March 13 Spring Practice Notes

[MeanGreen61]

March 13, 2008

Spring practice notes

After missing the first couple of sessions of spring football practice attending to other sports like basketball and softball, I was able to make it out Thursday and pick up a few random notes. Some of this might have been repeated elsewhere the last few days, but I will run through everything I noticed just in case someone missed a note or two since spring started.

UNT’s starting linebackers at this point appear to be Craig Robertson, converted safety Steve Warren and Tobe Nwigwe, who is in the middle. A.J. Penson and Bron Hager are with the second team at outside linebacker with Colt Mahan in the middle.

Marquis Sykes and Ryan Davenport are working with UNT’s defensive ends and could end up being key players for the Mean Green. UNT is likely to start Eddrick Gilmore and JUCO transfer Alonzo Horton at the ends. Of the rest of UNT’s players, Sykes appears to be the most physically ready to step in if either starter is hurt or needs a break – at least based on watching a few minutes of one practice. Dodge said after practice he has been impressed with Davenport, who is starting alongside Gilmore at this point.

Kail Krider is now working with UNT’s defensive tackles, a group led by Joseph Miller. Outside of Miller, UNT looks really small and shorthanded for a Division I team. Miller and Jonathan Stewart are the starters. UNT could get some help at tackle if Draylen Ross returns to the team. Ross isn’t practicing, but he was on hand to watch workouts on Thursday. Ross is one of four defensive tackles listed at 270 pounds or more and is one of two that is not with the team at this point. Isaac Thomas is out for the spring after suffering a blood clot in his leg.

UNT’s starters at defensive back at this point appear to be: Latif Nurudeen and Antoine Bush at the corners and Kartey Agbottah and Navy transfer Greg Garden at safety. I would expect that to change with the development of corner Adryan Adams in spring practice and the arrival of several other JUCO transfers in the fall.

UNT has several offensive linemen out at this point, including tackle Matt Menard, who ran in shorts and a T-shirt at practice. Menard should be back after spring break next week, but for now Bryan Glass, J.J. Johnson, Matt Tomlinson, Esteban Santiago and Victor Gill are seeing time with the first team.

There were also some interesting spectators at practice. Former UNT tight end and graduate assistant Beau Davidson was on hand. He is now the offensive line coach at Trinity Valley Community College, the same school from which UNT recruited former offensive lineman Lonnie Chambers. Davidson could end up being a good contact in the future for UNT. Southlake Carroll head coach Hal Wasson was also in attendance.

On the injury front, Arthur Stubblefield had an MRI on his knee Thursday and could end up having surgery over the summer.

Dodge singled out wide receivers Marcus King, Sam Roberson and walkon Alex Lott and defensive ends Davenport, Sykes and Kyle Russo as players who have fared well in the first few days of spring.

Post your thoughts or questions on the blog.

Posted by Brett Vito at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

[BIG DAWG]

Kind of a shocker to me anyway that Penson is not in the starting at OLB...also was expecting Marquis Davis to be in the top 2 on the LBer depth chart. Still alot of time though

[risinggreen]

Mahan has put on enough weight to be in the middle behind Nwigwe? Hmmm....Also surprising to hear that Warren is currently looking like a starter on the outside. Always liked the guy at safety, but kind of surprised to hear he is leading the pack at outside LB at the moment.

[eulessismore]

March 13, 2008

Spring practice notes

After missing the first couple of sessions of spring football practice attending to other sports like basketball and softball, I was able to make it out Thursday and pick up a few random notes. Some of this might have been repeated elsewhere the last few days, but I will run through everything I noticed just in case someone missed a note or two since spring started.

UNT’s starting linebackers at this point appear to be Craig Robertson, converted safety Steve Warren and Tobe Nwigwe, who is in the middle. A.J. Penson and Bron Hager are with the second team at outside linebacker with Colt Mahan in the middle.

Marquis Sykes and Ryan Davenport are working with UNT’s defensive ends and could end up being key players for the Mean Green. UNT is likely to start Eddrick Gilmore and JUCO transfer Alonzo Horton at the ends. Of the rest of UNT’s players, Sykes appears to be the most physically ready to step in if either starter is hurt or needs a break – at least based on watching a few minutes of one practice. Dodge said after practice he has been impressed with Davenport, who is starting alongside Gilmore at this point.

Kail Krider is now working with UNT’s defensive tackles, a group led by Joseph Miller. Outside of Miller, UNT looks really small and shorthanded for a Division I team. Miller and Jonathan Stewart are the starters. UNT could get some help at tackle if Draylen Ross returns to the team. Ross isn’t practicing, but he was on hand to watch workouts on Thursday. Ross is one of four defensive tackles listed at 270 pounds or more and is one of two that is not with the team at this point. Isaac Thomas is out for the spring after suffering a blood clot in his leg.

