Not allowed to go to practices (thanks Covid), but here's what I heard. We all know how the game of telephone works, so when I talk about how great someone has been in fall camp and then we don't even have them on the team, try to go easy on me with the backlash!
Quarterback:
As i've been saying all 2020, this is Martinez's. I stated about a month ago on here that I saw him this summer at the golf course and he looked to be in much better shape, sounds like that's holding true with how he's performing in practice. For those of you on the McCaffrey bandwagon, what I stated a few weeks ago about us finding ways to get him the ball even if it's not at QB, sounds like that is still coming to fruition. Thinking about having him out there with Robinson, Martinez, and Mills is pretty exciting.
Runningback:
Mills is a beast, really excited about how his hands have came along to go with his downhill running. Austin being the running game coordinator who was frustrated with our east/west run style last year due to him thinking it wasn't what he thought our OL was good at will highlight our advantages not only on the OL but with Mills. I do get worried about our #2 situation. I think we will find someone to do it, but Robinson and/or McCaffrey as our #2 option isn't what we want (not saying that's where we are at). Rahmir running with 2s, but let's see how our 2020 guys do with the pads on. Free year, don't have to worry about 4 games or less.
Tightends:
Went here first because how we play this is what dictates our WR situation. Stoll will still be the man, but Vokolek is what we thought he would be. He's a combo of good blocker and good receiver, but not quite ready to take over for Stoll (yet?). Allen and Rafdal, for those guys it basically comes down to who gets more consistent. They both show flashes depending what practice it is.
Wide Receiver:
This is where it gets a little dicey. Even though losing JD really hurts, our 2020 WR core is better than 2019 if for no other reason than we are healthier as of right now. The unfortunate thing is when people say that, the automatic response is almost "well no kidding." I am only slightly exaggerating when I say Bellevue Wests WR core is better than 2019 Nebraska WR core. Falck is going to be a better grad transfer than Noa was, Warner is finally feeling good and is Martinez's security blanket, Robinson would have been our best WR in 2020 anyway and if he gets healthy we are good. From there grab some 2019 or 2020 recruits to fill in the gaps.
Offensive Line:
Austin has done a really good job of creating depth here. Even though we are starting a bunch of "Riley guys", I like where we are with #2s behind them as well. We could literally start all 5 guys that started last year, so we could go with experience if we wanted. But we have so many options, and it's been reported as such, that we won't. I worry about backup tackles, but other than that we are fine on the interior. Benhart can hopefully get used to his height at this level, but is Gaylord recovered? Will Corcoran be ready? Banks or Fritzsche feeling up to it? Either way, we are fine.
Defensive Line:
Can never tell if we are that good or that bad when you go against each other. But we do feel pretty good about our front line. After that we are piecing it together a bit. Robinson is really the only one consistently getting the better of our offense. Hopefully Damion Daniels can get 20% of the snaps at NG for us, that would be great. Backup DE is what we need help at. If Keem Green is ready, this should be slightly better than serviceable.
Inside Linebacker:
I think Ruud has done a good job getting this room up to snuff with talent. The issue becomes we feel good about 3 or 4 guys here that we are trying guys at OLB (reported that Henrich is shifting out there a bit). We can go with experience and stopping the run with Miller and Honas, or can get a little more athletic with Reimer, Henrich, or Snodgrass. I literally have heard nothing about Hannah which sucks as I was really high on him.
Outside Linebacker:
This is where I worry. Domann is our best defender, but we are in a world of hurt at our other spot. We have guys that are really good at one or two things, but not overall. For example, Nelson can help set the edge and stop the run, but he's still learning coverage. Same with Damian Jackson. Tannor screws up his assignments from time to time. They even moved Pheldarius Payne here. If i'm the staff I have Mauga-Clements as my third and long OLB. That should help us. But we need to find someone opposite Domann here. It will be by committee to start.
Defensive Backs:
We are mixing and matching to find our best 4. As I said a couple weeks ago, we really like our starting two safeties, but what do we do after that? Someone brought up Isaac Gifford to me a week ago and he was mentioned a couple times to me as someone to look out for. That doesn't encourage me, if we are relying on him our depth isn't great. Not saying he isn't going to be good, it's just the guy that was an "afterthought" offer may be looked on for playing. Kind of crazy. Corner I still feel ok about as long as Bootle, Joseph, or CTB stay healthy. If one of them go down like Clark we are in a world of hurt.
