Season Review and Moving forward

[valpofb16]

Okay now that the season is over we can post a review and the way too early depth chart for '18 by position, also please feel free to post any recruits/attrition so we can update

QB:
#4 Joe Mullen 6'4 215 RSSO: 1 GP 11 pass yards
#9 Jimmy Seewald 6'5 220 SO: 11GP/11GS 2602 yards throwing, 18 touchdowns
#11 Trey Bilinksi 6-2 215 FR: Redshirt
#13 Ryan Markoff 6-2 190 FR: Redshirt
#14 Chris Duncan 6-4 190 RSFR: 10 GP 286 yards 2 touchdowns, 181 yards rushing 1 touchdown

Spring 2018 Depth Chart.
1. #9 Jimmy Seewald JR.
2. #14 Chris Duncan RSSO.
3. #4 Joe Mullen RSJR. or #11 Trey Bilinski RSFR. or Ryan Markoff RSFR.

[VULB#62]

Besides a depth chart going forward (and whatever observations people have regarding our current players and their strength and potential to contribute next season) I'd like for posters to go into some "depth" regarding their overall observations on the past season - ups, downs, highs and lows.  With respect to recruits, I would suggest that we do that discussion on an entirely separate thread devoted to just that.  I'll start that right away.

Related to that last point, there must have been between 20 and 30 Valpo recruits who were visiting the campus and were at the game with their folks.  They were there at least at the beginning.    Not many hung around to the end. 

[valpofb16]

Highs: Butler, Dayton, Morehead State, Marist
Mediums: Montana, Stetson, Trinity International, Duquesne
Lows: Drak, Jacksonville
Really Lows: Campbell

[VULB#62]

Highs: Butler, Dayton, Morehead State, Marist
Mediums: Montana, Stetson, Trinity International, Duquesne
Lows: Drak, Jacksonville
Really Lows: Campbell

I'd adjust it a bit.

Being at Montana, I'd give that a high. In front of 20,000+ UMT fans we scored 23 points and scared the crap out of the faithful. So much so that they openly questioned the HFBC and wondered about their future. They have gone on to a convincing winning record. It is just a source of great pride for me for this team to actually be competitive in a "body bag" game.

Duquesne goes to low. A wuddah, cuddah, shuddah.

I would move JU into Really Low. If we could have scored that last Td, we would now be tied for second at the end of the 2017 campaign. An even more painful  Wuddah, Cuddah, Shuddah

[valpofb16]

RB

#10 Jarrett Morgan 5'11 195 SR: 9GS 9GP 463 yds, 5 tds, REC: 144 yds. 1 td All PFL HM
#15 Doug Haugh 6'1 205 FR: RS
#21 Elias Earley 5'6 175 RSSO: 9GP 109 yds, REC: 19 yds
#32 Cody Boxrucker 6'0 200 SO: 10GP 292 yds , 7 tds
#44 Kyle Cartales 6'1 220 SO: 2GS 11GP 385 yds, 3 tds, REC: 208 yds, 2 tds

Spring 2018 Depth Chart
1. #44 Kyle Cartales JR. or #32 Cody Boxrucker JR.
3. #21 Elias Earley RSJR.
4. #15 Doug Haugh RSFR.

[VULB#62]

RB

#10 Jarrett Morgan SR: 463 yds, 5 tds, REC: 144 yds. 1 td 
#15 Doug Haugh FR: RS
#21 Elias Earley RSSO: 109 yds, REC: 19 yds
#32 Cody Boxrucker SO: 292 yds , 7 tds
#44 Kyle Cartales SO: 385 yds, 3 tds, REC: 208 yds, 2 tds

1. #44 Kyle Cartales JR. or #32 Cody Boxrucker JR.
3. #21 Elias Earley RSJR.
4. #15 Doug Haugh RSFR.

There is no "Morgan Speed" in the remaining group. Might it be possible to move Bessinger into the backfield?  Or is he a receiver/returner only? We have had a Grayson- and Garret-type for the past 4 years. It just seems to be an integral part of how the offensive system operates.

Could Earley maybe  be that guy?

[VUOR63]

Does the success this year lead to any juco transfers who can play right away? 

[VULB#62]

Final Sagarin Ratings for 2017:

Montana   141  [L]
USD  173  [DNP]
Duquesne 179  [L]
Drake 221 [L]
Dayton 227 [W]
Butler 234 [W]
Valpo 237
Campbell 239 [L]
JU 244 [L]
Marist 249 [W]
Morehead State 251 [W]
Stetson 252 [W]
Davidson 254/254 [DNP]`

[VULB#62]

Does the success this year lead to any juco transfers who can play right away?

