FB: USA South Athletic Conference

[KEEPING IT REAL]

WE SHALL SEE?

[narch]

WE SHALL SEE?

KIR...any information on which pro day he'll be participating in?

here is another resource, for anyone interested...not sure how credible it is vs. the nfl.com information, though...

[musupporter]

Allen C.  You are very accurate in your assesment.  MU lost 19 seniors and only list 8 seniors on their spring roster.  One senior from d=line and most of the o-line which was very good.(Better than the record).  A lot of underclassmen played last year.  I am curious to see how those players matured. 

I think the d-line will do well.  A good corp of recievers return.  RB is a toss up.  Linebackers need help from last year.  DB's were very young last year.  QB could be a surprise.

By the way.  How do you grad 18 and only have 8?  Where did that recruiting class go?

[AUPOP]

Allen C., great blog. Ended up reading several of your articles. Not sure if WFU is hitting the boards these days but I'll give you what I got then I am sure he can fill in the blanks.

Squillini is gone this year and you never know how to measure how much your going to miss a guy like that but if there is a silver lining think we will get to see a whole lot more of Dixon this year on the offense. Last year made most of his noise on special teams. Also have Williams back at WR, he was last years offensive ROY. Have a transfer in at WR that while I havn't had the chance to see him he is described as 6-2 and fast as @%$@!  LOL, least thats how my son puts it.  Anxious to see for myself. Several underclassman back and also getting back Chiaronlanzio a jr. ( hurt all last year). he's listed as a TE but here he runs like a WR. Another tall guy and should be able to give some LB's fits. I dont think the Qb's will have to much trouble finding someone to throw too.

Watson was the power guy, not sure who might step up and fill that void. O line lost one tackle but think there are several guys that can step up and take over. Expecting the O line to hit another level this year,  anchored  by Roberts and Blaising both sr's. Younger guys have gotten a year under thier belt and I know they have been working hard, it shows so I think we'll see some real good things there.

Defensively the entire secoundary is back, thats a good thing considering the ball hawks they were last year. The D line is back and I hear they have bulked up. Also getting another kid back form being injured last year, cant remember his name but plays Dline, 6-3 300. Dont know a thing about him but here he moves like a much smaller guy so if thats the case with his size and speed  he should really help out on D. Losing Huffman and Cooper at the LB spots will be tough, just have to wait and see who can fill the void.

Over all I hear the recruiting weekends have been very busy, lots of kids coming in and I know the school has said this will be the largest freshman class in sometime. If AU can fill a few holes think they have a great chance of doing just as well this year and possibly better. Pretty young team last year. Anxious to see what the year of experience does for them.

[abnrgr]

Herr Hasa
How much longer at GC-Q before you see what O they got...

[abnrgr]

sorry wrong place...

[KEEPING IT REAL]

Tunde Ogun did his pro day at JMU.

6'0.1  218 pounds
Bench press 22 times
Vertical 30'
Broad Jump 9'1"
20 yd shuttle 4.24
3 cone 6.92
60 yd shuttle 11.50
40 yd  4.52

[KEEPING IT REAL]

Go to you tube and see East Coast Bowl shots of Tunde Ogun. Just type in Tunde Ogun.

[Ryan Tipps]

Go to you tube and see East Coast Bowl shots of Tunde Ogun. Just type in Tunde Ogun.

Tunde did a really nice job getting a lot of yards after contact. Showed some good muscle!

[KEEPING IT REAL]

Thanks

[KEEPING IT REAL]

Three small-schoolers help cause at Pro Day
Posted on: March 27, 2010 11:53 amScore: 152Log-in to rate:Log-in to rate: Log-in to rate: Sometimes the small school prospects can get a bit lost in the shuffle of a busy Pro Day week. These are three players from relatively small schools, however, that are creating some buzz with scouts.

William and Mary pass rusher Adrian Tracy was the big name on campus -- so much so that I highlighted him back in November in our PDF Draft Slant -- but it was his former teammate, defensive tackle Sean Lissemore who impressed scouts at their recent Pro Day. The 6-3, 297 pounder was twice timed in the low 4.8s in the 40-yard dash, 4.27 in the short shuttle and a 7.57 in the 3-cone drill. He also showed good explosiveness with a 30" vertical jump, 9'3" broad jump and lifting the bar 26 times. Lissemore is hardly a workout warrior. He earned first team all-conference honors with 66 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and two interceptions as a senior. He also stood out at the Texas vs. Nation practices. Lissemore has already gained the interest of several clubs, having set up private visits with the Arizona, Atlanta, Jacksonville, both  New York clubs, and Seattle.

Western Illinois cornerback Patrick Stoudamire, Jr. took advantage of another opportunity to work out for scouts at the Northern Illinois Pro Day Friday. Stoudamire, who earned first-team all Gateway conference honors each of the past three seasons and never gave up a touchdown reception, had previously helped his cause with a solid performance at the East-West Shrine game. He was among the highest rated prospects by NFLDraftScout.com who was not invited to the Combine. Friday, however, the 5-10, 207 pounder showed the speed (4.43), explosiveness (31.5" vertical) and fluidity in positional drills to warrant a late round selection. He's already scheduled several visits with clubs. The Cardinals, Bears, Colts and Saints seemed to be the most interested during his NIU workout.

Every year there is a D-III prospect that earns a late round selection or makes a club as an undrafted free agent. This year that prospect may be Christopher Newport running back Tunde Ogun .

