2011 Toledo Spring Football Prospectus - University of Toledo ...

the end of the season. You also havesophomore David Fluellen, whowas effective last year, and seniorMorgan Williams, who gained1,000 yards as a freshman. How doyou see the running back positionshaping up?Beckman: We’ve got three proventailbacks who are all very, very goodplayers. Winter workouts for all threeof them have been spectacular. I don’tthink anyone has beaten Adonis is anyof the competitions this winter. Speeddrills, change of direction, wrestling, anything. Morganhas had to go twice in most of the competitions becausehis team doesn’t have enough guys due to injuries.He has shown incredible durability. And Flu has beenoutstanding, too. We have three very capable backs. Wehave to get two running backs on the football field at thesame time more often next year.Adonis had a breakout year in 2010. What makes himso good?Beckman: Adonis is durable, he’s got good speed, he canrun north and south and he can make people miss. He’sa great open-field runner. But what separates him a littlebit from our other two backs is his hands. He’s really agreat receiver.Q & A With Tim BeckmanHow about at the right guardspot vacated by Nate Cole?Beckman: (Redshirt freshman)Greg Mancz, (junior) A.J.Linderman and (redshirtfreshman) Josh Hendershotare all names you might notbe familiar with but will becompeting for positions on theoffensive line. A.J. Lindemanhas had as good an off-seasonas anyone. Right now it lookslike A.J and Greg Mancz will bebattling at that right guard spot this spring.The other three offensive line spots will be mannedby experienced seniors. So overall, would you say theoffensive line will be a strength for the team?Beckman: Yes, I think so. Both of our tackles, MikeVanDerMeulen and John Morookian, are four-yearstarters. Not many teams can say they’ve had the samestarters at the tackle sports for four consecutive years.And Phillip Manley stepped in as a starter at left guardlast year and did a nice job for us.At receiver the conversation has to begin and endwith All-American Eric Page. How important is heto this team?You had a solid offensive line last year but you arelosing two seniors from that crew, most notably centerKevin Kowalski. Do you have someone penciled in atcenter?Beckman: Right now it’s (sophomore) Zac Kerin.(Redshirt freshman) Jeff Myers and (sophomore) ErikCarlson can also play center for us. So we’ve got threeguys who are capable of playing that position. Center isan important position because he’s calling everythingfor the rest of the line. You’ve got to be a student of thegame to play center. You’ve got to understand the game.That’s what Kevin gave us, and that’s what Zac will haveto do for us.Beckman: He’s as important to this team as anybodyon our roster. He’s had two great years, but he can stillimprove his game. He can be a better blocker, for example.But he understands the game as well as anybody I’ve everbeen around. He’s always aware of what coverages teamsare playing, how they are trying to cover him, that sort ofthing. That’s why he’s so good. He knows how to attackdefenses. Eric is not a loud leader; he doesn’t say much.But he leads by example. He works as hard as anybody.He dominates our individual workout drills. And he hasn’tlet the attention he’s received go to his head. He reallydoesn’t like all the attention focused on himself. He’s ateam player all the way. All the individual awards he’sreceived, he’s put in our team trophy case.