Stanford @ Northwestern

[Cardinal_2001]

Hi everyone!

Stanford fan and alumnus here. We are looking forward to the game in Evanston which is (finally) only about two weeks away. Many of us have reviewed what has been written concerning this year's Northwestern team, but if they are anything like several of the articles that are written about Stanford, it is full of shallow commentary that was most likely gleaned by consulting a team's depth chart and the team's previous season record; hardly something most would call analysis. So, I am coming to you to hear from those who are passionate and more well-informed concerning the dynamics of player performance during the spring and summer understanding both the strengths and weakness of their team. Please, feel free to ask me any questions concerning the Stanford team. I will provide all I know.

What is your QB situation? I have read that Thorson is most comfortable passing the ball, but honestly do not know other responsibilities that are placed on the QB within your offensive system.

Who would you consider the biggest receiving threats? Is the threat more deep and go routes or more reliant on quick short passes?

How is your offensive line? With two spots to fill, are the replacements a source of confidence or is there concern over the ability for the line to operate effectively as a unit for week one of the season?

The defensive line and secondary appear to be the most senior laden groups. What are their strengths/weaknesses?

After losing two very good linebackers in Ariguzo and Hall, do you feel confident in the rising linebackers ability to maintain the unit's tackling prowess? Are they better run blockers or pass coverage?

Stanford fans are experiencing a great deal of angst around our special teams play this year both punting and kicking. We lost both specialist last year, and what we saw during spring game and open practice has not been promising. Both have been critical considering our strategy has been to shoulder the weight of the game on our defense the last few years. Hopefully, a pair of true freshmen specialist prove to be able to handle the job. How do things look in this area of your game?

 

[NJCat83588]

What is your QB situation? I have read that Thorson is most comfortable passing the ball, but honestly do not know other responsibilities that are placed on the QB within your offensive system. Ideally, the QB is extremely accurate in a ball control spread and can run. Thomson and Alviti are more suited than Oliver. None of them have any significant experience and starting against Stanford is not a recipe for success.

Who would you consider the biggest receiving threats? Is the threat more deep and go routes or more reliant on quick short passes? Christian Jones is the best receiver, but coming off an ACL and subsequent micro fracture surgery. Dan Vitale is a possession guy at TE. Generally a short passing game, drinks and dunks. Receivers are the second weakest unit after OLine.

How is your offensive line? With two spots to fill, are the replacements a source of confidence or is there concern over the ability for the line to operate effectively as a unit for week one of the season? The weakest unit on the team. New starters at almost every position: LT, LG, C, and RG. Doubt they will be cohesive in week 1.

The defensive line and secondary appear to be the most senior laden groups. What are their strengths/weaknesses? Strong cover corners, good tackling safeties. Good depth at DE. Weak at stopping the run or rushing the passer. Big issue against Stanford.

After losing two very good linebackers in Ariguzo and Hall, do you feel confident in the rising linebackers ability to maintain the unit's tackling prowess? Are they better run blockers or pass coverage? MLB and one OLB are returning guys with experience. The other OLB will be brand new. Question mark for sure.

Stanford fans are experiencing a great deal of angst around our special teams play this year both punting and kicking. We lost both specialist last year, and what we saw during spring game and open practice has not been promising. Both have been critical considering our strategy has been to shoulder the weight of the game on our defense the last few years. Hopefully, a pair of true freshmen specialist prove to be able to handle the job. How do things look in this area of your game? Punting was pathetic last season. New punter this year kicked at the end of last as was OK but nothing special. Place kicker is a baseball player who is also average. But he did kick a game winning FG @ND last season to beat the irish in South Bend! Kickoff returners are OK. Punt returns are a disaster. NU returned only 10 punts all season last year, preferring to let the ball hit the ground and roll for an additional 10-15 yards.

 

[TheC]

What is your QB situation? I have read that Thorson is most comfortable passing the ball, but honestly do not know other responsibilities that are placed on the QB within your offensive system. Ideally, the QB is extremely accurate in a ball control spread and can run. Thomson and Alviti are more suited than Oliver. None of them have any significant experience and starting against Stanford is not a recipe for success.

Who would you consider the biggest receiving threats? Is the threat more deep and go routes or more reliant on quick short passes? Christian Jones is the best receiver, but coming off an ACL and subsequent micro fracture surgery. Dan Vitale is a possession guy at TE. Generally a short passing game, drinks and dunks. Receivers are the second weakest unit after OLine.

How is your offensive line? With two spots to fill, are the replacements a source of confidence or is there concern over the ability for the line to operate effectively as a unit for week one of the season? The weakest unit on the team. New starters at almost every position: LT, LG, C, and RG. Doubt they will be cohesive in week 1.

The defensive line and secondary appear to be the most senior laden groups. What are their strengths/weaknesses? Strong cover corners, good tackling safeties. Good depth at DE. Weak at stopping the run or rushing the passer. Big issue against Stanford.

After losing two very good linebackers in Ariguzo and Hall, do you feel confident in the rising linebackers ability to maintain the unit's tackling prowess? Are they better run blockers or pass coverage? MLB and one OLB are returning guys with experience. The other OLB will be brand new. Question mark for sure.

Stanford fans are experiencing a great deal of angst around our special teams play this year both punting and kicking. We lost both specialist last year, and what we saw during spring game and open practice has not been promising. Both have been critical considering our strategy has been to shoulder the weight of the game on our defense the last few years. Hopefully, a pair of true freshmen specialist prove to be able to handle the job. How do things look in this area of your game? Punting was pathetic last season. New punter this year kicked at the end of last as was OK but nothing special. Place kicker is a baseball player who is also average. But he did kick a game winning FG @ND last season to beat the irish in South Bend! Kickoff returners are OK. Punt returns are a disaster. NU returned only 10 punts all season last year, preferring to let the ball hit the ground and roll for an additional 10-15 yards.

Jeez.... we may lose by 70 points!!

 

[Cardiacagoan]

Jeez.... we may lose by 70 points!!

I thought the same thing

 

[Cardiacagoan]

I thought the same thing

but it's a very well written summary of the team.

 

[EasternBlocCat]

It might be negative but you can't argue its accuracy.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

It might be negative but you can't argue its accuracy.

Lots of uncertainty. Lots of upside.

 

[NUCat320]

What is your QB situation? I have read that Thorson is most comfortable passing the ball, but honestly do not know other responsibilities that are placed on the QB within your offensive system. Ideally, the QB is extremely accurate in a ball control spread and can run. Thomson and Alviti are more suited than Oliver. None of them have any significant experience and starting against Stanford is not a recipe for success.

Who would you consider the biggest receiving threats? Is the threat more deep and go routes or more reliant on quick short passes? Christian Jones is the best receiver, but coming off an ACL and subsequent micro fracture surgery. Dan Vitale is a possession guy at TE. Generally a short passing game, drinks and dunks. Receivers are the second weakest unit after OLine.

How is your offensive line? With two spots to fill, are the replacements a source of confidence or is there concern over the ability for the line to operate effectively as a unit for week one of the season? The weakest unit on the team. New starters at almost every position: LT, LG, C, and RG. Doubt they will be cohesive in week 1.

The defensive line and secondary appear to be the most senior laden groups. What are their strengths/weaknesses? Strong cover corners, good tackling safeties. Good depth at DE. Weak at stopping the run or rushing the passer. Big issue against Stanford.

After losing two very good linebackers in Ariguzo and Hall, do you feel confident in the rising linebackers ability to maintain the unit's tackling prowess? Are they better run blockers or pass coverage? MLB and one OLB are returning guys with experience. The other OLB will be brand new. Question mark for sure.

Stanford fans are experiencing a great deal of angst around our special teams play this year both punting and kicking. We lost both specialist last year, and what we saw during spring game and open practice has not been promising. Both have been critical considering our strategy has been to shoulder the weight of the game on our defense the last few years. Hopefully, a pair of true freshmen specialist prove to be able to handle the job. How do things look in this area of your game? Punting was pathetic last season. New punter this year kicked at the end of last as was OK but nothing special. Place kicker is a baseball player who is also average. But he did kick a game winning FG @ND last season to beat the irish in South Bend! Kickoff returners are OK. Punt returns are a disaster. NU returned only 10 punts all season last year, preferring to let the ball hit the ground and roll for an additional 10-15 yards.

NJ, an offseason has made me forget entirely about the punt return strategy - in a manner of speaking, NU punts on punt returns. Fear of mistakes, lack of trust (either in catching the ball, or in not-roughing).

Didn't NU take one to the house last year? I feel like Penn State or Wisconsin had a long one to set up an early score, and then maybe a touchdown against Purdue?

