Spring Practice!!!

[fourthandshort]

real surface for winter season for first time ever - check !

protective structure for winter season - check !

budget friendly for stingy ISU admin and donor base - check !

will help us land more HS and portal recruits - check !

edit: interesting quote, "ISU quarterbacks and receivers rented an indoor facility once a week last offseason." And this offseason, they are using IPF 4 times each week.

one more ...

impressive warm-up/practice field/facility for IHSA playoffs - check !

 

[fourthandshort]

Whoah the 6 win seasons viewed like that hits a little different. So many missed play off opportunities. I'm sure all those seasons came down to a couple of possessions.

RB2000 ... upon further review, I'm going to apologize for over-reacting to your post .... should have just made the point without the all the drama.

My bad !!!

 

[BirdGrad2011]

real surface for winter season for first time ever - check !

protective structure for winter season - check !

budget friendly for stingy ISU admin and donor base - check !

will help us land more HS and portal recruits - check !

edit: interesting quote, "ISU quarterbacks and receivers rented an indoor facility once a week last offseason." And this offseason, they are using IPF 4 times each week.

I knew even a bubble would be a lift. That’s insane about renting a facility vs having on campus access so much more often.

 

[StLRedbird]

For the record, i was making these points before Haley from STATS put ISU in his top 18 teams for 2024, and said ISU is positioned to make the biggest jump in all of FCS next fall.

So I guess we're not sneaking up on anyone?

 

[isuquinndog]

Kansas State transfer Jake Rubley has been impressive in the early going and will battle Rittenhouse for the starting quarterback position.
"He's talented. He makes all the throws," Spack said. "He's smart. He's a better movement guy than I thought he would be. He moves well. He's got a strong arm and a really good throwing motion."

 

[redbirds2000]

RB2000 ... upon further review, I'm going to apologize for over-reacting to your post .... should have just made the point without the all the drama.

My bad !!!

All good. I appreciate your insight and information! Go Birds!

 

[Dmills]

I would think yes on both counts. Beckham is now presumably QB3, it must have been evident that Beckham would surpass Kaplan over the course of the season. Spack must be comfortable with the QB depth chart. Would be surprised to see Kaplan get any playing time at LB. I think we should be pretty deep there.

Actually, Beckham isn't on campus as far as I am aware. It sounds like just Rubley, Rittenhouse, and Makuh have been taking reps.

 

[fourthandshort]

Actually, Beckham isn't on campus as far as I am aware. It sounds like just Rubley, Rittenhouse, and Makuh have been taking reps.

All good to hear ... but I just hope we don't lose Rittenhouse !!!!

 

[Total Red]

All good to hear ... but I just hope we don't lose Rittenhouse !!!!

We won't lose Rittenhouse. He knows he's always the starter by the end of the season

 

[Total Red]

Would be surprised to see Kaplan get any playing time at LB. I think we should be pretty deep there.

Agreed, even with Campos stepping away from football it will be hard to crack the 2-deep at inside linebacker. Both starters McCoy and Niekamp return with veteran back-ups in Leyden and Walker.

The outside LB'ers should be really good. Abdullah tore it up for most of last season and when he tapered off Gaines picked it up from the opposite side. Abdullah may have gained more attention from opposing OC's. Together Abdullah and Gaines do a nice job of pinching in on the edges. They can go from LB'ers to Linemen in a 3-man front push rush. Edwards is an experienced backup at outside linebacker.

That only leaves one second unit outside linebacker slot open, and Kaplan is working with the inside backers. Kaplan should see action on special teams while remaining an "in case of emergency break glass" option at QB.
Anybody remember Trenton Hatfield going from RB to QB with little prep and playing QB in a 3rd round playoff game at North Dakota St?

 

[Dmills]

Agreed, even with Campos stepping away from football it will be hard to crack the 2-deep at inside linebacker.

Crap, I missed that. That's disappointing. He never had the chance to reach his potential. You're right that we will be okay though. We probably would've lost one to the transfer portal if we didn't lose Campos.

 

[StLRedbird]

The refs blew a call on a pick six that would have won that game for the good guys. Saw it in real time. The crowd knew what happened judging by the reaction of the folks near us. It happened down by where the player parents were sitting. My favorite quote from the concourse: "I hope this is the last Missouri Valley defense we have to play this year."

 

[Dmills]

Anybody remember Trenton Hatfield going from RB to QB with little prep and playing QB in a 3rd round playoff game at North Dakota St?

From DB to QB you mean? Yes, I do remember that haha. I was hoping WO Britton Morris would get a snap because I'm a fellow Big Northern Conference alum.

 

[Total Red]

From DB to QB you mean? Yes, I do remember that haha. I was hoping WO Britton Morris would get a snap because I'm a fellow Big Northern Conference alum.

Yes, I should have said DB. I had forgotten all of Hatfield's position changes. He went from QB to RB and then to Safety, which is where he was when he briefly moved back to QB in the 2019 playoff game.

 

[Dmills]

Yes, I should have said DB. I had forgotten all of Hatfield's position changes. He went from QB to RB and then to Safety, which is where he was when he briefly moved back to QB in the 2019 playoff game.

