I am slightly concerned about the DL

[Goatnapper'96]

I have yet to hear anything about Graham Rowley or Travis Tuiloma out of camp. Perhaps that is just the result of them just doing their jobs to occupy blockers so that the sexy OLBs get all the glory and opportunities to dryhump the hotties of Zion, but I have my concerns about the DL. I do not expect Fuga or Richardson to be what they were last year, and Fangupo still appears to be suffering lingering injuries. Fuga reported 18 lbs heavier than he was and IMO, I am having nightmares of Tialeeva in 2008 when anyone and everyone could run up the gut or to the outside on BYU. Clearly, the ILBs and the OLBs are much, much, much, freaking muchmuchmuch better than what BYU put on the field in 2008, but between Fuga not being what he was and Fangupo still not yet recovered from a lingering ankle injury BYU is going to need either Rowley or Tuiloma to step up and play well. I am confident Manu will be very good, but I would like to have hard nipples that one more DL can consistently do more than just his job. I think Muehlman will need a year to acclimate, and while Bryson is talented it is NOT Mendenhall's MO to let a kid who let down his team by falling behind academically to be depended upon. Bryson might be a good player for BYU but barring injuries I doubt he plays much next year. I see the depth in that BYU has a lot of bodies to throw at the position, but the expectations of stellar play must be limited to the more experienced players and I am getting concerned.

I don't think either Fuga or Fangupo are going to be ready to play significant reps this year, so the door is open for Rowley and Tuiloma to impress. Anyone with any insight on how they are doing?

[Goatnapper'96]

Just to keep to the theme of concerns here are my others for next year:

1.) Offensive coaching staff is still young and I expect growing pains. Further, while many of the key offensive players are really talented, they are also young and innexperienced. I forsee mistakes, lack of organization at critical points and various other mistakes of innexperience. It will hurt at a couple of key points.

2.) Running backs. While I think Diluigi and Kariya are adequate. For BYU to be legitimately good IMO, Quezada needs to be improved and be a legitimately good Division 1 back. Similar to what Curtis Brown was as a sophmore, not neccesarily like Unga but a good college back. Good enough that teams must be aware he is there and cause some concern in opposing defensive players. I think he is talented enough and I think the staff is willing to give him the reps to get there. I just hope his ankle injury does not linger longer and prevent it.

3.) I am less concerned than I was a few weeks ago that no tight end would step up. It sounds that the longer Austin Holt is removed from mission service the more and more he is becoming the man. It would not break my heart to RS Mahina and move him to DE and have him put on 30 lbs. Then play Holt and Friel as the prototypical TE and Wilson/Mathews as the split out receiving TE.

4.) Defensive Secondary, although I think if the DL steps up with the LBs BYU has there are significant sins in this area that can be hidden. Further, I think this core while innexperienced is actually more collectively talented than BYU usually has. I think Jordan Johnson, Dan Sorenson and Joe Sanford are the 3 with legitimate talent to be difference makers. JJ is a year or two away from that opportunity, Sorenson will get there but this year might be a bridge too far and Sanford's timing might prevent us from seeing him deliver on that natural ability in a game.

All in all, I still think BYU is building for 2012. I just see too many bumps and impediments for this year, but IF Holt, Quezada, Doman et all and the defensive secondary develop this year, BYU could be legitimately nationally good in 2012. I can see BYU getting ranked this year - but I don't see a BCS caliber/Top 10 quality team potential unless they get many fortuitous breaks. Things going well they are not likely to need as many breaks next year.

[byu71]

I can see BYU getting ranked this year - but I don't see a BCS caliber/Top 10 quality team potential unless they get many fortuitous breaks. Things going well they are not likely to need as many breaks next year.

I share your concerns for this year and your hopes for next year.

I am of the opinion if BYU loses 2 games this year up to and including the TCU game, I have a hard time thinking they will be ranked. Maybe if they end up 11-2.

I think the voters aren't going to be too impressed with a lot of the wins.

[PaloAltoCougar]

In his newsletter that arrived this morning, HB Arnett declares that this year's edition is the best he's seen in any fall camp since he started writing his Cougar Sportsline 32 years ago. While I'm excited for the new season, the concerns you cite, not to mention the usual risks of injury, and the question marks about whether the team actually comes together as a cohesive unit, make me reluctant to expect more than 9 regular season wins. But I'm definitely on board for an very interesting and exciting year. I'm hoping 'Napper's going to need an a DD cone bra.

[U-Ute]

We'll trade you some of our defensive linemen for some offensive linemen of yours.

[Hsaru]

Greg Wrubell and Jay Drew don't exactly have a high enough football IQ to be able to notice if 3-4 DLinemen are doing a good enough job to mention them in their articles. And they never ask Bronco who is playing well on the DL, so I'm not sure how we are supposed to hear about how they are doing.

[frank ryan]

What about dulan?

[Hsaru]

Dulan is redshirting.

