Hopefully Hatchet and Memelaar are ready to go come Fall. If the experienced OL had not transferred out I would have felt a bit more bullish about the upcoming season, but with this much turnover and inexperience that will be stepping in, it's hard to imagine anything better than 7-5. But, there is a long time between now and the start of conference play so hopefully they can duct tape this thing together before then.
Looks to me like you had this prediction on lock down. It's really hard to tell if any of the transfers are going to be more than average. There is some good potential coming in, but until they spend time together and against solid competition, we're going to be doing a lot of guessing. The two lines could be decent, but they could also be ineffective. I have no idea if we can stop a pass rush (edge or stunt/twist), and I'm skeptical about left tackle right now. Hopefully they gel. At least more than half the position groups seem solid. We've fallen behind two of our 4 new B1G members, but I would bet things will improve over the next two years based on how aggressive this crew seems to be on the recruiting trail.
We saw Colorado try to do that last year and look how it turned out. The situation is far from ideal, but Fisch is smart not to panic and the team will be better off for it in both the short-term and long-term.
After watching tape of the spring game, I came away impressed by Soane Faasolo, Drew Azzopardi and Zach Henning. If we start the season with Faasolo and Azzopardi at the two tackle spots and Henning at center or guard, I'll feel pretty good about the O-line. Those three should provide a solid foundation. I know things are going to shift around, and this is nothing more than recreational speculation, but here's my guess. Azzopardi moves from right tackle to left tackle. Henning moves to left guard. Hatchett gets healthy and starts at center. Gaard Memmelar gets healthy and starts at right guard. Faasolo moves from left tackle to right tackle. Here's our opening day lineup:
LT - Drew Azzopardi - 6'7 315
LG - Zach Henning - 6'5 292
C - Landen Hatchett - 6'2 310
RG - Gaard Memmelar - 6'4 299
RT - Soane Faasolo - 6'8 290
Promising backups: Paki Finau and Michael Levelle Watkins.
I'm not that worried about the experience and talent level we have. But I AM worried about the absence of any experience playing together. Maybe our first two games against Weber State and Eastern Michigan will give us a chance to coalesce.
Jonah Coleman was right about the disrespect shown to the OL. I know that Caple has never seen any of the 3 transfer OL play a snap so there's no reason to assume they'll start besides them being the newest bodies on the OL. Vimahi was awful in his start against Missouri in the Cotton Bowl. Titialii has a bunch of starts but was apparently never good enough to make the All-Big Sky team any year. McCree has only played a grand total of 13 snaps at a 4-year college, which is less than Henning, Hatchett, Memmelaar, and Azzopardi.
Fisch has made it abundantly clear he's willing to start freshmen and he showed at Arizona that he's willing to start multiple true freshmen on the OL if he feels they're the best. This is especially the case in a clear rebuilding year because starting Titialii and Vimahi isn't going to turn this team into a championship contender and they will be out of eligibility after the season ends. 2025 is the year they should be aiming to be competitive for a B1G title and CFP berth and if they have the opportunity to go into that season with as many as 7 OL with starting experience in their offense, why wouldn't they want to take it?
I fully expect that that at least 3-4 of the spring OL will be starting against Weber State on 8/31 and at least that many will still be starting by the end of the year.
You're definitely right that they'll play the best guys, regardless of experience. Like I said, this is just a rough outline of how the transfers could fit in. Either way, we won't know a lot about this group until they play their first few games (and find out how ready Memmelaar/Hatchett will be to contribute in Week 1, etc.).
Can someone, ANYONE, make the Logan Sagapolu switch to defense make sense to me? A career O-Lineman joining a team with a young, injury riddled O-Line, and they move him to defense?
I know they needed some guys there too but how is that the position in which he will have the most impact?
Well, here's my guess about Sagapolu's move to defense. He isn't good enough to help the O-line but at 340 he could be an adequate space eater in the middle of our D-line.
Hopefully Hatchet and Memelaar are ready to go come Fall. If the experienced OL had not transferred out I would have felt a bit more bullish about the upcoming season, but with this much turnover and inexperience that will be stepping in, it's hard to imagine anything better than 7-5. But, there is a long time between now and the start of conference play so hopefully they can duct tape this thing together before then.
