Team Needs

[RobertCats]

Biggest need - TE.
We graduate all our starters (Brott, Amos, Sullivan).

Everything else we need we have on the team already (with possible exception of QB). I believe that we will get either Jensen or Modster. I hope that we can get a good TE dropdown/transfer.
I've heard that we might be moving Hadley to TE. He has the ideal height to play there. He does not have the size yet, and obviously not the experience....yet.

Take a look at the NDSU film. Not only was their Oline unbelievable, their blocking on the edge with their TE's and H-backs was next level good.

I agree, Amos was a stud blocking TE. Did he play against NDSU? I know he missed Incarnate Word and I don’t remember seeing him on Saturday either

[utucats]

Agreed, and I don't know where that leaves us. We need the updates in the facilities plan, but how does that come to fruition? Hard to figure.

Unless we find a sugar daddy-I think it's going to take years, and years, and years. And that's what MSU does. We came out of nowhere to win national championships in 1976 and 1984 and parlayed that success into doing absolutely nothing. It's just not that big of a priority at MSU-and maybe that's the way it should be. But it is frustrating when you see programs like Weber State passing us up.

This is one thing that has always frustrated me. This whole sugar daddy thing. Apparently since Denny footed the bill over the hill we think that is the only way to get the funds. I don’t agree with this. I think we could raise the money with a little creativity and it would mean much more to us if we as fans and alums worked hard to raise it dollar by dollar.

I’m sure someone will be tempted to provide me with contact info where I can send my donation. Don’t bother. I’ve donated and I’m disappointed that MSU can only find time to provide contact info to small donors. I think they could do a better job of coming up with ways to raise money other than provinding an address to send a check.

We all know UM has a big donor and that is why they have their facilities. It doesn’t happen without that whale. South Dakota State had two-thirds of their facility paid for by big donors. The remaining one-third was financed. My understanding is that NDSU plays in a city owned dome. It is not paid for or owned by the university.

The reality is and always has been that these major projects will not happen without the bulk being financed by a whale.

So if we don’t have a whale we just give up? It’s a lot of money but there is money out there that hasn’t been tapped.

[FTG247365]

Biggest need - TE.
We graduate all our starters (Brott, Amos, Sullivan).

Everything else we need we have on the team already (with possible exception of QB). I believe that we will get either Jensen or Modster. I hope that we can get a good TE dropdown/transfer.
I've heard that we might be moving Hadley to TE. He has the ideal height to play there. He does not have the size yet, and obviously not the experience....yet.

Take a look at the NDSU film. Not only was their Oline unbelievable, their blocking on the edge with their TE's and H-backs was next level good.

Hadley was a receiver in HS, not too worried about his catching ability, plus another year of lifting and gaining weight. He could be a All Big Sky TE. Plus we have Ryan Davis (6'2"), Snell(6'2"), I see these 2 playing a Amos type role. Pickering(6'5") and Judisch (6'4"). We lose lots of experiance and size. I could see bringing a drop down or transfer TE.

[superbobcat]

I like the idea of Hadley moving to TE. I think that is a good fit.

[imacat]

The off-season starts tomorrow. Time to make our 2019 team better, and that starts with Coach Choate making some potentially tough changes...

I believe that Coach Choate OWES it to his team and the Montana State fanbase to exhaust himself and his resources to find an offensive coordinator to build this program around because that person is NOT currently in the building in my opinion (Id love to give MILLER the benefit of the doubt, BUT). Last year it was Murray, this year it was Anderson having to set rushing records for the team because they were surrounded by little to no help and inept play calling. Personally, I feel like like those are hardly accomplishments to brag about... We currently have potential waiting in the wings at quarterback and rumors say there could be yet more infusion of talent. Give those young guys someone to learn from and play for! In my humble opinion, THATS where 2019 starts......

I agree. This team cannot get to a championship level unless/until Choate hires an innovative OC AND gives him the reigns to run the offense. The fact that Miller was an improvement only highlights how incompetent our offensive game planning and play calling was before the change.

[technoCat]

The off-season starts tomorrow. Time to make our 2019 team better, and that starts with Coach Choate making some potentially tough changes...

