Spring Practice
JW should get a lot of snaps in spring as the only scholarship QB I believe. Roster hasn’t been updated. Since the NCAA no longer enforces rules, wonder if we can practice more that the supposed 15 allotted practices.
As long as those extra practices are part of the for-fee services Players are delivering to fulfill their end of their NIL agreements, the NCAA should be fine. So just get the company that sold us the new turf in Paladin Stadium to sign all Players to $1/year NIL deals & post some of the videos from the practices on the vendor’s social media sites endorsing their product…and we should be all good.
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers,
For he today who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother
For he today who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother
The roster's been updated. I doubt the commitments and transfers will show up until actually enrolled.
We should go into the fall with three QBs - Wilson, Jones, and Huff (the PC transfer). It doesn't sound like Huff or Jones will be on campus until the summer, so Wilson should get a lot of work.
Good news is that according to the press release Furman returns four OL starters, most of the offensive backfield, and several key receivers, including a lot of our primary playmakers. All that is good for Wilson's development.
Brilliant!!FUBeAR wrote: ↑Fri Feb 11, 2022 11:24 amAs long as those extra practices are part of the for-fee services Players are delivering to fulfill their end of their NIL agreements, the NCAA should be fine. So just get the company that sold us the new turf in Paladin Stadium to sign all Players to $1/year NIL deals & post some of the videos from the practices on the vendor’s social media sites endorsing their product…and we should be all good.
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As I look at the roster, I noticed that the TB/RB designation that Furman has been using for a while has been dropped. They are all now listed as "RB." I have no idea what that means, if anything.
The TB/RB designation, I think, started with Cronic and tended to distinguish the bigger fullback types from the smaller tailback types. I know Roper is more of a single back guy, but Furman's got a lot of depth at RB and I'd be surprised if he doesn't find ways to get multiple backs on the field at the same time.
I expected that our defensive staff would pull from the inside linebacker depth to fill in the Bandit group. It looks like Evan Dimaggio is going to be that guy. He's now listed as BAN, where he played some this fall.
One interesting position group to keep watching is PK. Bleekrode transferred to Nebraska. Furman did not appear to use a scholarship spot on that position this spring. Perhaps the coach feel that the next placekicker is already on the roster. Lepvreau seems like a good candidate.
The TB/RB designation, I think, started with Cronic and tended to distinguish the bigger fullback types from the smaller tailback types. I know Roper is more of a single back guy, but Furman's got a lot of depth at RB and I'd be surprised if he doesn't find ways to get multiple backs on the field at the same time.
I expected that our defensive staff would pull from the inside linebacker depth to fill in the Bandit group. It looks like Evan Dimaggio is going to be that guy. He's now listed as BAN, where he played some this fall.
One interesting position group to keep watching is PK. Bleekrode transferred to Nebraska. Furman did not appear to use a scholarship spot on that position this spring. Perhaps the coach feel that the next placekicker is already on the roster. Lepvreau seems like a good candidate.
Possibly call it “product testing and demonstration”.Furmanoid wrote: ↑Fri Feb 11, 2022 1:38 pmBrilliant!!FUBeAR wrote: ↑Fri Feb 11, 2022 11:24 amAs long as those extra practices are part of the for-fee services Players are delivering to fulfill their end of their NIL agreements, the NCAA should be fine. So just get the company that sold us the new turf in Paladin Stadium to sign all Players to $1/year NIL deals & post some of the videos from the practices on the vendor’s social media sites endorsing their product…and we should be all good.
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I am interested to see how Coach Roper formulates the offense this spring.
Since Hendrix arrived, Furman has primarily operated out of 21 personnel groups - 2 RBs, 1 TE, and 2 WRs.
While Cronic's offense more predominately operated under center and Quarles more frequently in the shotgun or pistol, the personnel groupings were similar.
A lot of Furman's flexibility in the passing game came as a result of having some real versatile players at TE. Currently Ryan Miller, and Andy Schumpert before him, demonstrate enough athleticism and pass catching ability to be essentially a third receiver, though classified as a TE.
