Dear Friends,
I attended the practice today at Ford Field. Overall comments; the team seems quicker as well as faster with the running backs, defensive backs, and the wide receivers. In that vein, after talking to Coach Creighton briefly, he said Braylin Collins was looking good, and Kezio Snelling not that far behind, in receivers making an impression this spring. Both red-shirt freshmen.
Coach Creighton also mentioned in their scrimmage last Friday, that the defense only gave up an average of two yards per carry against the rush. He also qualified that by saying of course, that was against an offense that the defense was somewhat familiar, but still something that was looking better.
There were ten players that have been injured this spring, but nothing serious to keep players from being ready this fall.
He also confirmed that Kwanii Figueroa was no longer with the team, but could not say why.
Eastern had a nice registration table with mannequins donned with some uniforms with a slightly different look for this fall.
There were about 200 plus people in attendance, which included parents of players, high school players and their coaches, and alumni and friends.

Ken,

Thanks for the update. Two hundred in attendance is better than nothing and a great opportunity to reach out to metro Detroit players.

Ken, how did the QB's look? I am predicting a break out year for Roback......

Good to hear Ken. Get the fastest, most athletic, most aggressive guys on the field, regardless of age, especially on defense. This run D will be dramatically better with Neathery in charge. Hopefully the back 7 can pick up the 4-2-5 scheme quickly, because I think they will be challenged more often this year. Last year teams just ran on us at will, this year they are going to be forced to throw more.

http://www.detroitnews.com/picture-galle.../82364332/

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/.../82364476/

Article, too.

Dear Luckeyone,
Yes, I forgot to mention quarterbacks. Roback should be the starter. His passing was quick and hard. He looked confident, and threw the ball with good accuracy. Pensyl did not have quite the zip that Roback had, but looked confident in throwing the ball as well.
Nigel Kilby looked good as a tight end receiver. The tight ends had an interesting drill where they would be running with the ball, but the ball had a rope attached to it about seven or eight feet long and another player would be tugging on the ball to try and make them fumble.

(03-29-2016 08:04 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Luckeyone,
Yes, I forgot to mention quarterbacks. Roback should be the starter. His passing was quick and hard. He looked confident, and threw the ball with good accuracy. Pensyl did not have quite the zip that Roback had, but looked confident in throwing the ball as well.
Nigel Kilby looked good as a tight end receiver. The tight ends had an interesting drill where they would be running with the ball, but the ball had a rope attached to it about seven or eight feet long and another player would be tugging on the ball to try and make them fumble.

Thanks Ken, looks like there were decent showing of potential recruits at the practice, hopefully this becomes an annual thing. Curious whether Porter played or was one of the 10 injured players.

(03-29-2016 09:00 AM)emu79 Wrote:  

(03-29-2016 08:04 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Luckeyone,
Yes, I forgot to mention quarterbacks. Roback should be the starter. His passing was quick and hard. He looked confident, and threw the ball with good accuracy. Pensyl did not have quite the zip that Roback had, but looked confident in throwing the ball as well.
Nigel Kilby looked good as a tight end receiver. The tight ends had an interesting drill where they would be running with the ball, but the ball had a rope attached to it about seven or eight feet long and another player would be tugging on the ball to try and make them fumble.

Thanks Ken, looks like there were decent showing of potential recruits at the practice, hopefully this becomes an annual thing. Curious whether Porter played or was one of the 10 injured players.

He is shown at QB in some of the pictures from the Detroit News

(03-29-2016 08:04 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Luckeyone,
Yes, I forgot to mention quarterbacks. Roback should be the starter. His passing was quick and hard. He looked confident, and threw the ball with good accuracy. Pensyl did not have quite the zip that Roback had, but looked confident in throwing the ball as well.
Nigel Kilby looked good as a tight end receiver. The tight ends had an interesting drill where they would be running with the ball, but the ball had a rope attached to it about seven or eight feet long and another player would be tugging on the ball to try and make them fumble.

Thx Ken.

I believe the fate of Creighton and EMU is in the hands of Roback. We must have him play well and mature as a decision maker this season. If our O line and receiver depth improve plus the defense doesn't put us into too many "have to score" scenarios, I expect Roback to be the most improved player in the MAC bar none. Too many times our O line had him scrambling for his life, or he's throwing to receivers who couldn't create space or was placed into "must make a play" due to the deficit our defense put us in.

I played QB in highschool and when I watch Roback, I believe he is the most physically gifted QB in the MAC. He must be placed in a position to be successful on the field and he must be a good decision maker this season. If those two things happen, EMU wins five games!

Go EMU!

(03-29-2016 12:26 PM)Luckeyone Wrote:  

(03-29-2016 08:04 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Luckeyone,
Yes, I forgot to mention quarterbacks. Roback should be the starter. His passing was quick and hard. He looked confident, and threw the ball with good accuracy. Pensyl did not have quite the zip that Roback had, but looked confident in throwing the ball as well.
Nigel Kilby looked good as a tight end receiver. The tight ends had an interesting drill where they would be running with the ball, but the ball had a rope attached to it about seven or eight feet long and another player would be tugging on the ball to try and make them fumble.

Thx Ken.

I believe the fate of Creighton and EMU is in the hands of Roback. We must have him play well and mature as a decision maker this season. If our O line and receiver depth improve plus the defense doesn't put us into too many "have to score" scenarios, I expect Roback to be the most improved player in the MAC bar none. Too many times our O line had him scrambling for his life, or he's throwing to receivers who couldn't create space or was placed into "must make a play" due to the deficit our defense put us in.