I believe that Coach Choate OWES it to his team and the Montana State fanbase to exhaust himself and his resources to find an offensive coordinator to build this program around because that person is NOT currently in the building in my opinion (Id love to give MILLER the benefit of the doubt, BUT). Last year it was Murray, this year it was Anderson having to set rushing records for the team because they were surrounded by little to no help and inept play calling. Personally, I feel like like those are hardly accomplishments to brag about... We currently have potential waiting in the wings at quarterback and rumors say there could be yet more infusion of talent. Give those young guys someone to learn from and play for! In my humble opinion, THATS where 2019 starts......

I agree. This team cannot get to a championship level unless/until Choate hires an innovative OC AND gives him the reigns to run the offense. The fact that Miller was an improvement only highlights how incompetent our offensive game planning and play calling was before the change.

I keep seeing people insinuating that Choate is not letting the OC run the offense. Where does this come from? Why are we assuming that Choate is pushing for anything on that side of the ball considering his defensive background?

[Hawks86]

We just faced two different offenses in the playoffs. It's not that hard to guess which one Choate wants to have.

[bobcat99]

The off-season starts tomorrow. Time to make our 2019 team better, and that starts with Coach Choate making some potentially tough changes...

I believe that Coach Choate OWES it to his team and the Montana State fanbase to exhaust himself and his resources to find an offensive coordinator to build this program around because that person is NOT currently in the building in my opinion (Id love to give MILLER the benefit of the doubt, BUT). Last year it was Murray, this year it was Anderson having to set rushing records for the team because they were surrounded by little to no help and inept play calling. Personally, I feel like like those are hardly accomplishments to brag about... We currently have potential waiting in the wings at quarterback and rumors say there could be yet more infusion of talent. Give those young guys someone to learn from and play for! In my humble opinion, THATS where 2019 starts......

I agree. This team cannot get to a championship level unless/until Choate hires an innovative OC AND gives him the reigns to run the offense. The fact that Miller was an improvement only highlights how incompetent our offensive game planning and play calling was before the change.

It's slightly difficult to have an innovative offense when you can't pass the ball.

Messingham was not as bad as he looked at MSU, and he's not as good as he looked this past Saturday. The talent of the players you have will make a coach look better, or worse, than what he really is. Occasionally you'll get elite coaches that can make most people look good (Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan are examples) but they are few and far between.

Our offensive playbook given the players we have, is actually quite innovative. We have a lot of motion, a lot of different looks, don't do a lot of mirroring, different plays coming out of the same look...I was impressed by what I saw from our playbook. We just need a QB.

[bobcat99]

After the NDSU beat down it's clear we have some major needs on this team if we intend to be competitive at the top level. This is what I saw and curious to hear what others think.

#1 QB
I love Troy but we have to be able to move the ball on a consistent basis. We need a QB to come in and take the reins, or one of our existing kids needs to step up and lead this offense. I would love to see Chris Murray come back or land Gresch or that UCLA QB. We need help badly because 3 and outs wear out or D pretty fast.

#2 OL
If this is the offense MM and Choate wants to run we need lineman that can move fast and have great strength. In my opinion we don't have the right type of OL-men to do what the staff is asking them to do. blocking was sub-par this season.

#3 LB
We need more twitch guys like Chapman and Hill, Jobman has progressed but he has a lot of growth in his game still. I think moving Troy to the LB corps would be a huge lift to that position instantly.

#4 RB
With the offense we run we need a stable, Ifanse is a good start (to me NDSU had 3 guys just like Ifanse only further along in development). I think we need to be able to use at least 3 RB's every game.

#5 DL
I though we had a great DL this year, we lose some great players I think Yates will be missed the most. Williams and Benson will be good on the inside and Marks and Sterk will be solid ends, but we need backups and more talent period. NDSU manhandled our Dline today.

#6 TE
need some ballcatchers and some blockers.

#7 WR
I think we could use some major upgrades at this position, but we don't use them so why?

The Secondary is probably the only position I think we have good enough talent and depth but hey you can always use more corners right?

First off, it was actually missed tackles by our Secondary that led to the avalanche of scores by NDSU in the 1st half. Go watch the film. This was ironic, since it was our Secondary who was arguably our best defensive unit this season.