[Sizzle]

3.) I am less concerned than I was a few weeks ago that no tight end would step up. It sounds that the longer Austin Holt is removed from mission service the more and more he is becoming the man. It would not break my heart to RS Mahina and move him to DE and have him put on 30 lbs. Then play Holt and Friel as the prototypical TE and Wilson/Mathews as the split out receiving TE.

Junkie and I were talking about this last night, but with Pritchard going down, it may make some sense to move Friel to FB and have a good blocker/receiver coming out of the backfield from the FB spot. IIRC, Friel played some FB before his mission, no?

[MarkGrace]

All in all, I still think BYU is building for 2012. I just see too many bumps and impediments for this year

Same. And, since this team is still coming together, I think we'll see something similar to last year where the team ends the season considerably better than where it started.

btw, SoCalCoug does not approve of this post, but he does like you mentioning the Provo Push.

[MarkGrace]

Junkie and I were talking about this last night, but with Pritchard going down, it may make some sense to move Friel to FB and have a good blocker/receiver coming out of the backfield from the FB spot. IIRC, Friel played some FB before his mission, no?

Isn't he like 6'5"? Do dudes that tall ever play FB?

[Sizzle]

FWIW, I agree with you on the DLine. I was somewhat concerned at the scrimmage on Saturday as it seemed like when it was the first team O, most running plays were going for 6+ yards. Then again, our OLine is probably the strongest unit on the team, so I would expect that.

I'll be interested to see how things shake out when they're matching up against other teams.

4.) Defensive Secondary, although I think if the DL steps up with the LBs BYU has there are significant sins in this area that can be hidden. Further, I think this core while innexperienced is actually more collectively talented than BYU usually has. I think Jordan Johnson, Dan Sorenson and Joe Sanford are the 3 with legitimate talent to be difference makers. JJ is a year or two away from that opportunity, Sorenson will get there but this year might be a bridge too far and Sanford's timing might prevent us from seeing him deliver on that natural ability in a game.

Also, on point 4, I think the difference between the 1s and the 2s is the secondary in most cases isn't huge. We don't have a guy in the secondary who is NFL caliber IMO (Hague may have been had he not spent a few years as a RB) and maybe Sorenson is there, but I agree that the depth is encouraging and better than I remember at the Y in a long time. Hopefully they can find 3-4 serviceable players at the corner spot and we should be in good shape, especially hoping that the front seven can generate enough pressure to make the secondaries job easier.

[KillerDog]

Junkie and I were talking about this last night, but with Pritchard going down, it may make some sense to move Friel to FB and have a good blocker/receiver coming out of the backfield from the FB spot. IIRC, Friel played some FB before his mission, no?

Too bad Wilson shies away from contact. His size and speed would be excellent at fullback. My understanding though is that the want a fullback who can run some dives or carry behind blocking by the "combo back" and that is what Pritchard could do that Mendenhall could not. Friel is not going to fix that problem. We need Alisa or someone like that to fix it.

[MarkGrace]

Too bad Wilson shies away from contact. His size and speed would be excellent at fullback. My understanding though is that the want a fullback who can run some dives or carry behind blocking by the "combo back" and that is what Pritchard could do that Mendenhall could not. Friel is not going to fix that problem. We need Alisa or someone like that to fix it.

I've always thought Wilson should move to FB as well. Doesn't seem like he has the mentality for it, though, as you said.

[Goatnapper'96]

In his newsletter that arrived this morning, HB Arnett declares that this year's edition is the best he's seen in any fall camp since he started writing his Cougar Sportsline 32 years ago. While I'm excited for the new season, the concerns you cite, not to mention the usual risks of injury, and the question marks about whether the team actually comes together as a cohesive unit, make me reluctant to expect more than 9 regular season wins. But I'm definitely on board for an very interesting and exciting year. I'm hoping 'Napper's going to need an a DD cone bra.

HB is turning into a sunshine pumper. Methinks this is what one might call market dynamics. However, his assesments seems to have been based upon some assumptions that do not appear to be materializing. I think HB expected Fuga to be what he was last year before his injury. His reporting weight alone leads me to believe that will not happen. I doubt he is as well conditioned or mobile as he was last year. I think he will be effective in some reps but likely to tire easily. Also I think Fangupo already experienceing re-occurring ankle issues has me concerned that that injury will linger all year long for him. I think both are likely to not be able to play significant reps at a higher level. Further, HB also might not have been aware that BYU was going to lose Putnam. I don't think any of these setbacks, either individually or collectively, are ruinous, but in football the various sum of the parts can negatively or positively influence the whole more than any other sport, IMO. The one advantage BYU has this year to compensate for a DL that might not be as sparkling as we had hoped is the very good LB play. In 2008 once BYU figured out Russell wasn't what he had been in 2006 and that the ILBs were unable to compensate the D moved the DE's to an inside shade of the OTs. This protected BYU up the middle to some extent but it exposed the Y on the edges. I do think the OLBs and safeties are more capable to take up that slack if the DEs are forced to play more inside this year. So in the end it might be OK, but Fangupo's lingering injury has me a bit more flaccid than I would like. But perhaps that is also age......