2009 Spartan Nation Football Profile:  CB Ross Weaver #37

Height:  6’1 ½”

Weight:  207

2009 Eligibility:  Senior

EXP:  3 Letters

Status: Starting QB

Strengths:  Ross Weaver is set for a big season.  He has had to endure injury while at MSU and that has held him back, but if he can stay healthy the sky is his limit.  Weaver is one of the most liked and jovial players on the Spartan team who plays the game with passion and fire.

When healthy, he is a fixture on the special teams and that is a key to any observer on how respected he is.  On punt coverage, it is a badge of honor for this team when the staff selects you and you do see Ross there.

Here is a great example of Weaver’s strengths.  Against Cal in the second quarter, Weaver fought off a great blocking scheme by the Bears on a punt and he broke the block and crushed the receiver.  Weaver made that play on sheer will and it is an example of when healthy, the plays he can make.

Weakness:  Besides fighting injury there are two plays that we can look at from the Capital One Bowl that best illustrate his weakness.  In the second quarter, Moreno reverses his field and spins away from Weaver who stood flatfooted and waited for him to come to him.  Had Ross simply kept up pursuit, Moreno would have been able to spin away.  Weaver slowed down to let Moreno come to him and he is simply too good and too fast for Weaver to do that.  He has to let his passion for football make him a punisher.  I don’t think Ross is afraid of contact and, in fact, I asked him about the play.  He simply wasn’t aggressive enough in going for the take down.

Another example from the Capital One Bowl again, Moreno had Ross in space again and Ross fell at his feet.  The biggest weakness that he shows, and it was illustrated in those two plays, is playing people in space.  He can break up a pass and do all the intangibles of a CB and you have to love his size, speed and strength.  The issue is simply playing guys in space and playing through the tackle and not waiting for it.

Final Analysis:  I think part of Weaver’s issues with playing in space is attributable to his injuries.  If he can stay healthy in 2009, it will be his best season and it will be a big reason that the Spartans continue their march to national prominence.  He has all the tools and the heart to make the most of it.  It is simply an issue of being healthy, and I look for him to be ready for a great senior campaign.

2009 Spartan Nation Football Profile:  WR Mark Dell #2

Height:  6’2”

Weight:  194

2009 Eligibility:  Junior

EXP:  2 Letters

Status: Backup WR

Strengths:  Mark Dell is, in my opinion, the second most talented player on the MSU football team.  He has been blessed with all of the physical tools that a human can ask for.  He has the frame, the speed, the strength, and all of the tools that it takes to be a great one in a long lineage of MSU WRs. 

A great example of the talent of Dell was the first drive of the Cal game.  The Spartans ran a nice play to B.J. Cunningham and he was able to gain nice yards all because of a great block by Dell.  With all of the tools, the secret is mentally staying in the game.  When he is on, there is none better: when he is on!

Weakness:  That leads us to his being on.  Dell drops too many passes and makes too many mental lapses and it hurts him.  I know that several players and at least one coach were irate after the loss to Georgia at his seeming, “Lack of giving a (excrement), when we just got our (butts) kicked on national TV,” after the game in the locker room and outside of it.

I can’t and I don’t think others can figure Dell out.  Like I have said before, he is one of the most talented players on the team and he has all the ability to be one of the best WRs that MSU has EVER had.  Will he turn that ability in success?  Only Dell knows.

He has to learn the difference between playing injured and hurt, and he can’t drop critical passes.  To be great you have to make the plays.  He has caused people to pull their hair out with some drops and stand in awe at some catches.

This is NO disrespect to B.J. Cunningham or Blair White.  Both are ahead of him on the depth chart and neither have the raw physical talent of Dell.  There is one play from last season that is indicative of a Dell mistake.

Against Indiana the Spartans had a 3^rd and seven in the first quarter.  Hoyer had great coverage and hit Dell perfectly in the hands with virtually no pressure around him.  Unbelievably in one of the weirdest plays I have ever seen, it was like Dell was trying to set the ball up for a volleyball spike.  He tapped it with his hands?  It forced the Spartans to punt, but with no pressure and the way he “handled” the ball it was indicative of the unforced errors that he makes.

Sadly, there were many drops all season and time that he simply just didn’t play.  I have received some emails from people who think I have been too critical of Dell both on the site and in the magazine.   Let me make this clear, I have no personal issues with Dell.  I want him to do well.