Roper has predominately run 11 personnel - 1 RB, 1TE, 3 WR. Now, he's said he's going to try to match the offensive system with the personnel, but this is his background. From what I can tell in prior interviews, he prefers this personnel grouping because it forces the defense to declare early the strength of its formation to accommodate for the in-line TE.
Looking at his previous stops, the QB run game has been featured predominately. At Slippery Rock in 2018, the QB was the second leading rusher (137 attempts). In 2020 at Holy Cross, the QB was the leading rusher. In 2021, the QB was the leading rusher (166 attempts). That isn't option-offense territory, but it's up there.
For comparison's sake, Furman's two QBs in 2021 had about 100 fewer attempts rushing than Holy Cross's QB did. So, I expect that statistic to change significantly in 2022. From what I gather in interviews, Roper likes to have his QBs making reads, isolating defenders, and making them "wrong" whatever they decide to do. One way to do that is to have a QB willing to attack them on the ground (something we haven't done a ton of the last few years).
Furman, admittedly, still has a roster built around a deep backfield and multi-back sets. There are very few WRs on the roster that have really elevated themselves, though much of that may be due to the offensive philosophy of our prior coordinators.
I am anxious to see how he structures things. Honestly, he has a good starting spot with some mobile QBs, good offensive linemen, and a deep backfield with a lot of unique skillsets.
Since Hendrix arrived, Furman has primarily operated out of 21 personnel groups - 2 RBs, 1 TE, and 2 WRs.
While Cronic's offense more predominately operated under center and Quarles more frequently in the shotgun or pistol, the personnel groupings were similar.
A lot of Furman's flexibility in the passing game came as a result of having some real versatile players at TE. Currently Ryan Miller, and Andy Schumpert before him, demonstrate enough athleticism and pass catching ability to be essentially a third receiver, though classified as a TE.
Roper has predominately run 11 personnel - 1 RB, 1TE, 3 WR. Now, he's said he's going to try to match the offensive system with the personnel, but this is his background. From what I can tell in prior interviews, he prefers this personnel grouping because it forces the defense to declare early the strength of its formation to accommodate for the in-line TE.
Looking at his previous stops, the QB run game has been featured predominately. At Slippery Rock in 2018, the QB was the second leading rusher (137 attempts). In 2020 at Holy Cross, the QB was the leading rusher. In 2021, the QB was the leading rusher (166 attempts). That isn't option-offense territory, but it's up there.
For comparison's sake, Furman's two QBs in 2021 had about 100 fewer attempts rushing than Holy Cross's QB did. So, I expect that statistic to change significantly in 2022. From what I gather in interviews, Roper likes to have his QBs making reads, isolating defenders, and making them "wrong" whatever they decide to do. One way to do that is to have a QB willing to attack them on the ground (something we haven't done a ton of the last few years).
Furman, admittedly, still has a roster built around a deep backfield and multi-back sets. There are very few WRs on the roster that have really elevated themselves, though much of that may be due to the offensive philosophy of our prior coordinators.
I am anxious to see how he structures things. Honestly, he has a good starting spot with some mobile QBs, good offensive linemen, and a deep backfield with a lot of unique skillsets.
I was wrong the roster has been updated and the new signees are listed on the bottom because they hwve not been assigned jersey numbers yet.
I presume the new OC will be installing his own offense at FU. I don’t have any experience with that situation. How exactly does he accomplish that? Are new playbooks, etc. in the players’ hands now? Does he install his offense during spring practice or what? In transitioning from high school to college basketball, we had off season (summer) freshman practices and skull sessions. I don’t think they can do that anymore.
Listening to his initial interview with Dan Scott, I understood Roper wanted to know Furman's personnel and try to build an offense around who we have, instead of force-feeding a system.Jasper wrote: ↑Sun Feb 13, 2022 5:52 pmI presume the new OC will be installing his own offense at FU. I don’t have any experience with that situation. How exactly does he accomplish that? Are new playbooks, etc. in the players’ hands now? Does he install his offense during spring practice or what? In transitioning from high school to college basketball, we had off season (summer) freshman practices and skull sessions. I don’t think they can do that anymore.
