Who/what has stood out in spring ball?

I've been out of the loop this spring. Due to moving out of the state.



So I haven't had the chance to keep up on spring ball.



What has stood out to you guys? Any new young riser impressing coaches, coaches, defense/offense impressing anyone, etc...???



Anything... I don't care. I wanna hear the positives.



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I would say what stand out is how deep we are at most positions. We are truly at a point where most positions are two deep, a luxury byu has not had for some time.

Not only the depth but quality depth, most 1's and 2's are just about equal> Mostly seniority separating them now.

A Freshman tight end who will not even be here in the fall certainly stood out - but is leaving for a mission. Heaps is Heaps. Nelson stood out. Drew Philips did not stand out. Apo would have stood out except the D grabbed him a couple of times and took a PI call instead of a bomb. Jacobsen had a nice game. I read that Uale had a solid game. The OL, with three starters from last year sitting out due to injuries, was pretty solid. Juice, Kariya, and JJ have all been solid. I read that Foote has been opening eyes. WR may be a strength this year even more than they were supposed ot be last year. TE was decentwith 2 emerging and one on injured list. The entire defense has been a pleasant surprise and too many players to name them all stood out, But Van Noy and several other linebackers, several DL, and several DBs all showed that there will be quality players on the bench behind quality players on the field with opportunity to rotate players to keep them fresh. Fangupo is a beast, albeit one that does not like to work hard according to Bronco. Punting will be great. Field Goals are still a bit inconsistent. Kick-offs should be strong. We did not get to see kickoff returns and punt returns in action (at least I did not hear reports of either). Phillips may get a chance to shine there. The coaches are young, enthusiastic, popular, and a bit green particularly Cahoon and to some extent Doman as OC. Bronco is having more fun than ever and optimisim abounds. .

I'm looking forward to seeing what some of these "green" coaches pull out. What they lack in experience they'll make up for in creativity. They'll be open to try some crazy stuff that other more "experienced" coaches would dismiss right out of hand because they think it won't work. Kinda like those greenies out in the mission field :)

I think the fact that we have two USC transfers likely starting on our defense has drawn a lot of attention. Fangupo has been a beast, a real beast in the D-line. Bronco has bene quoted saying that Kaveinga is also the leader on defense. Adding him to play alongside KVN...makes me drool.



Replacing our corners and safeties was a concern but we have serious talent and speed coming in. Also, Mike Hague, yes the running back, has been playing safety and had multiple camp interceptions.



Bronco is also quoted as having said that there are only 4 people in the country who can run routes better than Ben Cahoon, and BYU has an amazing advantage in that he can strap on the cleats and SHOW the receivers how to run a route. he said, Cahoon is BY FAR our best route runner.



One of the RBs told me they noticed a big difference with the backup OL playing and that holes simply aren't there (see Drew Phillips stats in Spring game), but despite that, we've seen several long runs by JJ, Juice, and even Kariya against what looks to be a VERY strong D.

Phillips had the best hit in the spring game. It just happened to be directly into his lead blocker knocking him right to the ground.

hawkwing wrote:
Phillips had the best hit in the spring game. It just happened to be directly into his lead blocker knocking him right to the ground.

That was awesome.

The run defense looked great. They are going to be a major improvement this year from day one. Heaps was not able to move the offense down the field from under center. He did better from the few shotgun formations that were called. The safety Sorenson is a playmaker. The new NT from USC is huge. The offense was a lot less predictable. Riley is a gamer. The tightends are a part of the offense once again. The defense is a head of the offense. Pass protection was good running lanes were non existent.