I played QB in highschool and when I watch Roback, I believe he is the most physically gifted QB in the MAC. He must be placed in a position to be successful on the field and he must be a good decision maker this season. If those two things happen, EMU wins five games!

Go EMU!

Anyone else want a shot of whatever Lucky is drinking?

(03-29-2016 12:36 PM)emu79 Wrote:  

(03-29-2016 12:26 PM)Luckeyone Wrote:  

(03-29-2016 08:04 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Luckeyone,
Yes, I forgot to mention quarterbacks. Roback should be the starter. His passing was quick and hard. He looked confident, and threw the ball with good accuracy. Pensyl did not have quite the zip that Roback had, but looked confident in throwing the ball as well.
Nigel Kilby looked good as a tight end receiver. The tight ends had an interesting drill where they would be running with the ball, but the ball had a rope attached to it about seven or eight feet long and another player would be tugging on the ball to try and make them fumble.

Thx Ken.

I believe the fate of Creighton and EMU is in the hands of Roback. We must have him play well and mature as a decision maker this season. If our O line and receiver depth improve plus the defense doesn't put us into too many "have to score" scenarios, I expect Roback to be the most improved player in the MAC bar none. Too many times our O line had him scrambling for his life, or he's throwing to receivers who couldn't create space or was placed into "must make a play" due to the deficit our defense put us in.

I played QB in highschool and when I watch Roback, I believe he is the most physically gifted QB in the MAC. He must be placed in a position to be successful on the field and he must be a good decision maker this season. If those two things happen, EMU wins five games!

Go EMU!

Anyone else want a shot of whatever Lucky is drinking?

All I'll say, if Roback is as good as Lucky predicts (while reducing his turnovers by 75%), we'll win 6 games.

After the first 4 games, we should have a very good idea if he has really improved, or we're going to see a repeat of 2015. If it looks anything like 2015, and he's got 4-6 turnovers in the first 4 games, let's give the Juco a shot.

Crossing my fingers that Lucky is right!

(03-29-2016 02:06 PM)EagleTough Wrote:  

(03-29-2016 12:36 PM)emu79 Wrote:  

(03-29-2016 12:26 PM)Luckeyone Wrote:  

(03-29-2016 08:04 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Luckeyone,
Yes, I forgot to mention quarterbacks. Roback should be the starter. His passing was quick and hard. He looked confident, and threw the ball with good accuracy. Pensyl did not have quite the zip that Roback had, but looked confident in throwing the ball as well.
Nigel Kilby looked good as a tight end receiver. The tight ends had an interesting drill where they would be running with the ball, but the ball had a rope attached to it about seven or eight feet long and another player would be tugging on the ball to try and make them fumble.

Thx Ken.

I believe the fate of Creighton and EMU is in the hands of Roback. We must have him play well and mature as a decision maker this season. If our O line and receiver depth improve plus the defense doesn't put us into too many "have to score" scenarios, I expect Roback to be the most improved player in the MAC bar none. Too many times our O line had him scrambling for his life, or he's throwing to receivers who couldn't create space or was placed into "must make a play" due to the deficit our defense put us in.

I played QB in highschool and when I watch Roback, I believe he is the most physically gifted QB in the MAC. He must be placed in a position to be successful on the field and he must be a good decision maker this season. If those two things happen, EMU wins five games!

Go EMU!

Anyone else want a shot of whatever Lucky is drinking?

All I'll say, if Roback is as good as Lucky predicts (while reducing his turnovers by 75%), we'll win 6 games.

After the first 4 games, we should have a very good idea if he has really improved, or we're going to see a repeat of 2015. If it looks anything like 2015, and he's got 4-6 turnovers in the first 4 games, let's give the Juco a shot.

Crossing my fingers that Lucky is right!

FWIW, Athlon's rankings of Quarterbacks heading into Spring. They have Roback at #92.

http://athlonsports.com/college-football...kings-2016

Lukeyone you are right on !!!
Defense needs to help the offense out this year and take some of the pressure off the offense. I hope we can stop the run this year.
O-line needs to get the running game going. ( Best friend for a QB ) also protect Roback so he's not running for his life.
Receivers need to create space and get open. ( We had too many drops last year and no one getting open.)
As we all know: No running game, No protection for the QB, Receivers not getting open, ALL lead to QB bad decisions !!!!!
I've been told Roback is looking good in spring ball and is really taking on the leadership role!! He's been throwing the ball away in practice, which has lead to Coach Creightons High-Fives.
We have a tough schedule, especially when we get into Mac play. If the offense and defense can come together, that should lead to 6 wins (hopefully).

Well, the good news is 4 of our opponents have QB's ranked worse!

Bad news, CMU & WMU QB's are #22 & 21.

In reality this type of ranking is like a monkey throwing darts. They've got O'Korn at Michigan ranked #43 based on what? He has never played a down in the Big 10, and was benched at Houston, which led to his transfer.

(03-29-2016 05:13 PM)EagleTough Wrote:  Well, the good news is 4 of our opponents have QB's ranked worse!

Bad news, CMU & WMU QB's are #22 & 21.

In reality this type of ranking is like a monkey throwing darts. They've got O'Korn at Michigan ranked #43 based on what? He has never played a down in the Big 10, and was benched at Houston, which led to his transfer.

Athlons is the king of bad magazines.