Images courtesy of UConn Athletics

We got a chance to visit with the UConn Huskies on Saturday morning. Coming off of a 9-4 season and a win in the Fenway Bowl, there is a buzz surrounding the program. 

Jim Mora and his staff hope to build off the momentum they established last season and build a standard of consistent winning. The challenge this spring will be to find players who can step up and replace some key departures. 

The Huskies have plenty of depth and that depth was on displays on Saturday.

The emphasis was on situational football on Saturday so we got a good look at the Huskies in a team setting. 

Here are five observations from our spring visit with the Huskies.

Quarterbacks shine: I thought the quarterbacks had a good day. Joe Fagnano is back after being granted a seventh year of eligibility. I thought he threw the ball well. He was on time and in sync with the receivers. I thought the same thing with Nick Evers and Tucker McDonald. Both threw the ball well on the move. Cole Welliver was inconsistent at times but he looks bigger and the arm talent pops. I thought freshmen Ksaan Farrar looked good as well. He is a dynamic athlete who can extend plays . 

Offensive line looks deep: The offensive line is a focal point this spring with Chase Lundt, Valentin Senn and Chris Fortin all moving on. Luckily, the Huskies do return Ben Murawski, Carsten Casady and Wes Hoeh. Casady and Hoeh practiced and looked good. As did Toriyan Johnson and Notre Dame transfer Ty Chan. Danny Antolovich more than held his own at left tackle. Perhaps the most impressive thing about this group on Saturday was the holes they open in the run game. They were physical. Replacing multi year starters is not easy but the Huskies are well positioned to do it up front. 

Running back limitations: The Huskies only repped Victor Rosa and MJ Flowers on Saturday. Both looked fresh, especially Rosa who ran hard and caught the ball out of the backfield well. Cam Edwards is out this spring recovering from injury. Mel Brown did not practice so it created an opportunity for Flowers who runs hard, has some juke to him in space and can make plays as a receiver out of the backfield. 

Running the football is a always going to be a priority for the Huskies. Getting the running back healthy and ready for fall camp is vitally important.

Skill position depth: Like the offensive line, the wide receiver and tight end positions are deep as well. Skyler Bell is returning but the Huskies have a stable of receivers who can make plays. I thought Reymello Murphy, Teddy Williams, Jackson Harper, Shamar Porter and Jarvis Jones all looked good and proved that they can make plays in a variety of ways.

Same goes for the tight end position where Louis Hansen is primed for a big season. He looked good as a match up piece in the passing game. Alex Honig and Clemens Richter are the next in line but I thought John Bechtle had a good practice as a move tight end. 

Defense a work in progress but talented: Several familiar names like Pryce Yates, Jelani Stafford, Rante Jones, Malik Dixon-Williams and Tui Faumina-Brown need to be replaced but the Huskies have good depth and that depth showed up on Saturday. 

Starting up front with Matt Hoffman, Brady Fodor and Cooper Ackerman who all impressed. They along with Vincent Carroll-Jackson got consistent pressure on the quarterbacks. 

Linebackers Aaron Key and Bryun Parham both made plays throughout the practice. Both will play a lot this season in various packages. Their versatility will be key to this defense. They are great fits in Coach Brock’s defense.

The secondary has a lot of versatile talent starting with Lee Molette III, D’Mon Brinson, Chris Hudson and Cam Chadwick. I thought they all impressed. As did Devin Pringle and Penn State transfer Tyrece Mills who will give this group an enforcer at safety. 

UConn is at its best defensively when they have guys who can do multiple things on the back end. Mora and Brock have that with this group.