YSU - Spring football

[Paladin1aa]

Youngstown State opened spring drills this week. They will be looking for a new QB and most of the D, who were lost thru graduation and the Portal. Good news is their RB King returns for a final season, most of the OL is back, they are deep at WRs and have solid kickers returning. Y S U just added their last coaching opening with a coach from Colgate.

While making the playoffs last year, they have a lot of work to do to return. While YSU talent remains better than 90% of FCS, the challenge remains to finish in the upper half of the MVFC. Standards are high. It’s early to see what the rest of MVFC looks like for next year, but they must solve their QB opening and rebuild a D in order to compete in the upper MVFC half.

[Paladin1aa]

Not much to write home about so far. As for the QBs, here’s my assessment so far-

heir apparent is Brungard, 6’ , 210, Soph. Best athlete, best runner, weak arm unless they hold him to short and underneath. He will scare no one throwing long. With him , they will depend on a strong run game from King and use Brungard to manage a game.

my second pick is Schondelmyer, 6’2 , 195, RFR. Still think he is another year away in development. Athletic but still raw. Not a strong runner but potentially a better arm.

next is Blanc, 6’5 , 225, Soph. Reminds me of D-II QBs from Slippery Rock or Edinboro. Weak runner, not as athletic and remains a project as a passer.

finally I’ll slot Shannon here. 6’3, 210, Soph. Two years removed from playing and a former baseball scholly player. Strong runner in H.S. And limited passer. Needs a lot of work to catch up.

Still possible they bring in another transfer. Spring ball will have some bailing on their current teams if not winning a starting job. The portal opens again in April.

[Paladin1aa]

Red-White game will be April 13 , 11 a.m. They have a lot of work to do replacing the D. Show casing skills reveals they have some athletes but the question will be do they have enough.

QB race already has one change - I’m moving Shannon up one spot and dropping Blanc below him. Shannon shows strong running skills and it appears YSU will use read option and run/pass option to complement their RB game with King. Lots of horizontal throws and vertical is not deep. Popgun O in the works.

[BeamMeUp]

Anyone have any updates to report? The most recent Instagram post does make it seem like Brungard and Shannon are getting a higher # of reps at the QB position. Lots of question marks on defense as well.

[Paladin1aa]

Beam-

I have Brungard and Shannon as #1 and #2 on my card. Schondelmyer and Blanc #3 &#4. Reasons are simple . Both fit a run dominate game by a QB with limited short passes. Appears that is this Falls O. The other QBs are non runners. King dominates but lot of average backup RBs.

Waiting for the Spring game, but the D , I’m afraid, is in trouble. This is a year where it depends on who shows up for Fall camp. I still think there are plans for more transfers coming in. I’m looking at 5-7 or 6-6 without more help that they still need.

[Paladin1aa]

Spring game is Saturday. A few predictions - the O will dominate over the D. QBs are Brungard and Shannon featuring lots of running and short passes. King dominates at RB with a host of backups and there are lots of them. Good but not great. Stacked at WR. Thin at TE. Most of OL returns.

D lacks LBs. We should have a capable DL but little depth there. Secondary is a problem where 3 year starter Jakubec entered the portal and special teamers move up to start. Kickinggame looks very solid. Holdover problem is if they can’t get a pass rush on ,the DBs will get picked a part. Stopping the run game will not be as good as last year. Overall the D looks to be in trouble. Jury is out on DC Haneline.

Portal opens again for signings on April 16. YSU has to be looking for QB, LBs, DL , TE.

O should win the Spring game. If O scores heavy, it will be a long season. Close game makes us competitive but playoffs are questionable.

[Paladin1aa]

White 21
Red 7

Bright sunny day but chilly and blustery wind for Red-White game today. Guins looked good and will be competitive. The QB problem - my ranking now is Brungard, Schondelmyer, Blanc and Shannon. Brungard and Shannon both runners, limited passers. Schondelmyer and Blanc both passers, limited runners. Schondelmyer is most accurate , throws in a tight window, made the most progress. Shannon did not look very good at anything.