UNT’s starters at defensive back at this point appear to be: Latif Nurudeen and Antoine Bush at the corners and Kartey Agbottah and Navy transfer Greg Garden at safety. I would expect that to change with the development of corner Adryan Adams in spring practice and the arrival of several other JUCO transfers in the fall.

UNT has several offensive linemen out at this point, including tackle Matt Menard, who ran in shorts and a T-shirt at practice. Menard should be back after spring break next week, but for now Bryan Glass, J.J. Johnson, Matt Tomlinson, Esteban Santiago and Victor Gill are seeing time with the first team.

There were also some interesting spectators at practice. Former UNT tight end and graduate assistant Beau Davidson was on hand. He is now the offensive line coach at Trinity Valley Community College, the same school from which UNT recruited former offensive lineman Lonnie Chambers. Davidson could end up being a good contact in the future for UNT. Southlake Carroll head coach Hal Wasson was also in attendance.

On the injury front, Arthur Stubblefield had an MRI on his knee Thursday and could end up having surgery over the summer.

Dodge singled out wide receivers Marcus King, Sam Roberson and walkon Alex Lott and defensive ends Davenport, Sykes and Kyle Russo as players who have fared well in the first few days of spring.

Post your thoughts or questions on the blog.

Posted by Brett Vito at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's great to hear that Marcus King is practicing and doing well. He was very impressive as a "go to" receiver for the 2005 Euless Trinity state championship team.

[FirefightnRick]

Great stuff about Warren. He must have kept his speed, and you know how fast Nwigwe and Robertson are. And a very quick Mahan playing in the middle gives this LB corp a lot of speed. This could be a very interesting defense. I'm hoping our beef returns this summer to keep the big bodies off of them.

Rick

[adman]

It's great to hear that Marcus King is practicing and doing well. He was very impressive as a "go to" receiver for the 2005 Euless Trinity state championship team.

Wasn't Gill projected at DT at some point, last season perhaps? Or was he the TE under DD that was moved to DE or DT under TD only to move back to TE in the tornado package last season? I get so confused.

[adman]

Great stuff about Warren. He must have kept his speed, and you know how fast Nwigwe and Robertson are. And a very quick Mahan playing in the middle gives this LB corp a lot of speed. This could be a very interesting defense. I'm hoping our beef returns this summer to keep the big bodies off of them.

Rick

With reports earlier this week or last about Mahan being at best 210lbs does that raise concern about his ability in the middle regardless of how quick and nimble?

[NT80]

Great stuff about Warren. He must have kept his speed, and you know how fast Nwigwe and Robertson are. And a very quick Mahan playing in the middle gives this LB corp a lot of speed. This could be a very interesting defense. I'm hoping our beef returns this summer to keep the big bodies off of them.

Rick

Yes, we have major concerns with big guys missing at both OL and DL now. These areas could be key to how this team shakes out for the Fall. As Vito mentioned "UNT looks really small and shorthanded for a Division I team." Not good.

Edited March 14, 2008 by NT80

[SilverEagle]

I always thought that Sykes looked more like a DE than a LB.

[island eagle]

I always thought that Sykes looked more like a DE than a LB.

I'm surprised that DeSoto and Scroggins are more in the mix at DT. They have some size and had pretty good high school credentials.

[Will to Win]

I'm surprised that DeSoto and Scroggins are more in the mix at DT. They have some size and had pretty good high school credentials.

Not really surprised about "Scoggins" and am more surprised that A.J. Penson is not in the starting rotation. A.J. played well last year.

[Charlie NT 73]

This is spring training. The coaches are teaching every part of the offense

and defense, special teams, game management, plus finding out which

players can play their position or change the player to a postion better

suited to the needs of the team. I would not say, just after a couple of

practices, a particular player is the starter. I am very glad to see the

coaching staff is trying to place the right player at the right position,

and I am glad to see players that are making progress, like Warren,

at LB for example. I am sure other player changes will develop.

The redshirt players are finaly getting to go full time, along with many

players that did not play too much last year, so these players are getting

more development time. I expect some very good developments with

these players, such as finding new starters and depth at all positions.

There are several JUCO's the coaches are counting on, that will not be here

until the fall. Can these players learn DodgeBall in 3 weeks? Will all of these

JUCO's show up? What happens if the key JUCO's do not come in? Maybe

spring ball can provide answers to these positions now, before the begining

of fall practice.

Edited March 14, 2008 by charlie nt73

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

Defensive tackle is my #1 concern, at least for now. But, there are five, not four, that are listed at more than 270. He mentioned Miller, Thomas and Ross; the other two are DeSoto and Scoggins. Also, by fall, I'd expect Charlie Brown to be up to around 275. Cantly could turn out to be a very pleasant surprise and he weighs between 290 and 300.. If Ross decides to return he'd better come in with an attitude or he needs to hang 'em up.

