Tag Archives: Nate Fellner

by | April 30, 2010 · 10:54 am

Spring Game Preview: What and Who to Watch

Bring out your rain jackets and head on down to Husky Stadium tonight!  The Huskies will be holding their annual spring game tonight at 6:30 and, despite the cool temperatures, it is sure to be a hoppin’ time!  3/4 of the Good Guys will be at the game and bringing you a recap afterwards.  After watching almost all of the spring practices I have a few recommendations on who to watch tonight.  Bob Condotta also filed a “Who To Watch” list that you can find here.  As usual, he does a fantastic job.  Here’s a few players (and a few other things) that I’ll be watching tonight (The obvious guys won’t be on this list very much.  Of course we’ll all be watching Jake Locker, Devin Aguilar, and Mason Foster.  They are awesome and there’s no disputing this.):

  • Deontae Cooper.  Cooper is one of the two freshman running backs who came in for spring practices.  Sadly, Jesse Callier won’t be participating; he had been very impressive too.  Deontae Cooper was my favorite part of the spring.  He has been absolutely fantastic. I can only remember one practice in which he didn’t break off a long touchdown run.  If he’s on top of his game today Husky fans will be in for a treat and you all will stop wondering why I keep writing about this guy.
  • Cort Dennison.  Before this spring the linebacker position was one to worry about.  I’ll write more on this later but, this is the spot where the most questions were answered for me.  As we saw last year, Cort is a pretty good player.  If he was a baseball player I would have rated him as a league-average player.  After watching him this spring I would say he’s above average.  He’s moved to the middle linebacker spot for this season and will be a steady stream of energy and toughness there.  Cort is a fun Husky to watch; I would say that you should do at least a little bit of that tonight.
  • The free safety position.  Nick Holt said in an interview yesterday that with the emergence of Will Shamburger and Nate Fellner, Sean Parker should be able to stay at his natural position of strong safety.  This means that the coaches have been very impressed by these two players.  They both show a few different things: Shamburger is good in coverage and Fellner brings the lumber.  Right now Shamburger is the starter but Fellner is right in the mix too.  Both of these guys will play a role next year.
  • The offense in short yardage situations.  The Huskies had trouble with this last year and Sark put an emphasis on getting more physical heading into spring.  Of course they will be going up against a depleted defensive line tonight but it will still be interesting to watch.
  • Alvin Logan.  Logan has had a good spring and is in the hunt for the 3rd linebacker position.  He’s very quick rushing off the edge and definitely looks the part.  I’m predicting at least one sack for him tonight.
  • Anthony Boyles.  A.B. started this spring with a bang but has since fallen off a little bit.  I think he’ll be ready to get out and play in a game format.  At times he looks like UW’s best corner, other times he seems to be lost.  He should get tested often tonight, I’m excited to see how he responds.
  • William Chandler.  I don’t know who William Chandler is, I don’t know where he came from and I don’t know if he’ll play much next year but this guy continues to make catch after catch in practice.  I imagine he’ll pull down a few tonight and people will ask who it was.

The teams will be the starting offense with the second team defense vs. the second team offense and the starting defense.  Basically, the one vs. the ones and the twos vs. the twos. 

The starting offense will be close to this: 

QB:  Jake Locker.  Keith Price will come in once Montlake Jake is done for the day.

RB:  Johri Fogerson/Deontae Cooper

FB:  Austin Sylvester/Dorson Boyce

TE:  Chris Izbicki/Kavario Middleton

WR:  Devin Aguilar/James Johnson/Cody Bruns

LT:  Senio Kelemente

LG:  Ryan Tolar

C:  Drew Schaefer

RG:  Mykenna Ikehara

RT:  Daniel Kanczugowski

The defense should look something like this:

DE’s:  Cameron Elisara and Talia Critchon.  De’Shon Matthews might be with the starters, I’m not sure.

DT’s:  Alameda Ta’amu/Chris Robinson/Tyrone Duncan

LB’s:  Alvin Logan/Cort Dennison/Mason Foster.  Expect Matt Houston to rotate in here too.

CB’s:  Vonzell McDowell/Quinton Richardson.  Adam Long may rotate in with the starters but I expect him to be with the 2nd team.

FS:  Will Shamburger

SS:  Nate Williams

Those might be a little off but they’re pretty close.  Enjoy and I’ll hopefully see you tonight!

Andrew

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by | April 15, 2010 · 7:54 pm

Huskies Practice Report – 4/15/2010

We passed the halfway point of spring practice today.  It was the Dawgs’ eighth practice of the year and they have fifteen total (including the spring game).  Today the team was in shorts, shoulder pads, and helmets; apparently taking it easy before the usual Saturday scrimmage.  It was an absolutely beautiful day in Seattle today and I might have come away with a sunburn, which is just fine by me.  Before heading down to the stadium I bought some iced tea and two Choco Tacos (Choco Tacos are the most under-rated snack/dessert of all time.  Seriously, I could eat 5 without any problem.  They are perfect for a warm day like this was.  Choco Tacos are one of those small things that you have to cherish.  Like the movie Zombieland has taught us, it’s the little things in life that make it grand and Choco Tacos are the grandest of the little things.  Go buy one.).  It felt like Summer and it was glorious.

There were no new injuries today.  Jordan Polk is still struggling with a hamstring injury and he played sparingly.  Cody Bruns and D’Andre Goodwin are also out so the depth at receiver isn’t very strong right now.

During drills today I tried to watch the offensive and defensive line more so that I’d have something different to report.  I don’t know a ton about the lines but I came away with a few observations.

