WTN

If you don't wake up every morning and get excited then you have no soul and I hope bad things happen to you.

Rock Chalk

Season starts in 13 days
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2009/08/27/heisman-watch-edition-l-town-keep-it-chilla-edition/

Bitches wearing T-rees cream coat, classic

Briscoe is P2?

I've been thinking about this for about a week.
Does anybody else think that their careers are similar? Just off the top of my head I remember getting frustrated with with Paul Pierce as a frosh and Briscoe for dropping balls in his rookie campaign.
Then as sophomores both had bigs years and Pierce could have gone pro and we all pretty much realized that Briscoe was going to be gone after his Jr. year.

While both were solid as frosh they both improved a lot into their sophomore years and Pierce was crazy good his jr year much like we are expecting from Dez.

Am I on to something here or do I have way too much free time.


Briscoe
YEAR REC YDS AVG LNG TD ATT YDS AVG LNG TD FUM LST
2007 42 496 11.8 34 7 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0
2008 92 1407 15.3 69 15 2 18 9.0 13 0 0 0


PP G MIN FG FGA 3P3PA FT FTA REB PF AST TO BLK STL PTS
95-96 Kansas 34 862 143 341 35 115 83 137 180 82 61 80 27 44 404
96-97 Kansas 36 1013 215 441 33 71 124 173 243 98 77 108 28 61 587
97-98 Kansas 38 1155 287 559 40 118 163 221 253 89 98 110 43 42 777
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------TOTALS 108 3030 645 1341 108 304 370 531 676 269 236 298 98 147 1768

I love trophies

Thanks for your support

By countlessly clicking on ads, my ad account has been disabled and I will not make any $$ from this blog or be paid for any money earned.

Its actually quite funny.


Hello,
While going through our records recently, we found that your AdSenseaccount has posed a significant risk to our AdWords advertisers. Sincekeeping your account in our publisher network may financially damage ouradvertisers in the future, we've decided to disable your account.
Please understand that we consider this a necessary step to protect theinterests of both our advertisers and our other AdSense publishers. Werealize the inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you in advancefor your understanding and cooperation.
If you have any questions about your account or the actions we've taken,please do not reply to this email. You can find more information byvisitinghttps://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=57153.
Sincerely,
The Google AdSense Team

Rock Chalk

football team starting to take shape

You'll remember at the start of the month we had a quote from a member of the football team talking about how true frosh Bradley McDougald was much further along than Dezmon Briscoe was when he arrived on Mt Oread.
Well, today Mangino backed that statement up saying he will play at WR and on special teams (could this mean he is the KOR- could be and I hope it is)

Also of note Senior Justin Thorton has been moved back to safety and that means a couple of things.
1- The corners are coming along very nicely, Daymond Patterson has one slot all locked up and Anthony Davis was the talk of the first open practice and was running with the first team. Mangino also mentioned true FR Tyler Patmon (the first commit of the 2009 class) was playing well at CB.
2- There is a possibility that Prinz Kande could redshirt, which could be a very good thing, but Mangino will put the best players on the field regardless of class.
3- Phillip Strozier just got pushed to a back up role and that's okay because I like our safeties best when its Stuckey and Thorton.

Vernon Brooks is looking good (so stop worrying about him- he missed 2 days of practice last week to deal with a family emergency, maybe he doesn't start the season opener but he will be a main cog once the games get more important)

Julian Jones an undersized LB recruit that could blow people up never made it to campus. Does that suck, yeah a little bit, I though he'd be a good ball player but if he shows up maybe we don't get Brooks and this also gives us one more scholly for the 2010 class where we are off to a great start and have already turned down guys that we would have drooled over a couple of years ago.

Mangino said the O line is looking better and they have had "a very good camp, I'm encouraged"

Cites Jeff Wheeler as a guy who is having the best camp he's ever had and the "light has gone on" also said that Oneygbule and Laptad are having good camps- (YAY DE PLAY)

Its pretty clear that Mangino has a boner for Tharp.

