Following the conclusion of spring practice, Lumberjack Insider Cody Bashore takes a look at some of the positional battles for NAU Football heading into the fall.
Among the key offensive needs are a new No. 1 receiver, a lead running back and at least two new starting lineman. On the defensive side, replacing three All-Big Sky honorees in the secondary will be the biggest challenge ahead of 2019.
QUARTERBACK: While
Case Cookus' return for his senior year solidifies Northern Arizona's starting quarterback position, who slots in behind him on the depth chart remains wide open. Currently four quarterbacks are on the roster, before two true freshmen arrive in the fall.
Connor Leavens and
Gino Campiotti each saw sparse time with Cookus out last year while
Heath Beemiller spent his first season running the scout team offense. When both Cookus and
Daniel Bridge-Gadd went down, receiver
Brandon Porter ended up taking over the quarterback job and completed 10 of 30 passes during the final three games of the year.
A new option is Oklahoma State transfer Keondre Wudtee, a former three-star recruit, who will arrive in Flagstaff with two years of eligibility remaining. Playing in four games in his first two collegiate seasons, Wudtee completed 3 of 8 passes for 33 yards and rushed for 110 yards on 15 attempts.
Should Cookus miss any time again, Campiotti's 47 passes in three appearances leave him as the most experienced at the position behind the Lumberjacks' starter. Porter threw just 30 passes in three games at the position, primarily serving as a runner while under center. The receiver recorded 52 carries for 316 yards in the final three games of the season.
(Announced 2019 recruiting class signees: Dawson McPeak, Jeff Widener)
RUNNING BACK: Northern Arizona totaled 433 carries in its 10 games last season with a pair of running backs leading the way by splitting carries almost equally. With
Cory Young's team-leading 103 carries, 470 yards and six touchdowns leading Northern Arizona last year, the Lumberjacks will have a hole to fill at the position.
Senior
Joe Logan will likely see the majority of work at running back, at least early in the 2019 season. Running for 449 yards and five touchdowns on 93 carries last year, Logan enters his senior season with 344 carries, 1,813 yards and 16 touchdowns in his Lumberjack career.
Bridge-Gadd's posted another 63 carries last season, with Northern Arizona's rushing offense relying on players other than running backs often during the final stretch of the 2018 campaign. Between Bridge-Gadd and Porter's attempts while playing quarterback, coupled with other plays to receivers during the year, just 63 percent of the Lumberjacks' rushing attempts came from running backs last year. In 2017, the 74.5 percent of the team's carries came from running backs and 2016's total was 83 percent.
Needing to fill nearly 40percent of the team's attempts from last year, in addition to the expected increase in rushes from running backs rather than quarterbacks, an easy breakout candidate is redshirt freshman
Jacob Mpungi. Playing in four games and carrying the ball in three last year, Mpungi showed his promise in quick appearances last year.
Breaking out for a nine-carry, 98-yard game against Cal Poly in the Walkup Skydome last October, Mpungi finished his first collegiate season with 138 yards on 17 carries, six of which went for first downs.
Junior
Aramis Aldredge also produced out of the backfield when given the opportunity in 2018, rushing for at least 40 yards in four games while reaching double-digit carries in just one contest. Carrying the ball just 39 times in 2018 and 51, Aldredge also proved to be an asset receiving out of the backfield catching 14 passes for 100 yards, including a 30-yard score from receiver
Justis Stokes against Weber State.
Additionally,
Nate Stinson enters his junior season after missing multiple games during his first three years with Northern Arizona. An injury in his career debut in 2016 resulted in a redshirt year for Stinson before the running back played in eight games in 2017. Playing in just the first three games of the 2018 season, Stinson's career totals include 45 carries for 169 yards and 20 catches for 192 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown reception against Eastern Washington this past season.
(Announced 2019 recruiting class signee: George Romero-Robinson)
RECEIVERS: No position on Northern Arizona's roster enters with a bigger question mark than the Lumberjacks' receiving core. The departure of
Emmanuel Butler alone costs the Lumberjacks 20 percent of their receptions, 33 percent of their yards and 43 percent of the receiving touchdowns.