  • Senio Kelemente is going to be really good.  He could become a pretty good NFL prospect by this time next year.  It’s clear he’s the best on the line for a number of reasons but when he does get beat by a defensive lineman (this hardly happens) the defensive players celebrate a little bit more.  Talia beat him once in a one-on-one drill today and then they went up against each other the very next play.  Talia got knocked down twice and never did get to the target.  Don’t mess with Senio!
  • Skyler Fancher still appears a step slow and rusty.  He is coming off an injury so I imagine that he’s still getting going but if he looks like this in the Fall I’m not sure how much he’ll play with the return of Cody Habben and incoming freshman.
  • Mykena Ikehara is pretty impressive.  He still looks a little small but he also looks like UW’s second best offensive lineman.  He can play either guard or center, right now they have him at center.
  • De’Shon Matthews was impressive today.  He beat Fancher around the edge 3 different times.  I’ve said this before but I don’t know why he was playing defensive tackle before.  I know there wasn’t much depth when Ty moved him but if he had stuck at DE I get the feeling that he really could have been something special.
  • Talia Critchon is still a little small but his speed is impressive.  If he puts a little more weight on I think he could be pretty successful next year.
  • After watching closer today, I’m a little more worried about Cameron Elisara’s speed at DE.  I don’t know if he can beat people around the edge but time will tell.

As for the rest of the team, it was the usual suspects who put up good performances.  Both of the freshman running backs put up some really solid, long runs.  It is worth coming out to a practice just to watch these two.  They will make you excited about the future of Husky football. 

The defense had it’s way most of the day.  I don’t recall a touchdown today in the team session.  The linebackers and secondary continue to impress.  If anyones trying to lock up their starting job by fall camp it’s Nate Fellner.  He continues to make good plays and more importantly doesn’t make any bad ones.  Will Shamburger also made some really good hits from the safety position today.  All of a sudden depth at safety looks to be a really strong point for this Husky team. 

Just a few more thoughts after the jump. Continue reading →

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by | March 29, 2010 · 6:52 pm

Huskies Position Overviews – Safety

This is the last installment in our long series of position overviews.  Spring practice starts tomorrow. I plan on attending most of them and then posting practice reports. 

Today we’ll take a look at safeties; a position with a few questions but with even more promise.  Here’s my depth chart:

Starters:

  • Strong Safety: Nate Willliams, 6-0, 220, SR.
  • Free Safety: Justin Glenn, 5-11, 200, RS SO. or Nate Fellner, 6-1, 200, SO.

Nate Williams has been a mainstay in the Huskies secondary for the last 3 years.  He’s a solid player that the coaches like a lot.  He is sure to add experience to this group and be a leader on this defense along with Mason Foster.  He can play either position but the coaches prefer to have him at free safety.  The only downside on Williams is that he tends to wear down over the course of a full season.  This is a problem because the Huskies need to be able to count on Williams for all 13 games this year (yes, I’m counting a bowl game).  The biggest thing this spring for Williams is to stay healthy and to get stronger so that he’s able to be there all of next season.

Most people have Nate Fellner as the starter at free safety but I’m not so sure.  Because of a couple injuries last year, Fellner became the starter.  He showed potential but struggled at times, which is to be expected from a true freshman.  Nate was overlooked in the recruiting process and came to the Huskies unnoticed.  This looks like it was a good sleeper pickup for the coaching staff.  Fellner is a hard hitter and will be a solid player over his career.

The reason that Fellner doesn’t have the starting job on lock down is because of Justin Glenn.  Glenn became the starter against USC last year and we all know what happened that game.  He was a very good player and made many tackles before breaking his leg last year.  Without Glenn I don’t think we would’ve won that game against USC.  If he plays at the level he did last year I think he is the best free safety we have.  I don’t know if he will be able to do that though, returning from a broken leg is not an easy thing to do. 

Backups:

  • Strong/Free Safety:  Victor Aiyewa,  Greg Walker, Marquis Persley, Will Shaumburger

Aiyewa is senior who has had injury problems all of his career.  He is a big kid who will backup William at strong safety.  The coaching staff may take a look at him playing outside linebacker too.  Victor can hit people very hard.  I’ll never forget an interview I heard with Victor Aiyewa when the reporter asked him what he brought to the team, Aiyewa responded with the brilliant answer, “I like to hit people.”  Football players should say that more often.  Because of this I will always be a Victor Aiyewa fan.  If he can stay healthy, I think we’ll see Victor do some big hitting this Fall.

Greg Walker began last year as the starter.  He blew a couple coverage assignments and then was passed by Glenn and Fellner on the depth chart.  Walker can obviously do some good things or else the coaches wouldn’t have started him in the first game last year.  But, from what I’ve seen, Walker needs to get better in pass coverage and tackling.  He is only a sophomore and will only get better with time, assuming a Vonzell McDowell situation doesn’t occur.

The other two guys are not very well known commodities.  Persley, a junior, has spent the last couple years as a backup cornerback and now makes the transition to safety.  We’ll see what he can do come this spring.  Shaumburger red-shirted last year.  He was an impressive recruit and we hope that translates to the field.  Both of these guys need to have good springs in order to see the field come next fall.

Overall Position:  This team has plenty of talent at safety.  Over the course of last season, many of these guys gained experience also.  I think this group could be pretty good.  Matched with a good set of cornerbacks, the Dawgs might have a better secondary than they have in 7 or 8 years (which, to be honest, isn’t saying much).  The one gripe here is that it doesn’t look like the Dawgs have much star power at either safety position.  They have very solid players but I don’t think any of them have all pac-10 potential (although Nate Williams may get some consideration because he’s been consistent over the last 3 years).  It’s nice to have a solid group here and it’s nice to not have to worry too much about the Dawgs secondary for the first time in while.

Just a few quick notes after the jump  Continue reading →

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