 

[NJCat83588]

NJ, an offseason has made me forget entirely about the punt return strategy - in a manner of speaking, NU punts on punt returns. Fear of mistakes, lack of trust (either in catching the ball, or in not-roughing).

Didn't NU take one to the house last year? I feel like Penn State or Wisconsin had a long one to set up an early score, and then maybe a touchdown against Purdue?

I was wrong about punt returns. NU had 9, not 10. Tony Jones returned one 64 yards for a TD. Miles Shuler had a 42 yarder. The other 7 returns gained 30 net yards.

 

[DonatelloCat]

It might be negative but you can't argue its accuracy.

well, if you want to get picky . . . you could argue about accuracy when it comes to "thomson" but i think we all know what was intended.

 

[Cardinal_2001]

Quick summary of Stanford's Offense:

The offense is full of returning experienced players who did not mesh well until late last season. Last year, we had 4 new OL starters, new TEs, new starting RBs, and a QB who was dealing with a dying father. All contributed significantly to the offense's struggles in 2014, but some of the blame should be shared by the coaches play calling. The tendency was to force the ball to our star player, Ty Montgomery. We also became too predictable when we substituted role players; it drove the fans mad! When Montgomery was injured for the last three games, the coaches opened up the playbook to all possibilities leading to a revival of the offenses ability to score 30+ points a game. In 2015, we expect a more balanced offense that picks up where we left off last year. Our bread-n-butter will still remain the power run.

QB: Hogan R-Sr, 4th year starting -- very good deep ball with an odd throwing motion, athletic and not afraid to run with the ball, accurate and efficient. Struggles at times when he decides pre-snap who he wants to receive the pass; tends to stare at intended target but that improved greatly towards end of last season.

RB: Wright R-Sr, Sanders R-Jr, McCaffrey So -- all are interchangeable with no specific role although Wright is a better power runner and Sanders is better running outside the tackles. Christian McCaffrey has Heisman potential; incredible balance, strong, and quick.

(Edit - forgot about this position)
FB: Marx So (Williams Fr) -- we lost our starting FB to the NFL and our other one wanted more touches so transferred to Georgia Tech for his graduate year to be their B-back. We are left with one option who was used more in short yardage situations than our traditional man-mover for the RB. He has the size to take on LBs but we haven't seen him in that role yet. More than likely we will use a reserve guard in this position when we need a man-moving FB verses a versatile runner/pass catcher/blocking FB. This is the biggest question mark on our offense.

WR: Cajuste R-Sr, Rector Sr, Owusu Jr, Stallworth R-Sr -- Each is over 6 feet tall, so match-ups tend to be an issue for shorter DBs. Rector and Owusu are burners with 4.4 40 speed.

TE: Hooper R-So, Shultz R-Fr, Taboada R-So, Cotton R-So -- We LOVE tight ends and rotate them frequently. All of them can block and catch extremely well. They tend to create significant issues for linebackers whose pass coverage skills are lacking. Hooper and Shultz have All-American potential.

OT: Murphy Sr, TBD (Tucker R-Fr, Bright R-So) -- Murphy started at RT last year where he was an All-Conference player, but played LT since he was in high school. RT position is still a battle with the two names above. Both received playing time last year in our 7 or 8 linemen sets, so neither can be considered truly green. Tucker played at LT when our starter went out for a few plays for a minor injury. Either has All-Conference potential. Neither show many weaknesses individually, but the possibility of two new starters on the right side of the line may lead to miscommunication.

OG: Garnett Sr, TBD (Caspers R-Jr, Fanaika R-Fr) -- Garnett is mean and athletic for his size with no obvious weakness; better run blocker than pass pro in my opinion. The combination of Garnett and Murphy on the left side of the line provides excellent blindside pass protection. At RG, Caspers started last year and was solid by the middle of the season. Fanaika went on a Mormon mission before arriving to Stanford, so although he is a R-Fr, he is actually 21-22 years old which is apparent when you look at him. The 300+ pound Fanaika has impressed with his ability to move opponents with ease. If he wins the starting position, the right side of the line becomes the weak point with two new starters.

C: Schuler R-Jr, solid communicator who started last year. He is the captain of the line, but does have a tendency to snap the ball a tad high on shotgun formations.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Quick summary of Stanford's Offense:

The offense is full of returning experienced players who did not mesh well until late last season. Last year, we had 4 new OL starters, new TEs, new starting RBs, and a QB who was dealing with a dying father. All contributed significantly to the offense's struggles in 2014, but some of the blame should be shared by the coaches play calling. The tendency was to force the ball to our star player, Ty Montgomery. We also became too predictable when we substituted role players; it drove the fans mad! When Montgomery was injured for the last three games, the coaches opened up the playbook to all possibilities leading to a revival of the offenses ability to score 30+ points a game. In 2015, we expect a more balanced offense that picks up where we left off last year. Our bread-n-butter will still remain the power run.

QB: Hogan R-Sr, 4th year starting -- very good deep ball with an odd throwing motion, athletic and not afraid to run with the ball, accurate and efficient. Struggles at times when he decides pre-snap who he wants to receive the pass; tends to stare at intended target but that improved greatly towards end of last season.

RB: Wright R-Sr, Sanders R-Jr, McCaffrey So -- all are interchangeable with no specific role although Wright is a better power runner and Sanders is better running outside the tackles. Christian McCaffrey has Heisman potential; incredible balance, strong, and quick.

WR: Cajuste R-Sr, Rector Sr, Owusu Jr, Stallworth R-Sr -- Each is over 6 feet tall, so match-ups tend to be an issue for shorter DBs. Rector and Owusu are burners with 4.4 40 speed.

TE: Hooper R-So, Shultz R-Fr, Taboada R-So, Cotton R-So -- We LOVE tight ends and rotate them frequently. All of them can block and catch extremely well. They tend to create significant issues for linebackers whose pass coverage are lacking. Hooper and Shultz have All-American potential.

OT: Murphy Sr, TBD (Tucker R-Fr, Bright R-So) -- Murphy started at RT last year where he was an All-Conference player, but played LT since he was in high school. RT position is still a battle with the two names above. Both received playing time last year in our 7 or 8 linemen sets, so neither can be considered truly green. Tucker played at LT when our starter went out for a few plays for a minor injury. Either has All-Conference potential. Neither show many weaknesses individually, but the possibility of two new starters on the right side of the line may lead to miscommunication.

OG: Garnett Sr, TBD (Caspers R-Jr, Fanaika R-Fr) -- Garnett is mean and athletic for his size with no obvious weakness; better run blocker than pass pro in my opinion. The combination of Garnett and Murphy on the left side of the line provides excellent blindside pass protection. At RG, Caspers started last year and was solid by the middle of the season. Fanaika went on a Mormon mission before arriving to Stanford, so although he is a R-Fr, he is actually 21-22 years old which is apparent when you look at him. The 300+ pound Fanaika has impressed with his ability to move opponents with ease. If he wins the starting position, the right side of the line becomes the weak point with two new starters.

C: Schuler R-Jr, solid communicator who started last year. He is the captain of the line, but does have a tendency to snap the ball a tad high on shotgun formations.

Geez, after reading this we may now lose by 80!

 

[Turk]

Hi everyone!

Stanford fan and alumnus here. We are looking forward to the game in Evanston which is (finally) only about two weeks away. Many of us have reviewed what has been written concerning this year's Northwestern team, but if they are anything like several of the articles that are written about Stanford, it is full of shallow commentary that was most likely gleaned by consulting a team's depth chart and the team's previous season record; hardly something most would call analysis. So, I am coming to you to hear from those who are passionate and more well-informed concerning the dynamics of player performance during the spring and summer understanding both the strengths and weakness of their team. Please, feel free to ask me any questions concerning the Stanford team. I will provide all I know.

What is your QB situation? I have read that Thorson is most comfortable passing the ball, but honestly do not know other responsibilities that are placed on the QB within your offensive system. Thorson wont' be comfortable, he will be learning. He may be our starter but we will definitely play two QB's, and not just for trick plays. Thorson is a specimen but you guys are simply catching him at the right time. He can run, he can pass, the big question is experience. Alviti is a solid leader and will get solid minutes in this game. His arm isn't as strong as Thorson's but he knows the offensive system better and is quicker with his running. Both of these QB's can beat you IF we are not way behind and our offensive coordinator isn't forced to depend upon them to play outside of what their lack of experience can bring. Advantage Stanford

Who would you consider the biggest receiving threats? Cam Dickerson. He is big and tough to go down. Last year he had a tender hand all year from a serious injury early on. THe previous year we saw the real Cam Dickerson and his clutch catches against OSU, etc. Christian Jones will not be ready. Vitale will most likely be the most productive. He is a solid athletic TE type.
A true freshman, Jelani Roberts may scorch you. Nuff Said. Is the threat more deep and go routes or more reliant on quick short passes? I don't think fly patterns will be what beats you. If we are successful, it will be in the short game. We have solid blocking wr's and we have quick as hell guys who can catch the ball. Vault is the real deal and will have a good game.

