Speaker 1: The twenty twenty six college football season is fastly approaching,
Speaker 1: and we're talking all things Raging Caguns. Let's get into
Speaker 1: it here on Raging Rundown. What's good, ladies and gentlemen,
Speaker 1: and welcome into another episode of Raging Rundown. All Cajuns
Speaker 1: all the time. I'm your guy, JaMarcus Fitzpatrick, but you
Speaker 1: know you can always call me fits. It's been a
Speaker 1: couple of days since I've dropped an episode, but we
Speaker 1: are back in action, and it's because football season is
Speaker 1: upon us.
Speaker 2: Guys.
Speaker 1: The Raging Cagens reported for fall camp here on Tuesday,
Speaker 1: August the fourth. They will hit the practice field for
Speaker 1: the first time officially on Wednesday, August the fifth. We
Speaker 1: had a chance to talk with a lot of the
Speaker 1: players and coaches in their media availability that they had today.
Speaker 1: You can check a lot of those interviews out. I'll
Speaker 1: be dropping periodically throughout on social media for my day
Speaker 1: job at KTC, and I also have some episodes here
Speaker 1: that you can be able to listen in to of
Speaker 1: what we'll talk about here on the show. So we're
Speaker 1: going to go through what we can expect out of
Speaker 1: this team. What are the expectations will break down the roster.
Speaker 1: We'll go through different positions, starting on offense first, and
Speaker 1: then we'll talk about positions that will be main ones
Speaker 1: to look out for in terms of battles and what
Speaker 1: we can hope to see out of these guys in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. But before we move on to twenty
Speaker 1: twenty six, we have to turn the final page of
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2: The year that was.
Speaker 1: Louisiana finish that year six and seven, but at one
Speaker 1: point they were two and six on the year. They
Speaker 1: were incredibly decimated by injury, and then they proceeded to
Speaker 1: rattle off four straight victories one score games at that
Speaker 1: I might add, including an overtime victory against their arrival
Speaker 1: Ulm at home in order to clinch Bowl eligibility. They
Speaker 1: then went to the sixty eight Ventures Bowl, where they
Speaker 1: had guys opt out in different positions and were again decimated,
Speaker 1: especially along the offensive line, and they scrapped their team
Speaker 1: together and unfortunately lost their game to Delaware, finishing the
Speaker 1: season six and seven for a third out of the
Speaker 1: last four seasons that we've seen here. It's year five
Speaker 1: for head coach Michael Desermo to lead his Alma mater
Speaker 1: and there are a lot of pieces that he has
Speaker 1: coming back, and there are a lot of experienced players
Speaker 1: along the way that if this group can stay healthy,
Speaker 1: the sky is truly the limit for this team. And
Speaker 1: that's not just saying that because of what they have
Speaker 1: on paper, but of how productive the group of guys
Speaker 1: that they have returning have been for them in their
Speaker 1: tenure as a raging So, like I said, we'll go
Speaker 1: through positions and talk about the roster as a whole.
Speaker 1: We'll start off with the position that everyone talks about
Speaker 1: the most, that everyone.
Speaker 2: Knows about the most.
Speaker 1: That is the main position in all of football, and
Speaker 1: that's the quarterback position. For the first time since Levi
Speaker 1: Lewis started in twenty twenty one, which was the first
Speaker 1: season that I got here working as a media member
Speaker 1: in Lafayette, for the first time, we know who the
Speaker 1: starting quarterback will be going into this upcoming season. There
Speaker 1: will not be a quarterback competition because Winfield has proven
Speaker 1: that he is ahead of the pack. Last season, he
Speaker 1: had twenty two hundred all purpose yards twenty total touchdowns,
Speaker 1: and that all came as he stepped in midway through
Speaker 1: the season. You remember in the Marshall game. Lunch Winfield
Speaker 1: would be inserted into the game when the Cajuns were
Speaker 1: down after collapsing there in the early parts of the
Speaker 1: second half of that game against Marshall, and it was
Speaker 1: almost like a go out there and see what can
Speaker 1: happen type of moment. Lunch gets in, he rallies the troops,
Speaker 1: they come all the way back, and then he eventually
Speaker 1: leads them to a double overtime victory and the rest
Speaker 1: was history. He never gave the job back. With him
Speaker 1: at the Helm, it creates so much of a dynamic,
Speaker 1: a different dynamic to your offense because of his ability
Speaker 1: to not just throw the football, but how special he
Speaker 1: can be in the run game, so much to so
Speaker 1: that he was your third leading rusher last season with
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty two carries, six hundred and sixty
Speaker 1: seven yards and a team leading nine touchdowns. So he
Speaker 1: knew how to go and find the end zone. When
Speaker 1: I spoke to Lunch, you know, I asked him about
Speaker 1: how much different it felt from last season. When I
Speaker 1: talked to him, he was the third string quarterback and
Speaker 1: now this season he's the guy.
