Re: #SWARM - The Reboot
Early Training Camp Headlines
Position battles galore
A lot of guys went hard this offseason, and there's a ton of competition for playing time on this team. Let's take a look at some of the position battles to keep an eye on.
HB1: Tristan Cox vs Trent Brantley. A 5'11, 215 pound do-it-all back who models his game after Le'Veon Bell, Cox was electric last year, averaging 6 yards a carry and leading the team in catches with 56, even though he played in just 10 games. He was a huge part of the Swarm winning their bowl game, scoring twice and averaging 8 yards a rush. He had a good offseason, and comes in looking to be the clear-cut #1 after being more of a rotational guy last year. Trent Brantley didn't have a great offseason. He didn't really address his weaknesses, and he looked lost at times, like he hadn't studied any film or even gone over the playbook all offseason. He's a physical back at 5'9, 227 and he brings a good blend of speed and power, but all he's good at doing is getting yards and falling forward. He doesn't block or catch the ball the way Cox can.
HB3: There's more competition at tailback. JUCO backs Tyndall Thomas and Martin Hicks, who walked on, will compete for the 3rd spot. Thomas has the edge, as he's a 5'8, 240 pound bruiser who brings a whole different style of running. Hicks is more of a one cut guy who's style is similar to Cox, but he's not the same caliber of athlete.
WR1/2: This is wide open. It really is. Calvin Foster enters as the presumed top target, but he hasn't been that great. Daniel Thompson was supposed to be a lot better than what he was last year, and ended up falling all the way to #4 on the depth chart by the end of the season. He had a good showing in the bowl game, but that was less him and more DBs playing the ball badly. Tony Brown had more yards and scores on less catches, and only had one drop to Thompson's 7 in 2015. Senior Mario Lane is a dark horse, he's looked solid after missing 2015 with a broken leg.
Tony Brown rises for a catch.
RG: Adam Van tore his ACL about a year ago, and it may have been a blessing in disguise. The 6'6 guard couldn't do anything for a while and actually lost a lot of weight, going down from 343 to as low as 276. He lost a lot of muscle mass too, but he gained that back when he was cleared to start rehabbing. He did a lot of conditioning and is in much better shape, and weighed in at 324. Him and fellow redshirt freshman James Henderson will battle for the job. Henderson is also 6'6, and also trimmed his weight, going from 336 last year to 322 now.
SS: Khari Anderson moved to SS last year and had a great year. Unfortunately, he had a mediocre offseason, and looks like he's about the same player he was last year. Ray Bentley, on the other hand, was motivated by sitting on the bench last year and looks like he could challenge for the spot. Bentley hits harder, but Anderson has experience and is better in coverage.
Sean Louis jumps a pass. Westlake State doesn't have another corner as good as he is.
Sean Louis has NFL hopes. Easy to see why he does; he's 6'2, 200 pounds and runs a sub-4.3 40. He's one of the better man to man corners in the nation, really. He can even play offense, and was instrumental in a key win over Buffalo, and the bowl win over Iowa. But, he doesn't really play in system very well and is seemingly a very selfish guy who doesn't really mesh with the team outside of a few guys. Louis also has a history of getting into it with coaches, leaving LSU and Nicholls State for that very reason.
He hasn't seemed to learn, as he's been tweeting passive aggressively all summer about Swarm recruits (His thoughts on the recruiting class, verbatim: "lol none of these guys even comparing to me, get us some blue chips") and has already gotten into it with defensive coordinator Mike Freeman after Louis berated his teammates on the first day of camp, calling DB Terrance Owens a "sorry a-- wannabe", and the 2 came to blows. After Freeman separated them, Louis didn't take kindly to whatever Freeman said, and audibly told him to "f--k off" before storming off the field. He would later come back to apologize and ran sprints as punishment, but you gotta wonder if his attitude will wear on the morale of this defensive unit.
Jacourey McKinley was supposed to be the "savior" at Westlake State, the man who would bring this young program to relevancy. His junior year tape went viral among MAC coaches, as the then 5'9 signal-caller danced around like Russell Wilson and sprayed passes around the field. A bitter recruiting battle saw him pick the Swarm over Kent State after he watched us beat the Golden Flashes 28-26 in 2014. Then De'Aaron Walker was discovered, won the starting job and now looks like he'll be the guy to make us relevant. On top of that, McKinley came in under his listed weight, and looked like the FBS game was too fast and physical for him. He bulked up to a still-slender 189 and improved his arm, but early on it looks like he still can't compare to Walker.
McKinley is reportedly upset about his playing time, and was spotted commenting on several of Kent State's Instagram photos. A transfer seems like a strong possibility, as McKinley would likely start as a senior in 2018.