I really like how Mangino hasn't tipped his hand about moving KM to WR full time, one it keeps Pick and the others in check and it also gives teams a chance to underestimate KM at WR, which means 100 catches this year.

Rock Chalk

Check out all the new helmets in the KU room

Get ready for the Xavier era

Did you hear this guy today? He is awesome.

Some dumb reporter - What's your necklace all about?
X- its a warrior deal, I'm a freaking warrior I'll eat defenders and kill a cat. Kellen Winslow isn't a soldier but I'm a warrior.

Some other dumb reporter- What's your favorite place to eat?
X- Henry T's, they have bomb quesadilla, I go there sometimes with RB and we pick up chicks and crush beers and talk about how airtight my game is.

Pee on reporter- What do you think of college?
X- "I'm looking forward to meeting new people and trying new things" That's an actual quote, you know he means, he wants to meet a whole gang of chicks and do stuff with them that he could have even dreamed of doing if he was at Memphis.
Remember X, KU girls are the craziest.

Rock Chalk

People with beards love winning National Championships

Pretty exciting that Self doesn't have time for shaving, probably because he's trying to figure out how we won't win a game by 30.

Rock Chalk

2010 PG recruiting

For the longest time KU fans thought that Ray McCollum would be just like Elijah Johnson, a guy that was always a KU lean and it was just a matter of time before he pulled the trigger for the Jayhawks.

Well, that no longer appears to be the case. While at a national tournament McCollum told reporters he was still interested in KU but that KU just wasn't pursuing him as hard as they had been.
McCollum is a top 50-60 prospect.

So why would the coaches allegedly stop pursuing a PG like Ray?

Two reasons.

1- they like what they got at the PG spot in 2010, whether that is Tyshawn coming back for his Junior campaign or CJ Henry really is as good as his dad Carl says he is.
The only other option at the 1 is Elijah Johnson, but he has always seemed like a combo guard to me as opposed to a true point.

Or and I think and hope this is more likely

2- you think you can get someone better than a top 50 kid, an elite talent at the point.
Whether it be Josh Selby, Joe Jackson, Brandon Knight or Corey Joseph.

So that's a lot of guys that appear to be higher on the board for KU coaches and if that is the real reason for them supposedly backing off of McCollum then KU's PG future appears to be very bright.

Knight is a stud, the #1 overall prospect in the country and based on how freakishly good SF Harrison Barnes is, Knight must be other worldly.

Joseph is from Canada and has a brother playing at Minnesota.

Jackson is smaller, shorter than 6 Ft, but can get to the tin whenever he wants and is lighting quick.

Selby is the #2 rated PG by most and can play. He just re-opened his recruitment so its still unclear what he's thinking but KU is in the mix.

When you can lay off of a talent like McCollum then you must be sitting pretty with returning talent or future stars.

Rock Chalk
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Links and 3 fearles predictions

2 quick notes on the recruiting front-
Football recruit Dave Clark from Indy Juco (or community college) tore his ACL and will miss this entire year (first reported by Jeremy Crabtree of Rivals.com) but this will likely scare away other teams that would have tried to pursue him, the negative is that he would of been very likely a 5 Star recruit when it was all said and done.
He will be in Lawrence next year and have 3 to play 3 so that is a MAJOR bonus for us.

In hoops Adriene Payne a top 20 guy and a 5 star Center has an in home visit scheduled with KU for the 14th of September.



http://www.kuathletics.com/view.gal?id=51436 (updated photos of Allen Field House construction)
They got a lot of work to do since Late Night is 2 months from tomorrow, but you Lew will make sure it is done or heads will roll, I'd guess they'll be done even before then so the team can start working out and they can show recruits the Phog (In home visits can start the 9th- so official visits aren't far behind that)

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4398914&name=katz_andy
Andy Katz on Player of the Year candidates. I for one really do believe Cole has a great shot at getting this, if he has developed more of a post game his PPG should go up and his boards and blocks should be steady too, playing for a highly ranked team won't hurt him either.

