IS IT TOO EARLY TO TALK 2006???... (updated 1-10-2006) The Measuring Stick This article is assuming all roster players will return next season. The 2006 Bison have the potential to be much better than the 2005 version. So how's that gonna happen. After a little analysis of players available for 2006, this is my position by position comparison. Quarterback: Steve Walker returns with a year of starts under his belt. But again, his health is a concern... I'm not entirely convinced that Ryan Parsons (Ryan is a great athlete, I'm not questioning that) is the best backup. The spring and early fall play of Nick Mertens and Mitch Brecke will be vital to the Bison. Advantage 2006. Running Back: The entire crew returns, hopefully all healthy. If we see a whole season of the real Cinque Chapman, watch out. Advantage 2006. Fullback: The return of a healthy Tyler Roehl and the return of sophomore Tyler Jangula are just what the doctor ordered. Advantage 2006. Wide Receivers: The return of Travis White will make a huge difference. A year of experience for Jamar Champ, Nick Jackson and Kole Heckendorf will pay dividends. Potentially the biggest boost will be the appearance on the active roster of redshirt freshman Justin Cash. Advantage 2006. Tight End: The loss of AJ Cooper and Andy DelaBarre will be hard to overcome. It remains to be seen if Jeremiah Wurzbacher will be played at tight end or stay at just longsnapper. The only other tightends on the roster are redshirt freshmen Thor Brown and Jared Hines. The jury is still out for this position. Advantage 2005. Offensive line: The offensive line loses starters Hugh Medal and right tackle Tim Popowski. Medal will most likely be replaced by sophomore Zach Harrington who gained a lot of experience in 2005 and we think will grade out better than Medal. Popowski's replacement at this point will be Jerrod Wagner, who spelled him in 2005 every time he dinged his ankle. We're going out on a limb here and say that the offensive line of Safe, Tadisch, Harrington, Buckwalter, and Wagner will be better than the previous edition. Advantage 2006. Defensive line: This is a hard one to call. Alvin Robinson and Isaac Lavant were good but very undersized ends last season. Some people have said that Joe Lardinois is too small, but keep in mind that he is at least 15 lbs. heavier than Robinson and 25 lbs. bigger than Lavant. We think Lardinois will be a star. Justin Frick is back for his final season. He just keeps getting better and better. Mike Brown, NDSCS transfer, adds a bit of toughness and tenacity in the middle. If Casey Radtke continues to play defense he is no pushover, but if the defensive line comes together look for him to play tightend. The other NDSCS transfer is probably one of the keys to the 2006 defensive line. He is Christon Dallas. If he fits in and plays strong look for a starting line of Dallas, Brown, Frick and Lardinois. The wildcards in the defensive line mix are redshirt freshmen Demeatric Fowler and Mike Fairbairn, Who both have the potential to start if any of the above falter. We're going to call it advantage 2005 because of the loss of Rodney Thompson and both ends. Junior college recruiting does not end on the national LOI signing day but extends well into the summer, so given scholarship availability more help may be on the way closer to the opening of fall camp. (*Editorial note: Unfortunately, given the lack of elgibility for the playoffs the next two seasons, NDSU football is a tough sell for the coaching staff in the recruiting junior college players.) Linebacker: With the return of Mays, Maresh, Itterman, Compton, Humber and Brower and the addition of Tyler Henry we don't need to worry about linebacker. Advantage 2006. Cornerback: The loss of Babich and Walter certainly leaves a hole, but that hole will be ably filled by Ryan Olson, Richard Bowman, Nate Agtebola and redshirt freshman Courtney Mitchell. At the worst a 2005-2006 draw. Safety: The return of senior Craig Dahl and sophomore Nick Schommer gives the Bison a great pair of safeties. Sprinkle in a little depth with Tony Bizal and Barry Quickstad and you have to say advantage 2006. Special teams: Kicker is a question mark for the Bison. Sophmore Kyle Wilcox and yet to be named true freshman will compete for the job. A little birdie has told me that Kyle has just returned from 4 days of training in Florida with veteran NFL coach Doug Blevin. Although struggling with his kick height, Kyle may have been the most consistent kicker in Blevin's camp. Returner of course will be Shamen Washington. Longsnapper will be Jeremiah Wurzbacher. Punter will be All-American Mike Dragosavich. Based on what we've looked at the 2006 Bison have the potential to be an offensive juggernaut and if they can get a pass rush a much better than average defense. Go Bison!! Bob H.