What can Brown do for us?

Who is this mystery man?

It looks like Boise State may have just snagged another recruit this weekend...but this one was so far off my radar that I'm having to do some major league sleuthing to bring in much info. Encinal's Jonathan Brown has been rumored to have committed this weekend after a recruiting trip with the likes of Kirby Moore. Brown was named the All-East Bay player of the Year this year as a two way standout at quarterback and linebacker (Bronco QB commit Joe Southwick was the All-East Bay Offensive Player of the Year). Now, I don't have confirmation on this yet, but it's certainly hard to believe that the talented Brown will be coming in at QB after the earlier verbals from Joe Southwick and Mikey Tamburo. Has Boise State nabbed its 3rd linebacker of the class? Could be. Brown's size, 5'11" and 200 lbs. sure seems to put him in Boise State linebacker range (smallish), but he looks athletic enough to play anywhere on the field. Update: Looks like Brown is coming in as a Safety. Brown notched 92 tackles last year, 8 quarterback sacks and two blocked punts. Colorado and Air Force were rumored to have interest or offered Brown. More to come when I find it out. Below is a short video showing Brown's explosiveness:



Two-way leader guides Encinal [SFGate]
Encinal's Brown commits to Boise State [Inside Bay Area]

Deja Vu

Hawaii has named a sophomore JC transfer from California as their starting QB. Deja Vu? No...Hawaii has named Brent Rausch as their starting QB after a tumultuous fall that saw heir-apparent Tyler Graunke held out of camp and two JC transfers battle for the spot. Now before you panic...here are some things that Rausch doesn't have in common with the last California JC-transfer that was named Hawaii's QB:

• Rausch's lastname is Rausch
• Rausch doesn't have the Hawaiian islands dyed into his hair
• Rausch doesn't have a surprisingly girly voice
• Rausch, as far as we know, hasn't puked moments before throwing a TD pass

Here are the things that are eerily similar:

• As mentioned before...Sophomore California JC-transfer
• Blonde buzzcut
• Will know mostly defeat at hands of Broncos

Ryan Winterswyk now knows whom to kill.

Uno mas.

I'm just simply running out of recruiting-related headline puns. Boise State appears to have secured verbal commit #9 as of today with the nod from athlete Gabe Linehan from Banks, Oregon. Linehan is listed by scout.com as a linebacker and quarterback. Chances are good that Linehan will come to Boise State as a linebacker or tight end, but judging from his bloodlines, could get much bigger and fill another role. Linehan is 6'4" and weighs 205 lbs., but has one brother, Josh, who is 6'4" and 308 lbs. that played OT for the Oregon State Beavers and another brother, Cole, who is 6'4" and 300 lbs. that plays DT for the Oregon Ducks. Well, Gabe is 6'4"—could he pack on a hundy and be another D1 lineman like his bros? Who knows? Linehan appears to have the proper genes to be a big, athletic kid.

Linehan has good judgement in choosing schools, maybe not so much on evaluating coaching staffs:

"They offered me about a week later and I accepted it. I'm committed. It's 100 percent. Oregon State is a dream school, but at tight end, there's no better place than Boise State with their spread offense. Sometimes they run two tight ends. And I didn't think you could get better than the Oregon State coaching staff, but the Boise State staff is right up there too. It's going to be a great fit for me.

You just did better, Gabe...you just did.

Boise State recruits for 2009 are all trying to cram through the door at the same time, creating a comical Three Stooges effect. Keep'em coming!

Zabransky's got spunk

Ex-Boise State QB and current Pittsburgh Steelers très-man wowed onlookers at the Steelers Spring game with a show of spunk and determination:

3rd string QB Jared Zabransky apparently impressed with his spunk yesterday. His passes weren't a thing of beauty, but they arrived at their target destination, and he was keeping the mood intense and competitive. Good for him. We don't need an expert clipboard holder in Brian St. Pierre. Charlie Batch fills that role just fine.

Also impressing the Spring crowd was Zabransky's charisma, moxie, can-do attitude, chutzpah, Joie de vivre, gameness, heart, mettle and pluck. Apparently.

Artist rendering of Zabransky done by Paul Mcrae...who also appears to have spunk.

Beware the 'Q'

It appears that "Pete's Poison" is going to get a dash of "Ault's Arsenic" as the Broncos have been flirting with Nevada's stupidly named Pistol offense this spring. The Broncos have decided to call it something much cooler...ready, James Bond fans? Behold: the Q! The "pistol" which Ault didn't invent, is really just a modified shotgun offense, so BSU has decided to show Nevada how it can be effective on a weekly basis. Ok, ok...so Nevada's offense went OFF on Boise State last year, but it wasn't because of their silly pistol—it is because Boise State's linebackers just weren't quite ready for a 6'6", 150 lb. quarterback who knew how to run a bootleg. Boise State won that game (the only game in 5 years not to be decided by about 30 points) and now has said "yoink" and comically snatched some of Nevada's bread and butter. Having wild success last year with triple reverses and Tanyon Bissell-behind-center formations...I can't wait to see the Broncos throw one more thing into their already ridiculously large playbook. Coach Pete was modest when talking about the new looks in the offense:

“I don’t think I’ve ever had an original idea,” Petersen said. “Everything we do has been taken from somebody. We make no bones about it. … That’s how we do things. We take things that we like and we try to marry them into our offense.”

Statesman link

Didn't we just do this?

For the second off-season in a row, the Boise State coaches have the unenviable task of sifting through BSU's bevy of quarterbacks to see which one is best suited to captain the ship. None of the 4 men vying for the job have a single start under their belt and only 3 of them have even seen any action at all. Senior Bush Hamdan was the odds-on favorite to take the reins last year, but after missing scrimmage time with injury and other unknown factors was passed over for then-senior Taylor Tharp. Tharp was a solid performer for Boise State last year and no one really second guessed the coaches' decision, however, inexplicably—it seemed that Hamdan fell all the way to the bottom of the depth chart. Michael Coughlin and Nick Lomax were given playing time when Hamdan was not. No one really knows what lead to this seismic shift of the depth chart, but it has cast a haze over this year's QB race and no one really knows what will happen.

Most Boise State fans would prefer to have at least a 2-3 year starter at the helm so most would probably prefer an underclassmen under center — unless the senior, Hamdan is just that much better this offseason as we suspect Tharp must have been last year. Sophomore Coughlin and Junior Lomax possess prototypical Division-1 size (something quite uncharacteristic for a Bronco QB) and Coughlin appears to have the ability to run a bit as well (albeit not nearly as well as Zabransky). Hamdan probably looked the best of the three in passing situations last year in his limited playing time, and I like Hamdan's leadership and intensity...but if I was to be honest, I also think that the Broncos should look to the future and go with a
younger guy.

Kellen Moore is the darkhorse (inadvertent Bronco pun...chaching!). Moore looked very sharp in camp last year and is one of the higher rated recruits that has come to the blue. He set all kinds of high school records in Washington and has a quick read and quick release. He probably needs one more year in the system before he really has it down...but don't underestimate this kid—he is a student of the game and could inject himself into the race this year.

Bottom line is that the Bronco coaches will pick the best guy—if it's Hamdan, so be it. Personally, I would like to see Miramesa's finest, Michael Coughlin step into the spot this year and then see if Moore can overtake him once he grasps the full Bronco playbook. Coughlin has a cannon (and a pretty nice little mustache on occasion) and if he can improve his reads and his decision making...will be a very nice field general for the mighty Broncos.