Since its 3 weeks until the start of the football season, here are 3 fearless predictions for the 3 phases of the game-

Offense -
1- Jake Sharp will rush for over 1,100 yards and have total yards (rushing and receiving) of over 1,500
2- TR5 will have less than 10 Ints this year and none in the non conference- he'll throw for another 3,000 yards and at least 34 TD's
3- Tim Biere will catch a lot more passes this year (less than 10 last year- i think 6 or 7) put him down for 25 this year at minimum

Defense-
1- Jake Laptad will have more than 10 sacks this and these 3 players will total 25 sacks - Laptad, Quinton Woods, Maxwell Onyegbule
2- Daymond Patterson will get his first career interception- after switching to corner midway last year he will be fully acclimated and will get the first pick 6 of the year
3- Our rushing defense will be in the top 15 in the country, watch

Special teams-
1- opposing teams average field position will be 3 to 5 yards worse than it was last year. Bransetter had to of gotten stronger in the off season so the length and hang time on his kicks should be better and we've never had the type of athletes we have this year so the coverage will be better. Mostly Mangino isn't going to let what happened last year happen again, he'll have it fixed.
2- Briscoe should return more kicks this year, but someone else will step up and be that return guy. After Marcus Hereford had an Eric Chenowith like collapse next year this will be something that will be improved as well.
3- Alonso Rojas will once again come up big in a big game by pinning opponents and this year it will lead to 3 safeties.

There you have it, if I'm right on all of those, its going to be a good year.

History Awaits
Rock Chalk

Defense jersey

Thanks to everyone who voted and the votes show that Stuckey is the pick pretty unanimously.

However, I think I can make a strong argument for Daymond Patterson.

So here's what happens, KU has the ball and by some random act of god or when God decides to show mercy on our opponents he makes us punt. So at that point just throw on the defense jersey and get ready for a 3 and out, so no big deal there.

But when we stop someone and they have to tempt fate by kicking to our jitterbug of a PR I'll have a Stuckey jersey on (Rivera and Talib the past couple of years) it doesn't make much sense.

So if I go with Patterson then when we get a three and out, I just keep the jersey on and then when he takes it to the house, I look cool and I don't have to change my jersey as often.

That's reasonable, plus I have a super man crush on Patterson and almost got his jersey last year, so I'm open to comments this probably won't be decided for a couple more weeks.

Rock Chalk

just a couple more weeks

While I was jogging (walking) after work this evening I heard a local high school band practicing which means football season is almost here.

Here's a couple of things that I doubt we'll see from KU this year but I would really like to see.

1- 4 QB set (Reesing, KM, Steward and Pick)
Put two of them out wide, KM and Steward are both WR's now anyway and then one as the QB and the other as a RB.
Why do I want to see this, I don't know it seems like trickeration would be at an all time high and it gives the D another look.
Another reason I like this is because I think Pick can really run and it sets up some wildcat type formation and direct snaps.
A variation of this would be to have Pick come in and then split TR5 out wide, and then let Pick throw it or run some option read, give the D one more thing to be cognisant of and see what happens.

2- I Formation
Why, I think our center and guards are going to be a lot better than they were last year and running the ball of the gut should be easier, especially if you throw in a FB.
Maybe I'm reaching a bit here, but with the advent of the spread all D's are trying to get smaller and quicker at all positions so playing a little smash mouth could be effective.
Like the above idea it shows the D something different and gets some different personnel in.

3- Everybody at Memorial Stadium on September 5th.

Rock Chalk

Hoops recruiting starting to take shape with football sprinkles

First and foremost, before anyone freaks out, Vernon Brooks is back on campus and will practice today, great news for the linebacking squad. (rivals.com)

 

Highly rated PG prospect (5th best PG - 18th overall per Rivals.com) Joe Jackson while small in size under 6-0" has a big game and is now down to KU, Memphis (he's from Memphis) and Tenn.

Self has said he wants a point guard in this class (2010) so this would be a huge get for the Hawks.

PG Josh Selby (#7 overall per Rivals.com) and PF Terrance Jones (#15) both appear to have a good amount of interest in KU.