I do not think that is part of Dave's plan.  But it would be great to get a few road grader 6-5, 285# OLs/DLs 

[JD24]

If we could have scored that last Td, we would now be tied for second at the end of the 2017 campaign. An even more painful  Wuddah, Cuddah, Shuddah

This has been mentioned (the JU game) by a few posters and I disagree with the analysis. I think if we're going to put the JU game in the cuddah wuddah's we have to do the same to the Stetson game. That game essentially ended the same way as the JU game except Valpo came out on top.

[JD24]

There is no "Morgan Speed" in the remaining group. Might it be possible to move Bessinger into the backfield?  Or is he a receiver/returner only? We have had a Grayson- and Garret-type for the past 4 years. It just seems to be an integral part of how the offensive system operates. Could Earley maybe  be that guy?

Elias maybe. I don't think Gessinger would be a pick. He's not really comparable to Jarrett who was much more of a RB in HS and is built more solidly than Bailey and even Jarrett had some durability issues. Jarrett's most impressive showings this season were when he'd run some defensive players over rather than trying to outrun them as he's done in the past. I don't think Bailey would hold up out of the backfield. He's in a tough spot though since he's behind Rene and Navarro as a slot WR and will remain so unless one of those two move to SE or Flanker to take Catrine's spot.

[JD24]

Does the success this year lead to any juco transfers who can play right away?

I do not think that is part of Dave's plan.  But it would be great to get a few road grader 6-5, 285# OLs/DLs 

The OL is going to be awesome next season. Don't need no stinkin' Juco's

[valpofb16]

-VULB #62 Don't necessarily see Gessinger filling that roll, Earley is very small but he is faster than Morgan was he could be a big play guy next season
-VUOR63 Dave has said he does not want to do juco's, if you look at the O-line there are multiple redshirts backing up every position and hardly any attrition, never say never just don't see it this particular season
-JD24 agree with your statement we will have arguably the best line Valpo has seen,

Alright Fullback

#40 Brannen Martin 6'1 230 RSFR: 0GS 10GP 4 Tackles 4 yds receiving

Wayyy Too Early Depth Chart for 2018
1. #40 Brannen Martin RSSO.

[valpofb16]

Split End

#2 Griffin Norberg 6'3 225 JR: 0GS 10GP, 56 Rush yds 2TDs, 376 REC yds 3 TDs, 1 TFL
#30 Frank Catrine 6'0 210 SR.  11GS 11GP, 87 Rush yds 1TD, 402 REC yds 1TD, 3tkl
#82 Deuce Larose 6'0 205 FR: 0GS 10GP, 30 REC yds 1TD, 7tkl
#85 TJ Weinzimmer 6'2 170 FR: Redshirt

Spring 2018 Depth Chart
1. #2 Griffin Norberg SR.
2. #82 Deuce Larose SO.
3. #85 TJ Weinzimmer RSFR.

[VULB#62]

I clipped these two posts from the PFL Forum.  Always nice to know what others outside our little circle think of the Valpo FB program

Post by flyerfan on yesterday at 8:52am
That was a tough game to watch! Mainly because the weather was so bad and the live video stream was blurry as a result. Hats off to Valpo, their defense came up with stops and that 2 point conversion jump pass was ballsy to say the least. Flyers return a lot next season as well and hopefully they gained experience necessary to finish games next season. Lost at least 3 games this year on opponents final drives. Good teams find a way to win those and I'm sure Flyers will get it done. Already looking forward to the 2018 season and I think it's great for the PFL to see a marked improvement in many programs. Good luck to the USD Toreros Representing the PFL in the NCAA FCS playoffs.

Post by pflobserver on yesterday at 12:29pm
It appears Valparaiso is poised to break into the upper echelon of the league if they haven't already. They return most of the roster from this year. Based on this season they're the equal or better than all but Drake and San Diego.  What happens with the coaches of the bottom feeders. They've been in charge long enough to accomplish something and haven't.

[valpofb16]

Wide Out

Wide Out
#3 Parker Fox 5'11 175 RSSO: 11GP 11 GS REC: 344 yds 2TD
#12 JD Koehler 6'0 210 RSSO: 11GP 0GS REC: 71 yds
#19 Trey Stablein 5'11 160 FR: Redshirt
#86 Kevin Wright 5'11 170 FR: Redshirt

Spring 2018 Depth Chart:
1. #3 Parker Fox RSJR
2. #12 JD Koehler RSJR.
3. #19 Trey Stablein RSFR. or #86 Kevin Wright RSFR.

[VULB#62]

Can we assume there will be lists for WR#2 - i.e., Norberg etc.  And another for the slot receiver (WR#3)  - i.e., Rene, Navarro?

