3 Red Shirt Freshman to watch this Spring

Spring practice is almost here and with the weather warming up today it is about time to look forward to the pads being put on. The last few years we've been able to build up more depth on our roster and there will be a lot of competition this spring for starting spots. Here are 3 freshman who red shirted this past season who I think you should keep an eye on who should hopefully make an impact on the field next season.

1. Duwyce Wilson- The 6'3 receiver has good size, hands and speed for a receiver. He was the highest rated recruit in last years class but because we had a lot of depth at receiver it made sense to red shirt him. We return all of our receivers next season (except for Mitch Evans moving to safety) so it will still be difficult for him to get on the field easily, but he is just to talented to not see playing time this season. It will be some tough competition but I think Duwyce will emerge behind Tandon Doss and Demarlo Belcher as one of the top receivers next season.

2. Ed Wright-Baker- Ed is a 6'2 205 lb athletic quarterback. Because Mitch Evans is moving to safety, this will be a perfect opportunity for Ed to see some time in the "wildcat" formation. He is very athletic and can beat you with his legs but also has a strong arm. Ed and Dusty Kiel will likely be competing for the starting QB job after Chappell graduates, but this could be a good opportunity for him to get some experience and add another threat into the offense with both his running and throwing ability. If Ed does a good job it will also take some pressure off of Chappell next season.

3. Mitch Ewald- Mitch was the 3rd highest rated kicker coming out of high school. In fall camp he unfortunately had an injury to his obliques. This allowed Nick Freeland to win the starting kicking job. By the time he was healthy again it was too late in the season to burn his red shirt. Mitch has a powerful leg and will have a shot to get the starting job this spring. When all said and done, I believe Mitch will be the starting kicker and will provide some stability to the kicking game.

Other notables I would like to include are corner back Lawrence Barnett, safety Nick Zachery, and linebackers Dimitrius Carr-Watson and Damon Sims. The linebacker, safety, and corner positions will all be up for competition this spring to see who gets the starting job.
Tyler Replogle and JUCO transfer Jeff Thomas will probably lock up two of the linebacker starting spots. The other spot will likely be a competition between Damon Sims, Dimitrius Carr-Watson and Chad Sherer.
The safety spot will be an open competition between Mitch Evans, Jerimy Finch, Chris Adkins, Nick Zachery and many of the freshman coming in.
Andre Kates will likely lock up one of the corner spots and Yatta Kiles, Donnell Jones, Richard Council, Adrian Burks, Lawrence Barnett and others will likely compete for the other corner spot. The corner spot has a lot of depth going into the spring but I believe Lawrence Barnett is a guy that you should keep your eye on down the road for the hoosiers.