While the team's other losses, in the form of Young and top tight end
Jonathan Baldwin, only leave behind another 21 catches, 121 yards and two touchdowns from last year, Northern Arizona's offense will see a new look in 2019.
Entering his junior season,
Chancellor Brewington will be relied on for help outside after seeing a dip in his numbers as a sophomore. Catching 31 passes for 396 yards and two touchdowns from Cookus as a true freshman, the hectic situation under center led to Brewington's numbers falling to 23 catches, 246 yards and one touchdown.
Similarly, tight end
Matthew Kempton will be one of the team's primary targets after proving to be a reliable red zone target in the first two years of his career. Combing for 27 catches, 278 yards and five touchdowns in his first two years, all five of Kempton's scores have come from 20 yards out or less.
Porter, another member of the same recruiting class, started the 2018 season off with 23 catches for 285 yards in the first six games of the year. Translated out across a typical 11-game season, Porter would have finished with 42 catches and 522 yards, roughly the same totals Northern Arizona's No. 2 and No. 3 receivers have in recent years. However, Porter's move to quarterback interrupted his redshirt-freshman season at the position and he finished at 28 catches for 325 yards and just one touchdown.
Like Brewington,
Justis Stokes enters his junior year for the Lumberjacks after a down year in 2018. Catching 17 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown as a freshman, Stokes's passing totals surpassed his receiving in 2019. The junior's a pair of touchdown throws on trick plays totaled 73 yards, surpassed his two receptions for 46 yards last season. Another option for the Lumberjacks appears to be
Stacy Chukwumezie, who caught just two passes as well in 2018 after transferring in from Cerritos College in California and suffering an early season injury.
(Announced 2019 recruiting class signees at WR: Hendrix Johnson, Terrell Hayward, Leon Morgan)
(Announced 2019 recruiting class signee at TE: Alishawuan Taylor)
OFFENSIVE LINE: Three starters from Northern Arizona's 2018 offensive line return, led by
Malik Noshi who started 21 of the team's past 22 games. An All-Big Sky third team selection, Noshi slotted in at left guard last season with the rest of Northern Arizona's interior also set to return in 2019. Starting all 10 games as sophomores in 2018, center
Chase Laurita and right guard
Luke Rudolph return as top options available for the line in front of Cookus.
Josh Sparks, the lone starter at left tackle last season, and
Jamison Pruitt, who started nine of 10 games at right tackle, will need to be replaced in 2019.
The only other returning offensive lineman to start a game last season is
JaSean Harrison, who filled in at left guard for Noshi against Eastern Washington and played in eight games total.
Jonas Leader, a reserve on the offensive line who was listed as a backup at left tackle, played in eight games last season.
While not a returning starter from last season, Northern Arizona does get back a former starter who has played in more games than all other lineman besides Noshi combined. Starting 11 games at right tackle in 2016 and 12 at left tackle in 2017,
Cole Habib returns from an ACL tear suffered last spring.
(Announced 2019 recruiting class signees: Noah Barta, Caden Wechsler, Clayton Ingram, Angel Flores, Shane Semeit)
FRONT SEVEN: The introduction of a new defense, with Northern Arizona moving to a 3-4 from the base 4-2 nickel it ran in past seasons, the team's returners up front will all play slightly different roles.
Nearly all of the Lumberjacks 2018 starters along the defensive line return in 2019.
Carson Taylor, who started nine games, and
Chauntez Thomas, a five-game starter, each finished among the team's top four leaders in tackles for loss, sacks and quarterback hurries.
Brandon Lawless, who appeared in eight games, and
Chris Jules, a three-game starter, also rotated at the two end spots and should see time in 2019.
At times in 2018, Northern Arizona dropped its ends off the line of scrimmage and into coverage at the snap, with a linebacker rushing in their place. Between his coverage and tipped passes at the line, Taylor picked off a ball on a tipped pass last season while also breaking up three total.
