Spring Ball Roster released.

[UTEPDefense]

UTEP football released their Spring Roster today and I can not locate any major player defections outside of Kevin Dove(which we already knew about). Dimel mentioned that there had been some player movement which allowed us to sign so many players on signing day, but at first glance I don't see any major/noticeable losses. I also see a good retention of some of our top younger players(Dunn, Sullivan, Pickney, Simpson, Mascorro). UTEP may have just set some kind of record for player retention through a coaching change.....hopefully that ends up being a good thing.

Greg Long and Alan Busey both look like they got last year back through redshirt(I am high on both of those guys if healthy). Wadley and Van Hook are now Juniors thus they didn't get a redshirt year despite their limited action. Richardson is back on the roster. And somehow Luke Elsner is still listed as a Senior.

http://utepathletics.com/roster.aspx?path=football

 

[miner1liner]

UTEP football released their Spring Roster today and I can not locate any major player defections outside of Kevin Dove(which we already knew about). Dimel mentioned that there had been some player movement which allowed us to sign so many players on signing day, but at first glance I don't see any major/noticeable losses. I also see a good retention of some of our top younger players(Dunn, Sullivan, Pickney, Simpson, Mascorro). UTEP may have just set some kind of record for player retention through a coaching change.....hopefully that ends up being a good thing.

Greg Long and Alan Busey both look like they got last year back through redshirt(I am high on both of those guys if healthy). Wadley and Van Hook are now Juniors thus they didn't get a redshirt year despite their limited action. Richardson is back on the roster. And somehow Luke Elsner is still listed as a Senior.

http://utepathletics.com/roster.aspx?path=football

What's the scoop on Winston Dimel? Is he is or is he ain't.

 

[jq_miner]

Excited about the talent left on Dline. Simpson, Mascorro, and Sullivan if coached up could be the best lineman we’ve had in awhile. The talent is there with Kugs guys just need coaching.

 

[Roy_Bigwood_05]

I was thinking that Erik Brown kid was a grad transfer, glad he's got another year, came on late was a surprising addition who took over Sinegal's snaps. Interesting to see how that kid can develop with a full spring, and fall. Could be our best wideout.

 

[Roy_Bigwood_05]

Also....a sneaky prospect I seen on the roster who could surprise folks.

Joseph Paz from Canutillo.... has great ball skills, and is very athletic can play either free safety or wideout, def a walk on and a long shot for a depth chart spot in 2018 but a name to watch in the spring if anyone catches a practice or the spring game.

Saw this game in person, he was the best player on the field that night and Deion Hankins, and Josh Wells were on the same field....

 

[UTEPMiners8106]

I would think there is going to be some more roster movement once Spring Ball is over. That is just my opinion, the staff will have had a couple of weeks of working with these kids and I’m sure a couple of them will get the good ol’ “It’s not you, it’s me.” Speech as they’re leaving to a smaller college to go play.

 

[Roy_Bigwood_05]

I would think there is going to be some more roster movement once Spring Ball is over. That is just my opinion, the staff will have had a couple of weeks of working with these kids and I’m sure a couple of them will get the good ol’ “It’s not you, it’s me.” Speech as they’re leaving to a smaller college to go play.

100% agree. Spring will give the coaches a chance to see what they can try and grab in the grad transfer market this summer.

 

[Minerforlife]

I would think there is going to be some more roster movement once Spring Ball is over. That is just my opinion, the staff will have had a couple of weeks of working with these kids and I’m sure a couple of them will get the good ol’ “It’s not you, it’s me.” Speech as they’re leaving to a smaller college to go play.

I doubt it. If you're going to get rid of players you do it before spring ball not after. There just aren't that many late qualifiers and overlooked kids you can get in May. Dimel liked the talent on the roster. He had researched the roster before he accepted the job he was very happy with the talent. Overall the talent is pretty good especially on the defensive side of the ball. There were two glaring weaknesses qb and reciever the staff has tried to sure those spots up with JUCOS. Going into to spring I will be focused on two posistions, qb and TE. JUCOS are always a crapshoot. I will be interested to see how Locksley looks. Metz is still on the roster it's good to have somebody with experience on the roster. Fernandez has always intrigued me, and Hawkins is good prospect. I'm confident Locksley or Metz can get it done this year. I also feel confident Fernadez of Hawkins can be the qb of the future. The posistion I question is tight end.I don't see a lot from the hold overs and they didn't do anything to shore up the position. There must be a couple of guys they like at tight end.