Secondly, NDSU's Oline & WRs grabbed, tackled, & held the schitt out of our guys in their first 4 offensive possessions of game. Go watch the film. The ref crew completely ignored all of this. Shame on this fatschit midwestern wanker ref crew for their bias. The head official for this crew had one of the most punchable potato faces I've seen in some time. In the meantime, this same ref crew cited our Oline & WRs for "blocks below the waist" & holds that took place 20 - 30 yards away from the developing play in the 1st half on numerous drives.

I know Choate & Gregorak realize this.

Not even Bama could have gone into that Fargo Dome in the 1st half and stopped NDSU with the way they were grabbing all our defenders.

Having said that, assuming the game was able to be called straight up, I'm still not sure we could have gone toe-to-toe with them. We need to continue to build, as Choate says.

In my opinion, what we need more than anything at this point is FACILITIES. To build, we must recruit heavy. We need the new Indoor practice field, new athletic & coaches facility upgrades, and ultimately A DOMED STADIUM.

"Not even Bama could have gone into that Fargo Dome in the 1st half and stopped NDSU with the way they were grabbing all our defenders."

That's quite the take. It's very bad, but it is a take.

We lost because they're a lot better than we are. The refs could have given us every opportunity and we still would have lost, and that's ok.

But don't blame it on the refs. You come off as bitter and uneducated.

[superbobcat]

IMO to get to a championship level, we need to build depth that is full of Jr's and Seniors and not Freshman and Sophomores. We are getting there, but it is a process.

#1 QB
We need to take the next step here. Not beating a dead horse, but if we are going for Championships, we need to find the missing piece that gives us a strong passing game to balance out the strong run.

#2 OL
Add size and depth. Look at the horses for NDSU. We need to get there if we expect to win. I think coach stated his magic number going into the season is 8, but wouldn't it be nice to have 10!


#3RB
I am heading in a different direction here, but we need a Big Bacon. We need a big thump-er. Lots of quick smaller guy, but a big back would fill the stable. For recruits, I see Olson is listed at 6' 195 ( that looks a little exaggerated to me) and Hosey from Texas is 6' 190 (I liked his hudl) that is good size but we need a bulldozer. I like Troy as a starting LB and maybe 10 touches a game at RB.

#4 LB
Moving Troy back here will add a lot. I like Troy as a starting LB and maybe 10 touches a game at RB, there isn't a OL in the Big Sky that can pick him up when blitzing. I think we have nice depth provided everybody stays healthy. However with that said this is a position where you can never have to much depth. A healthy Josh Hill would really change things and give us great leadership.

#5 TE
I really like the idea of Hadley moving over to TE. We may need to pick up a transfer or two for depth, but Judisch, Davis, and Snell offer some good things. Pickering may surprise early too.

#6 DL
I think we had a great DL this year and returning Williams, Benson, and Daines will plug the inside and Marks and Sterk could both be first teamers, while Ferriter is not to shabby either. Continue to build depth with bigger, faster, stronger kids.

#6 WR
I think we will see a couple of Redshirt Freshman push for lots of playing time and we should be pretty deep here.

#7 Secondary
Lots of young talent in this area, but we can always improve Special Teams with these guys.

[Team10]

I saw it as a great attribute for the team to be recruiting SIZE ready offensive linemen out of high school the last few years. More recently I have changed my thinking back to recruit players with great fundamentals first and let them put on "good" size/weight once they get to MSU. Of course if a recruit has both out the gate that is phenomenal, but doesn't happen as often. Watching the speed and agility of those ndsu linemen was eye opening!

[RickRund]

IMO to get to a championship level, we need to build depth that is full of Jr's and Seniors and not Freshman and Sophomores. We are getting there, but it is a process.

#1 QB
We need to take the next step here. Not beating a dead horse, but if we are going for Championships, we need to find the missing piece that gives us a strong passing game to balance out the strong run.

#2 OL
Add size and depth. Look at the horses for NDSU. We need to get there if we expect to win. I think coach stated his magic number going into the season is 8, but wouldn't it be nice to have 10!