How is your offensive line? Needs serious work. Think C-
With two spots to fill, are the replacements a source of confidence or is there concern over the ability for the line to operate effectively as a unit for week one of the season? I don't believe there will be any drop off, so take what we had last year and tweak it up one notch, but that's not saying much.

The defensive line and secondary appear to be the most senior laden groups. What are their strengths/weaknesses? You will not run on our DL. Period. The weakness is that they can't get to the QB. The wildcard will be how many plays #7 plays. He put on some poundage this year. Think Gregory from Nebraska. You will NOT be able to block him on passing downs, the problem is that he was a non factor on rush downs when people ran right at him, BUT, like I said, he put on some serious weight this year....looks like a lot of muscle. Nuff said.

After losing two very good linebackers in Ariguzo and Hall, do you feel confident in the rising linebackers ability to maintain the unit's tackling prowess? We have the best Linebacker at NU since I have been a NU fan back in 1995. Ok, maybe Fitz was better. Anthony Walker. A beast who has a nose for the ball much like Chris Spielman did back in the day. He will own NU's TFL record when he leaves, presuming he plays his senior year. Don't be misled by his stats. He only started 6 or 7 games but had 9 TFL's. Really came on last year with 5.5 TFL's in his last 3 games. Also, has great pass defense and has hands like Randy Moss. If he nabs an INT, he knows where to go as he avg about 50 yards per INT. Never mind his PBU's.
Drew Smith is a speciman who makes plays. Our weakspot is our other outside spot. None of us know who it will be but I think a palyer named Jones.
Are they better run blockers or pass coverage? It all starts with Walker. Both/and.

Stanford fans are experiencing a great deal of angst around our special teams play this year both punting and kicking. We lost both specialist last year, and what we saw during spring game and open practice has not been promising. Both have been critical considering our strategy has been to shoulder the weight of the game on our defense the last few years. Hopefully, a pair of true freshmen specialist prove to be able to handle the job. How do things look in this area of your game?

We will burn a true freshman's shirt, i.e., Jelani Roberts. 4 months ago he ran one of the top 55 meter times in all of the nation and is only 5'7" and can stop on a dime. If he doesn't take 3 or 4 to the house this year, then it will only be because our other returner, Vault, is also good. Our FG kicker is solid, kickoffs will also go in the endzone. Punting is up for grabs although our punter had all the gold stars coming in.

 

[Cardinal_2001]

Quick summary of Stanford's Defense:

We run a 3-4 that focuses on stopping the run first, then defending the pass. Given the nature of several spread teams in the Pac12, we are often in a nickel defense subbing out our nose tackle and moving our DEs to 3-techniques. The pass rush has been a strong point for several years with last year totaling 46 sacks. Tackles-for-loss is also a stat the defense has been known for but may suffer due to attrition and inexperience. The defense last year was ranked 2nd in scoring defense, but lost the starting NT, both DEs, 1 CB, both Safeties, 1 OLB and 1 ILB.

FS/SS: Llyod Rs-Jr, Whitfield Rs-So, TBD (Simmons Rs-Fr, Franklin Rs-Fr) -- Llyod was recruited as an athlete, he was a dual-threat QB with a handful of read-option plays. The lack of game reps lead to the position switch. Showed well at the position last year and was probably aided by his knowledge and experience at QB but did not see significant playing time . Whitfield also changed positions from WR. He has incredible hands but found himself lower on the depth chart than he preferred. He has great ball instincts but has not seen much playing time either. Huge question mark here. A few true freshmen have a chance to see playing time.

CB/Nickel: Harris Rs-Sr, Alexander So, (Holder Rs-Fr, Murphy Rs-Fr) -- Harris won the starting role halfway through the season and is the captain of the secondary. Solid coverage and run support. Alexander was our starting Nickel player as a true freshmen with lockdown ability and great open space tackling. There is positive buzz around both Holder and Murphy but nothing seen yet. More questions marks here especially around depth and in nickel/dime sets.

ILB: Martinez Rs-Jr, Palma Rs-So (Perez Rs-Fr, Jones Rs-So walkon) -- Martinez, all conference honorable mention, is the captain of the front seven and was second in total tackles last year. Excellent nose for the football and great in coverage with a few interceptions. Palma has not seen much playing time. The presumed ILB was injured this offseason, so this is Palma's chance. Perez seems to have more fight than Palma but is smaller. Jones is always in the right spot and reads offenses very well.

OLB: Kalambayi Rs-So, Anderson Rs-Sr (Alfieri rs-Fr, Kaumatule Sr) -- There is little concern at this position. Both Kalambayi and Anderson have either started or seen plenty of playing time. Pass rushing and setting the edge will not be an issue with either of these two all conference players. Kaumatule has shuffled from TE to DE to OLB in passing situations. Great motor and very strong.

DE: Thomas Rs-Fr, Scarlett Rs-Sr (Watkins Rs-Jr) -- Thomas was one of the most highly recruited DEs in his recruiting class but hasn't seen real action having red shirted last year. Scarlett is a graduate transfer (Cal) who has performed very well when healthy, but suffers from a injury streak. Although, he played for our rival for his undergraduate years, he never played versus Stanford due to injury. Watkins has not seen significant playing time. Hopeful at this position, but depth is problem. The fact that we are in nickel often helps mitigate issues around depth.

NT/DE: Shittu Sr, Phillips So -- We do not have a true fire hydrant NT this year, but both these players saw time at that position and performed well. Shittu was injured early in the season which caused the staff to burn Phillips' red shirt. He was a bit small for NT at 255 lbs, but was a state champion from Nebraska in wrestling which probably helped him maintain leverage. He has beefed up to 278. Both Shittu and Phillips have position flexibility and are set to have a great year. Excellent run stoppers and occupying multiple blockers on the pass.

 

[PZAZ]

Now it looks like we'll lose by 90 - perhaps even hit the century mark.

 

[pawildcat]

It might be negative but you can't argue its accuracy.

Well, actually we have little way to know whether it's accurate or not. This is not the same team as last year.

 

[shakes3858]

Cardinal, many people on this board have become extremely negative about the program and the player's ability.and the coaching staff. Two 5-7 seasons will do that you. The biggest issue in the past two seasons has been injuries. We went into a winner gets a bowl game/loser doesn't scenario against Illinois last year and lost. That is the last taste in our mouth. While you have to win that game, it's pretty difficult when you have 38 scholarship players active. One injury was to our #1 WR Christian Jones about a week before the season. On top of that RB and All-American Venric Mark was suspended due to violation of team rules, then had an academic issue that would've side lined him longer and choose to transfer a week before the season. As such, we lost our 2 greatest offensive weapons.

On top of that, the past 2 seasons have been marked by the All Players United and Union Movement. My understanding is that divided the team and in many cases it was due to players come from families of different financial backgrounds having different feelings to unionization. On top of that, Fitz has talked about the overall immaturity especially on the offensive side of the ball especially with the WRs. That divided the team offense vs defense as well. You take all the injuries and add the complete lack of team chemistry, you get what we got which was 5-7. Will this team be better? We would all like to know.

QB: It's a 3 man battle. 5th year Zac Oliver played a little last year. One game was vs Illinois as I talked about above. He was missing a lot of his targets and played terrible. I'm not ready to write him off, but many are. He's a big guy with a cannon, but I don't think he fits the offense as he's not a real running threat. RS Sophomore Matt Alviti is the best runner of the group. He played in some "change up" duty last year. Siemian had multiple lower body injuries last year and wasn't a runner to begin with so Alviti popped into a few games. RS Freshman Clayton Thorson seems to be the favorite on this board (in part because we haven't seen him play so he must better than the 5-7 guys). He can run and play some WR in high school. He also has a good arm and I'm excited to see him. Nobody here knows what to expect from the QB position. The offensive game plan will most likely change based off of who is in the game. If it's Alviti, I think we'll see something more of the zone read heavy offense we saw with Colter. If it's Oliver, we'll see more of the passing game like with Siemian. Thorson might be able to do it all... or he might be able to do neither well.

