McKay Jacobsen, 5-11, 192, So: The tonic that will make us all forget about Austin Collie. We hope. OK so it may not be so easy to forget probably the greatest receiver in the history of the program, but if anyone could do it that guy would be McKay Jacobsen. Before leaving on his mission to Sapporo Japan, Jacobsen gave BYU fans a lot to be excited about during his freshman campaign with Senior John Beck at the helm. This year Jacobsen returns with another Senior quarterback running the show in Max Hall. This bodes well for the sophomore who will be looking to get back in the flow of the game after missing the last two seasons and then missing spring ball with a hamstring injury. Jacobsen won't need to be the receiver that Collie was because Hall will have plethora of receivers to throw to. This Wide receiver core will be more reminiscent of the 2006 team than any other I can remember. The difference between this unit and the one in 2006 is that this unit has more talent. I think that Mckay's main job at the beginning of the season will be to open up the short underneath routs with his speed. He will definitely be the deep threat that Collie was last year. He is also faster than Collie per his teammates, he just doesn't have Collie's route running ability. I believe that come December he will join Dennis Pitta with a 1000 yd receiving season and a 1st team All-MWC Selection. Lets just hope that come Sunday morning MJ won't be just like tonic and we suddenly wake up longing for Collie.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Day 3: R.J. Willing
R.J. Willing, 6-5 310 Sr.: Mr. R.J. Willing started his career at BYU in 2004 by starting 9 games at right tackle before leaving to serve a mission in Albuquerque, N.M. Willing won't be looking to start at right tackle though, he'll be looking to lock down the starting job at center. R.J. has never played center before this year so he will have to learn a new spot, but he still has a lot of game experience at just about every other position on the o-line. Willing is the lone Sr. on the offensive line and he will be looked to to provide leadership and experience. Earlier this week Coach Lance Reynolds commented on the radio that the offensive line was progressing well and that there are no real worries here. The rest of the offensive line will look to Willing to get a jump start and keep them pounding opponents all game long. Willing has taken his turn at BYU just waiting for his chance to start. I think he will be very aggressive this year and will take advantage of this. R.J. will provide the poise that this young offensive line needs and although he may start the year a bit sloppy because of over anxiousness, he'll end up carrying the unit along with Reynolds, when the pressure is on.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Day 2: Nick Alleto
The battle for the right tackle position will be a lot more contested than the other o-line positions, but the guy to beat is Nick Alletto. Braden Hansen is the guy right behind Alleto looking to garner some playing time and perhaps win a starting job. Both prospects are big dudes with a lot of upside and either one should be able to fill the spot more than adequately so I'll give a brief run down of each of them.
Nick Alletto, 6-6 310, Jr: Nick is a kid that has been just waiting his time to earn a spot on the offensive line. He is out of Ponderosa High in Parker Colorado. Alletto Redshirted in 2004 then served a mission in Argentina. He played in 2007 and 2008. Needless to say Nick is very mature and is poised to make an impact in 2009. I don't see a weak spot here and as I said with Reynolds, I don't think you will hear Alletto's name all that much in 2009. Do look for him to be a bit rusty coming out in the first game against Oklahoma and get a few holding calls. Once he gets back into the flow of the game he will settle down and be a solid performer for the Cougs this year.
Braden Hansen, 6-6 265 Red shirt FR: Hansen is just off the mission and looks to be pretty hungry for playing time. It will be very interesting to see if Alletto can hold him off for the starting Job. Hansen has a lot of potential and many look at him as one of the best O-line prospects BYU has, along with Matt Reynolds. Hansen has plenty of time to learn his position while watching Alletto from the side and getting some valuable back up minutes. He is only a freshman so I don't expect him to win the starting job this year but somewhere down the line he will be starting for the Cougars. He's a great prospect with a little mean streak that will definitely help out a young Cougar offensive line this year.
Nick Alletto, 6-6 310, Jr: Nick is a kid that has been just waiting his time to earn a spot on the offensive line. He is out of Ponderosa High in Parker Colorado. Alletto Redshirted in 2004 then served a mission in Argentina. He played in 2007 and 2008. Needless to say Nick is very mature and is poised to make an impact in 2009. I don't see a weak spot here and as I said with Reynolds, I don't think you will hear Alletto's name all that much in 2009. Do look for him to be a bit rusty coming out in the first game against Oklahoma and get a few holding calls. Once he gets back into the flow of the game he will settle down and be a solid performer for the Cougs this year.
Braden Hansen, 6-6 265 Red shirt FR: Hansen is just off the mission and looks to be pretty hungry for playing time. It will be very interesting to see if Alletto can hold him off for the starting Job. Hansen has a lot of potential and many look at him as one of the best O-line prospects BYU has, along with Matt Reynolds. Hansen has plenty of time to learn his position while watching Alletto from the side and getting some valuable back up minutes. He is only a freshman so I don't expect him to win the starting job this year but somewhere down the line he will be starting for the Cougars. He's a great prospect with a little mean streak that will definitely help out a young Cougar offensive line this year.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
22 days 22 Players
There are a few days this coming month when I won't actually have to await the college football season. So I did some math and I actually only have 22 days until BYU's opener vs. Oklahoma (For everyone else that still has 33 day, I'm sorry, not trying to rub it in or anything...) That means I have just enough time to do a profile and prediction on each of BYU's 22 Projected starters. So here goes nothing:
OT Matt Reynolds:
Reynolds, a SO, protected Halls blind side all last year and did a dang good job of it. Such a good job in fact that he was able to garner Freshman All-America honors. Matt will anchor an offensive line that returns only one starter from last year, himself. Reynolds was somehow left off the pre-season MWC first team, but that may be due more to BYU meda relation's inability to promote their players, or that the committee already had 3 Cougars on the 1st team offense and were a little wary of putting another on the team. Regardless, Reynolds is 1st team material and by years end I think he will prove that. Matt's most vocal fan should be Quarterback Max Hall. Reynolds will give Hall the time that he needs to pick apart offenses and not worry about losing his head. It's hard to project how well an offensive lineman will do but you won't hear Matt's name called very often this year, and when you're a lineman that's a good thing.