#3RB
I am heading in a different direction here, but we need a Big Bacon. We need a big thump-er. Lots of quick smaller guy, but a big back would fill the stable. For recruits, I see Olson is listed at 6' 195 ( that looks a little exaggerated to me) and Hosey from Texas is 6' 190 (I liked his hudl) that is good size but we need a bulldozer. I like Troy as a starting LB and maybe 10 touches a game at RB.

#4 LB
Moving Troy back here will add a lot. I like Troy as a starting LB and maybe 10 touches a game at RB, there isn't a OL in the Big Sky that can pick him up when blitzing. I think we have nice depth provided everybody stays healthy. However with that said this is a position where you can never have to much depth. A healthy Josh Hill would really change things and give us great leadership.

#5 TE
I really like the idea of Hadley moving over to TE. We may need to pick up a transfer or two for depth, but Judisch, Davis, and Snell offer some good things. Pickering may surprise early too.

#6 DL
I think we had a great DL this year and returning Williams, Benson, and Daines will plug the inside and Marks and Sterk could both be first teamers, while Ferriter is not to shabby either. Continue to build depth with bigger, faster, stronger kids.

#6 WR
I think we will see a couple of Redshirt Freshman push for lots of playing time and we should be pretty deep here.

#7 Secondary
Lots of young talent in this area, but we can always improve Special Teams with these guys.

And where would Deines fit in on the DL? Curious to see what he can do.

[VimSince03]

IMO to get to a championship level, we need to build depth that is full of Jr's and Seniors and not Freshman and Sophomores. We are getting there, but it is a process.

#1 QB
We need to take the next step here. Not beating a dead horse, but if we are going for Championships, we need to find the missing piece that gives us a strong passing game to balance out the strong run.

#2 OL
Add size and depth. Look at the horses for NDSU. We need to get there if we expect to win. I think coach stated his magic number going into the season is 8, but wouldn't it be nice to have 10!


#3RB
I am heading in a different direction here, but we need a Big Bacon. We need a big thump-er. Lots of quick smaller guy, but a big back would fill the stable. For recruits, I see Olson is listed at 6' 195 ( that looks a little exaggerated to me) and Hosey from Texas is 6' 190 (I liked his hudl) that is good size but we need a bulldozer. I like Troy as a starting LB and maybe 10 touches a game at RB.

#4 LB
Moving Troy back here will add a lot. I like Troy as a starting LB and maybe 10 touches a game at RB, there isn't a OL in the Big Sky that can pick him up when blitzing. I think we have nice depth provided everybody stays healthy. However with that said this is a position where you can never have to much depth. A healthy Josh Hill would really change things and give us great leadership.

#5 TE
I really like the idea of Hadley moving over to TE. We may need to pick up a transfer or two for depth, but Judisch, Davis, and Snell offer some good things. Pickering may surprise early too.

#6 DL
I think we had a great DL this year and returning Williams, Benson, and Daines will plug the inside and Marks and Sterk could both be first teamers, while Ferriter is not to shabby either. Continue to build depth with bigger, faster, stronger kids.

#6 WR
I think we will see a couple of Redshirt Freshman push for lots of playing time and we should be pretty deep here.

#7 Secondary
Lots of young talent in this area, but we can always improve Special Teams with these guys.

And where would Deines fit in on the DL? Curious to see what he can do.

Deines might push for a starting spot next year. He made a huge impression on the coaching staff in the 4 games he played before redshirting. Need big developmental years from Kyle Rygg and Travis Yates. They need to make a push in their 3rd year.

[RickRund]

IMO to get to a championship level, we need to build depth that is full of Jr's and Seniors and not Freshman and Sophomores. We are getting there, but it is a process.

#1 QB
We need to take the next step here. Not beating a dead horse, but if we are going for Championships, we need to find the missing piece that gives us a strong passing game to balance out the strong run.

#2 OL
Add size and depth. Look at the horses for NDSU. We need to get there if we expect to win. I think coach stated his magic number going into the season is 8, but wouldn't it be nice to have 10!


#3RB
I am heading in a different direction here, but we need a Big Bacon. We need a big thump-er. Lots of quick smaller guy, but a big back would fill the stable. For recruits, I see Olson is listed at 6' 195 ( that looks a little exaggerated to me) and Hosey from Texas is 6' 190 (I liked his hudl) that is good size but we need a bulldozer. I like Troy as a starting LB and maybe 10 touches a game at RB.

