Karl Dorrell’s football squad has many questions to answer
before opening day, including how his team will replicate last
season’s offensive production, especially at the tight end
slot. With John Mackey Award winner Marcedes Lewis gone to the NFL,
the Bruins will be looking to maintain the same offensive output
from the tight end position that the team has had over the last few
years. Looking to fill the void left by last year’s primary
arial target will be a platoon of returning players. “The
great thing about us is that we have depth,” redshirt senior
J.J. Hair said about the tight end corps. “The younger guys
are developing really fast. I was able to complement Marcedes last
year a lot with blocking, but now our passing game has to step
up.” Hair will be teaming up with sophomores Ryan Moya and
Logan Paulsen in hopes of replacing Lewis. The crew was used mostly
during blocking scenarios and will have to become more of a threat
as passing options in order to replace Lewis’ firepower.
“Once we came in to UCLA, we had that expectation that once
Marcedes was gone, we would have to fill that hole,” Paulsen
said. “He is a fantastic player, but we knew one day he would
be gone, so we knew coming in that we would have to take on that
responsibility.” Offensively, the team will have a hard time
replacing Lewis’ production as he made a team-leading 58
grabs last season. Hair, Moya and Paulsen combined for just 13
receptions the year before, but even with their lack of offensive
experience, the players believe they are more than up to the
challenge. “We definitely need to become more of an offensive
threat,” said Moya, the only returning tight end to have
scored a touchdown. “There’s a lot of pressure put on
us, but we don’t feel it really. I think we are ready to step
up.”
INJURIES: Saturday was the team’s first
two-a-day practice. … Redshirt junior defensive end Nikola
Dragovic sustained a pulled hamstring during a pass rush drill. The
injury was on his right leg, the opposite leg which he had surgery
on last season. Redshirt sophomore tight end Tyler Holland also
sustained a pulled hamstring. … Defensive tackle Vache Sevajian
missed practice with an illness. … Free safety Robert Kibble had
a flare-up of his Multiple Sclerosis and will be held out of
practice indefinitely. The flare-up is less severe than the
incident which occurred in the spring which required a hospital
visit.