Speaker 2: And you know, he said, it's a great feeling when
Speaker 2: you have the.
Speaker 1: Community rallying around you, you have your teammates, your coach
Speaker 1: is letting you know that you're the guy and we're
Speaker 1: going to one hundred percent back you. And I also
Speaker 1: talked to him about staying healthy. Right there on the
Speaker 1: back half of the season, he was dealing with a
Speaker 1: high ankle spring he got that cleaned up in the
Speaker 1: offseason to make sure that he can be healthy coming
Speaker 1: here into twenty twenty six. And he said, you know,
Speaker 1: even if it takes sliding, he's going to make sure
Speaker 1: that he can be as available as possible for his
Speaker 1: teammates because the best ability is availability, and when Lunch
Speaker 1: Winfield is available, he can be as a as dynamic
Speaker 1: of a player as not just the Cajuns have seen,
Speaker 1: but what the Sun Belt could potentially see as well.
Speaker 1: In behind him there is Daniel Bill, sam Altman, and
Speaker 1: Coleman Carter. Coach Desermo told us that the way the
Speaker 1: quarterback breakdown look obviously Lunch getting right now one percent
Speaker 1: of the first team reps and then he'll probably dial
Speaker 1: it back to ninety to make sure that guys behind
Speaker 1: them can get some reps in as well. He said
Speaker 1: that from there it'll be Daniel Bill and Coleman Carter
Speaker 1: get into two reps, and then Sam Altman and Alex Munos,
Speaker 1: the son of tight ends coach George Munos and former
Speaker 1: Turlin's Catholic quarterback coming in to also give you a
Speaker 1: little bit of a mix there as well as your
Speaker 1: threes position. So that's how that will look. But as
Speaker 1: I said, if Lunch is able to stay upright, the
Speaker 1: sky is the limit for this offense because of how
Speaker 1: dynamic of a player he truly is.
Speaker 2: Then you look at the running back position.
Speaker 1: Right in that room, you have Stephen Blanco, Darrell Smith,
Speaker 1: JJ Gardner, Key Ryan Smith, Anthony Reagan Junior, and A'marion Brown.
Speaker 1: All of those guys last season had little to no
Speaker 1: impact in a lot of your run game. Now, Stephen
Speaker 1: Blanco did have thirty carries for one hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: six yards and two touchdowns, but it was in very
Speaker 1: small amounts of action. Darrell Smith had just three carries
Speaker 1: and seven yards for you, and after that, Marion Brown
Speaker 1: was not on your roster last season. He was on
Speaker 1: the Arkansas State roster where he followed over his position
Speaker 1: coach Marcus Lovings, who's now your running backs coach Anthony
Speaker 1: Reagan was at Howard so now and then Key Ryan
Speaker 1: Smith was in high school. Last year was Bill Davison,
Speaker 1: Ziland Perry. They've moved on from the program where you're
Speaker 1: two leading rushers ahead of lunch Winfield. It is going
Speaker 1: to be imperative that these guys can go out and
Speaker 1: prove to the world why they can be a special
Speaker 1: group because this is a run first offense. It always
Speaker 1: has been and it always will be under this coaching
Speaker 1: staff because that's what they believe is their strength, and
Speaker 1: it has been because they are not passing the ball
Speaker 1: first and then getting the run game. They are running
Speaker 1: the football to set up everything else that they do
Speaker 1: along the way. So it's going to be interesting to see.
Speaker 1: We're going to come back to that to talk about
Speaker 1: that being a key position battle in behind or in
Speaker 1: front of them.