I missed the running back phase. He ended up at Ball State playing special teams. Very interesting college career.

 

[fourthandshort]

We won't lose Rittenhouse. He knows he's always the starter by the end of the season

ouch ... yeah, that's a bit of a trend lately ... 2019, 2022, 2023 .. any others I missed ??

 

[fourthandshort]

Yes, I should have said DB. I had forgotten all of Hatfield's position changes. He went from QB to RB and then to Safety, which is where he was when he briefly moved back to QB in the 2019 playoff game.

nope !

 

[Total Red]

Notes from yesterday (Saturday) practice -

Jake Rubley isn't being given anything. He's working with the 2nd unit while Tommy gets the vast majority of the 1st unit snaps. That gives Tommy the early edge. The defense runs ahead of the offense through the spring and August and even more so when you have a new QB working with the 2nd unit.
If you try to typecast Jake as the passing QB and Tommy as the runner you can walk away confused. Jake displays good mobility and Tommy is the rare QB that throws on the move as well as he does in the pocket.
Also, offensive stars are being held out for protection. We won't see much of Mason King and Dan Sobkowicz. We already know what they can do.

Injuries are already jumbling the O-Line. Potential starting guards Zambrano and Gudaitis were out. Gudaitis missed the entire practice while Zambrano left with a foot injury. Smith from W. Mich was also out with an injury. Hopefully all will be back soon.
Without them the 1st unit O-Line consisted of Tackles Guedet, Pope, Guards Carr, Woodard and C Wroten.
That's 4 transfers and 1 HS recruit - Minnesota, Kentucky, Duke, HS-Wisc, and Duke again, respectively.
Two takeaways from this - 1) The transfer portal is a big deal, 2) We are definitely holding our own.

We have some depth at the DE position but we're still looking for the right person at NT. The solution may be to bulk up a DE and move him to NT. Jake Anderson is looking thicker, and he might be the man for job.

Was the practice held indoors or out? Yes to both. The practice started inside when it still quite chilly and then moved to Hancock for 2nd half. That worked, because the sun was shining brightly later in the morning. I noticed that they don't run a lot of stuff to the sidelines inside the IPF. There isn't a lot of runoff on the sides and players are no doubt warned not shove teammates out of bounds.
Lots of HS recruits were at practice and the IPF is a difference maker. I've been to practice on cold, gray windy days at Hancock before the IPF was built. HS players would be standing on the sidelines shivering because they usually didn't dress warm enough. The IPF is warm and bright. It has a major college or even professional vibe to it. Recruits will look at Illinois State differently.

 

[StLRedbird]

Notes from yesterday (Saturday) practice -

Jake Rubley isn't being given anything. He's working with the 2nd unit while Tommy gets the vast majority of the 1st unit snaps. That gives Tommy the early edge. The defense runs ahead of the offense through the spring and August and even more so when you have a new QB working with the 2nd unit.
If you try to typecast Jake as the passing QB and Tommy as the runner you can walk away confused. Jake displays good mobility and Tommy is the rare QB that throws on the move as well as he does in the pocket.
Also, offensive stars are being held out for protection. We won't see much of Mason King and Dan Sobkowicz. We already know what they can do.

Injuries are already jumbling the O-Line. Potential starting guards Zambrano and Gudaitis were out. Gudaitis missed the entire practice while Zambrano left with a foot injury. Smith from W. Mich was also out with an injury. Hopefully all will be back soon.
Without them the 1st unit O-Line consisted of Tackles Guedet, Pope, Guards Carr, Woodard and C Wroten.
That's 4 transfers and 1 HS recruit - Minnesota, Kentucky, Duke, HS-Wisc, and Duke again, respectively.
Two takeaways from this - 1) The transfer portal is a big deal, 2) We are definitely holding our own.

We have some depth at the DE position but we're still looking for the right person at NT. The solution may be to bulk up a DE and move him to NT. Jake Anderson is looking thicker, and he might be the man for job.

Was the practice held indoors or out? Yes to both. The practice started inside when it still quite chilly and then moved to Hancock for 2nd half. That worked, because the sun was shining brightly later in the morning. I noticed that they don't run a lot of stuff to the sidelines inside the IPF. There isn't a lot of runoff on the sides and players are no doubt warned not shove teammates out of bounds.
Lots of HS recruits were at practice and the IPF is a difference maker. I've been to practice on cold, gray windy days at Hancock before the IPF was built. HS players would be standing on the sidelines shivering because they usually didn't dress warm enough. The IPF is warm and bright. It has a major college or even professional vibe to it. Recruits will look at Illinois State differently.

Interesting about Rittenhouse. I think he's earned that nod on the depth chart. Sends a good message to the team, but I doubt that's part of it.

The OL seems to be the biggest concern. They struggled last year against the better teams in the league, and their depth was tested by injuries. Looks like a shake-and-bake unit in '24. If they gel quickly, I think that'd mean really good things for the Redbirds.

 

[Total Red]

They struggled last year against the better teams in the league, and their depth was tested by injuries.

Agreed. It looks like a good unit on paper but injuries have a way of shredding the sheets.