RB: This is the offensive strength. Justin Jackson was a stud coming out of high school. 45 carries and 350+ yard games were the norm for his HS career. He played DB too. Really humble kid too. He called himself not that big and not that fast. He said he gets yards by using his vision and wiggle. He stepped in where we thought Mark would be and had over 1000. On top of that, we have Warren Long who will be the power back. Austin Anderson and Solomon Vault are speed guys and would be great on option plays. We saw in 2012 with Venric Mark and speed guy can be great up the middle with a quick burst sending them through the LBs with a small hole. I'd like to see one move to the Slot WR postion.

WR: Well, it's been a mess for awhile now. Many on the board are calling for the WRs coaches head, but it didn't happen. We had maturity issues according to Fitz.
Christian Jones: Good WR. Will play on the outside and has been outstanding. Fear is he's coming off an ACL injury and has had knee problems in the past.
Miles Shuler: Great straight line track speed. Doesn't seem to play fast. Also has very questionable hands. He was moved from the slot to the outside. Some think it's a great move. I don't understand it, but there's lots about football I don't know. He's coming off an injury too to I believe a hand or wrist.
Cameron Dickerson: He had a big case of the drops last year. I think 6 against CAL alone. He broke his hand in spring of 2014. I don't know if that caused his drops, but it certainly didn't help. With time to heal, he could be a weapon.
After that, we have a bunch of guys that had less than 10 catches last season or were in HS or redshirting. Who's going to step up and what can they do? I don't know.... maybe Fitz does. Did the WRs grow up in the offseason? Who progressed?

TE: We actually call them superbacks. It's a combo WR/FB/TE position. Dan Vitale is big fast and is more of threat as a receiver. He'll be a true senior and was the #1 SB for the previous 3 years. Has over 100 receptions and 1000 yards in his career. Garrett Dickerson will be a true sophomore and showed flashes of why he was recruited by the likes of Alabama, Ohio State, and Florida State. He's bigger than Vitale and plays in line more.

Oline: They struggled last 2 seasons a lot. They never gelled. Position battles never got resolved. Our QBs got murdered and dealt with injuries. It was a pretty huge mess. I can go position by position, but I don't think that'll tell you anything. We need to get better here is the bottom line. Are players stepping up in the offseason? Are they rebuilding their bodies? I don't know, I haven't seen him. One guy I do want to bring up is Shane Mertz. He's been injured for 4 years now and was playing tackle. He's 6-8 and is listed at 305, but I'm guessing is far bigger. They moved him inside to guard. That supposedly will help against big DTs.

Offense Bottom line: If you know what to expect from the offense, that makes one of us. We could really see anything based on the QB in the game and the player development.

DE: This is an veteran group of guys that have 1 of everything. Dean Lowery is a huge DE that can play all over the line. He can get to the passer and stop the run. Deonte Gibson was a guy who played tough through injuries last season. Odenigbo is a pure pass rusher. Xavier Washington was a surprise as a true freshman. Max Chapman is a highly respect guy in the locker room. Not the most flashy guy with physical tough, but he gets the job done. He'll be wearing #1 which goes to the team's biggest blue collar, bring your lunch pale to work every day type.

DT: Kuhar is coming off a torn ACL. McEvilly has had foot injuries that sidelined him for 2 seasons, and decided it was best to retire. That should've been our 2 starters. CJ Robbins will be 1 DT that's starting. The other? Maybe Kuhar, maybe a younger guy.... which have all had injury issues. I'm concerned. Fitz isn't and has praised them in press conferences and said he has lots of options.

LB: We actually lost all 3 linebackers. Collin Ellis's career ended due to concussions last season. Anthony Walker stepped in and had some big games stats wise. Fitz knocked him down from the pedestal and claimed he made a lot of errors as young players often do. He's solid though and will have 1 spot locked up. The other two spots? Anyone's guess. Drew Smith most likely will have one. He played some reserve duty last year. Jaylen Prater may be the other. We have some young guys coming up as well that have gotten mentioned by the coaches. Can't tell you much about anyone other than Walker. I think we'll be fine here though if the DTs can keep them clean.

CBs: Possibly the best position with DEs. Nick VanHoose is a 4 year starter. He's just downright solid and was 2nd team all big ten. 3 blocked kicks last year. Matt Harris has the other side. Most on this board think he's better than VanHoose. There are lots of young guys fighting for the back up jobs.

Safety: The 2 starters are Traeveon Henry and Godwin Igwebuike. Henry is a 4 year starter. He was a huge hitter in run support, but took some weight off to work on his speed and coverage ability. He's the guy I'd want to fight the least. Godwin is a great athlete. 3 picks last season against Wisconsin. Has good ball skills. He played in relief duty when injuries occurred at safety. Kyle Quiero played at Safety too and did pretty well. We've got 3 guys here for sure and several more that are ready to go from what I hear.

Defense bottom line: We'll be good. Need to work on getting all the way to the QB instead of almost to him. DT are a concern due to the injury factor, but if Fitz is being truthful, we're ready to go on defense.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Cardinal, many people on this board have become extremely negative about the program and the player's ability.and the coaching staff. Two 5-7 seasons will do that you. The biggest issue in the past two seasons has been injuries. We went into a winner gets a bowl game/loser doesn't scenario against Illinois last year and lost. That is the last taste in our mouth. While you have to win that game, it's pretty difficult when you have 38 scholarship players active. One injury was to our #1 WR Christian Jones about a week before the season. On top of that RB and All-American Venric Mark was suspended due to violation of team rules, then had an academic issue that would've side lined him longer and choose to transfer a week before the season. As such, we lost our 2 greatest offensive weapons.

On top of that, the past 2 seasons have been marked by the All Players United and Union Movement. My understanding is that divided the team and in many cases it was due to players come from families of different financial backgrounds having different feelings to unionization. On top of that, Fitz has talked about the overall immaturity especially on the offensive side of the ball especially with the WRs. That divided the team offense vs defense as well. You take all the injuries and add the complete lack of team chemistry, you get what we got which was 5-7. Will this team be better? We would all like to know.

QB: It's a 3 man battle. 5th year Zac Oliver played a little last year. One game was vs Illinois as I talked about above. He was missing a lot of his targets and played terrible. I'm not ready to write him off, but many are. He's a big guy with a cannon, but I don't think he fits the offense as he's not a real running threat. RS Sophomore Matt Alviti is the best runner of the group. He played in some "change up" duty last year. Siemian had multiple lower body injuries last year and wasn't a runner to begin with so Alviti popped into a few games. RS Freshman Clayton Thorson seems to be the favorite on this board (in part because we haven't seen him play so he must better than the 5-7 guys). He can run and play some WR in high school. He also has a good arm and I'm excited to see him. Nobody here knows what to expect from the QB position. The offensive game plan will most likely change based off of who is in the game. If it's Alviti, I think we'll see something more of the zone read heavy offense we saw with Colter. If it's Oliver, we'll see more of the passing game like with Siemian. Thorson might be able to do it all... or he might be able to do neither well.

RB: This is the offensive strength. Justin Jackson was a stud coming out of high school. 45 carries and 350+ yard games were the norm for his HS career. He played DB too. Really humble kid too. He called himself not that big and not that fast. He said he gets yards by using his vision and wiggle. He stepped in where we thought Mark would be and had over 1000. On top of that, we have Warren Long who will be the power back. Austin Anderson and Solomon Vault are speed guys and would be great on option plays. We saw in 2012 with Venric Mark and speed guy can be great up the middle with a quick burst sending them through the LBs with a small hole. I'd like to see one move to the Slot WR postion.

WR: Well, it's been a mess for awhile now. Many on the board are calling for the WRs coaches head, but it didn't happen. We had maturity issues according to Fitz.
Christian Jones: Good WR. Will play on the outside and has been outstanding. Fear is he's coming off an ACL injury and has had knee problems in the past.
Miles Shuler: Great straight line track speed. Doesn't seem to play fast. Also has very questionable hands. He was moved from the slot to the outside. Some think it's a great move. I don't understand it, but there's lots about football I don't know. He's coming off an injury too to I believe a hand or wrist.
Cameron Dickerson: He had a big case of the drops last year. I think 6 against CAL alone. He broke his hand in spring of 2014. I don't know if that caused his drops, but it certainly didn't help. With time to heal, he could be a weapon.
After that, we have a bunch of guys that had less than 10 catches last season or were in HS or redshirting. Who's going to step up and what can they do? I don't know.... maybe Fitz does. Did the WRs grow up in the offseason? Who progressed?

