COLUMN: Five Things I think after Blue Raider Football’s Spring Practice in 2023

4/16/2023 7:52:00 PM | Football

2023 Season Tickets

By: Sam Doughton, MTSU Athletic Communications

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The goals for spring football practice around the country sound similar no matter who you talk to, but Middle Tennessee Head Coach Rick Stockstill hit the nail on the head after his team's final practice of the spring.

"Going into it, I told them the very first day that the goal was for everybody to get a little bit better individually," Stockstill said. "Every day improve on something, and if you'll do that, then collectively you get better as a team."

Stockstill said he thought his team accomplished that overall goal this spring, and judging from the comments from his players and coaches, it sounds like they agree. Through the 15 practices allowed in the spring under NCAA rules, there was clear growth across all facets of the Blue Raider program.

Your Sunday columnist wasn't out there every single day, of course, but I saw a fair bit of the work put in on the field, including all of Saturday's open practice before friends, families and hopefully some future Blue Raiders. Those observations, plus what I've heard from the players and coaches within the program, led me to these five takeaways heading into summer workouts after finals.

Quarterbacks are looking comfortable in a post-Chase Cunningham world

Having a veteran quarterback Chase Cunningham leading the offense in nearly every game last season was a huge bonus for the Blue Raiders in their Hawai'i Bowl winning campaign. But losing a sixth-year senior like Cunningham also means that the young guys backing him up need to find the comfort in being uncomfortable that sometimes is necessary to play quarterback at the Division I level.

Nicholas Vattiato, of course, has some game experience under his belt as a redshirt sophomore, but Stockstill is quick to point out that it's not really all that much, just eight games spread across two seasons, even if one of those games was a Bahamas Bowl MVP performance. Redshirt freshmen Kyle Lowe and DJ Riles have even fewer reps at quarterback in game situations.

That, plus a new offense to learn last spring, kept things slow early on for all three QBs.

"Last spring, when Coach Stewart first got here, spring was slow, slowed down," Vattiato said. "This year was completely different. We were going fast. We were seeing the field so much better."

The progress is evident with all three QBs, who each showed off a tremendous amount of pocket presence for their experience during open practice. Kyle Lowe at one point stood tall amid rushing linemen and delivered a dart into the hands of his wideout on the far sideline. DJ Riles, a gifted runner who often took off at the first sign of trouble when he first arrived in Murfreesboro, is much smarter about when to scramble. Vattiato, meanwhile, is showing a great grasp of the offense, often checking into plays that avoid trouble before it ever starts.

"They're not so frantic, they're not so panicky," Offensive Coordinator Mitch Stewart said. "Even when things go bad, there's some thought process to it, there's a plan."

All three QBs, as well as transfer Ren Hefley, who showed remarkable improvement late in the spring as he caught up to his teammates' knowledge of the offense, will be competing into the summer for the starting job. But the strides each has made, together, has left the group with a lot of confidence after Saturday.

"Nothing can compare to what I think our quarterback room is," Vattiato said. "That starts with Coach Brent (Stockstill) and Coach Coley (Crowley). They just instill this kind of environment of love and brotherhood with each other."

Skill positions will be filled with plenty of new names

It's not a new observation among Blue Raider fans to note how many new players will need to step in place of so many skill guys, particularly out wide, in 2023. Gone are steady hands from a season ago like Jaylin Lane, Yusuf Ali, Izaiah Gathings and Darius Bracy.

Stepping in their place, however, are a mixture of new faces and returning guys getting their first real shot that have gotten plenty of praise from their teammates and coaches.

The running back room, led by veteran bruiser Frank Peasant and do-it-all Terry Wilkins, has been buoyed by the arrival of Jaiden "Flip" Credle and Romal "Spider" Webb, as Stockstill refers to the two backs. Credle comes to MTSU from Northern Illinois, while Webb joins the Blue Raiders from Coffeyville CC.

The contrast in styles between the running backs is exactly the type of dynamic MTSU likes to have in the room.

"Frank is going to do what Frank does, everyone knows that," Vattiato said. "Flip, when you watch him run, it's so smooth, no matter what he does. It's cut left, cut right, hit the hole, it's smooth. And Spider is just so subtle. He'll hit the hole and just burst. You won't even see him, and he'll pop out the other side in the secondary."

At wide receiver, plenty of guys are stepping up after getting some experience a season ago, namely Elijah Metcalf, who's starting to tap into his potential he's shown in practice roles since he arrived on campus. Or DJ England-Chisolm, who stayed healthy after flashing in a big way last season with his speed

But others, like Javonte Sherman, who's had a breakout spring from all accounts thanks to his contested catch ability, Jeremy Tate Jr., who's filling in the role of Gathings as a big-bodied target inside for his QBs, or USF transfer Holden Willis, who's wide catch radius has made him an intriguing redzone threat in the spring, have started to make a name for themselves without much on-the-field production.

That depth has Mitch Stewart excited about the possibilities entering the fall, with some intriguing personnel packages being test run already in the final practice of the spring.

"There's been a quite a few guys out there that have jumped out on tape," Stewart said with a smile. "Some of them will be mad at me because I didn't mention them."

Offensive Line played like they had something to prove and got better because of it

The offensive line room, from Stewart's telling, knew they had something to prove after the 2022 season.
"They took a lot of heat last year because we were so new and did not have a lot of consistency," Stewart said. "We were constantly having to move some people."