It's spring and who's on top now may (or may not) have anything to do with how they'll line up in the fall. I don't read much into who's running what in the spring, especially with two new defensive coaches. They have to learn the players and their abilities. They will know by the end of fall practice.

Still, it's interesting to know who's progressing and who isn't. But again, just as Vito missed one of the 270 pound tackles, so is he unable to critique every player who participates in spring practice.

[MeanGreenEngineer]

But again, just as Vito missed one of the 270 pound tackles...

From outside the gates...

[island eagle]

Defensive tackle is my #1 concern, at least for now. But, there are five, not four, that are listed at more than 270. He mentioned Miller, Thomas and Ross; the other two are DeSoto and Scoggins. Also, by fall, I'd expect Charlie Brown to be up to around 275. Cantly could turn out to be a very pleasant surprise and he weighs between 290 and 300.. If Ross decides to return he'd better come in with an attitude or he needs to hang 'em up.

It's spring and who's on top now may (or may not) have anything to do with how they'll line up in the fall. I don't read much into who's running what in the spring, especially with two new defensive coaches. They have to learn the players and their abilities. They will know by the end of fall practice.

Still, it's interesting to know who's progressing and who isn't. But again, just as Vito missed one of the 270 pound tackles, so is he unable to critique every player who participates in spring practice.

Hard not to be concerned about DT at this point. If Cantly were to come in, with his limited playing time in high school, and have any impact at all, then we'd be looking at the second coming of Booger or Mean Joe Greene. Possible, but highly unlikely. Given their high school experience, I'd expect Joe Hawthorne to have more of an upfront impact, through he may have to take a year or two to put on sufficient weight. For Joe to make it, he will need to weigh at least 275-280.

[H-towngreen]

UNT’s starting linebackers at this point appear to be Craig Robertson, converted safety Steve Warren and Tobe Nwigwe, who is in the middle. A.J. Penson and Bron Hager are with the second team at outside linebacker with Colt Mahan in the middle.

That comes as a bit of a surprise to me. I remember hearing about Warren being red-shirted so that he could put on weight and move to LB. Didn't he come in as a QB?

Marquis Sykes and Ryan Davenport are working with UNT’s defensive ends and could end up being key players for the Mean Green. UNT is likely to start Eddrick Gilmore and JUCO transfer Alonzo Horton at the ends. Of the rest of UNT’s players, Sykes appears to be the most physically ready to step in if either starter is hurt or needs a break – at least based on watching a few minutes of one practice. Dodge said after practice he has been impressed with Davenport, who is starting alongside Gilmore at this point.

I really like our starting 2, its the depth that is a concern. So its good to hear that both are progressing.

Kail Krider is now working with UNT’s defensive tackles, a group led by Joseph Miller. Outside of Miller, UNT looks really small and shorthanded for a Division I team. Miller and Jonathan Stewart are the starters. UNT could get some help at tackle if Draylen Ross returns to the team. Ross isn’t practicing, but he was on hand to watch workouts on Thursday. Ross is one of four defensive tackles listed at 270 pounds or more and is one of two that is not with the team at this point. Isaac Thomas is out for the spring after suffering a blood clot in his leg.

I'm really hoping that Ross can/will rejoin the team. I've been saying this for a while, but I expect big things from him. We really need our younger guys to step up at this point.

UNT’s starters at defensive back at this point appear to be: Latif Nurudeen and Antoine Bush at the corners and Kartey Agbottah and Navy transfer Greg Garden at safety. I would expect that to change with the development of corner Adryan Adams in spring practice and the arrival of several other JUCO transfers in the fall.

Once we get out JUCO's in this should be a really solid group, with quality back-ups.

[H-towngreen]

Hard not to be concerned about DT at this point. If Cantly were to come in, with his limited playing time in high school, and have any impact at all, then we'd be looking at the second coming of Booger or Mean Joe Greene. Possible, but highly unlikely. Given their high school experience, I'd expect Joe Hawthorne to have more of an upfront impact, through he may have to take a year or two to put on sufficient weight. For Joe to make it, he will need to weigh at least 275-280.

Hawthorne is going to end up as a D-end.

[UNTLifer]

Not really surprised about "Scoggins"

Care to elaborate?

[NT80]

Defensive tackle is my #1 concern, at least for now. But, there are five, not four, that are listed at more than 270. He mentioned Miller, Thomas and Ross; the other two are DeSoto and Scoggins. Also, by fall, I'd expect Charlie Brown to be up to around 275.

I thought Charlie Brown left the program?

[Guest JohnDenver]

I thought Charlie Brown left the program?

Nope.. accidentally left off the roster printout. Still on the team and still planning to get some good snaps.