alex's credit he is comming off a bad injury.Dale clearly was not sharp at all, again to his credit he has been injured.Tuzzi is more of a big power back and dosent campare to the other three.All being said I think the zips have a great core of backs.
Clearly, Igor's poor kicking is another direct result of Rasor's Internet sabotage.
Mike, quit interjecting your obvious bias by reporting the teams posted depth chart. Your experience in peewee's doesn't mean you can't look at the chart and see what's between the lines. I expect more balanced guessing and outright invention from your reports.
I've heard we'll be a running team this year using a faux wishbone attack featuring Matt Rodgers as the lead fullback. You can also expect to see some wing formations and possibly the T and wing T. You can take that to the bank!
How about the X-Wing? Or the Tie-Fighter?
Rob; the A-Wing is much more stout, but the B-Wing's low profile is excellent for sneak attacks.
Zips Fan; the only bias that Rasor has is a simple man crush on Rodgers. Other than that he is fair and balanced.
I particularly like this line…"How will J.D. Brookhart use Rodgers, as he has promised he will?" Hmm, pretty sure he just mentioned that Rodgers would be utilized. I don't think he "promised" though if he did, I'm sure you got the promise ring to prove it.