OT Matt Reynolds:
Reynolds, a SO, protected Halls blind side all last year and did a dang good job of it. Such a good job in fact that he was able to garner Freshman All-America honors. Matt will anchor an offensive line that returns only one starter from last year, himself. Reynolds was somehow left off the pre-season MWC first team, but that may be due more to BYU meda relation's inability to promote their players, or that the committee already had 3 Cougars on the 1st team offense and were a little wary of putting another on the team. Regardless, Reynolds is 1st team material and by years end I think he will prove that. Matt's most vocal fan should be Quarterback Max Hall. Reynolds will give Hall the time that he needs to pick apart offenses and not worry about losing his head. It's hard to project how well an offensive lineman will do but you won't hear Matt's name called very often this year, and when you're a lineman that's a good thing.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Summer Predictions
Pre-Fall Camp Update:
So fall camp is about to begin and I am drooling on my keyboard, because All-Sport passes go on sale August 3rd. So here are my predictions and somepredictions going into camp:
-Max Hall will be better in big games that he was last year. Ok so that's not that bold of a prediction because it would be nearly impossible for him to get worse. He will be better though, because of the loss of Austin Collie. That means that Hall won't be able to lock in on a single reciever like he did last year and this will force defenses to be more honest in defending BYU's passing attack.
-There will not be any drop off in performance from the offensive line. The O-line lost 4 starters this year but they will be replaced by more than adequate players with a lot of experience. Plus they return Freshman All-american Matt Reynolds.
-The defense returns quite a bit of experience from last years team but they will have to be a lot better if they expect to compete for a BCS bowl. This unit looks to be a bit more athletic than last years with the inclusion of some key JC transfers into the secondary. Expect a big impact from transfer CB Lee Aguire
-Deffensive End Jan Jorgenson said on a local radio station that he was concerned about the secondary. That's not a big surprise, frankly I would be a bit concerned for Jorgenson's mental health if he was not concerned about the secondary. The good news is that they can't get too much worse than last years unit, and as mentioned earlier, some key JC transfers should sure up the unit a lot.
-Possition changes:Vic So'oto is switching to defensive end to help fill the void left by Russell Tialavea and Ian Dulan who are leaving to serve church missions.I like the switch and I think So'oto will do a lot of damage in the backfield of BYU's opponents. Jordan Pendelton switched in the spring from a DB to Linebacker. Pendelton is a great athlete and will huge for the BYU defense this year, as soon as he learns the schemes.Scott Johnson has also switched from a CB to a Safety. Johnson is a very smart player who works hard and is a great leader. He will quarterback the defense from here and this should be a definite upgrade from Kellen Fowler last year.
Finally the Cougars are working a lot harder this summer than they were last year when they were prematurly annointed "BCS Busters" before they had actually earned it. If these guys keep their heads and continue to work they will be in the mix come November. They are working their tails off in a real quest for perfectionthis year. They're just not telling anyone this time.
So fall camp is about to begin and I am drooling on my keyboard, because All-Sport passes go on sale August 3rd. So here are my predictions and somepredictions going into camp:
-Max Hall will be better in big games that he was last year. Ok so that's not that bold of a prediction because it would be nearly impossible for him to get worse. He will be better though, because of the loss of Austin Collie. That means that Hall won't be able to lock in on a single reciever like he did last year and this will force defenses to be more honest in defending BYU's passing attack.
-There will not be any drop off in performance from the offensive line. The O-line lost 4 starters this year but they will be replaced by more than adequate players with a lot of experience. Plus they return Freshman All-american Matt Reynolds.
-The defense returns quite a bit of experience from last years team but they will have to be a lot better if they expect to compete for a BCS bowl. This unit looks to be a bit more athletic than last years with the inclusion of some key JC transfers into the secondary. Expect a big impact from transfer CB Lee Aguire
-Deffensive End Jan Jorgenson said on a local radio station that he was concerned about the secondary. That's not a big surprise, frankly I would be a bit concerned for Jorgenson's mental health if he was not concerned about the secondary. The good news is that they can't get too much worse than last years unit, and as mentioned earlier, some key JC transfers should sure up the unit a lot.
-Possition changes:Vic So'oto is switching to defensive end to help fill the void left by Russell Tialavea and Ian Dulan who are leaving to serve church missions.I like the switch and I think So'oto will do a lot of damage in the backfield of BYU's opponents. Jordan Pendelton switched in the spring from a DB to Linebacker. Pendelton is a great athlete and will huge for the BYU defense this year, as soon as he learns the schemes.Scott Johnson has also switched from a CB to a Safety. Johnson is a very smart player who works hard and is a great leader. He will quarterback the defense from here and this should be a definite upgrade from Kellen Fowler last year.
Finally the Cougars are working a lot harder this summer than they were last year when they were prematurly annointed "BCS Busters" before they had actually earned it. If these guys keep their heads and continue to work they will be in the mix come November. They are working their tails off in a real quest for perfectionthis year. They're just not telling anyone this time.
Cougar Addicts
Ok so football season is almost here. So GET READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!!! This will be a place to discuss our passion for the cougars and our hatred of those vile yewts!
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