Guest Post alert! (That likely means you should be averting your eyes to this lengthy post, unless your Jim, Ryan or Jason)

The UNH spring game was yesterday in rainy Cowell Stadium, and the fighting R.J. Toman’s defeated the fighting Kevin Decker’s 17-14, even though Decker scored touchdowns for both teams. It was really nothing more than a glorified practice, as Toman went up against the first team defense and Decker the second team defense. What is noteworthy, however, is that Toman was named the heir apparent to Ricky Santos despite being outplayed by Decker for most of the game. Don’t get me wrong, I like R.J. He was the backup to USC’s Mark Sanchez for three years, he was a highly regarded recruit, and he is the best candidate to make something out of nothing with his legs. In an ideal situation, however, where our offensive line is competent (admittedly, this is unlikely, despite the fact UNH will start four seniors and a junior on the line), the best QB deserves the job, and that has been Decker to this point. I understand Coach McDonnell’s thoughts on this one, because we’ll likely need R.J’s legs, but it does not send a good message to the rest of the team if the inferior player is being chosen for a questionable reason. As Jim’s sources have mentioned, McDonnell tends to favor the older player (Toman’s a RS SO, Decker a RS FR), so this undoubtedly played a role, as well.

As for the game, there were a good deal of players out for the game, including projected starters Chad Kackert (RB), Mike Boyle (#1 WR), Josh Droesch (LT), Andrew Elwell (RT), Terrance Klein (OLB/S), Kevin Peters (DE), Hugo Souza (S), John Clements (CB) and Dino Vasso (CB), so it was hard to get much of a reading on the performance of the players playing. There were some encouraging notes, however, and I’ll lay them out in numbered form below:

1. Sean Jellison. Jellison is currently the third RB on the depth chart, behind the aforementioned Kackert and Bobby “B-Simp” Simpson, but he was easily the best back on the field yesterday. He found the holes, ran hard and looked very shifty. He is an Amherst, NH legend and I think he could have a strangle hold on the starting job in a reasonable amount of time. Don’t get me wrong, I like Kackert’s abilities, but unfortunately, those likes are compounded by the fact that the only thing he does well is run directly at the first defender he sees. I don’t note any difference between the shiftiness of Kackert and say, I don’t know, a cement block. Bobby Simpson is not Chris Fuamatu Ma’afala, as much as I’d like him to be.

2. Depth at the wideout and TE position. UNH played four competent TE’s in the spring game (All-American Candidate Scott Sicko, Ronnie Strand, Kamal Mohammed and Chris Jeannot), and a fifth, Sean Cullen, missed the game but has had a good spring. These guys are all athletic, talented and versatile. I think Sicko, Jeannot and Cullen are the most highly regarded, but Strand has always impressed me and I’d like to see more of him, as well. As for wideouts, even with Boyle and Chris Chandler out, I thought Terrance Fox and J.T. Wright looked pretty solid. Mike Greene, Travis Negron and Kevon Mason were also not invisible. There is a lot of depth at that position, and look for J.T. Wright to steal the #1 spotlight from Boyle in a fair amount of time.

3. Interior defensive line size. Jordan Long, T.J. Taylor and Steve Young are all over 280 lbs, as is Tim Steele. John Murray also has some size. The ability to rotate with those five inside will give UNH their best chance at stopping the run in, well, their history. Lance Mailloux, Brian McNally, Kyle Maroney and Kevin Peters have their work cut out for them at DE, but at the very least, they are bigger and more athletic than the marionettes we had playing their last season, with the exception of Marvin Wright, who never played as well as he should have.

4. Athleticism/Depth at LB/CB. The three primary candidates to play LB, Devon Jackson, Sean Ware and Matt Parent, are all very good athletes. I am particularly enamored with Ware, who is coming off an injury and looks very lean, but I think all three will be very useful next season. While graduated LB Husain Karim made a lot of tackles, I thought his lack of size hurt the interior defense. Ware and Jackson are much better. In the backfield, expect Terrance Klein, Hugo Souza, Ryan McGuiness, John Clements and Dino Vasso to start, with Maurice Duper, Ryan Hinds and Anthony Gorrell to see a lot of time. Hinds had a super camp, and I was very impressed with what I saw from Gorrell.

5. Special Teams. Tom Manning and Tom Bishop are likely the best returning ST duo in the CAA. These two should help UNH to win a number of close games during their tenure. Chad Kackert and Terrance Fox are very dangerous in the return game, as well.

If Toman (or Decker) can be solid, this is a playoff team and a potential championship contender. Remember, UNH plays only three teams that were over .500 last season (Hofstra, who UNH beat by an ungodly amount on the road last season, Villanova and UMass). VERY EXCITED!