Step it up Spring: Special Teams

We're just one day away from Head Coach Pete Mangurian's much-awaited spring prospectus and evaluations of the returning Lions for 2013.

Yes I am excited.

While we wait for that, let's look at the key returning special teams players and assess what they need to accomplish this spring:


Kickers

Rising senior placekicker Luke Eddy has probably the strongest leg I've ever seen on a Columbia kicker. His issue has been consistency, but he stepped it up in 2012 with a big improvement in that area.

Eddy was a perfect 7-7 in FG's between 20-29 yards and an impressive 10-11 in FG's between 20-39 yards. He was 3-8 between 40 and 49 yards, but honestly I can't think of one FG he missed that cost the Lions a game last season. He was a near-perfect 13-14 on PAT's.

If Eddy can get his numbers up to a more respectable 50% level on the longer kicks in 2013, he will go down as one of the best kickers in Columbia history.

On kickoffs, Eddy improved greatly last season. His average kickoff length was greater and he had six more touchbacks than he had in 2011, (albeit with the new kickoff position being the 35 yard line last season).

The other two returning kicking specialists are both primarily punters, with no FG or PAT attempts among them. So this job appears to be Eddy's for now and the spring should belong to him as he tries to show his improvement to the coaching staff.

Punters

Rising senior Paul Delaney is one of the toughest players to ever take the punting job at Columbia. And last year, he stepped it up by increasing his punting average by four yards and kicking much more consistently.

But that consistency still needs to improve a bit more and that's where Delaney needs to step it up this spring.

Fellow rising senior Tyler Feely didn't get a chance to kick at all in 2012, after punting eight times in 2011. The spring should give him a chance to prove he deserves another look.

Returners

Columbia's primary punt returner, rising junior Alec Fisher, stepped it up in 2012 by more than doubling his punt return average and generally fielding punts more sure-handedly. He still needs to work on that latter aspect of his game this spring. Fisher also was a decent kickoff returner last year.

Rising sophomore Brandon Blackshear also showed some good skills fielding a small number of punts last year but his name is suddenly off he roster.

The primary kickoff returner last season was rising sophomore Trevor Bell, and he was electric at that position. Fellow rising sophomore Travis Reim actually had the longest kick return of the season at 49 yards and he showed some serious skills in this area as well. The spring should see a very good competition among Bell, Reim and even Fisher for the primary kickoff returning slot.

Overall, the Lion special teams seem generally better than they have in about four or five years. And with no real graduation losses in this area, Columbia seems like it's in a position to use its special teams to make a winning difference in games this fall.

Step it Up Spring: The Quarterbacks

Take a good look now, because Brett Nottingham won't be a part of spring practice


Like it or not, quarterback is the most important position in football.

And Columbia faces the challenge of replacing Sean Brackett, one of the most talented and multi-faceted QB's the Lions have had in many years. 

But help is on the way.

The top story this off season was the transfer of Stanford QB Brett Nottingham to Columbia, which became public in late December.

Yet spring practice will not provide Columbia coaches with the opportunity to put Nottingham through his paces, as he will not be an officially enrolled full-time student until the fall.

That hasn't kept Nottingham from working in the weight room and doing everything that's allowed within the rules to prepare for the season.

But that means the two returning QB's on the roster will have the spring sessions to themselves as they try to boost their stock ahead of not only Nottingham's arrival but also the arrival of a very good looking prospect in incoming freshman Kelly Hilinski.

The two returnees are both rising sophomores, Trevor McDonagh and Hank Trumbull.

McDonagh is the only one who got playing time in 2012; with a decent 29 pass attempts for a freshman. I though he looked good at times in the Yale game, and was just one of the many lambs led to slaughter in the Harvard debacle. Generally, he looked like he had decent mechanics and a lot of potential. This spring will provide him all the opportunities he needs to shine. 

A lot of us looked at Trumbull's size and his highlight video last year and predicted he would switch to WR or maybe TE. We were wrong. But Trumbull did not get a chance to play QB at all last season and that means he's yet another of the total mysteries to the fans. 

With a bevvy of talent at wide receiver, and a top-flight RB, Columbia can really upgrade its 2013 fortunes if Nottingham is as good as many scouts believe he is. But if he can't meet expectations, the Lions can't afford to deal with an ineffective QB. 

In other words, a lot is at stake and in this case spring practice will not provide much in the way of answers to Columbia's most important questions.

Step it Up Spring: The Running Backs

Marcorus Garrett

We're just one week away from Head Coach Pete Mangurian's Spring Prospectus with his comments on the returning players. 

Kudos to the athletic department and Mangurian for doing this!

Obviously his evaluations will be more accurate, if more guarded, than what I'm writing about the players these last couple of weeks... that's because he's the coach. And the added information provided, (I believe this is the first ever "prospectus" ever provided before spring practice in CU history), is really appreciated.

But again, it's also important to be cautious. These messages from the coaches and the athletic department are still essentially monologues and they may or may not address the real issues facing the team in 2013.