It doesn't help that for the past couple of seasons, the young offensive line group is taking their one-on-one reps against one of the deepest and most talented rooms on the whole team in the defensive line, who even while losing a couple of guys to minor injuries during camp still showed their depth in a big way throughout the spring. It wasn't uncommon to watch some of those one-on-ones at practice last fall and see that inexperience exploited rep after rep.

But it sharpened the offensive line group, who played with a chip on their shoulder the whole camp. And by the end, the offensive line was starting to win those pass rush reps, they were starting to push some guys away from the QB. They were giving their running backs holes to burst through and their quarterbacks time.

"Those guys had a great edge about them, a great sense of urgency to get better," Stockstill said.

The list of guys that have stepped up in that room is almost too long to list, mainly because so many of them are in the same boat taking that year two or year three leap that so many offensive linemen take when transitioning into college football. Players like Sterling Porcher, Ethan Ellis, Jacqui Graham, and J'Shun Bodiford all took huge strides according to their coaches.

But Mitch Stewart took time to expand on two guys in particular: Wilson Kelly and Keylan Rutledge.

"Wilson Kelly, that dude's a completely different football player right now than he was last year," Stewart said. "He's finally able to sit some people down. Some of the calls he's making and getting us in are really good. One of which, we didn't even have in. He and the guard just (went) up there and (did) it and we're like 'Did he just do that?'

"Keylan, now it's his second year, he's always wanting to meet, always wanting to talk. He watches Chandler Brewer's NFL film. He wants to watch all of these professional guys. And he learns, he talks to you about their fundamentals and their techniques."

That level of maturity in the entire room has Stewart tentatively excited about the group entering the summer, even as he notes there's still much work to be done.

"You see them kind of gelling up there, and that's what you want," Stewart said. "They don't have to be the 'best' (individually), but if they play the best together, that can go a long way. And they're starting to do that in their communication, their work ethic, how they meet, how they talk."

Turnover brought opportunity in defensive back room. Plenty took advantage of the chance

Without outside corner Decorian Patterson and nickel back Deidrick Stanley, there's plenty of opportunity for new faces to make their mark in the defensive backfield for MTSU in 2023. Even with returning starters Tra Fluellen, Jakobe Thomas and Teldrick Ross helming their positions.

It's a good sign, then, that it takes almost three minutes for Scott Shafer to finish praising the variety of defensive backs who stood out to him this spring.

"James Shellman has had a really nice spring," Shafer starts. "He's done a nice job learning how to play the game, learning how to play corner. I'm excited to see him continue to develop."

"Emmanuel Mann's another young man who's had a nice spring...He's an athlete," he continues. "He was an athlete playing football and now I think we've got a football player that has a good athletic body. He's starting to turn the page."

Shafer then mentions De'Arre McDonald, grouping him with the previous two players as guys who "we knew had the ability to be a good football player, but they were still learning. Learning the language, learning how we do things, which is a little different from other places."

Those three, plus Chris Johnson, join Fluellen, Thomas and Ross as the core of a defensive back room that's showing growth in all the right places, Ross says.

"They always tell me, 'I know you're going to hold down your side, so it made me step my game up,'" Ross said. "And that's always good. Those guys have shown a lot of growth physically and mentally on the field. I can't wait to see what they're going to do in 2023."

Time will tell how the room shakes out, particularly given the fact Shafer teaches all three positions (corner, nickel and safety) to his DBs, giving him and his staff more options on Saturdays. But plays like Shellman's one handed interception in the endzone in the final practice hint at the potential beginning to shine through for some folks that have needed time to develop in Murfreesboro.

Sam Brumfield is going to be a problem for opposing offenses

Northwest Mississippi CC transfer Sam Brumfield knew he was going to get reps when he signed with MTSU, Shafer said. With Devyn Curtis and Johnathan Butler both out this spring, the Blue Raiders needed someone to step in at middle linebacker in their absence. And the Pearl, Miss. native appears to have taken the chance and run with it after 15 practices.

"He's a vocal leader," Ross said of Brumfield. "That's what you need at linebacker, somebody that's vocal and will get everybody lined up. He can really help our defense."

One of just three JuCo players with at least 100 tackles last season, Brumfield like NW to a 9-3 record while leading the team with 115 tackles, including 13 TFLs, six sacks, five hurries, and two forced fumbles.

The physical talent was always apparent, but Shafer has enjoyed learning how much of a student, both of the game and in the more traditional classroom, Brumfield is through the spring.

"The thing I love about Sam is No. 1, he's got straight-As going in school," Shafer said. "No. 2, he studies football the way you're supposed to do. And No. 3, he doesn't make the same mistake twice. He'll make a mistake, you'll come back the next day and all of sudden it's gone."

Curtis and Butler, of course, have both shown the ability to be good MIKE linebackers in Shafer's scheme. But Brumfield is quickly making himself a player that cannot be on the sideline for MTSU's defense to reach its potential.

How will all three middle linebackers fit together alongside the combination of fast linebackers on the outside MTSU fans saw last season, like Jalen Rayam, Jalen Davis, Parker Hughes and Raquon Hartley? It's far too early to tell. But I think it's a good problem to have such a tough decision to make heading into the summer.