The spring game was a mixed bag. We have a wealth of talented young players on defense who should replace some of our returning veterans. In the secondary Hopkins and Amos, at linebacker Hollowell, Safranek and Cooper. Richenberger is an amazing physical specimen and can really run. We can't have 11 better players than this guy. The D-line was the best I have seen in two years. Kabongo, Brown, Johnson, Thomas and Smith all played better than what we saw last year. If Kabongo, Brown and Johnson aren't starters this fall, we aren't putting our best players on the field. Vedral was solid, and when we get our corners back we are going to have a pretty salty defense. This part of the team was better than I thought it would be.

DeAngelis will put a challenge to Josh Brown this fall. The return game was blah, but we had a lot of our return men injured. The offense was unimpressive. But with no No. 7 and the line injuries, it is hard to draw any conclusions. But the team I saw Saturday really lacks playmakers. Lord scrambled well but had the green shirt on. The I-backs did nothing in my mind to help or hurt themselves. We have a great player in Wistrom and a ton of talented TE's. The line was hard to read because of injuries. Thomas is a big strong guy who seemed more sure of himself on Saturday, and Hassebroek gives us a big WB who can block. Zajicek was hurt, but I hear great things about him. But beyond these guys we have very little depth. Lindstrom moved ahead of Chrisman in my mind. I think he does everything better and will be a solid backup for us.

Overall my impression was that we have a lot more raw talent on defense than offense. We will preview 2001 on a position-by-position basis over the next few weeks. Our young defenders give me a great deal of hope. And we reeeally need 7 and the O-line healthy. If Collins isn't the staring I-back, we need his speed at WB. We have to get all the speed we can on the field.

 
-- The Colonel