Ready or not, "spring" football is here

Spring has sprung today in Evanston. Well, spring football has anyway.

So let’s get a couple things about these practices out of the way right off the bat.

First of all, calling these workouts “spring” football is absurd. Feb. 23 isn’t anyone’s idea of spring, even if temperatures are relatively mild in Chicago. Baseball may call it spring straining, but they hold their camps in Arizona and Florida, where the only two seasons are hot and unbearable. This is Big Ten country, where snow is expected on Wednesday and flowers won’t be brave enough to poke their heads out for a few months.

Secondly, we are going to actually “see” very little of the Wildcats this spring. Once again, Northwestern’s practices will be closed to the media (and public). Just two of the Wildcats’ 15 spring practices will be open: the final two Saturdays, on April 2 and April 9. So everything we learn about the 2016 Wildcats will be learned through what coaches and players have to say on Tuesdays, when they will be made available to the media after practice.

But even if we can’t really see any progress being made, here are two of the biggest questions looming this spring for the offense and defense.

This is the six-ton elephant in the room. Northwestern’s rushing offense ranked fourth in the Big Ten in 2015, averaging 188.5 yards per game. Justin Jackson was second in the conference with 109.1 yards per contest and got the ball more than all but two other backs in the country (Christian McCaffrey and Derrick Henry). Meanwhile, the passing game could barely get out of its own way, ranking dead-last in the conference and 119th in the nation at just 140.5 yards per game.

So concerns abound: Will quarterback Clayton Thorson take the next step in his development? Will wide receivers finally get some separation and beat man-to-man coverage? Will the passing game at least force defenses to be honest?

Former Northwestern quarterback C.J. Bacher told WildcatReport that the problems in the passing game last year were about a 50-50 split between the quarterback and receivers. Receivers just flat-out couldn’t get open; when they did, Thorson didn’t always deliver the ball on time and accurately.

Bacher, who still holds Northwestern’s single-season passing record of 3,656 yards -- or 2,134 more than Thorson threw for last season -- thinks that while the problem is a big one, the remedy is a simple one: practice. He says that Thorson and his wide receivers need rep after rep after rep so that they get their timing down and know each other well enough that Thorson knows when and how to deliver the ball out of the break for each receiver, and he trusts that they will be where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there.

It sounds easy enough, but there’s no real shortcut for time and experience.

Thorson, for his part, needs to develop consistency. He would put a tough throw right on the money on one play and then miss badly on a relatively easy one on the next. He also has to work on his pocket presence, getting rid of the football quicker and becoming more of a threat as a runner. Thorson is not particularly elusive but he is fast, and he needs to work on the option, specifically, to make teams honor him as a runner.

The news that Northwestern lost three of its top four receivers from last year (Christian Jones, Mike McHugh and Miles Shuler) may not be so bad because the play of the unit as a whole was a major disappointment for the second straight year. So the Wildcats will have to get it done with Austin Carr (a walkon whose 302 receiving yards led the wideouts) and a combination of new wideouts, running backs and superbacks.

The wide receivers that will have to step up this spring include freshmen Flynn Nagel, who played in six games before an injury ended his season, and Jelani Roberts, who played in 12. Together, they only had 12 catches, but the Wildcats could certainly use their speed in the slot. So eyes -- coaches’ eyes, not ours -- will be on redshirt freshmen Charlie Fessler and Cameron Green, as well as older guys who haven’t yet produced much, like Andrew Scanlan and Macan Wilson. Northwestern could once plug-and-play with new faces every season at the receiver position and still get results. That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

There will be more help from other places, of course. Running backs Jackson and Solomon Vault combined for 32 catches last season. The superbacks will have to do without top pass-catcher Dan Vitale for the first time since 2011, but the dynamic Jayme Taylor returns after missing 2015 with an injury, and Garrett Dickerson, the Wildcats’ inline tight end, began making an impact as a receiver last season, catching 12 passes.

There are other questions on the offense. The offensive line, which allowed the third-most sacks in the Big Ten last season (29 in 13 games) has to replace Matt Frazier at guard and get better play out of its tackles. Redshirt freshman Blake Hance looked promising at left tackle in the last seven games last season, and Tommy Doles may be ready to push Eric Olson for the starting spot on the right side. We may also learn if redshirt freshman Andrew Otterman, Adam Lemke-Bell and Jared Thomas are ready to contribute.

Northwestern’s defense outplayed just about everyone’s expectations and carried the team, but there are questions to be answered on that side of the ball as well. The foremost among them is how the Wildcats will replace defensive ends Deonte Gibson and Dean Lowry.

Lowry was a second-team All-Big Ten selection after racking up 13.5 tackles for loss, to go along with 52 tackles and three sacks. Gibson, who led the team with nine sacks, was a third-team All-Big Ten media pick and an honorable mention by the coaches.

So who will replace them? Sophomore Xavier Washington, who has been a contributor from his first game as a true freshman in 2014, has the inside track at one spot. What remains to be seen is whether redshirt senior Ifeadi Odenigbo is ready to be an every-down player or continue in his role as a pass-rushing specialist. At 250 pounds, with more speed than strength, Odenigbo hasn’t yet shown the capacity to anchor down against the run.

Whether Odenigbo starts or not, however, two players who will need to step up are redshirt freshmen Joe Gaziano and Trent Goens. Reports out of practice last season were positive for both players.

There are other questions on defense, as well, but they pale in comparison to defensive end. The only starters the Wildcats lose in the back seven are linebacker Drew Smith, cornerback Nick VanHoose and safety Traveon Henry. They should be replaced by Jalen Prater, Keith Watkins and Kyle Queiro, respectively, players who have all started and played significant minutes for the Wildcats.

So these are the main things to watch this spring -- if you could watch them, that is.