We continue our look at the 2010 Flames by looking at the wideouts and the tight ends. First the WRs:
Players Lost:
Freddie Brown
Aaron Hewlett
Players Returning:
(Note: Mike Brown is also going to see some snaps at wideout and was the leading receiver in 2009 but most of his time will be at QB.)
Chris Summers 46 catches 603 yards 4 TDs (led WRs in TDs)
BJ Hayes 15 catches 119 yards
Jimmy Eden 8 catches 49 yards
Ervin Garner 6 catches 124 yards
Pat Kelly 3 catches 24 yards
Kyle DeArmon did not register a catch in 2009
Players Incoming:
Greg Pratt 5-8 165 Lbs Naples, FL (Troy State University)
Summers had a big year last year, earning second team all conference (Note: earlier today Summers was named preseason all-conference at the Big South media day). Look for him to be Mike Brown's favorite target when he comes out from under center. BJ Hayes moves from the backfield back to WR, and Jimmy Eden (despite an extended trip to the hospital after an appendectomy) Ervin Garner and Pat Kelly will also be contributing. Look for Troy State transfer Greg Pratt to make an immediate impact as well.
Tight Ends
Players Lost:
Will Quarles 9 catches 116 yards 4 TDs (tied for team lead) Second Team All Big South
Players Returning:
Tommy Shaver 3 catches 35 yards 1 TD
Eric Fath (2009 redshirt)
Patrick Gibson (2009 redshirt)
Matthias Wrede (converted from OL to TE in 2009)
Players Incoming:
Kevin Widener 6-4 260 Lbs Lebanon, VA
Look for Shaver to step into the starting TE to replace Quarles with Fath as his backup (and coming in for two TE sets).
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Fan the Flames 2010 Preview: RB
For part 2 of my look at the 2010 Liberty Flames, we'll move to the other members of the backfield, the running backs and fullbacks. First, a look at the running backs:
Players Lost:
Danny Broggin (switched to DB)
BJ Hayes (switched to WR)
Terron Lawrence
Players Returning
Aldreakis Allen- 118 Rushes 530 Yards (led team) 9 TDs (tied for team lead)
SirChauncey Holloway- 54 Rushes 285 Yards 7 TDs
Korrey Davis (sat out 2009 due to transfer rules)
Chase Barnett (2009 Redshirt)
Players Incoming:
Desmond Rice 5-8 190 Lbs Lynchburg, VA (Liberty Christian Academy)
When you have someone as dynamic as Mike Brown on your team, it pays to have somebody who can shoulder some of the load since he cant do it all by himself, and Allen and Holloway were more than up to the task in 2009. UMass transfer Davis is from nearby Heritage High School and showed some of how good he can be in spring practice, so look for those three to be battling for the top two spots on the depth chart, with Barnett getting some late game carries as well unless somebody gets hurt. I wouldnt be the least bit surprised if Rice redshirted for this season.
Fullbacks
Players Lost:
Derek Bishop
Mark Malvaso
Players Returning:
Nathan Revell (moved from LB)
John Carter Jr. (2009 Redshirt)
Players Incoming:
Francis Bah 6-2 250 Lbs. Duisburg, Germany (Lise-Meitner Gesamtschule)2010 signee
Ryan Mickens 6-0 230 Lbs. Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (University Christian) 2010 signee
Liberty lost both of their fullbacks from 2009 to graduation so its an open competition as to who will be leading the way through any holes created by the offensive line. Bah is easily the biggest of the candidates but look for a three way battle at that position as well.
Players Lost:
Danny Broggin (switched to DB)
BJ Hayes (switched to WR)
Terron Lawrence
Players Returning
Aldreakis Allen- 118 Rushes 530 Yards (led team) 9 TDs (tied for team lead)
SirChauncey Holloway- 54 Rushes 285 Yards 7 TDs
Korrey Davis (sat out 2009 due to transfer rules)
Chase Barnett (2009 Redshirt)
Players Incoming:
Desmond Rice 5-8 190 Lbs Lynchburg, VA (Liberty Christian Academy)
When you have someone as dynamic as Mike Brown on your team, it pays to have somebody who can shoulder some of the load since he cant do it all by himself, and Allen and Holloway were more than up to the task in 2009. UMass transfer Davis is from nearby Heritage High School and showed some of how good he can be in spring practice, so look for those three to be battling for the top two spots on the depth chart, with Barnett getting some late game carries as well unless somebody gets hurt. I wouldnt be the least bit surprised if Rice redshirted for this season.
Fullbacks
Players Lost:
Derek Bishop
Mark Malvaso
Players Returning:
Nathan Revell (moved from LB)
John Carter Jr. (2009 Redshirt)
Players Incoming:
Francis Bah 6-2 250 Lbs. Duisburg, Germany (Lise-Meitner Gesamtschule)2010 signee
Ryan Mickens 6-0 230 Lbs. Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (University Christian) 2010 signee
Liberty lost both of their fullbacks from 2009 to graduation so its an open competition as to who will be leading the way through any holes created by the offensive line. Bah is easily the biggest of the candidates but look for a three way battle at that position as well.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Fan the Flames 2010 Preview: QB
Well its time for me to put on my writer's hat once again as we look ahead to the 2010 season (thanks to Sly for inspiring me with his posting of opponent previews).
As we count down the last weeks until training camp and the season opener on September 4, I'll be posting my thoughts and breakdown of the various positions each Wednesday. Today we start with probably the most talked about position last year, the QB.