SG Doron Lamb (#19 overall) has already visited UK and will visit KU and OU. He went to the same HS, Rice in Brooklyn, as KU National Champion, Russell Robinson. I really like Self's chances with this guy.

 

2010 commit Royce Wooldrige will be in Lawrence for Late Night in the Phog along with 2011 Guard Josiah Turner from California

 

2011 stud (#7 overall) SG Brad Beal from St Louis is considering visiting for Late Night as well.

2012 stud Perry Ellis from Wichita (generally regarded as the top ranked player in the class if not top 2) will be visiting Memphis for their Late Night where his sister plays on the women's team. I'm not going to read much into this because they no longer have Cal and he's a BIG KU lean.

JP Tokoto, who impressed at KU's Elite Camp and received an offer is schedule to attend Late Night. KU has been rumored to be the team to beat for this stud.

Over in football land-
Justin McCay a machine from Meige who plays WR and LB has apparently committed to OU. KU's chances of getting him were minimal so now they can concentrate on other targets and if he plays LB at OU it will help KU with Trayvon Henry the 15th best LB in the class of 2010 from Oklahoma.

Theshiver.com reported that Martize Barr a WR from Washington, DC is scheduled to visit KU in September sometime and he is planning on committing on his visit (assuming the coaches allow him to and he isn't too far down their board) he also said that he believes his HS teammate Avery Williams (RB or ATH) could commit with him that weekend.
I like Williams a lot more than I like Barr, but I don't know anything about Barr.
I do believe Williams is not the first option for the coaches at RB so we'll see if anything happens from this.

 

 

More Media day fun and knowledge

A little copy and paste from Jesse Newell of LJW's media day coverage, my notes in ( )

For anyone who is in a hurry, here's a Cliff Notes version of what Mangino had to say.

• The linebacking position still needs a lot of work and still needs a lot of attention. Some of the young guys are putting heat on the veterans. (this is going to have to be monitored constantly and hopefully the 3 best guys are out there whether they're 5th year seniors or true frosh)

• One or two of the freshmen receivers will probably be in the rotation this fall. (McDougald is one and I'd be surprised if another one was out there, although if DJ Beshears who played WR in HS is returning KO's then he very well could be in the 2nd or 3rd string WR)

• The team has a chance to be really good and deep at the running-back position. (yep- agreed)

• The Jayhawks will have more than five quality offensive linemen. (great to hear)

• Defensive lineman Duane Zlatnik has made lots of improvement, and Mangino is hoping that he will be in the rotation to help the team. (sounds really god he is very big and very athletic, I'll never forget his HS highlight reel when he was catching bubble screens, it was unreal)

• On linebacker Angus Quigley: “His growth at that position has not been nearly as fast as I’d like for it to be.”

• On the switch to offensive tackle for Darius Parish: “Darius had offensive line written all over him from Day 1.” (well hopefully he can contribute, don't be surprised if he somehow ends up starting at RT and Spikes gets moved over to RG, that would be one big ass side on the right)

Mangino said the team didn't have the defensive line depth to move Parish to O-line last year, but the coach thinks Parish has found a home at offensive tackle.

• On junior-college linebacker Vernon Brooks: “I can’t tell you what impact, if any at all, that he’ll have.” Brooks left camp today to attend to a family emergency, and the coach said he didn't know when the linebacker would be back. (thoughts and prayers with his family, especially if our LB's are not doing so hot, we need him more than ever)

• Junior-college defensive end Quintin Woods is not just a pass-rush guy, but he can also be a good run-stopper, too. He still needs to get stronger, though.

• The coach said that his teams needed to take the next step and win against the OUs, UTs and Texas Techs of the world. “I didn’t come here to be 6-5, 7-4 every year, and everybody just think that’s good.” (music to my ears, this is the year we get to he next level, dream big win big)

• KU's base defensive set is 4-3 (not a 4-2-5), but the team has modified its nickel package. (we'll see that makes me thing they are going to play 3 safeties instead of 3 CB's- but if the LB's are slow to progress they will have to figure out something)

• On freshman linebacker Huldon Tharp: “He’s going to be out there playing. He has been impressive as a freshman. I think it’s a matter of time before he wins a job. I think we’re just counting the days.”