I'm probably crazy to hope for this, but I would really like a detailed explanation for Mangurian's lighter lineup philosophy. I can tell you that EVERY OTHER COACH IN THE IVIES is just as curious. I've actually had a number of Ivy assistants ask ME about it, as if I could explain it to them. They think the strategy is crazy, for what that's worth.

Let me be clear one more time: I am a fan of counter-intuitive thinking, so I am REALLY hoping this less fat/more muscle plan works. I'm NOT pretending to understand it. What I do know is that the undersized offensive line was pushed around last year and our opponents saw it as a weakness before, during and after each game. 

And I continue to be concerned that perhaps our coaches, and other coaches in the Ivies, partly come to our conference in order to avoid even the slightest probing or challenging questions, (or any questions at all), from the outside news media. It's okay to EXPECT less media scrutiny here, but to demand it is another thing. And I fear that this insulation from regular outside questions left our last three head coaches badly unprepared for the rare times when they were challenged in any way. And I don't want to see any more erratic behavior at postgame press conferences, 

It's certainly okay to be unhappy after a loss, and an angry response to an inappropriate question is also okay within reason. But attacking an innocent questioner like Norries Wilson did to a Spectator reporter in 2006, or acting like you're from Mars, like Mangurian did after the Dartmouth game last year, is not acceptable. 

And as for shouting at fans outside the locker room, please. We're all adults... Hell, we're all Columbia HOMERS! If you can't take the questions we're asking about Lions football, I'm not sure diving on the West Side Highway is for you either. It's time for everyone to grow up, stop being so defensive, and act like a Mensch.

Okay, that's done. Now let's talk about the running backs.

Of course, the headliner in this group and for the entire team is rising senior Marcorus Garrett. Garrett put in the third best single season rushing totals in Columbia history with 957 yards. He also had a strong 4.6 yards per carry average. Does he need to step it up even more this spring? In reality, he probably doesn't and I wouldn't be surprised if the coaches look to protect him from injury by limiting his full contact practice time. But there are indeed some fundamental things Garrett needs to do better, including being more consistent with his backfield pass blocking, (although he is sometimes spectacular at that).

How important is Garrett to the Lions in 2013? Consider that all the other running backs and full backs COMBINED carried the ball a total of just 21 times in 2012. So he needs to stay healthy and strong at all costs.

But the cupboard is not completely bare after Garrett. I was impressed by rising sophomore Cameron Molina in limited duty and I think if he steps it up just a bit he'll have an inside track for the top backup position.

Rising senior Griffin Lowry remains a very tough player and rising junior Alec Fisher rising sophomore Trevor Bell can be a good options in a pinch even if they are primarily a special teams players.

At fullback, Columbia only has two returning players on the roster in rising junior Steven Silvio and rising sophomore Mark Cieslak. Silvio did well enough last year as a classic blocking back, but he'll need to step it up ahead of a crop of 2-3 decent potential FB's coming in with the freshmen class this summer. Cieslak is a mystery right now. 

All in all, it still just feels like Garrett and Molina are the two ball carriers to watch this spring. The #1 goal for Garrett will be to avoid injury, and the #1 goal for Molina will be to boost his stock a bit and be ready to be an even more effective backup for Garrett. 

TOMORROW: The Quarterbacks

Step it Up Spring: The Tight Ends

Andrew Kennedy's shadow still looms large over the CU program

One of the more difficult shocks to the Columbia football program in the last few years was the graduation of TE Andrew Kennedy '11.

Kennedy was just that good. He was a team leader, a great receiver, and speedy for a tight end. Sean Brackett's game seemed to suffer without him as did the entire Lion offense.

Then-sophomore Hamilton Garner did come along in that 2011 and at least became a favorite end zone target for Brackett, but so far Columbia's dire need for a real threat at TE is still unfilled.

Garner, one of CU's 218 co-captains for 2013, is a classic "step it up" candidate who could easily get back into All Ivy territory, (he was an All Ivy Honorable Mention in 2011), in his senior year. 

The only other returning player who got any real playing time at TE last season was rising sophomore Nick Durham. I got a chance to meet Durham last summer and he impressed me greatly. I wasn't the least surprised to see him on the field early in the season. He's not a speedster or tall enough to be a classic tight end, but he's a great H-back type and if he steps it up this spring his chances of getting even more playing time look good. 

The other three tight ends on the roster, rising senior Zack McKown, and rising juniors Garrett DeMuth and Roy Schwartz, seem like they're going to need to make a major impression this spring to break into the mix this fall. McKown will always have a special place in my heart for his great TD reception in the snow during the 2011 game vs. Yale, but otherwise he, DeMuth and Schwartz haven't made a big impact so far. 

 With two very good tight end prospects coming in, and Head Coach Pete Mangurian openly writing last year about how he wanted more out of this position, I expect Garner and Durham to be working extra hard this spring in hopes of not leaving anything to chance. 

TOMORROW: The Running Backs

Comments Re-Opened

Because of a massive wave of commercial spammers infesting our comments section, I am experimenting with new ways to keep the unwanted ads out of the blog. It's still a work in progress, but for now all comments should post immediately and I will try to delete any spam as soon as I can.