TE: We actually call them superbacks. It's a combo WR/FB/TE position. Dan Vitale is big fast and is more of threat as a receiver. He'll be a true senior and was the #1 SB for the previous 3 years. Has over 100 receptions and 1000 yards in his career. Garrett Dickerson will be a true sophomore and showed flashes of why he was recruited by the likes of Alabama, Ohio State, and Florida State. He's bigger than Vitale and plays in line more.

Oline: They struggled last 2 seasons a lot. They never gelled. Position battles never got resolved. Our QBs got murdered and dealt with injuries. It was a pretty huge mess. I can go position by position, but I don't think that'll tell you anything. We need to get better here is the bottom line. Are players stepping up in the offseason? Are they rebuilding their bodies? I don't know, I haven't seen him. One guy I do want to bring up is Shane Mertz. He's been injured for 4 years now and was playing tackle. He's 6-8 and is listed at 305, but I'm guessing is far bigger. They moved him inside to guard. That supposedly will help against big DTs.

Offense Bottom line: If you know what to expect from the offense, that makes one of us. We could really see anything based on the QB in the game and the player development.

DE: This is an veteran group of guys that have 1 of everything. Dean Lowery is a huge DE that can play all over the line. He can get to the passer and stop the run. Deonte Gibson was a guy who played tough through injuries last season. Odenigbo is a pure pass rusher. Xavier Washington was a surprise as a true freshman. Max Chapman is a highly respect guy in the locker room. Not the most flashy guy with physical tough, but he gets the job done. He'll be wearing #1 which goes to the team's biggest blue collar, bring your lunch pale to work every day type.

DT: Kuhar is coming off a torn ACL. McEvilly has had foot injuries that sidelined him for 2 seasons, and decided it was best to retire. That should've been our 2 starters. CJ Robbins will be 1 DT that's starting. The other? Maybe Kuhar, maybe a younger guy.... which have all had injury issues. I'm concerned. Fitz isn't and has praised them in press conferences and said he has lots of options.

LB: We actually lost all 3 linebackers. Collin Ellis's career ended due to concussions last season. Anthony Walker stepped in and had some big games stats wise. Fitz knocked him down from the pedestal and claimed he made a lot of errors as young players often do. He's solid though and will have 1 spot locked up. The other two spots? Anyone's guess. Drew Smith most likely will have one. He played some reserve duty last year. Jaylen Prater may be the other. We have some young guys coming up as well that have gotten mentioned by the coaches. Can't tell you much about anyone other than Walker. I think we'll be fine here though if the DTs can keep them clean.

CBs: Possibly the best position with DEs. Nick VanHoose is a 4 year starter. He's just downright solid and was 2nd team all big ten. 3 blocked kicks last year. Matt Harris has the other side. Most on this board think he's better than VanHoose. There are lots of young guys fighting for the back up jobs.

Safety: The 2 starters are Traeveon Henry and Godwin Igwebuike. Henry is a 4 year starter. He was a huge hitter in run support, but took some weight off to work on his speed and coverage ability. He's the guy I'd want to fight the least. Godwin is a great athlete. 3 picks last season against Wisconsin. Has good ball skills. He played in relief duty when injuries occurred at safety. Kyle Quiero played at Safety too and did pretty well. We've got 3 guys here for sure and several more that are ready to go from what I hear.

Defense bottom line: We'll be good. Need to work on getting all the way to the QB instead of almost to him. DT are a concern due to the injury factor, but if Fitz is being truthful, we're ready to go on defense.

We just inched up to within 50.

 

[beetlemania74]

The pass rush has been a strong point for several years with last year totaling 46 sacks.

46 sacks? We had 17 sacks last year, and eight of them came against teams (Penn State, W. Illinois) with bad o-lines. That means nine sacks in our other ten games. Very discouraging. We have to improve on those numbers and get more pressure on the QBs if we want to have a good season, much less beat Stanford.

 

[Alaskawildkat]

Hi everyone!

Stanford fan and alumnus here. We are looking forward to the game in Evanston which is (finally) only about two weeks away.

.....

Stanford fans are experiencing a great deal of angst around our special teams play this year both punting and kicking. We lost both specialist last year, and what we saw during spring game and open practice has not been promising. Both have been critical considering our strategy has been to shoulder the weight of the game on our defense the last few years. Hopefully, a pair of true freshmen specialist prove to be able to handle the job. How do things look in this area of your game?

If what you say about Stanford's defense remains true then one could envision a very low scoring game. We are as curious as you are about the quarterback situation and O Line. Assuming we have the better Secondary, and your Special Teams sputter, this game may be decided by a pick-six or two in Northwestern's favor.

 

[EvanstonCat]

The optimists view just to balance things out:

What is your QB situation? I have read that Thorson is most comfortable passing the ball, but honestly do not know other responsibilities that are placed on the QB within your offensive system. 3 way battle right now, but according to fan poll below 68% believe/hope it is Thorson. Part of that may be optimistic hope in the unknown as Thorson redshirted last year, but he comes in with the biggest hype (vs. 4 star sophomore Alviti and 3 star Oliver), and people have been raving about his arm and his physicality and overall skills. Rumor mill is that several seniors whom Fitz is soliciting input from want Thorson. He is inexperienced, but so were Jared Goff, Andrew Luck and Johnny Manziel when they took over. Thorson comes in with the closest skills to a QB that NU has recruited since Andrew Luck (whom we narrowly lost to Stanford as I understand it), so for upside, think what Luck looked like 1st game at Stanford and that's maybe what you might see.

Who would you consider the biggest receiving threats? Is the threat more deep and go routes or more reliant on quick short passes? Christian Jones is the best receiver, but coming off an ACL and subsequent micro fracture surgery. Dan Vitale is a possession guy at TE. Generally a short passing game, drinks and dunks. Receivers are the second weakest unit after OLine. Christian Jones was our best receiver 2 years ago, but sat out last year with an ACL tear. He tweaked the knee during the spring, so if he is healthy, he would definitely be the go to guy and is a legitimate #1 receiver, but that is a big if. The other WR's have some skills but struggled with drops, but there is some speed with Miles Shuler who has made plays. As noted, one of the weaker units on the team - so many are placing hope on the freshmen, many of whom have turned heads in camp, including Flynn Nagel who was a last second decommit from Duke.

How is your offensive line? With two spots to fill, are the replacements a source of confidence or is there concern over the ability for the line to operate effectively as a unit for week one of the season? The weakest unit on the team. New starters at almost every position: LT, LG, C, and RG. Doubt they will be cohesive in week 1.

Clearly the biggest question marks on the roster. They struggled last year, and we lost two starters. No one is a clear all-conference candidate. The only thing to be said is that we return a bunch of guys with starts and everyone is a bit older, and bigger from the weight room. So, here's to hoping guys who struggled as underclassmen are going to be better as juniors and seniors.

Overall, our offense is the weaker side, which is a change from most NU teams since Barnett. The plus is that Justin Jackson was electric as a frosh running for over 1200 yards, even with a weak OL, and he's got a deep RB unit behind him including Auston Anderson (who was hurt last year, but whom some liked better than Jackson and who had better offers from a ton of programs including in-state Texas). We do have playmakers in players like Vitale and Jones and speed in Vault, Shuler, and freshman Jelani Roberts. Everyone is hoping Thorson is the real deal and we get a passing attack that balances our run, but it all depends on an OL that made draft pick Trevor Siemian who has been turning heads in pre-season for Denver look mediocre (though Siemian also played injured throughout the year).

The defensive line and secondary appear to be the most senior laden groups. What are their strengths/weaknesses?
Honestly, I don't see a ton of weaknesses. This may be our best defense since the 1995 #1 ranked unit that led us the Rose Bowl. Our corners are both shutdown and probably the best since 1995 if not better, when we could leave them on islands. Nick Van Hoose was probably our best secondary player 3 years ago as a freshman starter, and now he is a senior, but he was the guy QB's rather would throw against, with future NFL'er Matt Harris surpassing him on the other side. Safeties are super strong - even though we lost Ibraheim Campbell to the NFL. Traveon Henry hits like a truck, and shed 15 lbs so will be faster this year. Even Sophomore Godwin Iguibuike who spurned dOSU and Alabama for NU and shined in his debut when he was an injury replacement with 3 INTs in the win over Wisconsin has starting experience. Likely, the strongest unit of the team (though the RB room might disagree). The DE's are going to be ridiculous, especially as we can bring the house with the corners we have playing on islands.Dean Lowry is likely going to be playing on Sundays, while Deonte Gibson is a stud on the other side. Happy with the depth in Ifeadi Odenigbo, who also spurned Bama and dOSU a pass rushing specialist along with Xavier Washington who impressed as a true frosh last year. At Tackle, Greg Kuhar is coming off ankle surgery and we lost Sean McEvily to retirement due to injuries that kept him out last year, but if Kuhar is healthy, he and CJ Robbins are a real solid and experienced tandem, with veteran Max Chapman ready to fill in if Kuhar cannot go. Plus, Lowry is beefed up and could move inside, which also helps. I might highlight the DT's as the closest thing to a question mark, along with LB, except Fitz has been on the record saying they are really comfortable with the unit, and I can see why.