• Junior linebacker Drew Dudley has done nice things and is improved.

• Linebacker Justin Springer has not gotten a lot of work because of injuries, and the coach can’t tell what he will be able to contribute this year. (needs to get healthy only if for SPT)

• Offensive lineman Ben Lueken had medical considerations, but ultimately decided to leave the program because he wanted a fresh start. (having your teammate run over you in car usually ends in "needs a fresh start")

• On punt returns: Daymond Patterson has looked good, Bradley McDougald also will get a chance.

• Dezmon Briscoe will probably do kickoff returns. The coach wants to keep Dez healthy, but if he’s best guy at the position, the team will need him there. (well let's hope the D doesn't allow many points because I'm not that stoked about him being back there)

• Cornerback Anthony Davis is much improved and is understanding his position better. He's right there battling for a starting position, and there's a good chance he’ll be one of the starting corners. (congrats to him for hitting the books and making grades when a lot of people said he wouldn't. I read today that he was going to get offered by OU, but they didn't want to risk that he would be ineligible so he wound up at KU and it looks like we are lucky to have him, keep up the great work- all I heard was great things about him from today's practice)

• Junior-college running back Daniel Porter has a good attitude and is super serious. He's quick, has good speed, and the coach doesn’t think he will struggle with the transition from junior-college to a Division-I tempo. (need someone to take the load off of Sharp so this is good)

Rock Chalk

Football practice notes

Below are all tweets from J Brady McCollough with my thoughts in (parentheses) from open practice and media day in Lawrence-


Kerry Meier is still taking reps at QB (this should only be happening for the first 10 days until the staff is certain that Kale Pick can be the backup, then it'll be full time for KM @ WR)

DT Darius Parish is practicing at OT (RT that is which is odd, I had him slated for OG due to his size, but we'll see)

Ed Warinner to frosh RB Toben Opurum: Run faster! (heard a lot of good reports about Daniel Porter lately, so its very possible that Opurum could RS this year which wouldn't be the worst thing ever especially if Porter is capable)

LB Justin Springer not participating in drills, Drew Dudley in with first unit (yawn)

KU showing a pistol formation near the goal line (Imitating anything the Chiefs do is not a recipe for winning but this might be the exception, I'm sure this is Mangino's way of showing all the media there that he isn't showing them anything at all)

KO returners: Briscoe, Patterson, Wilson, McDougald, Stuckey, Beshears (hmmmmm, I would put Beshears ahead of Stuckey in the race and Wilson behind Beshears- I really think this is going to be McDougald or Briscoe with Beshears as a dark horse candidate)

DT Richard Johnson Jr looks really impressive (a quick DT looking good, exciting)

Practice over. Most impressive unknowns: DE Quintin Woods, S Lubbock Smith, WR Bradley McDougald.
(Also heard good things about Anthony Davis at CB, Woods looking good is the most exciting, because we need to get to the QB and hit the QB, its that easy)

Mangino says true freshman LB Huldon Tharp is on his way to starting at LB. Says he doesn't know what he can expect from Justin Springer. (I knew Tharp was going to be good but not this fast, so this is really great news, Mangino and company are making a killing off getting guys who some of the bigger name programs don't pursue because of injuries. Just off the top of my head, John Williams - possible starting LG, Jeff Spikes - started at LT and RT as a RS FR, should be the RT again this year and now Tharp)

Mangino likes RB transfer Daniel Porter, says he is one of fastest players on the team. (best case scenario he proves an able RB and helps with the load of carrying KU to a North division title, worst case scenario, he helps out on special teams, which are always underrated)

Mangino says Angus Quigley hasn't improved as much at LB as he would have liked at this point. (no big shock here, maybe he can help out in the bandit package as I guy that goes headhunting and contrubute on special teams- also maybe this means we shouldn't be as excited about Tharp, maybe Tharp just sucks less than Quigley)



Rock Chalk

Players ready to Win the North

Received this e-mail from someone more socially connected than I am, all of the following statements are from facebook, whatever that is...