Early Training Camp Headlines
Position battles galore
A lot of guys went hard this offseason, and there's a ton of competition for playing time on this team. Let's take a look at some of the position battles to keep an eye on.
HB1: Tristan Cox vs Trent Brantley. A 5'11, 215 pound do-it-all back who models his game after Le'Veon Bell, Cox was electric last year, averaging 6 yards a carry and leading the team in catches with 56, even though he played in just 10 games. He was a huge part of the Swarm winning their bowl game, scoring twice and averaging 8 yards a rush. He had a good offseason, and comes in looking to be the clear-cut #1 after being more of a rotational guy last year. Trent Brantley didn't have a great offseason. He didn't really address his weaknesses, and he looked lost at times, like he hadn't studied any film or even gone over the playbook all offseason. He's a physical back at 5'9, 227 and he brings a good blend of speed and power, but all he's good at doing is getting yards and falling forward. He doesn't block or catch the ball the way Cox can.
HB3: There's more competition at tailback. JUCO backs Tyndall Thomas and Martin Hicks, who walked on, will compete for the 3rd spot. Thomas has the edge, as he's a 5'8, 240 pound bruiser who brings a whole different style of running. Hicks is more of a one cut guy who's style is similar to Cox, but he's not the same caliber of athlete.
WR1/2: This is wide open. It really is. Calvin Foster enters as the presumed top target, but he hasn't been that great. Daniel Thompson was supposed to be a lot better than what he was last year, and ended up falling all the way to #4 on the depth chart by the end of the season. He had a good showing in the bowl game, but that was less him and more DBs playing the ball badly. Tony Brown had more yards and scores on less catches, and only had one drop to Thompson's 7 in 2015. Senior Mario Lane is a dark horse, he's looked solid after missing 2015 with a broken leg.
Tony Brown rises for a catch.
RG: Adam Van tore his ACL about a year ago, and it may have been a blessing in disguise. The 6'6 guard couldn't do anything for a while and actually lost a lot of weight, going down from 343 to as low as 276. He lost a lot of muscle mass too, but he gained that back when he was cleared to start rehabbing. He did a lot of conditioning and is in much better shape, and weighed in at 324. Him and fellow redshirt freshman James Henderson will battle for the job. Henderson is also 6'6, and also trimmed his weight, going from 336 last year to 322 now.
SS: Khari Anderson moved to SS last year and had a great year. Unfortunately, he had a mediocre offseason, and looks like he's about the same player he was last year. Ray Bentley, on the other hand, was motivated by sitting on the bench last year and looks like he could challenge for the spot. Bentley hits harder, but Anderson has experience and is better in coverage.
Sean Louis unhappy, butting heads with DC Freeman
Sean Louis jumps a pass. Westlake State doesn't have another corner as good as he is.
Sean Louis has NFL hopes. Easy to see why he does; he's 6'2, 200 pounds and runs a sub-4.3 40. He's one of the better man to man corners in the nation, really. He can even play offense, and was instrumental in a key win over Buffalo, and the bowl win over Iowa. But, he doesn't really play in system very well and is seemingly a very selfish guy who doesn't really mesh with the team outside of a few guys. Louis also has a history of getting into it with coaches, leaving LSU and Nicholls State for that very reason.
He hasn't seemed to learn, as he's been tweeting passive aggressively all summer about Swarm recruits (His thoughts on the recruiting class, verbatim: "lol none of these guys even comparing to me, get us some blue chips") and has already gotten into it with defensive coordinator Mike Freeman after Louis berated his teammates on the first day of camp, calling DB Terrance Owens a "sorry a-- wannabe", and the 2 came to blows. After Freeman separated them, Louis didn't take kindly to whatever Freeman said, and audibly told him to "f--k off" before storming off the field. He would later come back to apologize and ran sprints as punishment, but you gotta wonder if his attitude will wear on the morale of this defensive unit.
Disgruntled McKinley likely to transfer
Jacourey McKinley was supposed to be the "savior" at Westlake State, the man who would bring this young program to relevancy. His junior year tape went viral among MAC coaches, as the then 5'9 signal-caller danced around like Russell Wilson and sprayed passes around the field. A bitter recruiting battle saw him pick the Swarm over Kent State after he watched us beat the Golden Flashes 28-26 in 2014. Then De'Aaron Walker was discovered, won the starting job and now looks like he'll be the guy to make us relevant. On top of that, McKinley came in under his listed weight, and looked like the FBS game was too fast and physical for him. He bulked up to a still-slender 189 and improved his arm, but early on it looks like he still can't compare to Walker.
McKinley is reportedly upset about his playing time, and was spotted commenting on several of Kent State's Instagram photos. A transfer seems like a strong possibility, as McKinley would likely start as a senior in 2018.
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