Camp is open!

[jpfalcon09]

Student-athletes reported back to campus today for numerous sports and officially football camp opens tomorrow morning! It's only 29 days until the official start of the season and 31 days until BG kicks off in Nashville!

What are some of the biggest questions everyone has regarding this year's team?

[kdog27]

My biggest concern is will Johnson look like the player he was the second half of 2013 and is he 100%?

[BGSU33]

My biggest concern is will Johnson look like the player he was the second half of 2013 and is he 100%?

I agree. We have heard Babers stress over and over and over how it takes two years to get the offense down by games 4-6 of the following year. Well, Johnson missed essentially all of last season so he's still obviously behind the curve. I have confidence he'll pick it up but being that he hasn't played in a year and has less than one game of experience under his belt in the system, this is a concern.

That said, my biggest concern is on defense. Essentially, the entire defense. I feel confident in our interior DL but there are huge question marks at LB and DE, plus we also have a new DC. The lack of experienced depth at CB is also a concern.

[Falconfreak90]

Biggest concern for me is LB and the secondary. We MUST get good pass rush by the boys up front. From all the research I've done on Coach Ward, I think we will see a better D this year. How much better is the question....

ST's are very solid and the O should light it up. Matty J is gonna have a chip on his shoulder and returning every starter makes it better.

[Falcon137]

I'm not worried about Johnson's ability to grip the offense, he's gone through 2 full springs and come September 5th will have had 2 full summers running it. Not to mention the year he had watching film, seeing how defenses reacted to certain plays, certain formations while he sat. I am really, really excited for this offense. I wouldn't be surprised to see this offense break all sort of MAC and BG records.

I think watching this defense grow is going to be fun. I fully expect shootout's the first 3 weeks and that's ok, there going to be some growing pains.

Things I'm looking at on defense -

I think you will see Colvin moved around a ton on the defensive line. Him staying healthy is just as critical as Johnson, IMO.

Defensive end is a bigger question mark than the DBs. Malik Brown was used sparingly last year and Baird, was used mainly as a pass rush specialist and only had 1 sack. After those 2 you have, Bush and ? I think Horstman is a freshman who could see PT this year.

Excited to see how much the linebackers progress under Ward. My guess at starters is Banks, Locke, and Sanford.

Stephens and Hunter is a good duo at CB. Hopefully Hardy is as good as we all hope.

[jpfalcon09]

I'll be curious to see who steps up on defense. With the attrition from graduation and numbskullery in the offseason, many younger guys are going to get a chance to play. I'm excited to see what type of defense Ward implements, I've heard from some recruits that it'll be an NFL-type scheme with more single coverage and less zone than we saw last year.

On offense, I think if MJ can stay healthy we can expect to put up a ton of points in league play and hopefully enough to hang in OOC games and steal a couple. With Lewis, Rhodes, Dieter, Moore, Gallon and Burbrink defenses are going to have their hands full. I also hope we see Coppet used more in the offense, he seems like he has better home run potential than Greene does.

I'm glad we can finally start talking about the team and season, hopefully the media guide is out soon with the depth chart.

[Falcon137]

I'm excited to see what type of defense Ward implements, I've heard from some recruits that it'll be an NFL-type scheme with more single coverage and less zone than we saw last year.

Interesting. That makes the 3rd corner very important.

[FalconKid]

Just like everyone else says, the biggest concern of mine is the defense. Not sure they will stop anyone esp in the OOC games.

[kdog27]

The defense was obvious so I skipped that

[BGSU33]

Excited to see how much the linebackers progress under Ward. My guess at starters is Banks, Locke, and Sanford.

Valdez was making some plays in the spring game at LB. I wouldn't be surprised to see him at one of the LB spots. He certainly looks way more the part of a LB and not a QB anymore. The playing time is there for someone with the HUGE losses of Martin and Lynch who both landed in NFL camps. One would guess the competition there is good since it's arguably the biggest area of concern on the team.

[jpfalcon09]

I was told today that the media guide and depth chart won't be available yet for a couple more weeks so we'll have to merely speculate on who is starting where or pay attention to any media reports up until that point.

[jpfalcon09]

Media day is tomorrow by the way, not sure if a new roster will be posted including some players who may have enrolled late. I'm sure we'll find out in due time.

[BGSU33]

Preseason notes (with projected depth chart) is here: http://www.bgsufalcons.com/documents/20 ... df?id=5554" target="_blank

[kdog27]

Rhodes isn't on the 2 deep.

[BGSU33]

Rhodes isn't on the 2 deep.

I noticed that too, but keep in mind it says "projected" depth chart and as far as I know, he was out for spring. He might also be serving a suspension stemming back to the incident he was part of this summer. Who knows? But if he's able to go in camp and is as good as advertised, I'm sure he'll be on it come Week One.