Shields reports Monday, already up to 220

Can the start of preseason practice be just two days away? Monday afternoon at 4, USF opens the first of 25 practices before regular game-week preparation begins the week of Aug. 25. The Bulls actually only have two-a-day practices on seven days, with Sundays off each week. Anyway, we'll have tons from practices, and I wanted to clear out some news and links before we're caught up in those ...

-- Freshman tight end Andreas Shields, the Wharton graduate who had been headed for a grayshirt (deferred enrollment until January), will report with the rest of the team Monday and will be part of this year's recruiting class.

"I'm a player, so I want to play football. I didn't want to watch," said Shields, who had started summer classes with his teammates last month and has put his focus in the weight room.

Shields said he will redshirt this fall but has already made good progress in adding weight to his frame. He came to USF at about 205 pounds and is now at 220.

"Hopefully, by January, I can be up around 240," said Shields, who has two high school teammates on USF's roster in running back Joel Miller and linebacker LaDre Watkins, both walk-ons.

-- While Shields will be there, freshman linebacker Quavon Taylor has been excused to go back home to Miami to deal with some personal issues. It's nothing related to USF, but he's likely to be absent at least the first week of drills. Taylor and the other two freshman linebackers, Mike Lanaris and Armando Sanchez, were likely headed to redshirts anyway. Taylor has the kind of speed and hitting that could make him valuable on special teams, but obviously he has more pressing matters to deal with first.

-- The last two recruits to finish up their academic requirements, defensive end David Bedford and cornerback Theo Wilson, may miss a few days at the start of camp as the logistics of their academic clearance is finalized. Bedford's last class here in Tampa has to go back to his junior college in Kansas, then back to USF to get i's dotted and t's crossed.

-- NFL updates! The Longmont Times Call writes about former USF running back Andre Hall, who is part of a wide-open competition with the Denver Broncos, with no jobs guaranteed. The Dallas Cowboys' official site writes about how cornerback Mike Jenkins is working with the first team while veteran Terence Newman recovers from an injury. And not only did former USF receiver Huey Whittaker earn first-team All-Arena honors, he signed a new three-year deal with the Utah Blaze.

-- The Palm Beach Post's Jorge Milian offers his preseason top 10, and not only is USF in there, the Bulls are No. 6. When folks write that 18 starters return, it's really not true, unless they're counting kickers and specialists and such.

-- Dawgsports.com picks four games in all of college football that will get lots of hype but disappoint, and USF-Kansas is one of them, with the thought that the Bulls should win easily.

-- I like malapropisms as much as anyone, so that's the real reason I link to a Pensacola News Journal story that writes about how not funding college football would "kill the egg that laid the golden goose." You can argue which came first, but I think it's clear which laid which ...

Comments

[what about this....]

greg, i think the point is we've got legitimately 17 starters returning. From a reporting standpoint that's how it is, and really doesn't need to be twisted any way- you are right on the mark. The rest is semantics clearly but it bodes well for USF the fact they have so many players coming back that have legit starting experience. Especially since we've seen to win a conference championship depth is going to be important.

The 22 number is really only something for USF fans to talk about because it will help through the course of the season. I was just throwing it out as food for thought more than anything else.

[702JV]

The Denver newspapers have been raving about Ryan Torain the last few weeks. I hope Hall can beat him out.

[G.A.]

Let's break it down:

First offense:

Every-game starters (or nearly)
1. Matt Grothe
2. Ben Williams
3. Cedric Hill
4. Marcus Edwards
5. Jake Griffin
6. Ryan Schmidt
7. Zach Hermann
8. Marc Dile

Part-time starters
9. Taurus Johnson (5)
10. Carlton Mitchell (5)
11. Ben Busbee (4)
12. Mike Ford (4)
13. Jessie Hester (3)

Defense:
Every-game starters
1. George Selvie
2. Aaron Harris
3. Tyrone McKenzie
4. Brouce Mompremier
5. Carlton Williams
6. Nate Allen
Part-time, but regular starters
7. Jarriett Buie (9)

(five regular every-week starters -- Walker, Clebert, Jenkins, T. Williams, Moffitt -- are gone)

So you have 15 starters who started six games (half the season) or more ... To get to 18, you have to include Ford, Johnson and Mitchell ... you could argue they finished the year as starters, yes. But that means you'd be claiming 11 offensive starters back, and you can't really do that.

[JR]

Horrible news about Quavon Taylor. We really need that guy to pull through for us. He can be a huge help to this football team very fast.

[what about this....]

Another way to look at it, is you could make an argument that 22 players return who have started at least two games.
Offensively- Huners, Hermann, Griffin, Dile, Schmidt, Ced Hill, Ford, Williams, Taurus Johnson, Ben Busbee, Carlton Mitchell, Marcus Edwards, Bogans, Grothe.

Defensively- Harris, Selvie, Buie, McKenzie, Mompremier, Williams, Verpaele, Allen.

Another three return that have started at least one game:
Hester, Robinson, Tyler Roberts.

Obviously we also return all the kickers too.

Just something to think about.

[Mike Lakeland]

I am in Perrysburg, OH for my father-in-law's retirement this weekend. I left on Thursday night and this was my first chance to check up on everything.

21st in the Coaches Poll
Bedford is a Bull
Hendrick is not cleared yet
NFL news

Man, I had better not take anymore 2-day breaks from this blog until the season is over!!!

Greg, thanks again for blogging during a time that you shouldn't have to. You're pure class, and an asset to the St. Pete Times. If I ever do meet you IRL, I owe you a beer/champagne cooler/soda pop. What's your poison?

[bullblood]

You could actually argue that we are returning 18 starters without making much of a stretch. The clear starters we are losing include trae, jenkins, and moffitt. Walker missed several games and was generally considered a starter, but someone had to "start" during his absences. Same for Clebert on the DL. Amarri Jackson was probably considered a "starter" last season, but got about as much PT as the other 6-7 WRs.

The way I see it: there will be 11 guys on offense who started at some point last season. There will be 7-8 guys on defense who started at least one game last year. All major players in STs are also returning.

[GrowlerBull]

More good Andre Hall linkage:
http://www.milehighreport.com/2008/7/12/568593/2007-best-and-worst-bronco