Speaker 2: Will be a very, very.
Speaker 1: Very experienced offensive line. If you'll remember, George Jackson got
Speaker 1: hurt last season. I believe it was in the Eastern
Speaker 1: Michigan game. He has had a list ering injury. I'm
Speaker 1: going to do a future story on that at KTC.
Speaker 1: You can check that out whenever I finally drop it.
Speaker 1: He was able to get his medical richert and come
Speaker 1: back for another season. He's going to be backed as
Speaker 1: an experienced offensive tackle. See Alexander Is back as an
Speaker 1: experienced offensive tackle, Cayden Morrow an offensive guard, Matt Bruceard
Speaker 1: Cooper Fordham at the center position. Jacobe Aisam there at
Speaker 1: the guard position as well. So you have a ton
Speaker 1: of experienced guys that you have in the mix. And
Speaker 1: when Coach Dez talked to the podium, he said that
Speaker 1: you know, the number is around eight or nine guys
Speaker 1: that he would like to see that can be able
Speaker 1: to help you to win games on Saturday.
Speaker 2: Of course you want to see even.
Speaker 1: More because the more the merrier, the more literally because
Speaker 1: we saw last season of how much injury can come
Speaker 1: into effect and how quickly guys can go from being
Speaker 1: a three to two and then from a to a starter.
Speaker 1: After a lot of those guys that I mentioned, you
Speaker 1: have the two lane transferend Jason Mitchell, who had a
Speaker 1: lot of good reps for you in the spring. With
Speaker 1: George Jackson being out of the lineup, Mari and Gooch
Speaker 1: is also back as well, I believe was out in
Speaker 1: spring as well. So you have a lot of depth
Speaker 1: along the way that can help create some creases for
Speaker 1: this run game and can help to keep lunch winfield upright,
Speaker 1: they are going to be as imperative as ever before.
Speaker 1: Offensive coordinator Tim Leja alluded to that, saying that if
Speaker 1: we went in the trenches, we win everything, and I
Speaker 1: you know, as a former offensive lineman myself, I can
Speaker 1: it cannot It goes without saying how important that truly is,
Speaker 1: especially for this type of offense. An extension of that
Speaker 1: offensive line will be the tight end position. As we
Speaker 1: know you have guys like Kayden Jensen and Brock Chapel
Speaker 1: that will be coming back in behind them, which we'll
Speaker 1: talk about that in a second. In behind them are
Speaker 1: a lot of young guys that have very minimal experience.
Speaker 1: But you're gonna need to have another tight end in
Speaker 1: there because sometimes they do like to go three tight
Speaker 1: end sets, which is thirteen personnel. But coach lej mentioned
Speaker 1: that if they are not able to find that third guy,
Speaker 1: you might see a little bit more of just one
Speaker 1: tight end sets or maybe even two tight in sets
Speaker 1: to make sure that they can fill the needs of
Speaker 1: what their personnel is able to do and they're not
Speaker 1: forcing a guy in there that might not potentially be ready.
Speaker 1: The last position that we'll talk about offensively, and we'll
Speaker 1: dabble back into this one as well, is the wide
Speaker 1: receiver position. Shelton Samson is your leading receiver. He led
Speaker 1: the team in receptions last season with thirty two. He
Speaker 1: had five hundred and thirty seven yards and a team
Speaker 1: leading six touchdowns. He was an explosive playmaker for you
Speaker 1: all the way across the board. Him and Lunch Winfield
Speaker 1: had a incredible connection, especially as they emerge further and
Speaker 1: further down the season. He is going to be getting
Speaker 1: a lot of attention from defenses and rightfully so. So
Speaker 1: there are other guys around him that are going to
Speaker 1: have the opportunity to shine. The land and Struggs, the
Speaker 1: Roggi Denniss, the Cadarius Waves, the Trenton Chenese, the Russell
Speaker 1: Babino's and on and on and on of the other
Speaker 1: guys that will have opportunities to go out and make plays.