OL is solid. We are very big. The Pitt game should be interesting. YSU stomped them a few years back with a similar big team. We are stacked at WRs. TE are primarily blockers. Kicking game is a strength. The RBs are solid. King should tear up and new Cincinnati transfer RB from Akron Manchester looked very good. We are deep here with Whatley and Harris available.

Rumor mill is we are adding a DB transfer ( who played at Warren Harding)from UNLV. The D didn’t look bad. The DL should be big and o.k. I like Diggs at DE.The transfer LB from Iowa St. ( who played at Wadsworth) played well . So did backup LB from last year , Wells,( played at New Castle, Pa. ) did too. DBs showed better cover skills. All in all, replacing 10 starters from last year looks doable.

Coaches got a good look at our talent and they should be happy. Everyone is healthy. They should be looking for more transfers in the portal starting April 16 which will be open for a month. Schedule shows Nova, Valpo, Duquesne and Pitt in first 4 games to get ready for MVFC.

They are better than I thought they would be at this point. Good sign.

[The Yo Show]

Rumor mill confirmed, DB from UNLV has committed and posted it on X.

https://twitter.com/isaiah_hackett/status/1778558279251034234

[The Yo Show]

White 21
Red 7

Bright sunny day but chilly and blustery wind for Red-White game today. Guins looked good and will be competitive. The QB problem - my ranking now is Brungard, Schondelmyer, Blanc and Shannon. Brungard and Shannon both runners, limited passers. Schondelmyer and Blanc both passers, limited runners. Schondelmyer is most accurate , throws in a tight window, made the most progress. Shannon did not look very good at anything.

OL is solid. We are very big. The Pitt game should be interesting. YSU stomped them a few years back with a similar big team. We are stacked at WRs. TE are primarily blockers. Kicking game is a strength. The RBs are solid. King should tear up and new Cincinnati transfer RB from Akron Manchester looked very good. We are deep here with Whatley and Harris available.

Rumor mill is we are adding a DB transfer ( who played at Warren Harding)from UNLV. The D didn’t look bad. The DL should be big and o.k. I like Diggs at DE.The transfer LB from Iowa St. ( who played at Wadsworth) played well . So did backup LB from last year , Wells,( played at New Castle, Pa. ) did too. DBs showed better cover skills. All in all, replacing 10 starters from last year looks doable.

Coaches got a good look at our talent and they should be happy. Everyone is healthy. They should be looking for more transfers in the portal starting April 16 which will be open for a month. Schedule shows Nova, Valpo, Duquesne and Pitt in first 4 games to get ready for MVFC.

They are better than I thought they would be at this point. Good sign.

So you are more optimistic now then? Think they are further along than you did before? Interested in hearing what changed in your assessment?

Also I think the Pitt game is going to be interesting as well. Narduzzi has been having a hard time there and lost the locker room last year, whereas I tend to view the team culture that Philips has been building as a positive change for YSU and a winning culture.

[BeamMeUp]

Rumor mill confirmed, DB from UNLV has committed and posted it on X.

https://twitter.com/isaiah_hackett/status/1778558279251034234

One more DB transfer that we picked up this week out of Tiffin. Seems like we picked up a few guys from Tiffin this off-season.
https://x.com/djharris024/status/1778849855890141596?s=61

[Paladin1aa]

Not much to write home about so far. As for the QBs, here’s my assessment so far-

heir apparent is Brungard, 6’ , 210, Soph. Best athlete, best runner, weak arm unless they hold him to short and underneath. He will scare no one throwing long. With him , they will depend on a strong run game from King and use Brungard to manage a game.

my second pick is Schondelmyer, 6’2 , 195, RFR. Still think he is another year away in development. Athletic but still raw. Not a strong runner but potentially a better arm.

next is Blanc, 6’5 , 225, Soph. Reminds me of D-II QBs from Slippery Rock or Edinboro. Weak runner, not as athletic and remains a project as a passer.

finally I’ll slot Shannon here. 6’3, 210, Soph. Two years removed from playing and a former baseball scholly player. Strong runner in H.S. And limited passer. Needs a lot of work to catch up.