Richard BigTime Johnson Football camp starts today. Lets get it (Beast Mode)

Justin Springer the grind starts tomo!

Aj Dajuiceman Steward a journey of a thousand miles begins wit 1 step. Day 1

Alonso Rojas good successful first day..one step taken towards winning the north...

Rock Chalk

make sure you look good on Gameday

Introducing...the nation's most potent air attack...Run DMT. Lighting up scoreboards in a town near you... 100% Ring-spun cotton jersey knit (High dollar T) Economical price of $15.00 Pre-orders now being accepted. Please e-mail rundmtshirt@gmail.com with quantity & size!

Football pratice underway - notes

The most noteable thing is that Darius Parish has switched from DT to OG. He was in the 330 - 340 pound range last year and now is weighing 314.
This might actually be a really good switch for him, we'll have to wait and see, thankfully Kelting never wound up getting that jersey last year.

This switch (assuming there are no other switches) leaves the OL with better depth than it had a week ago, hopefully this move for Parish was going to happen regardless of the status of Lueken who is no longer with the squad.

Some other notes of interest -
Kerry Meier is still wearing the red jersey, that is reserved for QB's, but in the photos from KUAC he was seen catching balls not throwing them.

Tyrone Sellers, FR DE, looks a lot bigger than I thought he would. I still think he's going to be a RS but his ability to add weight will help the D-line down the line.

Travis Stephens, JR DT, from JUCO was late getting to campus this summer due to grades, but is eligible, on campus and at practice. He is billed as a quick DT in the mold of James McClinton and should offer some pressure from the gut.

Rell Lewis who had knee surgery following the Spring game has a brace on his knee but appears to be going at full speed.

Dezmon Briscoe participated in practice as you probable know, no one has said flat out that he made his grades but my guess is you wouldn't see him out there if he didn't.

Rock Chalk

Twitter shines a light on basketball rotation?

So lately Marcus Morris joined the Twitter party and has nothing interesting to say.
Well unless you count the fact that he blatantly said he was playing the 3.

While I don't recommend listening to Marcus Morris on anything other than how to get a fatal technical at your biggest rival's pad, let pretend.

So say Marcus plays the 3 and let's say he starts since he has been tearing it this summer and hitting the weights like MJ hits prescription pills.

So your starting 5 is gonna look something like this.
1- Sherron Collins
2- Tyshawn Taylor
3- Marcus Morris
4- Thomas Robinson
5- Cole Aldrich

That's a bizarre looking line up, because Xavier Henry is going to start, there's no two ways about it.

Ok so Xavier Henry starts at the 2 and Tyshawn Taylor sits the bench.

Do you see where I'm going with this, Marcus Morris might get some minutes at the 3 but there is no way he's starting there.

You feel dumber for reading that, so do I.

While his skills are better and he's a lot bigger he appears to be the same mentally soft guy he was last year, oh well.

Football practice starts today.

Rock Chalk
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Saving you $ again

This blog entry wouldn't be possible without the roomie who graciously picked up the Yahoo!.com/ Rivals College Football Preview mag.

So instead of spending $7 here's what they had to say about our beloved Jayhawks.

Dezmon Briscoe made 1st Team All- American.
Briscoe and Darrell Stuckey glossed the 1st team all Big 12.

TR5 was mentioned as a Heisman candidate, said it depends on how the team fairs.

KU was picked to win the North and then score 63 on OU, with Meier and Reesing each throwing 3 TD passes to each other. (Okay I made up the last part, but that's probably going to happen anyway)

They had KU slotted at #16 overall and projected them to match-up with California in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego.

Rock Chalk
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Media guide fun

The media guide is top tier this year.