Speaker 1: And like I said, we'll talk about that a little
Speaker 1: bit later. Of this being in a main position to
Speaker 1: look at as well. Defensively, there are a lot of
Speaker 1: things that we have to discuss from the defensive line
Speaker 1: to guys like Brent Gordon Junior at the cornerback position,
Speaker 1: and the list goes on, and we're going to get
Speaker 1: more into that when we come back here on Rage
Speaker 1: and Rundown. Hey, guys, thank you so much for tuning
Speaker 1: in to another episode of Raging Rundown. We're going to
Speaker 1: get back into the action in just a second, but
Speaker 1: before we do, please do me a favor. If you
Speaker 1: are watching this episode on YouTube, please like it, share it,
Speaker 1: and leave a comment down below, but most importantly, make
Speaker 1: sure you subscribe to the channel. If you're listening, please
Speaker 1: follow the podcast feed, rate the show, and leave us
Speaker 1: a review, because that's gonna help us get in front
Speaker 1: of more Raging Cajun fans just like yourself. We've talked
Speaker 1: about the offense. Now let's switch over to the defensive
Speaker 1: side of the ball, a unit that overall in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five was right there in the middle of the pack. Statistically,
Speaker 1: they gave up about twenty nine and a half or
Speaker 1: twenty nine point two points per game, and there was
Speaker 1: a lot of close games, especially there on the back
Speaker 1: half of the season, that they had to be a
Speaker 1: part of, but they were able to have big moments
Speaker 1: and stand up, have goal line stands and get big
Speaker 1: stops and force turnovers and key moments. But it just
Speaker 1: wasn't as much as what they would like. So we'll
Speaker 1: start on the front end this time around. We'll start
Speaker 1: on the defensive line. Fitzgerald West is gonna anchor you
Speaker 1: down up front on the defensive line.
Speaker 2: We know that.
Speaker 1: Originally he entered his name into the transfer but then
Speaker 1: eventually decided to pull his name out and return back
Speaker 1: for his final season of collegiate football. He's going to
Speaker 1: be a huge anchor point for you. You know, he
Speaker 1: didn't have a ton of production in terms of statistically,
Speaker 1: but just from a veteran standpoint, having a guy that
Speaker 1: knows the scheme, that understands college football, that's seen a
Speaker 1: lot how Southern miss blocks and how James Madison blocks,
Speaker 1: and how Arkansas State blocks, and Troy and other teams
Speaker 1: in the Sunbelt West, He's going to be able to
Speaker 1: pour that wisdom into other defensive linemen around him. Right
Speaker 1: along with him. Another senior is Maxie Bodwin that's coming back.
Speaker 1: Another local product that gets another opportunity to go out
Speaker 1: and play for his hometown team. Yet another guy that's
Speaker 1: been in the program that's had snap experience and will
Speaker 1: get the opportunity to once again anchor that defensive line.
Speaker 1: You've got guys like Prestas, Lance Williams that could be
Speaker 1: your edge positions. You have Chase Edwards that's been you know,
Speaker 1: thrown into the mix beginning in last season as a
Speaker 1: you know, defensive tackle type of skill skilled player for you.
Speaker 1: Then you have you know, transfers coming in Rogers Stewart
Speaker 1: being a defensive tackle that integrated himself into the rotation.
Speaker 1: And as we know, defensive line coach Dennis Thomas is
Speaker 1: not afraid to play guys if they know what they're
Speaker 1: doing when they're going out there, and they can effectively
Speaker 1: help to stop the run and can rush the passer
Speaker 1: and not just necessarily always get sacked, but can affect
Speaker 1: the quarterback the timing, be disruptive, get him to hurry up,
Speaker 1: and all of those things like that and plus get sacks.
Speaker 1: He's going to play them, no doubt. That jack position,
Speaker 1: you know, we'll look at that as as kind of
Speaker 1: an extension of the defensive line, even though they are
Speaker 1: considered an outside linebacker. Ashley Williams when outside linebackers coach
Speaker 1: Mike Giuliani talked about him. He said he was kind
Speaker 1: of like a bull in a china shop. That he
Speaker 1: was also one of the highest graded players that they
Speaker 1: had on the defense whenever it turned in terms of
Speaker 1: alignment and assignment. So he knows what he's doing because
Speaker 1: he's been in the program for a while now. It's about,
Speaker 1: as Coach Giuliani said, him stepping up and taking one
Speaker 1: play at a time and being able to be that
Speaker 1: elite pass rusher that they need to fill the shoes
Speaker 1: of Cam Whitfield, who has now moved on from the program.