Still possible they bring in another transfer. Spring ball will have some bailing on their current teams if not winning a starting job. The portal opens again in April.

Yo - I wrote this almost a month ago. To answer you, the difference is between drills vs playing in game conditions ( Red- White game). Drills will tell you what a player can do but a game reveals what he actually does.

Have given this some thought - if they want a real QB this Fall, it should be Schondelmyer. Best field vision, best passer, most accurate, throws ball into a narrow window only WRs can get and has caught up with the system he knew nothing about as a true Frosh. Brungard isn’t a real QB. Not a passer, not accurate but good runner. Might use him as a Wildcat QB but not a starter. If you are going to have a strong run game and need a good pass O to keep a D honest, Schondelmyer is your best option. Unfortunately, YSU looks like they value a running QB at the expense of the pass game. They even tried to shoehorn Shannon into a backup role. He ain’t ready. #4 at best. Schondelmyer also developed the most this Spring passing up Brungard.

Spring also saw development of a number of players, especially on D. If the portal brings in more, it might be very interesting in the Fall. Diggs is a monster DE at 6’6, 265. Wells show a lot of promise at LB. They have made some position switches that are doing well.. Major hits today. They really laid the lumber down. DBs covered well. None of that was expected. So things are looking much better.

[BeamMeUp]

Some overall thoughts...

- Coming in with the mass exodus of defensive players, many of which ended up jumping to P5 level of FBS, as well as a new defensive coordinator, the expectation was the defense would somehow look worse than last year, which would be quite the feat considering our defense was not good last year. Overall I must say I was pleasantly surprised with how our defense looked. Not too many big plays given up and they played nice coverage on the receivers of both teams which is a breath of fresh air when compared to last year. The QB's, which I will talk about in a minute, really struggled to find our WR's, largely due to the coverage and scheme. So that is certainly encouraging. Looks like we will add to the depth in the secondary with a couple additional transfers coming in, one from UNLV and one from Tiffin.

- Offensively we certainly lacked a spark, although this was a spring game after-all. The #1/#2 RB duo of King and Wright (Cincy Transfer) should get a majority of the reps and should be quite strong. I believe coach said on the post-game none of the backs that played like Whatley and Harris solidified that #3 spot at the moment. The RB's with the strong OL returning will be the strength of our offense. However, we seem to have some issues at the QB position, although I like to remind myself that this was a scrimmage. Nonetheless the #1/#2 guys coming in (Brungard and Shannon) clearly like to run the ball first before passing. Neither wowed me throwing the ball. Shannon really struggled connecting on any routes, although he is 2-years removed from playing any football so I will cut him a bit of slack for now. He will need to work hard in the coming months with the receivers to give him a shot at significant PT this year. I could certainly see packages where he could be used with his legs as he has a big frame and took quite a few hits. The #3/#4 guys ended up looking better throwing the ball compared to Brungard and Shannon. I am not sure how I would stack this part of the team up depth chart wise, but to me leaving this spring this has moved to the top spot of my concern list. We learned with Crenshaw a few years back that you need to be able to throw in this league to win. If we lack that passing threat, the defenses in this league will be able to shut our offense down this year. Hopefully Coach Tomczak can work with these four guys this summer!

- Will be curious how the staff looks to utilize the remaining portal spots they may be able to fill. Perhaps we should view things with a glass half full perspective heading into upcoming campaign.

BEAM

[Paladin1aa]

Broc Lowry (Canfield QB) from Indiana University. Is now in the portal. Could get interesting, lol

[Paladin1aa]

Starting S Tyjon Jones and Starting DT Chris Fitzgerald are now in the portal. That’s one dozen players in the portal since last season.

[BeamMeUp]

Starting S Tyjon Jones and Starting DT Chris Fitzgerald are now in the portal. That’s one dozen players in the portal since last season.
Fitzgerald hit the portal about a month ago so he did not play in the Spring Game fwiw.