The best part is some of the ridiculous quotes from players.
Example-
Todd Reesing's-
favorite website-
Southwest.com
Post college goals- learn to DJ
Football is- "indescribable through the modern english language. No spoken words can illustrate the complete inner satisfaction the sport unveils to those who play"

Really? How can you not love this guy.

Kerry Meier-
Football is-" An ongoing process about being able to operate in the present."

Huh? I love these guys what a bunch of wise asses.

Backup kicker John Millsap-
Football is - "what I kick"

Really.

If I played here's what my answers would be-
Favorite website- 1024mississippi.blogspot.com / rivals.com
Favorite athlete- chipper jones and kerry meier
Favorite activity other than football- (well Briscoe said X-box) eating greasy food and drinking hoppy beer
Post college dream- I'm living it
Football is - History Awaits

Rock Chalk
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

31 days left

One month from today, I'll be sitting in Memorial Stadium watching warm ups and watching WR's dance in between reps.

Joy.


Here's 5 things I'm looking forward to getting more clarity on between now and kick off.

1- Briscoe's grades.
No Briscoe no North title, pretty simple. Anything is possible but I'll sleep a lot better and lose less hair if he is still on the team.

My prediction- Briscoe will catch 7 balls for 115 yards and 2 TD's in week 1.

2- Back-up RB
Sharp is going to have a bad ass year, I got a real good feeling. This will be the first time that he's the guy and I think him having 1K rushing is a lock.

For the backup I think its a 2 horse race with Daniel Porter and Toben Opurum. My money is on Toben with Rell Lewis being a backup and Deshaun Sands red shirting.

3- Quinton Woods, Jake Laptad & Maxwell Onegybule
These 3 DE's are crucial to our success, so any positive info about them is going to send me into hysteria. Plus when you go to KU game don't you have more fun when we are hitting the QB? You do, me too, lets be friends.

My prediction- Laptad I think is going to be very solid and Max O looked good through the Spring and the tail end of last year. Woods is supposed to be a stud and I don't think the staff brings him in unless he can deliver. I'm beyond stoked about this, trust me its scary.

4- Linebacker
With the switch to the 4-2-5, there is less of an emphasis on LB but I'm looking at this for a different reason.
Mainly I want to hear about the health of Justin Springer, which I have no reason to believe won't be exceptional. Even if Springer doesn't factor into the LB rotation he's a maniac on Special Teams and we need to shore that up in a big way.
Plus I want to know about Quigley, Bandit? And Vernon Brooks is supposed to be the bees knees and if he can really cover a slot receiver or TE that will make our D that much saltier.

5- Season tickets and KR
Hopefully season tickets are at 40K or more, Memorial needs to be packed every week and during the 4th quarter. If you don't want to see TR5's swan song then you're an idiot.

Kick Returner- Who the hell is it going to be, I'll believe its Briscoe when I see it until then I'm thinking its going to be Isiah Barfield or Bradley McDougald, but I have not a clue. Whoever it is it'd be real nice if they could actually return a kick.

What are you guys looking forward to?

We're getting close.

Rock Chalk

the summer and everything you wanted to know

Since Fall practice is starting here in a matter of days, I thought now would be the perfect time to dish on all the random info I have gathered this summer, its random I know-

 

 

Eric McGriff looks good during testing (all players get tested for weight, vertical and other stuff that none of us can do at a high level)

 

Dezmon Briscoe enjoys pizza and burgers- not sure how he likes them but those are his faves, besides his love for simple food and love for video games, I feel like Briscoe might be my brother from another mother.

 

Jake Sharp ran stairs so hard the first day (of conditioning) he puked and just kept on going, that kid is a tough SOB

 

Jonathon Wilson joined the puke party as well. (since then I have heard about a number of other guys puking while training, so we shouldn't be worried that they didn't put the time in this summer)

 

Kevin Young might factor in the DE rotation, getting to campus in January is really helping him add good weight and get bigger (maybe Mangino was including him when he was discussing the ability of the front 4 to get to the QB- remember Erik Lund thought this guy was too small when he was next to Lund's tailgate)

 

When Reesing was asked his favorite thing about the team? "We spat up." - TO (that is what the team calls Reesing)

 

Fb talk: (from early summer)

 our defense is underrated. - per mangino

 Mangino said that this is the fastest defense we have had.