Speaker 1: In behind him, you know, you have guys like a
Speaker 1: Notry Brown that has a great skill set as well
Speaker 1: that didn't necessarily play as much last year because he
Speaker 1: was injured, But from what Coach Giuliani has mentioned, he
Speaker 1: has a lot of ability that can help you a
Speaker 1: ton there.
Speaker 2: And then in the linebacker room, the inside linebacker.
Speaker 1: Room, this is a place where you know last season
Speaker 1: Jayden Dugger and Terrence Williams were first time started for
Speaker 1: you at that position. Jaden Dugger obviously had been playing
Speaker 1: you know, the outside linebacker jack position. He moves inside.
Speaker 1: He has a breakout season and is now playing for
Speaker 1: the forty nine ers, rightfuless. So now you're having this
Speaker 1: inside linebacker group where you have a longtime guy like
Speaker 1: a Caleb Edwards, a longtime guy like Jake Saint Andre
Speaker 1: that are now asked to step up and not fill
Speaker 1: the shoes, but to continue the legacy of great inside
Speaker 1: linebackers that have been in the program, the kco size,
Speaker 1: you know, the Lorenzo mccaskals, the Jordan Quibbodos. The list
Speaker 1: goes on of the type of great linebackers that we've
Speaker 1: seen come through this program. Now these guys are asked
Speaker 1: to do much of the same. Caleb Edwards, Michael Johnson,
Speaker 1: Jake Saint Andre, Connor mcphilson was mentioned as a guy
Speaker 1: that has a vocal presence. Hayten Darbon, a former Units product,
Speaker 1: was mentioned as well as somebody that will give you
Speaker 1: an opportunity to do something special. Then you talk about
Speaker 1: on the back end at the safety position. Colin Jacob,
Speaker 1: a kid once again that I remember when he was
Speaker 1: a senior in high school at Laureville and now he
Speaker 1: is about to be entering his final season in college.
Speaker 1: He you know, broke his forearm there in the middle
Speaker 1: of the season, and had surgery and now he is
Speaker 1: going to be back this year. He's another year wiser.
Speaker 1: He really came on strong for you, not just in
Speaker 1: the coverage but also affecting the passer, like being able
Speaker 1: to blitz and go back there and get sacks, coming
Speaker 1: up with big plays in different games.
Speaker 2: You think about him.
Speaker 1: And then on the other side is also Cody Jackson,
Speaker 1: a Shreeport guy, so shout outs to him for that.
Speaker 1: But he stepped up a big time after you know,
Speaker 1: being in behind a Jaalen Clark and a Tyree Skipper
Speaker 1: and having to unders continue to understand the defense and
Speaker 1: now entering his I believe it is his richer junior
Speaker 1: he's coming into now. It's hey, you're the guys that
Speaker 1: are leading the pack now, So him and Colin are
Speaker 1: going to be important there. On the back end behind them,
Speaker 1: Lake Baits and Steve and Raynell are guys that were
Speaker 1: forced to have to start because of everything that happened,
Speaker 1: you know, with the fallout from the Texas State game
Speaker 1: and injuries and all of those things like that, those
Speaker 1: guys had to start later in the year maybe when
Speaker 1: they weren't necessarily truly ready, and now that they have
Speaker 1: some of that game experience under their belt. Now that
Speaker 1: they have that, it's now going to be about Okay.
Speaker 1: Now you go from being a ten to fifteen snap
Speaker 1: guy to now maybe a twenty five to thirty snap guy,
Speaker 1: and then you can eventually integrate yourself to being a starter.
Speaker 1: You have other positional players like a Luke Green that
Speaker 1: could be there on the back end as a true
Speaker 1: freshman that could help you some depending on how the
Speaker 1: rotation all falls. Then the cornerback room, which we'll talk
Speaker 1: about them as a position for battle that we could see.