[The Yo Show]

Murray State has 42 players in the transfer portal... and outside of SDSU and NDSU being closer to 10, (and the Murray State outlier), YSU's portal losses looks similar to most other Valley schools at least...

[ysubigred]

Yup same idiots bitching about the portal exits are the same dumb asses bitching how bad the defense was.. Get used to it players are getting $ to play college sports now better opportunity they're gone.

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[ysubigred]

YSU picks up an O line guy Ludwig from Toledo, all Ohio selection, and 4 years of eligibility left.

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[Paladin1aa]

Mason Ludwig is 6’5, 285 from East Liverpool, a D-IV playing a weak schedule. He had 10 offers from the MAC plus Kentucky and Iowa St. Went to Toledo where he was redshirted. Was buried on the depth chart. Don’t think the Spring went well for him.

Still looking for a QB.

[ysubigred]

Mason Ludwig is 6’5, 285 from East Liverpool, a D-IV playing a weak schedule. He had 10 offers from the MAC plus Kentucky and Iowa St. Went to Toledo where he was redshirted. Was buried on the depth chart. Don’t think the Spring went well for him.

Still looking for a QB.Yeah.. you can say the same **** for most of these loser transfers.. buried on a depth chart or got their little feelings hurt.

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[Paladin1aa]

YSU starting Slot WR C. J. Charleston hit the portal and was immediately committed to Michigan.

[Paladin1aa]

Deamontae Diggs , 6’6, 260 , who rotated on last years DL and was projected to start at DE entered the portal and immediately committed to Cal.

[Paladin1aa]

YSU starting S Tyjon Jones hits the portal and commits to UAB.

[Paladin1aa]

Starting YSU CB Troy Jacubec committed to UAB.

[Paladin1aa]

YSU signs local QB Jack Ericsson from Ursuline. Gotta love the local politics. YSU desperate for a QB. No help here.

[BeamMeUp]

YSU signs local QB Jack Ericsson from Ursuline. Gotta love the local politics. YSU desperate for a QB. No help here.
Walk On.

Still room for another scholarship QB if they can find one to bolster that position.

[Paladin1aa]

Here is something you don’t see everyday - Starting LB Alex Howard hit the portal and committed to Texas A&M months ago. He recently hit the portal again and committed to Duke.

Musical chairs.

[Paladin1aa]

Starting DT Chris Fitzgerald hit the portal and committed to Eastern Michigan.

24/7 shows that after Fitzgerald committed to EMU, YSU offered him afterwards in the portal.

Stay tuned. If Howard can decommited to Texas A&M then commit to Duke, anything is possible.

LOL

[BeamMeUp]

YSU lands JUCO DB Dayveon Bates from the portal: https://n.rivals.com/content/athletes/dayveon-bates-282849?view=pv

YSU also lands Toledo WR Dalen Stovall from the portal: https://247sports.com/player/dalen-stovall-46094688/

[ysubigred]

I'm at a point in time WGAF about college football anymore. This transfer, paying players etc.. there is nothing to root for anymore because you can't count on a team with continuity. Just like the pro's more than likely the most $$ wins.

xtwocentsx

[BeamMeUp]

From Elon Musk’s Twitter:

”It appears that YSU has made five additions to their 2024 roster through the transfer portal. DB Kerion Martin (Marshall), DB DJ Harris (Tiffin), DB Jeremiah Robinson (Southern Miss), DL Ajayi Ajaga (Notre Dame, OH), and DL Joe Brown (Northern Colorado)”

[ysubigred]

The defense will be interesting. Huge shake up. The ass clowns that complained about how bad they were last year are also the dickheads complaining about all the transfers out. Can't have it both ways. YSU fans will bitch no matter what.

I'm pretty excited about this change.. last several years of YSU D has been crap at best, especially in pass defense.

More concerned about replacing Mitch.

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[Paladin1aa]

The transfers don’t add much. And, we have a poor QB room. We will see if any late additions show up for fall camp. I see a potentially long season ahead but will reserve comment until fall roster is final.