Wyoming Football 2014 Spring Wrap Up

Strengths & Question Marks

Coming out of spring, four main areas stood out in terms of strengths: Running back, receivers, defensive line and cornerbacks.

Wyoming returns its leading rusher from last season — junior Shaun Wick — who had 979 yards and nine touchdowns last season. Redshirt sophomore D.J. May also returns after missing last season due to a pectoral muscle injury. May led the team in rushing as a true freshman in 2012. There also figures to be solid depth behind those two guys.

The Cowboys return three of their top four wide receivers from last season, led by senior Dominic Rufran (75 catches, 960 yards, eight touchdowns). Wyoming makes the transition from a spread to pro-style offense so there may not be as much production as in the past, but the new coaching staff did not sign a wide receiver in its first recruiting class based on the personnel and depth currently in the program.

Even though the defense was poor last season (482 yards, 220.2 rushing yards and 36.7 points per game), the defensive line stood out in the spring, led by junior Eddie Yarbrough and senior Sonny Puletasi at defensive ends, and senior Patrick Mertens at defensive tackle. Yarbrough was a first team All-Mountain West performer last season). Cornerback looks to have a solid two-deep roster across the board, led by seniors Blair Burns and DeAndre Jones.

The biggest question mark is at quarterback. Wyoming must replace its top two guys: Brett Smith, who left after his junior season and declared for the NFL Draft, and redshirt sophomore Jason Thompson, who transferred to Utah. Redshirt senior Colby Kirkegaard came out of spring as the starter. He is in his fourth year in the program and has the most experience of anyone on the roster having played in seven games and started one — albeit with limited success. Sophomore Tom Thornton had a good spring and is the No. 2 guy heading into fall camp, and senior Sam Stratton, who has not played quarterback since high school, also is in the mix.

The transition from the spread to pro-style on offense and going from mostly at 3-4 defense the last five years to a 4-3. There is depth issues along most of the areas on defense (other than cornerback), and there is a completely new way of doing things across the board.

Wyoming WR Dominic Rufran

Breakout Players

Yarbrough is poised to have another big year after leading the team last season in sacks and tackles for loss. Puletasi could as well. May and Wick could be one of the better 1-2 running back duos in the Mountain West this season. Burns is looking to get back to the form that earned him Freshman All-America honors in 2011.

Position Grades

QB — D (Based on overall experience. There simply isn’t a lot to go on right now)

RB — A (Easily the strongest part of the offense — and the team)

WR — B (Lots of production back here. Not a lot of true “burners” in terms of speed)

OL — C (Strong possibility that all five starters in 2014 will have prior starting experience, but the move from a spread to a pro-style may be toughest on these guys)

DL — B (Starting four are solid, depth is an issue)

LB — C (Again, depth is an issue here)

CB — B (Ability here where Wyoming could take more chances defensively, and the team will run a Tampa 2 defense)

S — C (Needs to develop more depth)

Special teams: B (Wyoming returns its starting kicker, punter and long snapper so this should be a solid area)

2014 Expectations

With a completely new way of doing things, a tough schedule (games at Oregon and Michigan State in September) and a big question mark at quarterback, wins could be tough to come by in coach Craig Bohl’s first season. Five wins in 2014 would be a good first step for this program moving forward.

Robert Gagliardi of WyoSports provided the information for our Wyoming Football 2014 Spring Wrap Up. For more Wyoming football information, commentary and analysis, you can follow Robert on Twitter @rpgagliardi and @wyosports.