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I think he'll do better this year

You have more faith than I do. I expect our defense to perform at about the same level as last year or take a small step backwards.

The one bright spot I expect to emerge on the defensive side is Gary Rutherford. That dude is a beast. Barring injuries, which is always a caveat in the sport of football, he is going to end up in the NFL. Will UW be able to keep him after this year? Doubtful.
 
I'm hoping the Linebacker group can hold on the run and short passing game. I'm worried about the pass D in general. Linebackers can't do everything so I think we'll see what Junior is made off. He's going to have to have instincts and dial up the right calls. If he puts the LBs in the wrong spot, can the rest of the D hold up? We'll see. We really need someone to step up in the safety spot.

Junior did better towards the end. I don't really count the bsu game, though. Jeanty was resting. If they needed him, he would have had 300+ yards and 5 tds.
 
TheRealUW said:
You have more faith than I do. I expect our defense to perform at about the same level as last year or take a small step backwards.

The one bright spot I expect to emerge on the defensive side is Gary Rutherford. That dude is a beast. Barring injuries, which is always a caveat in the sport of football, he is going to end up in the NFL. Will UW be able to keep him after this year? Doubtful.
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I’d like to see him play first before I say he is nfl material and gone after this year
 
We have a completely new defensive unit and lost arguably our most important DTs for the year this summer. We had a ton of returning experience last year and weren’t very good. I think we likely see a unit that gives up 2016ish yards and points.
 
OrediggerPoke said:
We have a completely new defensive unit and lost arguably our most important DTs for the year this summer. We had a ton of returning experience last year and weren’t very good. I think we likely see a unit that gives up 2016ish yards and points.
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Eh Caleb was out for the year also last year. Lost Jaden Williams to transfer portal and Dante Drake to injury. Drake was not a big guy but very disruptive, so you could see a 2017 slide like Josiah Hall made to the interior undersized but caused havoc.

Wyoming D, whether it be Tampa-2 or a hybrid Tampa-2 4-2-5 is predicated on your LBs, especially your MLB. Wilson and Muma were able to see what a team was doing and shift the D pre-snap, Easton could but not to the level of Logan or Muma. Shae should have never been a MLB and often seemed confused, never got home on any blitz, and literally ran the opposite direction of where the play was flowing. Not to mention his missed tackles.

Sawvel mentioned in his early years there that Shae often practiced like a backup because he was a backup. Now Sawvel is calling out the leadership from last year in Team Captains so I'll assume Shae was an issue inside the locker room.

The team looked different later in the year. Probably see more blitzes this year BUT Aaron maybe trying to force something with Enoch playing MLB at 206lbs
 
LanderPoke said:
I’d like to see him play first before I say he is nfl material and gone after this year
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Fair point.

Very infrequently, I get the opportunity to talk to a NFL Scout for the Dallas Cowboys. I spoke with him earlier this summer, and of course, asked if there were any Wyoming Players being looked at. He mentioned Barnett and Walsh on the O-line, John-Mike, and Gary Rutherford. At the time, I did not even know who Gary Rutherford was or that he was a player on our team.

He said he basically made it onto NFL team's radars because a lot of them use AI/analytics now in assessing players and his measurables were "freakish". I did see Rutherford played wide receiver in the highest classification of Illinois football, so I suspect he will have good speed/athleticism/hands for a linebacker. I also saw he lead the team in tackles (11) and had an interception in the spring game.

I like what I am hearing about him, but you are right, we need to see it games first.
 
Vapoke said:
Eh Caleb was out for the year also last year. Lost Jaden Williams to transfer portal and Dante Drake to injury. Drake was not a big guy but very disruptive, so you could see a 2017 slide like Josiah Hall made to the interior undersized but caused havoc.

Wyoming D, whether it be Tampa-2 or a hybrid Tampa-2 4-2-5 is predicated on your LBs, especially your MLB. Wilson and Muma were able to see what a team was doing and shift the D pre-snap, Easton could but not to the level of Logan or Muma. Shae should have never been a MLB and often seemed confused, never got home on any blitz, and literally ran the opposite direction of where the play was flowing. Not to mention his missed tackles.

Sawvel mentioned in his early years there that Shae often practiced like a backup because he was a backup. Now Sawvel is calling out the leadership from last year in Team Captains so I'll assume Shae was an issue inside the locker room.

The team looked different later in the year. Probably see more blitzes this year BUT Aaron maybe trying to force something with Enoch playing MLB at 206lbs
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The 2016 defense had 4 linebackers in the 2 deep that either played in the NFL or were on NFL preseason rosters in the future. We still weren’t very good that year.
 
TheRealUW said:
Fair point.

Very infrequently, I get the opportunity to talk to a NFL Scout for the Dallas Cowboys. I spoke with him earlier this summer, and of course, asked if there were any Wyoming Players being looked at. He mentioned Barnett and Walsh on the O-line, John-Mike, and Gary Rutherford. At the time, I did not even know who Gary Rutherford was or that he was a player on our team.

He said he basically made it onto NFL team's radars because a lot of them use AI/analytics now in assessing players and his measurables were "freakish". I did see Rutherford played wide receiver in the highest classification of Illinois football, so I suspect he will have good speed/athleticism/hands for a linebacker. I also saw he lead the team in tackles (11) and had an interception in the spring game.

I like what I am hearing about him, but you are right, we need to see it games first.
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That sounds awesome. Hope he is as studly as they say. Everyone is raving about him. When did nFL scouts have a chance to evaluate him? They come to some of our practices recently?
 
LanderPoke said:
That sounds awesome. Hope he is as studly as they say. Everyone is raving about him. When did nFL scouts have a chance to evaluate him? They come to some of our practices recently?
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I honestly have no clue. I did not ask, but I can next time I see him.

I also noticed Phil Steele has Rutherford listed as a preseason third team All-MWC linebacker. Pretty crazy considering the guy only had a single tackle all of last year.
 
“We had two scouts there yesterday. One was from the Buccaneers and one was from the Texans,” Sawvel said. “And I asked both of them, “You see a lot of practices like this?’ They’re like, ‘Coach, we haven’t seen a practice like this in years, especially the one that happened yesterday.’
 
ZapPoke said:
“We had two scouts there yesterday. One was from the Buccaneers and one was from the Texans,” Sawvel said. “And I asked both of them, “You see a lot of practices like this?’ They’re like, ‘Coach, we haven’t seen a practice like this in years, especially the one that happened yesterday.’
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Kinda gives the impression Sawful is feeling the heat.
 
ZapPoke said:
“We had two scouts there yesterday. One was from the Buccaneers and one was from the Texans,” Sawvel said. “And I asked both of them, “You see a lot of practices like this?’ They’re like, ‘Coach, we haven’t seen a practice like this in years, especially the one that happened yesterday.’
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“Nobody runs practices like we do at Wyoming. Scouts are talking - many scouts - saying our practices are the best. Other teams? I saw their drills - sad!”

The talk is a bit worrying to me. Please don’t let this turn into another Joe Glenn middle finger moment!
 
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