The good news for Furman is they are returning nearly the entire offense from last year. So, Roper should have access to a large number of his depth chart when installing things this spring.
For curiosity's sake, I went back and looked at some videos. Jace Wilson and Carson Jones both ran in single back/shotgun offenses similar to Roper's in high school. Tyler Huff ran in a similar offense at Presbyterian. All three were frequently featured as runners.
A couple of tiny things…
Noah Henderson is now listed back at WR. I still see a lot of upside with Noah he's a bigger receiver, plays physically, I'd look for Henderson to be part of whatever WR sets Furman develops this year.
It's a new era at the Bandit position —
DiMaggio 6-3 230 RSSO
Clark 6-3 243 RSSO
Maier 6-4 225 RSFR
This group has some huge upside. I think all three are ready to step forward this year.
All three are long and are very mobile. I heard a lot of good things about Maier and in the games, he appeared in Alex made plays.
Tight end — Miller of course is the man.
Whittemore looks like another prototype Furman TE. Whittemore looks at home lined up at WR as much as at TE. At 6-4 228, I would expect Landon to develop into a 230 plus pound TE. I'd also keep an eye on Jack Healy. Healy is listed at 6-2 233, but from the practices and scrimmages, I've attended he plays and looks larger. Healy appears to be the hard-nose guy. I'm curious to see how Healy gets weaved in as a blocker early in his career.
Back to WR.
Furman has an experienced group of four;
Harris, Shiflett, Bell, and Henderson. Who's next?
Lex Capitano has been mentioned a few times by the coaches as a farther along DeLuca.
This season hope we get to see Gunn and Bailor Hughes get PT at WR. Gunn is a speedster, both he and Hughes were track guys in HS. We need one or both to make some plays in 2022.
Furman has enough talent and bodies to redshirt Ferguson and Harris.
E Harris brings in another long-frame receiver and he's had a year at AFA prep. I could see E Harris move quickly into the core receiving group. Ben Ferguson played for a very good Texas program, after watching his film, I think he matches the Amendola comparison. Savvy, excellent route running receivers can't be underestimated.
Punting — my money is on Ryan Leavy stepping up.
Noah Henderson is now listed back at WR. I still see a lot of upside with Noah he's a bigger receiver, plays physically, I'd look for Henderson to be part of whatever WR sets Furman develops this year.
It's a new era at the Bandit position —
DiMaggio 6-3 230 RSSO
Clark 6-3 243 RSSO
Maier 6-4 225 RSFR
This group has some huge upside. I think all three are ready to step forward this year.
All three are long and are very mobile. I heard a lot of good things about Maier and in the games, he appeared in Alex made plays.
Tight end — Miller of course is the man.
Whittemore looks like another prototype Furman TE. Whittemore looks at home lined up at WR as much as at TE. At 6-4 228, I would expect Landon to develop into a 230 plus pound TE. I'd also keep an eye on Jack Healy. Healy is listed at 6-2 233, but from the practices and scrimmages, I've attended he plays and looks larger. Healy appears to be the hard-nose guy. I'm curious to see how Healy gets weaved in as a blocker early in his career.
Back to WR.
Furman has an experienced group of four;
Harris, Shiflett, Bell, and Henderson. Who's next?
Lex Capitano has been mentioned a few times by the coaches as a farther along DeLuca.
This season hope we get to see Gunn and Bailor Hughes get PT at WR. Gunn is a speedster, both he and Hughes were track guys in HS. We need one or both to make some plays in 2022.
Furman has enough talent and bodies to redshirt Ferguson and Harris.
E Harris brings in another long-frame receiver and he's had a year at AFA prep. I could see E Harris move quickly into the core receiving group. Ben Ferguson played for a very good Texas program, after watching his film, I think he matches the Amendola comparison. Savvy, excellent route running receivers can't be underestimated.