Honestly, I think the D could be the best we've had in 20 years. We may not need to score more than 3 TDs a game to win.

After losing two very good linebackers in Ariguzo and Hall, do you feel confident in the rising linebackers ability to maintain the unit's tackling prowess? Are they better run blockers or pass coverage? It says something when your biggest question mark on the D is a single OLB starter. Feel pretty good about the young talent that is up to replace Ariguzo, so overall, this may be the "weakest" unit on the D, but it will be very athletic and solid overall. I expect Anthony Walker, who has already won National Defensive Player of the Week honors in his debut against Penn State to be an all-conference level performer.

Stanford fans are experiencing a great deal of angst around our special teams play this year both punting and kicking. We lost both specialist last year, and what we saw during spring game and open practice has not been promising. Both have been critical considering our strategy has been to shoulder the weight of the game on our defense the last few years. Hopefully, a pair of true freshmen specialist prove to be able to handle the job. How do things look in this area of your game?

Return personnel are potentially electrifying with Shuler, Vault, Anderson, and Roberts in the mix. They all have ridonkulous speed and could be threats to take it home. The question is whether Fitz will let us field punt returns, as he has been a pussy about that except when Venric Mark was running back kicks. Don't have a great feel for our kicking or punting, except to say, probably not great, but probably not a disaster either. Kicking isn't going to be a weapon for us like it was when Jeff Budzien, who was robbed of All-America 1st team honors, was playing for us and automatic with range.

Don't know if we will win, but we aren't going to be losing by 70 and I wouldn't be at all surprised with an upset. Fitz has only lost one opener in 8 years.

 

[Purple is Forever]

We will burn a true freshman's shirt, i.e., Jelani Roberts. 4 months ago he ran one of the top 55 meter times in all of the nation and is only 5'7" and can stop on a dime. If he doesn't take 3 or 4 to the house this year, then it will only be because our other returner, Vault, is also good. Our FG kicker is solid, kickoffs will also go in the endzone. Punting is up for grabs although our punter had all the gold stars coming in.

I agree with your opinion on Walker, I've been really impressed with his play. But I don't see Roberts fitting in until a few years. Seems he has to bulk up some.

 

[NJCat83588]

The optimists view just to balance things out:

3 way battle right now, but according to fan poll below 68% believe/hope it is Thorson. Part of that may be optimistic hope in the unknown as Thorson redshirted last year, but he comes in with the biggest hype (vs. 4 star sophomore Alviti and 3 star Oliver), and people have been raving about his arm and his physicality and overall skills. Rumor mill is that several seniors whom Fitz is soliciting input from want Thorson. He is inexperienced, but so were Jared Goff, Andrew Luck and Johnny Manziel when they took over.

I seem to recall that Jared Goff threw 2 pick 6's in his first college game, and those were the margin of defeat for Cal..............

By the way, wasn't Kuhar an ACL not an ankle?

 

[Deeringfish]

The optimists view just to balance things out:

What is your QB situation? I have read that Thorson is most comfortable passing the ball, but honestly do not know other responsibilities that are placed on the QB within your offensive system. 3 way battle right now, but according to fan poll below 68% believe/hope it is Thorson. Part of that may be optimistic hope in the unknown as Thorson redshirted last year, but he comes in with the biggest hype (vs. 4 star sophomore Alviti and 3 star Oliver), and people have been raving about his arm and his physicality and overall skills. Rumor mill is that several seniors whom Fitz is soliciting input from want Thorson. He is inexperienced, but so were Jared Goff, Andrew Luck and Johnny Manziel when they took over. Thorson comes in with the closest skills to a QB that NU has recruited since Andrew Luck (whom we narrowly lost to Stanford as I understand it), so for upside, think what Luck looked like 1st game at Stanford and that's maybe what you might see.

Who would you consider the biggest receiving threats? Is the threat more deep and go routes or more reliant on quick short passes? Christian Jones is the best receiver, but coming off an ACL and subsequent micro fracture surgery. Dan Vitale is a possession guy at TE. Generally a short passing game, drinks and dunks. Receivers are the second weakest unit after OLine. Christian Jones was our best receiver 2 years ago, but sat out last year with an ACL tear. He tweaked the knee during the spring, so if he is healthy, he would definitely be the go to guy and is a legitimate #1 receiver, but that is a big if. The other WR's have some skills but struggled with drops, but there is some speed with Miles Shuler who has made plays. As noted, one of the weaker units on the team - so many are placing hope on the freshmen, many of whom have turned heads in camp, including Flynn Nagel who was a last second decommit from Duke.

How is your offensive line? With two spots to fill, are the replacements a source of confidence or is there concern over the ability for the line to operate effectively as a unit for week one of the season? The weakest unit on the team. New starters at almost every position: LT, LG, C, and RG. Doubt they will be cohesive in week 1.

Clearly the biggest question marks on the roster. They struggled last year, and we lost two starters. No one is a clear all-conference candidate. The only thing to be said is that we return a bunch of guys with starts and everyone is a bit older, and bigger from the weight room. So, here's to hoping guys who struggled as underclassmen are going to be better as juniors and seniors.

Overall, our offense is the weaker side, which is a change from most NU teams since Barnett. The plus is that Justin Jackson was electric as a frosh running for over 1200 yards, even with a weak OL, and he's got a deep RB unit behind him including Auston Anderson (who was hurt last year, but whom some liked better than Jackson and who had better offers from a ton of programs including in-state Texas). We do have playmakers in players like Vitale and Jones and speed in Vault, Shuler, and freshman Jelani Roberts. Everyone is hoping Thorson is the real deal and we get a passing attack that balances our run, but it all depends on an OL that made draft pick Trevor Siemian who has been turning heads in pre-season for Denver look mediocre (though Siemian also played injured throughout the year).

The defensive line and secondary appear to be the most senior laden groups. What are their strengths/weaknesses?
Honestly, I don't see a ton of weaknesses. This may be our best defense since the 1995 #1 ranked unit that led us the Rose Bowl. Our corners are both shutdown and probably the best since 1995 if not better, when we could leave them on islands. Nick Van Hoose was probably our best secondary player 3 years ago as a freshman starter, and now he is a senior, but he was the guy QB's rather would throw against, with future NFL'er Matt Harris surpassing him on the other side. Safeties are super strong - even though we lost Ibraheim Campbell to the NFL. Traveon Henry hits like a truck, and shed 15 lbs so will be faster this year. Even Sophomore Godwin Iguibuike who spurned dOSU and Alabama for NU and shined in his debut when he was an injury replacement with 3 INTs in the win over Wisconsin has starting experience. Likely, the strongest unit of the team (though the RB room might disagree). The DE's are going to be ridiculous, especially as we can bring the house with the corners we have playing on islands.Dean Lowry is likely going to be playing on Sundays, while Deonte Gibson is a stud on the other side. Happy with the depth in Ifeadi Odenigbo, who also spurned Bama and dOSU a pass rushing specialist along with Xavier Washington who impressed as a true frosh last year. At Tackle, Greg Kuhar is coming off ankle surgery and we lost Sean McEvily to retirement due to injuries that kept him out last year, but if Kuhar is healthy, he and CJ Robbins are a real solid and experienced tandem, with veteran Max Chapman ready to fill in if Kuhar cannot go. Plus, Lowry is beefed up and could move inside, which also helps. I might highlight the DT's as the closest thing to a question mark, along with LB, except Fitz has been on the record saying they are really comfortable with the unit, and I can see why.

Honestly, I think the D could be the best we've had in 20 years. We may not need to score more than 3 TDs a game to win.

After losing two very good linebackers in Ariguzo and Hall, do you feel confident in the rising linebackers ability to maintain the unit's tackling prowess? Are they better run blockers or pass coverage? It says something when your biggest question mark on the D is a single OLB starter. Feel pretty good about the young talent that is up to replace Ariguzo, so overall, this may be the "weakest" unit on the D, but it will be very athletic and solid overall. I expect Anthony Walker, who has already won National Defensive Player of the Week honors in his debut against Penn State to be an all-conference level performer.