Speaker 1: Brent Gordon Jr. Is going to lead the pack as
Speaker 1: a true sophomore. He got the starting job in the
Speaker 1: Missouri game and he never returned the keys and he's
Speaker 1: been driving that car ever since. He is going to
Speaker 1: be the guy that is probably gonna line up against
Speaker 1: the number one receiver for whoever he's playing against. That
Speaker 1: he is going to say, as he told me, that
Speaker 1: I like me in these situations, that I like playing
Speaker 1: man and man coverage that you know, obviously they're gonna
Speaker 1: do both, but when he feels like it's a one
Speaker 1: on one situation, he's gonna pick himself, which that's the
Speaker 1: type of confidence that you want here, not just from
Speaker 1: a number one cornerback, but from a cornerback in general,
Speaker 1: and that is gonna have to be something truly infectious.
Speaker 1: That's gonna have to go along the way across the
Speaker 1: board for the defensive back round. And behind him, you
Speaker 1: think about guys like Avery Dimrie who had came up
Speaker 1: with big plays in the spring, Jeremiah Moses, Curly Reid
Speaker 1: was somebody that's been name dropped several times as well,
Speaker 1: and also Kevin Malone, who's somebody that's really young, but
Speaker 1: coach Dez says believe he believes that can come on
Speaker 1: really big for them this season. So that's how things
Speaker 1: are shaping up. From the offense and defensive defensive. In
Speaker 1: the kicking game, Tony Sterner and Logan Klotz are both backs,
Speaker 1: so that gives you a solid position in someone that
Speaker 1: is coming back, and uh, then you are you also
Speaker 1: have Brick Schultz, com Breck Schultz, excuse me, coming in,
Speaker 1: Mason Golden as a true freshman coming in as a
Speaker 1: as a punter for you as well.
Speaker 2: And then in the return.
Speaker 1: Game, Jacory and Norris is gonna be your guy as
Speaker 1: the kick returner.
Speaker 2: Coach Dez said quote that it is his job to lose.
Speaker 1: After that ULM game, when he returned the opening kickoff,
Speaker 1: I said, that's that's your guy going forward until he
Speaker 1: didn't want to do it anymore and he can't do
Speaker 1: it anymore. In the punt return game, Coach Dez alluded
Speaker 1: to Brent Gordon being the name that can potentially be
Speaker 1: brought up, and then I would later follow up with
Speaker 1: Coach Giuliani as I'm trying to go and pull up
Speaker 1: my past tweet that I was putting pulling out, which
Speaker 1: if you're not following me on social media, you should
Speaker 1: because I'm always gonna be putting out information, especially when
Speaker 1: we're in pres conference with coaches and players. Coach Giuliani
Speaker 1: mentioned that at the punt returner job, guys like Brent Gordon,
Speaker 1: Landon Struther, Darrell Smith, Trenton Cheney, and Russell Babino will
Speaker 1: all have the opportunities to compete for that job, and
Speaker 1: then he will try to narrow it down to see
Speaker 1: who is going to be the guy that you need
Speaker 1: to be back there returning punts. Brent Gordon is very,
Speaker 1: very valuable, so it wouldn't be out of the norm
Speaker 1: that they don't make him the punt returner, not because
Speaker 1: he's not able to do the job, but because he
Speaker 1: is going to be so valuable to you on the
Speaker 1: defensive side. It wouldn't surprise me if we see someone
Speaker 1: like Trenton Cheney or Russell Babino get the opportunity to
Speaker 1: be that punt returner. But we know that we've seen
Speaker 1: cornerbacks return before. You know, Eric, Eric Gordon, if I'm
Speaker 1: not mistaken, I'm drawing a blank.
Speaker 2: There.
Speaker 1: There was a cornerback that they had a couple of
Speaker 1: years ago, and I am drawing a blank in my head,
Speaker 1: I'm saying, Eric going, and that's a basketball player. It's
Speaker 1: gonna come to me a little bit later. But it
Speaker 1: was a couple of years ago. They played for the
Speaker 1: Tennessee Titans, and it's slipping my mind right now, and
Speaker 1: I'm recording this episode, so I'm so sorry in the moment.
Speaker 2: But if I could get a chance, Eric Gear, that's it.
Speaker 2: There we go.
Speaker 1: Eric Gear was a cornerback that returned punts and kicks
Speaker 1: for the Cage and several years ago, so it's not
Speaker 1: out of the ordinary to see a cornerback do that.