 

[UTEPMiners8106]

You can’t take everything the coach says at face value. He can say he likes the talent all he wants but the rubber is going to hit the road come spring ball. He hasn’t seen any of these kids play in person so you can’t say that until there is a first hand evaluation of talent. If nothing changes from here to the fall UTEP will have 6 QBs on the roster (Torrez, Metz, Fernandez, Brownholtz, Locksley and Hawkins) along with 2 kickers and 2 punters. No way in hell that happens. So you know players will be gone come the fall. And really it’s probably not so much about finding late qualifiers as much as it is about freeing up roster spots for recrtuiting as well.
Is it worth carrying some bum on scholarship who will never see the field barring an act of God when you can just get him out of here (nicely mind you) and you can use that scholarship next year?

 

[Minerforlife]

You can’t take everything the coach says at face value. He can say he likes the talent all he wants but the rubber is going to hit the road come spring ball. He hasn’t seen any of these kids play in person so you can’t say that until there is a first hand evaluation of talent. If nothing changes from here to the fall UTEP will have 6 QBs on the roster (Torrez, Metz, Fernandez, Brownholtz, Locksley and Hawkins) along with 2 kickers and 2 punters. No way in hell that happens. So you know players will be gone come the fall. And really it’s probably not so much about finding late qualifiers as much as it is about freeing up roster spots for recrtuiting as well.
Is it worth carrying some bum on scholarship who will never see the field barring an act of God when you can just get him out of here (nicely mind you) and you can use that scholarship next year?

I understand that. I listed the four qbs I expect to see on the roster come fall. There will be some normal attrition but I don't think you'll see a lot of turnover. We'll see though.

 

[FiliUTEP]

where all the Samoan football players come from? I like that UTEP has started getting those players. Did Kugler recruit them?

 

[UTEPDefense]

I was thinking that Erik Brown kid was a grad transfer, glad he's got another year, came on late was a surprising addition who took over Sinegal's snaps. Interesting to see how that kid can develop with a full spring, and fall. Could be our best wideout.

Good catch! Erik Brown was a 4 star recruit with an offer from Notre Dame coming out of high school. He also took an official visit to Notre Dame as well, so there was legit interest. He initially committed to Washington, then decommitted and went to Cal. I remember hearing about him being a JC guy who had started at Cal, when he first arrived here, but I didn’t realize the prior 4 star high school history. Practically every Pac12 school offered him. He also had offers from good academic schools like Cal, Vanderbilt, and Notre Dame, so I would assume that he was a good student as well.

https://247sports.com/Recruitment/Erik-Brown-31224/RecruitInterests

When he joined UTEP so late, I assumed he was just a one year Grad Transfer as well. I’m not sure why this wasn’t bigger news at the time that he arrived, but Erik Brown ended up being Kugler’s highest ranked recruit that he ever brought in and I don’t think that anybody ever knew it. Brown(4 stars) ranked even higher than Jameill Showers(3 stars) coming out of high school.

 

[utep2step]

I doubt it. If you're going to get rid of players you do it before spring ball not after. There just aren't that many late qualifiers and overlooked kids you can get in May. Dimel liked the talent on the roster. He had researched the roster before he accepted the job he was very happy with the talent. Overall the talent is pretty good especially on the defensive side of the ball. There were two glaring weaknesses qb and reciever the staff has tried to sure those spots up with JUCOS. Going into to spring I will be focused on two posistions, qb and TE. JUCOS are always a crapshoot. I will be interested to see how Locksley looks. Metz is still on the roster it's good to have somebody with experience on the roster. Fernandez has always intrigued me, and Hawkins is good prospect. I'm confident Locksley or Metz can get it done this year. I also feel confident Fernadez of Hawkins can be the qb of the future. The posistion I question is tight end.I don't see a lot from the hold overs and they didn't do anything to shore up the position. There must be a couple of guys they like at tight end.

I totally agree. I am still high on Metz.

 

[UTEPMiners8106]

I totally agree. I am still high on Metz.

I like Metz. The kid he goes 100% and you can’t say he doesn’t lay it all out threre. But how many concussions has he had? I am guessing here but it’s 3 or 4? As of right now, sight unseen you would think he is the top choice for the backup spot. But if Locksley goes down or if he underperforms I would be scared leaning on Metz for an extended amount of time.

 

[JCorona]

What's the scoop on Winston Dimel? Is he is or is he ain't.

Nothing yet.

 

[JCorona]