Will be 8-4 at least
I hope so. Like I said, I would feel more bullish if the whole OL, along with the coaching staff, didn't turnover.
Looks to me like you had this prediction on lock down. It's really hard to tell if any of the transfers are going to be more than average. There is some good potential coming in, but until they spend time together and against solid competition, we're going to be doing a lot of guessing. The two lines could be decent, but they could also be ineffective. I have no idea if we can stop a pass rush (edge or stunt/twist), and I'm skeptical about left tackle right now. Hopefully they gel. At least more than half the position groups seem solid. We've fallen behind two of our 4 new B1G members, but I would bet things will improve over the next two years based on how aggressive this crew seems to be on the recruiting trail.
Hard to not be disappointed in the misses on the Oline and failure of staff to bring in some guys with more P4 experience.
We saw Colorado try to do that last year and look how it turned out. The situation is far from ideal, but Fisch is smart not to panic and the team will be better off for it in both the short-term and long-term.
After watching tape of the spring game, I came away impressed by Soane Faasolo, Drew Azzopardi and Zach Henning. If we start the season with Faasolo and Azzopardi at the two tackle spots and Henning at center or guard, I'll feel pretty good about the O-line. Those three should provide a solid foundation. I know things are going to shift around, and this is nothing more than recreational speculation, but here's my guess. Azzopardi moves from right tackle to left tackle. Henning moves to left guard. Hatchett gets healthy and starts at center. Gaard Memmelar gets healthy and starts at right guard. Faasolo moves from left tackle to right tackle. Here's our opening day lineup:
LT - Drew Azzopardi - 6'7 315
LG - Zach Henning - 6'5 292
C - Landen Hatchett - 6'2 310
RG - Gaard Memmelar - 6'4 299
RT - Soane Faasolo - 6'8 290
Promising backups: Paki Finau and Michael Levelle Watkins.
I'm not that worried about the experience and talent level we have. But I AM worried about the absence of any experience playing together. Maybe our first two games against Weber State and Eastern Michigan will give us a chance to coalesce.
Jonah Coleman was right about the disrespect shown to the OL. I know that Caple has never seen any of the 3 transfer OL play a snap so there's no reason to assume they'll start besides them being the newest bodies on the OL. Vimahi was awful in his start against Missouri in the Cotton Bowl. Titialii has a bunch of starts but was apparently never good enough to make the All-Big Sky team any year. McCree has only played a grand total of 13 snaps at a 4-year college, which is less than Henning, Hatchett, Memmelaar, and Azzopardi.
Fisch has made it abundantly clear he's willing to start freshmen and he showed at Arizona that he's willing to start multiple true freshmen on the OL if he feels they're the best. This is especially the case in a clear rebuilding year because starting Titialii and Vimahi isn't going to turn this team into a championship contender and they will be out of eligibility after the season ends. 2025 is the year they should be aiming to be competitive for a B1G title and CFP berth and if they have the opportunity to go into that season with as many as 7 OL with starting experience in their offense, why wouldn't they want to take it?
I fully expect that that at least 3-4 of the spring OL will be starting against Weber State on 8/31 and at least that many will still be starting by the end of the year.
You're definitely right that they'll play the best guys, regardless of experience. Like I said, this is just a rough outline of how the transfers could fit in. Either way, we won't know a lot about this group until they play their first few games (and find out how ready Memmelaar/Hatchett will be to contribute in Week 1, etc.).
Can someone, ANYONE, make the Logan Sagapolu switch to defense make sense to me? A career O-Lineman joining a team with a young, injury riddled O-Line, and they move him to defense?
I know they needed some guys there too but how is that the position in which he will have the most impact?
Maybe they're not as worried about the state of the OL as the fans are
Well, here's my guess about Sagapolu's move to defense. He isn't good enough to help the O-line but at 340 he could be an adequate space eater in the middle of our D-line.
Christian, Do your totals include Will Nixon? I didn't realize he was in the portal, and it was announced today that he is transferring to Syracuse.
He went in the portal before spring practices, so he's not included in anything here.