 

Wright is going to be awesome, springer is going to be awesome. (this was before we got Vernon Brooks who should start at LB so it makes me feel better that there is additional talent there)

 

 Sands won't play.(I'm assuming that means he's red shirting, so there's one less guy in the KO return equation)

 

 Guy from Ohio (Bradley McDougald) is more advanced than briscoe when he came in.

 

 After TO threw the third interception against tech he was just making up plays and giving fake hand signals and laughing. (What was he supposed to do there was no way our D was stopping that 3 ring circus of an offense)

 

 Hatch will stay at center.

 

 Thorsen doesn't really have the talent.(That is kind of depressing because I was expecting him to factor into the OL rotation at RG and be backup center maybe he provides depth) (KM said that Thorsen was a guy to watch on the OL, so this will be very interesting to monitor in August) because we clearly have conflicting reports, although Meier's quote is more recent than the other statement so I'd lean towards believing that.

 

 John Williams should start over Capra. Coach said Williams is a freak. (maybe its the fact that he weighs 338 pounds and is still quick, sounds freakish to me)- see further down

 

 They are trying to get tim (Biere) the ball more.

 

Zlatnik is battling for a spot.(At DT, too big to play DE)

 

 Daymond Patterson has gotten crazy good. And was the talk of the town in conditioning drills, guy can fly.

 

The team likes home games just as much as road games (probably because most of our football fans suck and leave at halftime or don't show up because the game is at 11AM, lame)

 

 

Players not looking forward to traveling to UTEP (can't blame them)

 

The offense won't change when TR5 leaves, but will include more read option assuming KP starts because he is a running threat, the same could be said for Matthews if he were to stay at QB and win the job.

 

Based on some reports I think the possibility of Christian Matthews moving to WR (from QB) is highly possible, and this would explain why the staff has been actively recruiting multiple QB's.

 

 AJ Steward is officially at WR, I have been confused about this for about a year, but there is the truth.

 

Tanner Hawkinson still hasn't gotten to 290, which what the staff wants him to be at. But he still has about 80 days left to get that weight so not to worry, yet. (he's at 285 as of 6/25)

 

I'm sure its always been there but the staff is no-nonsense, they have made players come in at 5:30AM on a Saturday to work this off season.

 

When the players get to the weight room, they are very focused and take lifting very seriously, probably because they are going to seriously rearrange some faces this year. - assistant coach JJ

 

John Williams is at 310 (as of 7/31) and is competing with Carl Wilson at LG (go ahead and bet your house in Leawood on Williams) Williams started his RS FR year at 340 but says that he's better at 310.

 

Sal Capra  and Trevor Marogeneli are battling it out at RG. (I'm pulling for Marogeneli- because that would give us 5 returning starters on the OL for 2010, and let Capra be the backup at RG and center)

And there's a good possibility that Thorsen is in that mix as well. I gotta good feeling that Capra or Thorsen is going to win out, I'm pulling for anyone but Capra just because I'd prefer to keep the whole line intact for the next 2 years.

 

I had a chance to spend some time with Tim Biere and he's a beast. Last year he showed that he could block the shit out of some fools so that should be expected again as well as him flexing out some more a la Rucker and Coffman from missery.

He seemed to think he was going to get more receptions this year.

 

Look for Kerry Meier's role at WR to be a little different, he's going to be playing the position vacated by Dexton Fields, presumably when the TE is flexed out and there are 3 WR's.

 

On the depth chart that was just released, Briscoe was listed as the #1 KR but don't sell Bradley McDougald short for that spot.

 

We've heard from multiple people that Daymond Patterson is going to be a special player at KU and unsolicited I was told the same thing, the guy can fly. He just needs a crease to get to the crib on punt returns.

 

On the depth chart that was released there are not any of the JUCO transfers or freshmen on there, expect that to change big time.

 

Rock Chalk