Speaker 1: So in terms of positions that are gonna be important
Speaker 1: for position battles. One that we'll look at is another
Speaker 1: obvious one is the running back room. Because this offense
Speaker 1: is not a throw first offense, so they absolutely positively
Speaker 1: have to get these running backs that are young, ready
Speaker 1: to go out and play. And we saw how explosive
Speaker 1: they were in the spring game. We saw how much
Speaker 1: playmaking ability they had, not just in the run game,
Speaker 1: but also in the screen game, dumping into them out
Speaker 1: of the backfield. You know, Coach Dez mentioned how JJ
Speaker 1: Gardner is kind of a guy that they want to
Speaker 1: see continue to build up consistency. Stephen Blanco obviously has
Speaker 1: power to his game, which is why he was inserted
Speaker 1: in a lot of instances on short yardist situations on
Speaker 1: the goal line to be able to punch it in.
Speaker 1: And then Deryl Smith is kind of an all around guy.
Speaker 1: But you know, if none of those three are clicking
Speaker 1: at the moment, because it's going to be about production.
Speaker 2: You still got Anthony Reagan.
Speaker 1: They're behind him transferring to him from Howard and he
Speaker 1: was kind of a do it all type of back.
Speaker 1: You still have a Marion Brown, who coach Loving's helped
Speaker 1: recruit while he was at Arkansas State, so he knows
Speaker 1: what his ability is. So that room is solely going
Speaker 1: to be about who is producing. It's not going to
Speaker 1: be about who's a bell cow because they've never been.
Speaker 1: That type of offense is gonna be about who has
Speaker 1: the hot hand when it comes to running the football,
Speaker 1: and whether it's one guy, two guys, three or four guys.
Speaker 1: They're gonna have to figure out a way to make
Speaker 1: sure that if you have sixty plays in a game,
Speaker 1: you may see thirty five and twenty five, you may
Speaker 1: see forty and twenty forty of them may be coming
Speaker 1: from the run game. They're gonna have to make the
Speaker 1: most of those forty carries and how they can distribute
Speaker 1: that between two, three, maybe even four backs a piece.
Speaker 1: Another is the receiver position in behind Sheldon Sampson. We've
Speaker 1: talked about this before that he is going to garner
Speaker 1: a lot of attention, but you're gonna need guys to
Speaker 1: step up.
Speaker 2: You're gonna need the carious Weds, the Jayden.
Speaker 1: Johnson's to step up in the moments when they have
Speaker 1: the opportunities that if the defense is saying we're gonna
Speaker 1: double team him over here, somebody's gonna be open on
Speaker 1: this other side. And if it's a third and Shelton's
Speaker 1: the first option in lunch sees him and he's covered
Speaker 1: and you're open, you're gonna have to go and make
Speaker 1: that play. Coach lej mentioned that he was truly excited
Speaker 1: about having a true slot receiver as well, a Russell Babino,
Speaker 1: a Trenton Cheney type of guy that you can toss
Speaker 1: it to him behind the line and they can go
Speaker 1: make it happen. That you can throw them a tuble,
Speaker 1: tunnel screen, a bubble screen and they can go and
Speaker 1: make it happen. Excuse me, that's going to be truly
Speaker 1: an exciting thing to see because they did it a
Speaker 1: lot in the spring game. Tunnel screens, bubble screens, getting
Speaker 1: them the ball out in space, motioning them across, giving
Speaker 1: them jet sweep, and just letting them go and do
Speaker 1: their work. Russell Babino is somebody that I saw personally
Speaker 1: do that a lot while he was at a Kadie
Speaker 1: in a high lendin Strull is another guy also that
Speaker 1: has been a consistent force for you in a name
Speaker 1: that's popped up a lot as a consistent guy for
Speaker 1: you out of that receiver room another one on the offense,
Speaker 1: and then we'll switch back over to defense. Is the
Speaker 1: tight end position, It's not who's gonna be your starter?
Speaker 1: Who's going to be the guys behind Rock Chapel and
Speaker 1: Kayden Jensen? Kyten Jensen is your conventional tight end, big
Speaker 1: body tight end, Rock Chapel very similar after that, Who's
Speaker 1: going to be the guy? Is it gonna be Caandre Cots,
Speaker 1: Is it gonna be Christian macintrust, Is it Teddy Garlic?
