Spring practice preview

Nice to be back here on the blog. I missed you guys. With the scholastic hoops season coming to a close I hope to ramp this up for the spring.



Just got off the pre-spring practice teleconference with Randy Edsall and he already seems fired up for spring practice.


He's going to have to wait a week to get rolling, but after the fun of spring break the players will get down to business kicking off the spring next Tuesday.

Here is the injury update and some insights on the positions.


On the injury front here are the players out for the spring:

DE Jesse Joseph (shoulder)

DE Greg Lloyd (knee)

CB Blidi Wreh (shoulder)

OT Mike Ryan (shoulder)

OT Jimmy Bennett (knee)

OT Robbie Frey (head)



That's an important list that includes five starters and a special teams maven in Robbie Frey.  The only one who is iffy for the summer is Greg Lloyd. He is behind schedule and with the move from MLB to DE, if he isn't ready 100 percent to go August 1st look for Lloyd to redshirt a season and play his 5th year in 2011.


Mike Ryan and Jimmy Bennett are big losses because the pair figures to be the starting offensive tackles. Bennett missed all of last year with a severe torn knee. He is expected to be fully healed June 1st. Ryan should be ready sometime in April. Neither will have any contact this spring.

As far as position battles, there isn't one a quarterback. Randy Edsall has several times over the winter hinted that Zach Frazer is the No. 1 QB and it is indeed his "job to lose."


Edsall likes that UConn is on a 4 game winning streak, thought Frazer managed the game well and didn't take any sacks.


Here's Edsall on Frazer:


"When he took over at end of Rutgers game and went into Cincinnati and what he did there. He’s on a 4 game winning streak.He didn’t make the big mistakes.He made some big throws."


"Times, he threw the ball away. He doesn’t take that many sacks.I felt he deserves to be the no. 1 guy based on the end of the season and how he ended up. He stayed within himself and tried to take what the  defenese game him."


Cody Endres is a bonafide No. 2 going in. Edsall said that the QB situation is the best it's been at UConn since he has gotten here.  Gone are the days that UConn fans will cringe at the thought of throwing a pass (and you know you did). I don't think that era is coming back, not for a long time anyway.


Two QBs that are proven is a nice way to go into the spring and then summer. One injury won't destroy the season.

On defense about the only sure things are Scott Lutrus and Lawrence Wilson. Even Kendell Reyes and Twyon Martin are going to get pushed by a host of defensive tackles. Defensive end? Plenty there with the return of Marcus Campbell and Trevardo Williams. That is an explosive pass rush. We'll see if they can play the run. Campbell and Williams are both former sprint stars.


As far as the rest of the roster, the biggest question marks are in the secondary at safety. Jerome Junior played well at strong safety the end of the year, but he needs to get better. It's open season at free safety.

There is also opening at No. 2 running back. There are a lot of carries available for the first time in a several years.

This spring is going to be about the defense for a change. I like the way the offense is looking even with the loss of Marcus Easley and Andre Dixon. 


That's about it for now, see you all soon.