And So It Begins.....

Today is the first official day of Fall Camp for the 2009 Aggie football team. After reporting Sunday and moving into their rooms, getting their paperwork taken care of, meeting the coaches, hanging at Mike Sherman's house, etc, the team will hit the field for the first practice of the beginning of the 2009 season tonight at 6 p.m. It's been a long time coming.

Key questions to be answered during two-a-days:

• Who is the backup quarterback to Jerrod Johnson? We can talk about Ryan Tannehill and Tommy Dorman competing for the starting spot, but the starting position in Johnson's to lose. I think Tannehill and Dorman are sparring off for #2.
• Where does Christine Michael fit into our offense? We already have Cyrus Gray ready to start at tailback; will Michael take over his spot? Will they split reps? Will we move Bradley Stephens out to slot to get him the ball more, or go to a running-back-by-committee?
• Will we have a viable offensive line this season? The failure of our offensive line was our biggest disappointment last season, even moreso than our defense. Our inability to run the ball especially hurt us all season long. Our line was decimated by injuries, and our lack of depth meant we had no one could step up, meaning we played games with injured players starting. With players like Joe Villavisencio burning their redshirt season, we do have some young experience returning on the line, but I am hopeful Sherman's recruiting and a redshirt program mean we'll have some young talented depth ready to step up if needed.
• Who will our starting wide receivers be? With Tannehill concentrating on QB, we will need another WR to fill in since we'll be looking at running more 10 and 0 personnel this season. Assuming Jeff Fuller, Jamie McCoy, and Terrence McCoy are the most likely to start, who gets the fourth wide receiver position? Howard Morrow? Will we see freshman Ryan Swope moved into the slot?
• Can Rod Davis keep his weight under control enough to contribute on the interior defensive line? Tony Jerod-Eddie and Eddie Brown will be counted on to be the leaders on our defensive interior, but I expect Rod Davis to play often, assuming he can keep his weight under control. Redshirt freshman Adren Dorsey is also expected to contribute.

Our season begins on September 5 at 6 p.m. at Kyle Field, when we play New Mexico. Let's hope we have the answers to some of these questions when that time arrives.