Speaker 1: You know who is it gonna be that's gonna be
Speaker 1: able to say, Hey, if you need to go thirteen
Speaker 1: personnel and we're gonna load up with all the tight
Speaker 1: ends on this side, I can do it, and we
Speaker 1: can run out sides onto this side. If it's a
Speaker 1: play action fake and it's a tight end slipping out
Speaker 1: in the flat, who's gonna be that other receiver that says,
Speaker 1: while Caden's running this route and Rock's running this route,
Speaker 1: that I can slip out here in the flat and
Speaker 1: can be the option that you can dump to it.
Speaker 2: I can get up the field and.
Speaker 1: Get four or five yards and move the chains, or
Speaker 1: I can get seven eight yards or I can even
Speaker 1: rumble down the sidelines and go twenty plus and go
Speaker 1: and give you big explosive plays. Who's gonna be the
Speaker 1: guy that's gonna do that. That is going to be
Speaker 1: important that Coach Munoz continues to develop those guys and
Speaker 1: that can emerge, because if not, then again, like Coach
Speaker 1: Laja said, you might not see as much twelve and
Speaker 1: thirteen personnel. You may see just eleven with just one
Speaker 1: tight end out there, and you might rotate between those
Speaker 1: two guys of Rock Chapel and Kayden Jensen. On the
Speaker 1: defensive side, the cornerback position is going to be important
Speaker 1: because if they can build up a lot of guys
Speaker 1: that can get out there and be active. I also
Speaker 1: forgot to mention the star position, Marian Elliot when I
Speaker 1: was talking about a position. Maryon Ilium is going to
Speaker 1: be back there as your star. Brent Gordon was cross
Speaker 1: trained a little bit and had the ability to line
Speaker 1: up at Star during the spring. But overall the cornerback room,
Speaker 1: they're gonna have to be guys that other than just
Speaker 1: print can go and be playmakers for you, that are
Speaker 1: gonna be able to play lockdown coverage that cannot have
Speaker 1: their eyes in the backfield when they're supposed to be
Speaker 1: having the deep thirds or you know, making sure that
Speaker 1: they're having their right assignments that can make open field tackles.
Speaker 1: So those guys, the Avery Demeries, the Kevin Malone's, the
Speaker 1: Jeremiah moses Is, the Curly Reads, the you know, all
Speaker 1: of those guys that the coach des has been mentioning
Speaker 1: to us and that got reps during the spring. They're
Speaker 1: gonna have to go out and get it going to
Speaker 1: allow that to be a moment for them. The other
Speaker 1: positions that we've talked about, I feel like are truly
Speaker 1: solidified in a depth standpoint. Now it's about just going out,
Speaker 1: lacing them up and seeing what guys can do when
Speaker 1: the football is put in the ground and the ball
Speaker 1: is snapped. So, like I said, the first practice will
Speaker 1: be on August fifth, and we will be out there.
Speaker 1: We'll get a short window to watch because that's how
Speaker 1: it's always been. It's normally during an individual where we're
Speaker 1: able to get video guys and we can kind of
Speaker 1: utilize that for feature stories and things like that.
Speaker 2: But they do have two scrimmages.
Speaker 1: I do not have the calendar in front of me
Speaker 1: but if I'm not mistaken, I think the first one
Speaker 1: is next week. If I can pull up the calendar
Speaker 1: on my phone, I think that the first one is
Speaker 1: supposed to be on the fourteenth, and I think they
Speaker 1: have another one on the twentieth. They have two during
Speaker 1: fall camp. I will work to see if we're able
Speaker 1: to watch them in its entirety. If we're not able
Speaker 1: to get video for them, if we can at least
Speaker 1: watch them, I'll be able to go in make note
Speaker 1: of that, and you know we'll be talking about it
Speaker 1: right here on Rage and Rundown. That's gonna wrap up
Speaker 1: this episode of Raging Rundown. If you made it to
Speaker 1: this point in the episode, thank you so much for
Speaker 1: rocking with us up until this point. Please do me
Speaker 1: a favor. If you're watching it, please like this video,
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Speaker 1: next time.