Stanford fans are experiencing a great deal of angst around our special teams play this year both punting and kicking. We lost both specialist last year, and what we saw during spring game and open practice has not been promising. Both have been critical considering our strategy has been to shoulder the weight of the game on our defense the last few years. Hopefully, a pair of true freshmen specialist prove to be able to handle the job. How do things look in this area of your game?

Return personnel are potentially electrifying with Shuler, Vault, Anderson, and Roberts in the mix. They all have ridonkulous speed and could be threats to take it home. The question is whether Fitz will let us field punt returns, as he has been a pussy about that except when Venric Mark was running back kicks. Don't have a great feel for our kicking or punting, except to say, probably not great, but probably not a disaster either. Kicking isn't going to be a weapon for us like it was when Jeff Budzien, who was robbed of All-America 1st team honors, was playing for us and automatic with range.

Don't know if we will win, but we aren't going to be losing by 70 and I wouldn't be at all surprised with an upset. Fitz has only lost one opener in 8 years.

Tell us. How did Luck perform in his first start? was it agains a good school?

 

[Cat In The Cradle]

back to within 20 points.

 

[NUCat320]

Cardinal, many people on this board have become extremely negative about the program and the player's ability.and the coaching staff. Two 5-7 seasons will do that you. The biggest issue in the past two seasons has been injuries. We went into a winner gets a bowl game/loser doesn't scenario against Illinois last year and lost. That is the last taste in our mouth. While you have to win that game, it's pretty difficult when you have 38 scholarship players active. One injury was to our #1 WR Christian Jones about a week before the season. On top of that RB and All-American Venric Mark was suspended due to violation of team rules, then had an academic issue that would've side lined him longer and choose to transfer a week before the season. As such, we lost our 2 greatest offensive weapons.

On top of that, the past 2 seasons have been marked by the All Players United and Union Movement. My understanding is that divided the team and in many cases it was due to players come from families of different financial backgrounds having different feelings to unionization. On top of that, Fitz has talked about the overall immaturity especially on the offensive side of the ball especially with the WRs. That divided the team offense vs defense as well. You take all the injuries and add the complete lack of team chemistry, you get what we got which was 5-7. Will this team be better? We would all like to know.

QB: It's a 3 man battle. 5th year Zac Oliver played a little last year. One game was vs Illinois as I talked about above. He was missing a lot of his targets and played terrible. I'm not ready to write him off, but many are. He's a big guy with a cannon, but I don't think he fits the offense as he's not a real running threat. RS Sophomore Matt Alviti is the best runner of the group. He played in some "change up" duty last year. Siemian had multiple lower body injuries last year and wasn't a runner to begin with so Alviti popped into a few games. RS Freshman Clayton Thorson seems to be the favorite on this board (in part because we haven't seen him play so he must better than the 5-7 guys). He can run and play some WR in high school. He also has a good arm and I'm excited to see him. Nobody here knows what to expect from the QB position. The offensive game plan will most likely change based off of who is in the game. If it's Alviti, I think we'll see something more of the zone read heavy offense we saw with Colter. If it's Oliver, we'll see more of the passing game like with Siemian. Thorson might be able to do it all... or he might be able to do neither well.

RB: This is the offensive strength. Justin Jackson was a stud coming out of high school. 45 carries and 350+ yard games were the norm for his HS career. He played DB too. Really humble kid too. He called himself not that big and not that fast. He said he gets yards by using his vision and wiggle. He stepped in where we thought Mark would be and had over 1000. On top of that, we have Warren Long who will be the power back. Austin Anderson and Solomon Vault are speed guys and would be great on option plays. We saw in 2012 with Venric Mark and speed guy can be great up the middle with a quick burst sending them through the LBs with a small hole. I'd like to see one move to the Slot WR postion.

WR: Well, it's been a mess for awhile now. Many on the board are calling for the WRs coaches head, but it didn't happen. We had maturity issues according to Fitz.
Christian Jones: Good WR. Will play on the outside and has been outstanding. Fear is he's coming off an ACL injury and has had knee problems in the past.
Miles Shuler: Great straight line track speed. Doesn't seem to play fast. Also has very questionable hands. He was moved from the slot to the outside. Some think it's a great move. I don't understand it, but there's lots about football I don't know. He's coming off an injury too to I believe a hand or wrist.
Cameron Dickerson: He had a big case of the drops last year. I think 6 against CAL alone. He broke his hand in spring of 2014. I don't know if that caused his drops, but it certainly didn't help. With time to heal, he could be a weapon.
After that, we have a bunch of guys that had less than 10 catches last season or were in HS or redshirting. Who's going to step up and what can they do? I don't know.... maybe Fitz does. Did the WRs grow up in the offseason? Who progressed?

TE: We actually call them superbacks. It's a combo WR/FB/TE position. Dan Vitale is big fast and is more of threat as a receiver. He'll be a true senior and was the #1 SB for the previous 3 years. Has over 100 receptions and 1000 yards in his career. Garrett Dickerson will be a true sophomore and showed flashes of why he was recruited by the likes of Alabama, Ohio State, and Florida State. He's bigger than Vitale and plays in line more.

Oline: They struggled last 2 seasons a lot. They never gelled. Position battles never got resolved. Our QBs got murdered and dealt with injuries. It was a pretty huge mess. I can go position by position, but I don't think that'll tell you anything. We need to get better here is the bottom line. Are players stepping up in the offseason? Are they rebuilding their bodies? I don't know, I haven't seen him. One guy I do want to bring up is Shane Mertz. He's been injured for 4 years now and was playing tackle. He's 6-8 and is listed at 305, but I'm guessing is far bigger. They moved him inside to guard. That supposedly will help against big DTs.

Offense Bottom line: If you know what to expect from the offense, that makes one of us. We could really see anything based on the QB in the game and the player development.

DE: This is an veteran group of guys that have 1 of everything. Dean Lowery is a huge DE that can play all over the line. He can get to the passer and stop the run. Deonte Gibson was a guy who played tough through injuries last season. Odenigbo is a pure pass rusher. Xavier Washington was a surprise as a true freshman. Max Chapman is a highly respect guy in the locker room. Not the most flashy guy with physical tough, but he gets the job done. He'll be wearing #1 which goes to the team's biggest blue collar, bring your lunch pale to work every day type.

DT: Kuhar is coming off a torn ACL. McEvilly has had foot injuries that sidelined him for 2 seasons, and decided it was best to retire. That should've been our 2 starters. CJ Robbins will be 1 DT that's starting. The other? Maybe Kuhar, maybe a younger guy.... which have all had injury issues. I'm concerned. Fitz isn't and has praised them in press conferences and said he has lots of options.

LB: We actually lost all 3 linebackers. Collin Ellis's career ended due to concussions last season. Anthony Walker stepped in and had some big games stats wise. Fitz knocked him down from the pedestal and claimed he made a lot of errors as young players often do. He's solid though and will have 1 spot locked up. The other two spots? Anyone's guess. Drew Smith most likely will have one. He played some reserve duty last year. Jaylen Prater may be the other. We have some young guys coming up as well that have gotten mentioned by the coaches. Can't tell you much about anyone other than Walker. I think we'll be fine here though if the DTs can keep them clean.

CBs: Possibly the best position with DEs. Nick VanHoose is a 4 year starter. He's just downright solid and was 2nd team all big ten. 3 blocked kicks last year. Matt Harris has the other side. Most on this board think he's better than VanHoose. There are lots of young guys fighting for the back up jobs.

Safety: The 2 starters are Traeveon Henry and Godwin Igwebuike. Henry is a 4 year starter. He was a huge hitter in run support, but took some weight off to work on his speed and coverage ability. He's the guy I'd want to fight the least. Godwin is a great athlete. 3 picks last season against Wisconsin. Has good ball skills. He played in relief duty when injuries occurred at safety. Kyle Quiero played at Safety too and did pretty well. We've got 3 guys here for sure and several more that are ready to go from what I hear.

Defense bottom line: We'll be good. Need to work on getting all the way to the QB instead of almost to him. DT are a concern due to the injury factor, but if Fitz is being truthful, we're ready to go on defense.

Shakes, I learned more about the team in the three minutes reading this than the rest of the offseason combined.