Northern Arizona's most productive defensive lineman came in the interior, with
Aaron Andrews and
Jalen Goss tying for the team's lead in tackles for loss at 10 and aiding the team in ranking top 35 in the nation in the category. Andrews started all 10 of Northern Arizona's games, nine at tackle and one at end, and led the Lumberjacks with four sacks while earning All-Big Sky honorable mention. Goss earned third-team All-Big Sky honors and enters his senior season with 30 games played in his career.
A few of the moves around the new formation included Taylor and Jules at outside linebacker during spring practice, with Lawless, Andres and
Seth Long at defensive end. Washington State transfer
Jonathan Lolohea and returner
Gregory Jordan spent time in the middle of the defensive line
Finishing second on the team with 73 tackles in 10 starts,
Tristen Vance enters his final season with 33 career games played. A leading candidate to play alongside Vance in the middle of Northern Arizona's defense is the returning
Taylor Powell, who missed seven games due to injury last season.
Taylor recorded two tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks despite leaving early on in Northern Arizona's third game of the year. An All-Big Sky honorable mention in 2017, Powell played 23 games in the first two years of his career. Behind the two seniors, Northern Arizona will need to find another rotational linebacker after the graduation of
Markquise Simmons and
Jake Casteel.
Additionally,
Brandon Worthy started six games at nickelback for Northern Arizona in 2018 and will move to outside linebacker. Last season, Worthy finished sixth on the Lumberjacks with 4.5 tackles for loss, tied for third with five pass breakups, fourth in quarterback hurries and tied for first in forced fumbles.
Sherrod Paige, Northern Arizona's other nickelback, also moved to outside linebacker with Worthy.
Based on the team's play during spring practice, Ball and defensive coordinator
Jerry Partridge appear to be planning to play two different types of outside linebacker going forward. On one side, the position will be manned by a defensive end type while the other will be filled by defensive back types.
(Announced 2019 recruiting class signees at DL: Eloi Kwete,
Jonathan Lolohea, Mark Ho Ching)
(Announced 2019 recruiting class signees at LB: Amelec Juntunen, Jhasi Wilson,
Brooklyn Hardiman, Jay Tauanu'u, Andrew Blitzke)
SECONDARY: A starter in Northern Arizona's last 22 games, and 29 in his career,
Khalil Dorsey enters his senior season with All-Big Sky honors in each of his first three years. An honorable mention as a freshman, Dorsey moved to the second team as a sophomore before earning first-team honors in 2018.
After playing within one of Northern Arizona's most experienced and successful secondaries for the past two years, Dorsey will be surrounded by first-time starters in 2019.
Maurice Davison and
Kam'ron Johnson each started all 10 games last season while
Wes Sutton started all eight games he appeared in. With Davison, Johnson and Sutton combining for 33 starts in 2017 as well, few other Lumberjacks enter 2019 with significant experience.
Elijah Orr and
Anthony Sweeney played behind Johnson and Sutton at safety, with the latter seeing time at nickel and in Northern Arizona's three-safety defense as the year went on.
Marcel Myers, an All-Big Sky honorable mention as a special teams player, and
Jamarri Jackson each played 10 games in the rotation at corner, though Jackson is currently listed as a safety.
Jalen Cook also played in 10 games for the Lumberjacks last season, finishing with 14 tackles.
(Announced 2019 recruiting class signees at DB: Rascheed Sterling, Daego Albert, Morgan Vest, Matty Horne)
SPECIAL TEAMS: Ranking third in the nation in punting average and third team All-Big Sky honors, punter
DJ Arnson leads a group of junior returners on the Lumberjacks' special teams. Arnson dropped 15 of his 54 punts inside opponents' 20-yard lines and sent 16 of them longer than 50 yards.
Luis Aguilar took over place kicking duties midway through the 2019 season and
Justin Hathoot served as the team's long snapper. Additionally,
Cameron Horsting worked kickoffs at times during the season.
Northern Arizona's roster does now include three punters, with
Riley Pagel added to the roster with Arnson and Horsting. Tony DeCozio joins Aguilar on the roster as kickers and at long snapper,
Ryan Warren is listed along with Hathoot.