Punting — my money is on Ryan Leavy stepping up.
Just some thoughts.
Watching Holy Cross from 2021, I think Furman is going to have to find some depth at WR to match up with Roper's preferred offense.
As I watch their games from this past season, HC is mostly in a 3WR, 1RB, 1TE set.
Holy Cross's TE was very active. Like Furman has done with Miller, the Holy Cross TE would line up in line, flexed in the slot, or in the backfield as an H Back. In several instances, HC would use two TEs - one in line and one lined up behind him as an H back. If these new young TEs are ready to go, then I think they'll have opportunities on the field and to give Miller a break (which was the entire stated reason for moving Henderson to that role to begin with).
Looking back through Furman highlights, we spent most of the time in a two back set. I did find a few examples of Furman in a more Roper-esque 11 personnel sets, which used quite a bit against Western Carolina.
This may be a good look at the future set up - Roberto as the single back, Harris, Bell, and Peterson at WR, and Miller at TE.
Similar set up here, but I think the slot receiver is a TB, not a WR. Would be a fairly easy substitute WR for RB.
Both offensive systems are built to be physical. I think Furman has the personnel to do a lot of what Roper is going to want to do offensively.
Perhaps the most notable difference to me is that Furman has generally wanted to use an extra blocker (FB or TE) to account for numbers in the box. Roper's system is often going to rely on the QB to block the unaccounted for defender "with his eyes." That is, there will be a relatively straightforward set of keys where the QB has the option to give or run depending on what the isolated defender does. This is going to require the QB to be willing and ready to run the ball as a key component of the offensive system.
Watching Holy Cross from 2021, I think Furman is going to have to find some depth at WR to match up with Roper's preferred offense.
As I watch their games from this past season, HC is mostly in a 3WR, 1RB, 1TE set.
Holy Cross's TE was very active. Like Furman has done with Miller, the Holy Cross TE would line up in line, flexed in the slot, or in the backfield as an H Back. In several instances, HC would use two TEs - one in line and one lined up behind him as an H back. If these new young TEs are ready to go, then I think they'll have opportunities on the field and to give Miller a break (which was the entire stated reason for moving Henderson to that role to begin with).
Looking back through Furman highlights, we spent most of the time in a two back set. I did find a few examples of Furman in a more Roper-esque 11 personnel sets, which used quite a bit against Western Carolina.
This may be a good look at the future set up - Roberto as the single back, Harris, Bell, and Peterson at WR, and Miller at TE.
Similar set up here, but I think the slot receiver is a TB, not a WR. Would be a fairly easy substitute WR for RB.
Both offensive systems are built to be physical. I think Furman has the personnel to do a lot of what Roper is going to want to do offensively.
Perhaps the most notable difference to me is that Furman has generally wanted to use an extra blocker (FB or TE) to account for numbers in the box. Roper's system is often going to rely on the QB to block the unaccounted for defender "with his eyes." That is, there will be a relatively straightforward set of keys where the QB has the option to give or run depending on what the isolated defender does. This is going to require the QB to be willing and ready to run the ball as a key component of the offensive system.
Completely unrelated to Furman, but found this nugget this morning.
The NFL's top two teams in use of 11 personnel grouping: Bengals and Rams. The Bengals favor a wider alignment with a more vertical approach while the Rams a more narrow/bunched approach, which fit their personnel.
The NFL's top two teams in use of 11 personnel grouping: Bengals and Rams. The Bengals favor a wider alignment with a more vertical approach while the Rams a more narrow/bunched approach, which fit their personnel.
Look forward to seeing what Xavier Stephens and Christian Paraison bring to the DL- have heard good things about both of them. Also, coaches talked about how how hard it is to tackle Myion HIcks, even for our biggest linebackers. Agree with what Kelton Gunn and Bailor Hughes can do- we have some bona fide speedsters along with Kendall Thomas. Keep Jace healthy for the whole season while Carson and Huff get some reps and it could be a fun season. But I am an optimist by nature.