Ogun burst onto the scene as a junior with 1,794 yards and 16 touchdowns, earning All-American honors. A partially torn meniscus suffered in the season-opener, however, limited Ogun to only 959 yards and 10 scores (in 10 games).

No one can say Ogun isn't dedicated to showing scouts what he can do. Not only did he play through the injury all season long, over the past month, he's traveled to three different Pro Day workouts. His best performance came Wednesday. Ogun, 6-0, 219 pounds was timed at 4.52 in the 40-yard dash, 4.24 in the short shuttle, 11.50 in the long shuttle and 6.92 in the 3-cone. He also posted a 30" vertical, 9'1" broad jump and lifted the bar 22 times. This is from NFL Draft Scout.

[Allen C]

Allen C,

what's your blog address? I wasn't aware.

Hey there- Sorry I have so slow responding to you. My blog address is
www.ferrumfootball.blogspot.com

Or you can google the Ferrum College Football Report.

Thanks for asking.

[WFU34]

AUPOP - you've got a good assessment of Averett's spring so far.  With Dixon (2nd Team All-American - returner) and Williams as the wideouts they should be pretty explosive.  TE's are more athletic enabling them to be a greater option in the offense next year.  Overall, the passing game should be strong with the 2nd Team All-Conference QB returning and experienced back-ups. 

The running game is an area which they have to improve upon.  The O-line should be better with a number of returnees but is a critical area for that needs to improve.  Last year, due to size and strength, the O-line often didn't have the ability to blow the D-line off the ball to pick up key first downs in obvious running situations.  The new line coach is making a difference. 

There are also question marks are in the backfield.  FB is a key void to fill and they are thin at running back.  May be looking at incoming freshmen to add depth, but if there is a position you can get away with playing freshman, its running back. 

On defense - the key will be how the linebackers develop.  Lost some key experience there.  Secondary and D-line should continue to be strengths.  With NCWU's QB graduating, there is no returning QB that Averett will face in conference that has put up big passing numbers previously (that doesn't mean one won't emerge) however, it may enable their defensive scheme to have the DB's to be more aggressive on run support to assist the LB's. 

A potentially key area of improvement is the kicking game.  Last year FG's and extra points were somewhat of an adventure at times.  The kicker from Guilford College transferred in and is participating in spring practice raising the level of competition for all the kickers.

Averett should be able to compete again for the USA South conference title but only if they play with the same energy that they did last year.  Even though they were 5 - 2 in conference, they won a number of close games and just as easily could have been 2 - 5.  If they play hard in every game this season, they can be successful again but they're not the type of team that can "just show up" and get a win.

[CNU85]

Now that I just filed my taxes (ugh)....a quick view as I see it concerning CNU. True, we only lost 9 seniors, but they were impact players. Ogun, Spradlin, Kirland, Wagner, Schindler, and a couple of TE's. To me, one of the biggest losses will be FB Preli. Nobody could block like that guy at 5'9" 250 lbs.

The biggest question for CNU will be at QB. Who will start? Woefel-Montsavais showed some real talent as a lefty and could really zip the ball. But he was a freshman last year and got rattled a few times. Also, not sure 100% about Matt Long's situation. Actually, I do know what's going on, but I'll let his brother say something if he wants to. I'm not.

Top returners for CNU - Offense - Corey Legister. He's bigger than Ogun and more punishing. Of course he may have seemed that way to me after OGun pounded people for 3 quarters and then Legister would come in and face a worn out D. Ogun is faster, but I'm comfortable with Legister. Arvai at WR was coming along during the year and Kenneth Hall was all-conference on the O line. The questions are - QB, who replaces Preli, and how does the O-line come together and perform better than 2009?

Defense - CNU has numbers and several players were starting to make it happen. The loss of Kirland in the backfield and Wagner on the line will hurt. Wever (all conf) has to be the leader in the secondary and Diggs (all-conf) will bring it at the LB spot. Vaughn also played well at LB and Chris Nickle was getting more comfortable as well. I think the LBs will be ok. Mike King played well at LB, too.

DL - Krupp was all-conference and should have a good season. I really don't know about the rest of the line. Kelchner is so good at platooning people, you never really know about some of the non starting Fr and So. DB position has numbers.....lots of them. But they made mistakes last year. In the mix should be guys like, Meekins, Kelly, Bronde-Tinkew.

Overall - QB, FB, O-line, D-line and DB.....to me those are the areas I'm not sure how it will be put together. I know Kelchner will put a competitive team on the field. I expect a better record this year.....but that schedule....man.......open the season home against Wesley. Then away at Salisbury and Frostburg and then still away for conference opener at Shenandoah. Ouch.

That's my take- as weak as it is....truth is, you never know until camp opens and you see who shows up. Kelchner always comes up with a surprise out of nowhere....let's see what this year brings.

[AUPOP]

AUPOP - you've got a good assessment of Averett's spring so far.   

The running game is an area which they have to improve upon.  The O-line should be better with a number of returnees but is a critical area for that needs to improve.  Last year, due to size and strength, the O-line often didn't have the ability to blow the D-line off the ball to pick up key first downs in obvious running situations.  The new line coach is making a difference. 

Agreed, if they can put together a decent running game the offense could be something special. I think the line has gotten over the loss of Stanley and has pretty much embraced the new O-line coach's philosophy. They seem to have that " something to prove attitude". It will be interesting to see  it come together.   Is it August yet? LOL