 

[Cardinal_2001]

Quick summary of Stanford's Special Teams (weak spot):

Kickoffs and Kickoff coverage --
We have been very solid on kickoffs and kickoff return coverage for several years. Kickoffs into the endzone or starting drives below the 25 yrd line are very common (when the ball did not go out-of-bounds). We lost our kicker last year who was a four- year starter. It seems like every other game, he would kick a ball out of bounds while trying to place it into the corner of the end zone. I did not think the risk of placing the ball perfectly in the corner thereby condensing the running lanes was worth it when you could achieve almost the same result by kicking it 10 yards away from the sideline. Ukropina will probably handle kicks since he is the only specialist with experience; his kicks will land near or short of the goal line. Coverage is not a concern because the team is disciplined with their lanes and are good open field tacklers, but would like more confidence in our kicker. A true freshman with a stronger leg may take this spot.

Kickoff return --
Ty Montgomery is at Green Bay now, but his shoes are being filled more than adequately by McCaffrey and Sanders. Our average return yards for several years has hovered around 22-27 yards. Blocking has been very good with the front line being filled with our larger WRs and TEs followed by LBs and FBs.

Punting and Punt Coverage --
Lost our two year starting punter last year. He was an above average punter who really helped us in games where our offense struggled to move the ball. We all believe a true freshman stud will be taking this spot but who knows - definitely an area that we are watching closely. Similar to kickoff coverage, our punt coverage typically allows a small return.

Punt Return --
Not sure who will return punts, but McCaffrey and Sanders both had a few last year. I am not convinced the punt return blocking scheme will improved. For all the weapons we have had receiving the punt, we give them absolutely no time to actually return the ball. Sub-par in my opinion.

Field Goal Kicking --
This area of our game has been a roller coaster since 2011. The lowest of lows missing 3 FGs in the Fiesta Bowl to ultimately loss by 3, to beating the Ducks in Eugene by 3 in OT, to losing the last two appearances in South bend by 3 with a partially block FG in each game...well, you get the idea. For all the criticism in this area, it was still better than average. We are hoping that our next kicker whether it is Ukropina or a true freshman is more accurate even if his leg may not be strong enough for a 52 yarder.

 

[Cardinal_2001]

Tell us. How did Luck perform in his first start? was it against a good school?

Luck was spoon fed the offense when he started the 2009 season. We were a (even moreso than recent years) run heavy team with Heisman runner-up Toby Gerhart in the backfield. Luck opened against Washington State; no mistakes but not a mind boggling performance either with a sub 50% completion rate and 1 TD. The following week, the team traveled cross country and lost to Wake Forest . The run game was shutdown and while Luck had a better passing game, he was unable to win the game solely on his shoulders. We knew he was going to be a special QB from the buzz we received from practices in 2008 when he was a true freshman, but he did not acclimate to the speed of the college game until midway through 2009.

 

[Deeringfish]

Luck was spoon fed the offense when he started the 2009 season. We were a (even moreso than recent years) run heavy team with Heisman runner-up Toby Gerhart in the backfield. Luck opened against Washington State; no mistakes but not a mind boggling performance either with a sub 50% completion rate and 1 TD. The following week, the team traveled cross country and lost to Wake Forest . The run game was shutdown and while Luck had a better passing game, he was unable to win the game solely on his shoulders. We knew he was going to be a special QB from the buzz we received from practices in 2008 when he was a true freshman, but he did not acclimate to the speed of the college game until midway through 2009.

My guess is that is our best case scenario with Thorson.

 

[FrankBear21]

Stanford won't be very good this year. There offensive success at the end of last year was against poor defensive teams.

Their defense pretty much lost every starter and every person on their 2-deep. You're unlucky to get them in their first game because both their DEs are above average, but neither will last the season.

I'm predicting a low score affair, with Stanford edging you guys out. Don't let that fool you though, Stanford is a joke of a top 25 team, and being a home game, it is winnable.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Stanford won't be very good this year. There offensive success at the end of last year was against poor defensive teams.

Their defense pretty much lost every starter and every person on their 2-deep. You're unlucky to get them in their first game because both their DEs are above average, but neither will last the season.

I'm predicting a low score affair, with Stanford edging you guys out. Don't let that fool you though, Stanford is a joke of a top 25 team, and being a home game, it is winnable.

...says the completely unbiased expert.

 

[shakes3858]

...says the completely unbiased expert.

If I remember correctly he did say Cal was gonna beat us last year so maybe he knows something

 

[FrankBear21]

...says the completely unbiased expert.

Hey. I didn't say they were a pushover, or that cal is better. I'm just saying, no other team loses everyone on their 2-deep on defense and returns a sub par offense minus Ty Montgomery, and gets a top-25 rank.

 

[DaCat]

The one thing that lends hope for our OL is that we are much bigger this year than in years past. We tended to have more guys under 300 lbs than over. This year the projected starting 5, from L to R, are: 6-5 305 (sr), 6-4 305 (jr), 6-2 290 (so), 6-8 310 (sr), 6-6 295 (jr). This unit may not be as quick but should be stronger in the trenches.

 

[NJCat83588]

The one thing that lends hope for our OL is that we are much bigger this year than in years past. We tended to have more guys under 300 lbs than over. This year the projected starting 5, from L to R, are: 6-5 305 (sr), 6-4 305 (jr), 6-2 290 (so), 6-8 310 (sr), 6-6 295 (jr). This unit may not be as quick but should be stronger in the trenches.

This is actually smaller than the listed weights of the starting 5 last season. You can look it up.

 

[DaCat]

This is actually smaller than the listed weights of the starting 5 last season. You can look it up.

Uh, did you look it up? Granted Vitabile at center was 310 as a 5th year senior, and Kopnopka began the season as a 300 lb sr starter but lost his spot to 290 lb Olson (who is now listed as 295), but all the other spots were smaller than our current lineup.

 

[NJCat83588]

Uh, did you look it up? Granted Vitabile at center was 310 as a 5th year senior, and Kopnopka began the season as a 300 lb sr starter but lost his spot to 290 lb Olson (who is now listed as 295), but all the other spots were smaller than our current lineup.

From the 2014 NU Media Guide: Jorgensen 315, Mogus 305, Vitiable 310, Frazier 295 and Konopka 300. Three of the 5 2014 starters are bigger than the 2015 edition. Yes, I looked it up. And I am using the same basis as you: guys who likely started the season, which is all we know right now.

 

[DaCat]

From the 2014 NU Media Guide: Jorgensen 315, Mogus 305, Vitiable 310, Frazier 295 and Konopka 300. Three of the 5 2014 starters are bigger than the 2015 edition. Yes, I looked it up. And I am using the same basis as you: guys who likely started the season, which is all we know right now.

Fair enough, the version I looked at must not have been updated. The point still remains that Mogus replaces Jorgy, Park fills in for Mogy, Mertz fills in for Frazier, and Olson is a year older and at least 5 pound heavier than when he beat out Konopka. The only drop off in size is at center, where arguably you don't need to be 310. Overall not an overwhelming reason for joy in Mudville but some hope for improvement.

 

[hdhntr1]

NJ, an offseason has made me forget entirely about the punt return strategy - in a manner of speaking, NU punts on punt returns. Fear of mistakes, lack of trust (either in catching the ball, or in not-roughing).

Didn't NU take one to the house last year? I feel like Penn State or Wisconsin had a long one to set up an early score, and then maybe a touchdown against Purdue?

Yes, Tony Jones took one.

 

[Cardinal_2001]

Stanford won't be very good this year. There offensive success at the end of last year was against poor defensive teams.

Their defense pretty much lost every starter and every person on their 2-deep. You're unlucky to get them in their first game because both their DEs are above average, but neither will last the season.

I'm predicting a low score affair, with Stanford edging you guys out. Don't let that fool you though, Stanford is a joke of a top 25 team, and being a home game, it is winnable.

You do not know half as much as you presume, bear, but even that exceeds my expectations.

I agree the last three teams we played were versus poor defensive teams Cal being the most deficient, but most will tell you that there was a significant difference in how well Stanford moved the ball starting with the Big Game through our bowl game. UCLA had no solution for the Stanford offense notwithstanding all their defensive NFL talent (Cal scored 34 points with its "prolific" offense vs UCLA, but Stanford with its "struggling" offense scored 31? Perhaps Cal just couldn't take advantage of that top10 team's suckiness). Maryland was outclassed from the beginning. All three of those games were WITHOUT Ty Montgomery who was injured early in the Cal game.

Our defense lost starters, but definitely not our 2-deep. That is just false and easily verifiable by looking at last year's roster and comparing it to this year's. If that is too much of a chore, just scroll up and review the Stanford Defense summary post. If you are still wondering about our depth, look up the recruiting classes since 2012.

No predictions from me concerning this game. Just looking forward to a great game!

Oh...and the only joke I have heard concerning Stanford is that Cal might actually beat them this year. Ha! Thanks, I will come back and read this whenever I need a chuckle through next season.