#4 LB
Moving Troy back here will add a lot. I like Troy as a starting LB and maybe 10 touches a game at RB, there isn't a OL in the Big Sky that can pick him up when blitzing. I think we have nice depth provided everybody stays healthy. However with that said this is a position where you can never have to much depth. A healthy Josh Hill would really change things and give us great leadership.

#5 TE
I really like the idea of Hadley moving over to TE. We may need to pick up a transfer or two for depth, but Judisch, Davis, and Snell offer some good things. Pickering may surprise early too.

#6 DL
I think we had a great DL this year and returning Williams, Benson, and Daines will plug the inside and Marks and Sterk could both be first teamers, while Ferriter is not to shabby either. Continue to build depth with bigger, faster, stronger kids.

#6 WR
I think we will see a couple of Redshirt Freshman push for lots of playing time and we should be pretty deep here.

#7 Secondary
Lots of young talent in this area, but we can always improve Special Teams with these guys.

And where would Deines fit in on the DL? Curious to see what he can do.

Deines might push for a starting spot next year. He made a huge impression on the coaching staff in the 4 games he played before redshirting. Need big developmental years from Kyle Rygg and Travis Yates. They need to make a push in their 3rd year.

Thanks Vim... Now as I reread that post on the DL I see where they said a Daines in the DL. Thinking that should be Deines... Again, thank you.

No wonder Daines didn't sound familiar.

[six--man]

Agree with this I was shocked to hear Josh Hill's name called in the NDSU game- awesome. Not sure if James Williams was injured seriously? It would be nice to get Natee back as well

[wbtfg]

I've been wondering.....Could Sparaco put on 20lbs and be a force in the interior DL for the next two years?

[CelticCat]

I've been wondering.....Could Sparaco put on 20lbs and be a force in the interior DL for the next two years?

I've had the same thought. He is a big kid 260. Not sure he had the speed at the edge, it's like he either needs to get down to like 245 or bump up to 280.

[bobcat99]

I've been wondering.....Could Sparaco put on 20lbs and be a force in the interior DL for the next two years?

Honestly, 15 would be enough.

[Catgotmytung]

Well, NDSU had all lineman at 6'5" and 306 and very physical. That would do for starters. I thought our O-Line got much better over the year. We lose one very good senior. Biggest need is to replace the D-Line with Big heavy physical athletic guys that can rush the passer - if you can find them. We do that and we'll have a heck of a team with who we have coming back. I think we move Anderson to Tight End and be a Dallas Goedert type player - he has more speed, has all the moves and would give us another dimension. Put Murray back at QB and good luck trying to stop us. I know we love the run, but we have to be way more effective passing the ball to help the run game blossom. Quite frankly, I loved our offense when Cramsey was the O-coordinator - he always had pre-snap movement going on which gave the opposition more to be concerned about - our play book has to open up more. I do like Choate's emphasis on physicality - we were a physical team but no match for NDSU - so I hope the off-season begins real soon as we have a lot of ground to make up. I would love to us back atop the Big Sky again and winning playoff games.

[Long Time Cat]

Well, NDSU had all lineman at 6'5" and 306 and very physical. That would do for starters. I thought our O-Line got much better over the year. We lose one very good senior. Biggest need is to replace the D-Line with Big heavy physical athletic guys that can rush the passer - if you can find them. We do that and we'll have a heck of a team with who we have coming back. I think we move Anderson to Tight End and be a Dallas Goedert type player - he has more speed, has all the moves and would give us another dimension. Put Murray back at QB and good luck trying to stop us. I know we love the run, but we have to be way more effective passing the ball to help the run game blossom. Quite frankly, I loved our offense when Cramsey was the O-coordinator - he always had pre-snap movement going on which gave the opposition more to be concerned about - our play book has to open up more. I do like Choate's emphasis on physicality - we were a physical team but no match for NDSU - so I hope the off-season begins real soon as we have a lot of ground to make up. I would love to us back atop the Big Sky again and winning playoff games.

Andersen at tight end with Murray at QB would be a waste of his talent. He should be a RB or LB or both.