[valpofb16]

Split end listed above and yes slot receiver coming

[JD24]

Wide Out Wide Out #3 Parker Fox 5'11 175 RSSO: 11GP 11 GS REC: 344 yds 2TD #12 JD Koehler 6'0 210 RSSO: 11GP 0GS REC: 71 yds #19 Trey Stablein 5'11 160 FR: Redshirt #86 Kevin Wright 5'11 170 FR: Redshirt Spring 2018 Depth Chart: 1. #3 Parker Fox RSJR 2. #12 JD Koehler RSJR. 3. #19 Trey Stablein RSFR. or #86 Kevin Wright RSFR.

Catrine and Norberg often were in the game as x and z receivers. Fox played behind Norberg from what I saw. JD was behind Catrine. They all ran out of their own packages so it's not that big of a deal but I think the depth chart is a little off here. Typically, JD and Parker would play in tandem with neither Catrine or Norberg in the game.

[VULB#62]

16, I don't know if this is valid, but using the 2-deep designations does not help us - cuz most of us are old school.  Jd24 brought up the x and z receivers. That might be a better way of of presenting the two WR positions and then the slot (and whatever letter designates that). 

[valpofb16]

Parker Fox and Frank Catrine started every game last year

You are correct Catrine often played as the #2 wide out (y) behind Fox and the #1 split end (x). So there were indeed multiple sets of Norberg-Catrine, Koehler-Catrine. However this is just an estimate on rotation

Wide Out rotations last year were essentially:
Fox-Catrine-Koehler-Norberg-Larose (Sparingly)-Navarro(When not in slot). Point of spring chart is to know what we have.

I believe  Norberg will take Catrine's reps leaving the backups of Koehler and Larose as interchangeable options. Also Kevin Wright's film was extremely impressive so I would be surprised if we didn't see at least some of him at RB or WR next season. Navarro might split reps between Wide out (y) and Slot (z) to get starter reps. Hopefully this clears it up

[valpofb16]

Slot


#1 Jean Rene 5'10 180 JR:  9GP 9 GS RUSH: 34yds 1td REC: 345yds 2td  RETURN: 34yds DEF: 1tkl
#23 Bailey Gessinger 5'10 165 SO: 11GP 0GS RUSH: 6yds REC: 147yds 2td RETURN: 669yds DEF: 3tkl All PFL 2nd Team
#26 Donny Navarro 5'11 190 FR: 11GP 2 GS RUSH: 30yds REC: 539yds 5td DEF: 1tkl All PFL HM
#33 Connor Beer 5'9 155 FR: Redshirt

2018 Spring Depth Chart:
1. #1 Jean Rene SR.
2. #26 Donny Navarro SO. (Also look for him at Wideout) or #23 Bailey Gessinger JR.
4. #33 Connor Beer RSFR.

[valpofb16]

Tight End

#84 Mason Sutter 6'5 240 JR: 11GS 11 GP REC: 226yds 1td
#16 Ryan Clarke 6'5 245 SR: 0GS 11GP REC: 29yds DEF: 1tkl     
#31 Alex Kluck 6'5 220 FR: Redshirt   
#80 Brett Bittner 6'5 205 FR: Redshirt
#87 Martin Petruff 6'5 220 SO: 0GS 11GP REC: 15yds RETURN: 6yds

2018 Spring:
1. #84 Mason Sutter SR.
2. #87 Martin Petruf JR.
3. #31 Alex Kluck RSFR. or #80 Brett Bittner RSFR.

[valpofb16]

Left Tackle

#74 James Zajac 6'6 270 RSFR: 0GS 2GP
#76 Alex Cotton 6'4 280 RSSO: 3GS 11GP 
#77 Terrence Roberts 6'5 335 RSSO: 9GS 9GP

2018 Spring:
1. #77 Terrence Roberts RSJR.
2. #76 Alex Cotton RSJR.
3. #74 James Zajac RSSO. 

[VULB#62]

Left Tackle

#74 James Zajac 6'6 270 RSFR: 0GS 2GP
#76 Alex Cotton 6'4 280 RSSO: 3GS 11GP 
#77 Terrence Roberts 6'5 335 RSSO: 9GS 9GP

2018 Spring:
1. #77 Terrence Roberts RSJR.
2. #76 Alex Cotton RSJR.
3. #74 James Zajac RSSO. 

Terrance is an enigma to me.  Aside from his 335# he is not an athlete.  I'm sure he is a great kid, but I've watched him live in three games and my immediate impression if I was an opposing scout, would be "run stunts/twists over him because he is slow and lacks agility" and sacks and run disruption woud be the result.