Going into 2009 there was a lot of debate (especially on here) as to who would be the new face under center for the Liberty Flames. Brock Smith completed an amazing four year stretch being named to the Big South First team all conference and leaving his mark in a number of QB statistics all time (finishing third in passing yards, second in TD passes, tops in passing efficiency and second in completion percentage, and to put the icing on the cake, second in total offense), his would be very big shoes to fill (figuratively and literally). Mike Brown and Spencer Landis were seen as the two looking to battle for that spot going into the spring, and then a new face joined the party...South Carolina QB Tommy Beecher left Columbia and he landed himself in Lynchburg, VA. Beecher missed the spring practice but when preseason rolled around, it was Beecher and Mike Brown who would be battling for the starting spot with Landis moving behind redshirt freshman Tyler Brennan. Brown's dynamic playmaking abilities were not lost on the coaching staff, so when the season opener against West VIrginia from the Big East rolled around, he was listed as a WR and Beecher was the starting QB.
The quasi-2 QB system worked as Beecher finished the season with 1700 yards passing and nine TDs on the way to being named second team all conference while Brown left his mark all over the stat sheet, finishing as the team's leading rusher, second leading passer (behind Beecher) and the team's leading receiver.
Now its 2010. Beecher has graduated and moved on and Mike Brown is "the man" at QB. He still will get his chances at WR but if Brown is to make his own mark this season it will be with his arm and his legs.
Quarterback
Players lost:
Tommy Beecher
Spencer Landis
Players returning:
Mike Brown
Tyler Brennan
Brian Hudson (2009 redshirt)
Players incoming:
Brian Reese 6-2 220 Lbs Chambersburg, PA (Walk-on)
Gabriel Henderson 5-11 190 Lbs Garner, NC (2010 signee)
This position is Mike Brown's to lose. He will be spending "75%" of the offensive snaps as the QB, but he will have a few opportunities to split out and show his gamebreaking ability, and for those moments, look for Tyler Brennan to get his opportunity to show what he can do. In a sense this will be like a two year audition of sorts for Brennan as Brown likely will be the starter for the next two seasons, but look for Brian Hudson to push him, especially as he gets his chances to show his skills (most likely in late game situations where the score has already been decided). The real interesting situation at this position is likely going to be for the 2012 season as Class of 2010 signee Gabe Henderson will enter the mix along with walk-on Brian Reese. Look for both to redshirt this season unless there is an injury to one of the other three QBs on the roster.
As we count down the last weeks until training camp and the season opener on September 4, I'll be posting my thoughts and breakdown of the various positions each Wednesday. Today we start with probably the most talked about position last year, the QB.
Going into 2009 there was a lot of debate (especially on here) as to who would be the new face under center for the Liberty Flames. Brock Smith completed an amazing four year stretch being named to the Big South First team all conference and leaving his mark in a number of QB statistics all time (finishing third in passing yards, second in TD passes, tops in passing efficiency and second in completion percentage, and to put the icing on the cake, second in total offense), his would be very big shoes to fill (figuratively and literally). Mike Brown and Spencer Landis were seen as the two looking to battle for that spot going into the spring, and then a new face joined the party...South Carolina QB Tommy Beecher left Columbia and he landed himself in Lynchburg, VA. Beecher missed the spring practice but when preseason rolled around, it was Beecher and Mike Brown who would be battling for the starting spot with Landis moving behind redshirt freshman Tyler Brennan. Brown's dynamic playmaking abilities were not lost on the coaching staff, so when the season opener against West VIrginia from the Big East rolled around, he was listed as a WR and Beecher was the starting QB.
The quasi-2 QB system worked as Beecher finished the season with 1700 yards passing and nine TDs on the way to being named second team all conference while Brown left his mark all over the stat sheet, finishing as the team's leading rusher, second leading passer (behind Beecher) and the team's leading receiver.
Now its 2010. Beecher has graduated and moved on and Mike Brown is "the man" at QB. He still will get his chances at WR but if Brown is to make his own mark this season it will be with his arm and his legs.
Quarterback
Players lost:
Tommy Beecher
Spencer Landis
Players returning:
Mike Brown
Tyler Brennan
Brian Hudson (2009 redshirt)
Players incoming:
Brian Reese 6-2 220 Lbs Chambersburg, PA (Walk-on)
Gabriel Henderson 5-11 190 Lbs Garner, NC (2010 signee)
This position is Mike Brown's to lose. He will be spending "75%" of the offensive snaps as the QB, but he will have a few opportunities to split out and show his gamebreaking ability, and for those moments, look for Tyler Brennan to get his opportunity to show what he can do. In a sense this will be like a two year audition of sorts for Brennan as Brown likely will be the starter for the next two seasons, but look for Brian Hudson to push him, especially as he gets his chances to show his skills (most likely in late game situations where the score has already been decided). The real interesting situation at this position is likely going to be for the 2012 season as Class of 2010 signee Gabe Henderson will enter the mix along with walk-on Brian Reese. Look for both to redshirt this season unless there is an injury to one of the other three QBs on the roster.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Fan the Flames 2010 Preview
Well Flames Fans after a long hiatus (grad school will do that to a person), Fan the Flames is back just in time for the 2010 football season. Preseason training camp starts in a few weeks and so we are going to be taking a look at the Flames in our next few postings and then in the two weeks leading up to the Sept. 4 opener, look at the Flames 2010 opponents. Starting tomorrow we will open by looking at the QB position, which will be looking a lot more sure this year after some debate that lasted much of the spring and well into the season.
Until tomorrow,
Fan the Flames
Until tomorrow,
Fan the Flames
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