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Players to watch - Spring Practice


Andy06

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I think the people at hoosierhuddle.com do a nice job covering IUFB.  They have a lot of articles and a podcast periodically. 

I am stealing their article to start a discussion here. I don't disagree with who they picked, but I had a  few other players in mind.  I wondered who you guys have as players to watch m

I am excited to see Gary Cooper.   In his brief time on the field as a freshman this year he looked really fast, and think if he emerges our TE group looks really good with Hendershot and Bjornson.

WR Jordan Jakes had a lot of positive reviews before he got hurt, not sure if he will be a full go in the spring or not. 

LB James Miller could be a breakout star, especially if the DL can keep the OL off him, let him use his speed.  

https://hoosierhuddle.com/hoosier-blog/indianas-top-five-players-to-watch-during-spring-practice-2020/2020/2/20

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When I was checking for info on Jakes, I actually saw they did a list of 5 redshirt freshman to watch for next year today as well.  Jakes and Cooper are on the list, and Jakes was not listed by Allen a couple weeks ago as a guy who is limited this spring.  Here is their list of the top redshirt freshman.  I agree with you about Miller.  I think he's going to be a stud for us.

I've probably posted something similar about 10 times so people are probably getting tired of me saying it, but mine is Da'shaun Brown.  Super athletic WR who was a QB in high school and was late qualifying so he got a late start last year.  Potential is through the roof, and the staff said in different interviews last year how impressed they were with him.  Didn't get playing time because of the transition to WR and qualifying late.

I could see our safeties "re-breakout."  They were expected to be a strength last year, and fell way short.  Partially due to a poor pass rush, but they made a lot of mistakes of their own too.  With a new safeties coach that I think will be an upgrade, I could see Fitzgerald, Burgess, Matthews, and Jamar Johnson as guys who could show a lot of improvement.  I think our pass rush will be greatly improved with the new DL coach, so that should help a lot too.  Sanguinetti is another guy to watch there.  I read he was looking good in practice before he had to have surgery.

A couple other guys I'm going to keep an eye on are Cam Williams and Beau Robbins.  They were our #2 and #3 top recruits last year, but didn't get much playing time.  

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You guys did such a good job I think I’d just be redundant.  

I’d say Jack Tuttle.  Let’s hope he takes a big step forward. The skill set is there.  We need him to be ready to play if needed.

Guys on both lines.  On the O line, Katic keeps getting touted so he probably sticks out in a positive way.  But there are other young guys who we will need for depth so I’m curious how guys like Aidan Rafferty are progressing.  

On the D line, I think Damarjhe Lewis will be one to watch.  He’s got a good ranking and may be the heir apparent to Jerome Johnson, who has had an outstanding career.  Of course, Beau Robbins is another to watch.

Good call on Cameron Williams.  Bonhomme is another LB to watch.  

As noted by others, lot of good young receiver talent, most with good size and hands.  Miles Marshall, Jakes, Leather’s guy Brown.  David Ellis can be an X factor used on all kinds of plays and lining up everywhere.  You can get him in the slot, on the boundary, even the backfield.  Get him on screens, slants, sweeps, fly patterns, you name it.

Later down the line, Rawshawn Williams will be exciting to watch when he gets here in the fall.  He looks super competitive.  Lot of potential weapons.  

Tom Allen may be a defensive guy but what I love about him is his desire for explosive offense.  He knows what’s tough to defend and he’s smart enough to get it for his own offense.  A lot of defensive coaches suffocate their own offenses by playing it cautious, etc.  Allen gets it.  His vision of the type of players he wants is the best I’ve ever seen at IU since Mallory, and maybe ever.

 

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I think Damarjhe Lewis's play this year might depend on if we get Swann, the transfer from Stanford.  He would probably cut into a big chunk of plays Lewis might get.  I could be making this up, but I thought I read on another site that he won't graduate until this spring, so he can't grad transfer until then?  I guess he could still announce where he's going before then.  I could be thinking of somebody else though.

Another guy I'm interested in seeing is James Head.  Hopefully with a DL coach more focused on getting a pass rush we can see him take off.  He's shown some flashes the last 2 years, but hasn't been real consistent.  Cam Jones is another guy that could take off.  He made some really good plays last year, but never really broke out.  With Reakwon Jones graduating, there is a lot of production available for guys like Cam Jones, Miller, Bonhomme, and Williams.  I'd also like to see Marcelino Ball turn into the player we all hoped he would be.  He's been steady, but I really expected him to be a stud by now.  After his freshman year, I had concerns that he would be an early entrant after 3 years, but he hasn't ever gotten near that level.  Maybe this will be his year.

Also interested in seeing if Madison Norris will start getting some time this year.  How many DL players were the state champ in 100 meter hurdles in high school?  Not only did he win, but he won by a decent amount too.  We knew when he came in he might take a couple years to bulk up, so it will be interesting to see if he is getting to the point where he can compete at this level.  If he can, his athleticism is off the charts.  I expect Mayala to be similar in that we might not really see him for a couple years.  Really needs to add some weight.

A couple long shot guys in our incoming class I like are David Baker and Brady Feeney.  Baker seemed to have a really good senior year.  Not sure if he'll be able to get through the depth we have at WR, but I think he'll be really good some day.  With Feeney, he seems like one of those guys that might have gotten overlooked because he played in Missouri.  All state as a sophomore and junior, back to back state championships, and he has the aggression you want in an OL.  He could push for time at guard if there are injuries.  Benson might fit into that too, but haven't looked into him as much.

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36 minutes ago, Leathernecks said:

Didn't know what you meant by that until I checked Twitter.  Yikes.  I would guess at a minimum it will be a multiple game suspension.

http://www.hoosiersportsreport.com/2020/02/hendershot-arrested-by-bpd-late-saturday-on-multiple-charges/

I'll wait for the details and due process but this will be a test for Allen. First game vs Sconny....and now more than likely we'll be down a huge part of team.

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  • 3 weeks later...
1 hour ago, Bob said:

When does spring football begin ?

We started practice Saturday.  We can have 15 total practices over a 34 day period (not counting spring break), and we've already had 2.  Spring game is going to be Friday, April 17th.

They don't publish a practice schedule, and some are open to the media and some aren't, so it is kind of tough to know when things are.  Maybe @The Daily Hoosier knows what the schedule will be, at least for the ones open to the media.

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2 hours ago, Leathernecks said:

We started practice Saturday.  We can have 15 total practices over a 34 day period (not counting spring break), and we've already had 2.  Spring game is going to be Friday, April 17th.

They don't publish a practice schedule, and some are open to the media and some aren't, so it is kind of tough to know when things are.  Maybe @The Daily Hoosier knows what the schedule will be, at least for the ones open to the media.

They are releasing it piecemeal.  There is one tomorrow.  Nothing next week because of spring break.

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Good write ups here. Thanks folks! 

I've been on a swing of more reading and less talking about IUFB as of late. I want to nail my final record prediction pick right on the money this year.  ;)  Close just isn't cutting it. That should be the theme this year vs ranked teams! Lol That was tongue in cheek purely for humor for the record but resonates with some of my true feelings for this upcoming season. I'm hype about this team, and I will say if health works out well enough with it's key players, but especially at starting Quarterback that it is fair to have a challenging or steep personal criteria in order to be happy with this season. 

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