I also know that his will be a short leash, and if he can’t play at a certain level there is a lot of talent at this position and patience will be thin with him in 2009.

Final Analysis:  Contrary to some people’s assessment, I like Dell and I love to watch him play the game of football when he is on.  I also know that for every game like Cal where he looks like all world, there are multiple games that he doesn’t. 

2009 is a big season for him and I certainly hope he steps up, shows off the talent he has been given, and reaches the expectations that this staff has for him.  To be frank, I just don’t know and I don’t think anyone knows.  That is up to Dell and we shall see.

East Lansing native will report to Lakeland, Fla., on Sunday.

Former Michigan State pitcher Nolan Moody has signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers. Moody will report to the organization’s rookie ball team, the Gulf Coast League (GCL) Tigers, on Sunday in Lakeland, Fla.

“It feels great – I’m really excited and can’t wait to get going,” said Moody. “I thought after the draft that I was probably done playing,” Moody said. “Getting a chance to keep playing is quite a thrill, especially for the Tigers. I’m excited to get down there.”

Moody, one of the Spartans’ tri-captains this season, was named the team’s Most Valuable Pitcher. In his first season as a starter, he went 6-5 and tied for second on the team in strikeouts with 57.

His most memorable moment as a Spartan, as well as one of the best performances in program history, came on April 4 of this year when he threw a no-hitter in a 2-0 win over Northwestern in the first game at the new McLane Baseball Stadium.

I thought after the draft that I was probably done playing,” Moody said. “Getting a chance to keep playing is quite a thrill, especially for the Tigers. I’m excited to get down there.”

Moody began and finished the 2009 season as the Spartans’ No. 1 starter. In his first-career start on Feb. 20, he went 7.0 innings and allowed just two runs to give MSU its first win of the year and first for MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr. as a Spartan.

The East Lansing native posted a career-high nine strikeouts and limited Penn State to just four hits and one run in 8.0 innings of work on May 1 in a 12-1 Spartans’ win.

Moody hopes to take the mound on Monday (July 6) when the GCL Tigers visit the GCL Braves.

2009 Spartan Nation Football Profile: QB Keith Nichol #9

Height:  6’ 2”

Weight:  214

2009 Eligibility: Sophomore

EXP:  Red Shirt

Status:  Backup QB Battling for Starting QB

Strengths:  Nichol has an arm that makes everyone drool.  He has a laser quick release and can throw rolling right or left.  He has not only good speed, but also excellent football quickness.  I have heard described as a QB with the tools of Drew Stanton, only faster and more accurate.

Nichol’s journey to MSU is well documented, but in the end he followed his heart and came home.  You certainly can’t blame him for that and he is a fine young man.  Nichol’s talent is unquestionable and he has all of the tools to be not a good QB, but a great one.

Weakness:  I wrote in Spartan Nation Magazine after the spring game of a play that best demonstrates Nichol’s biggest weakness.  Here is what I wrote in the magazine:

During the white team’s third series, Nichol faced a second and ten at the green team’s 20.  On first down the offensive line allowed him to get instant pressure so the play was an act of futility from the start.  On this second down play, Nichol left the pocket early and relied on his legs to get out of there.  He should have stayed in the pocket and by not doing so he missed a wide-open David Duran in the end zone for a touchdown and threw an incomplete pass to another target.  Now you don’t right off a great talent for that mistake, you use it as a teaching point.  Nichol showed his ability to adapt when on third down he stayed in the pocket and found Milton Colbert for five yards and his team walked away with a field goal.  Spartan Nation Magazine April 2009

Final Analysis:  Nichol has all the tools to compete for the starting job.  I have total confidence that if he were to win the job that he could do it.  If you read my analysis of Trevor Anderson you saw how I said there would be a learning curve after sitting out a year.  I think that Nichol has a bigger struggle because he has been out two. 

Nichol can overcome and his teammates like him and he has the respect of the Coaches and team.  Watching him battle this summer is sure to be a fun task for the Spartan Nation.

Here is video from earlier in the season with Nichol:  LINK

Good job Dickie V Baby!  LINK

Matt Stafford and Mark Sanchez met last summer and have become sounding boards for each other.

They understand what the other is going through.

Once Again Thank You Spartan Nation and the thousands who use it!

 Once again we come back to you and with a humble heart thank you all for the incredible growth of the website ( www.SpartanNation.com ), message board  (The Phalanx Forum), and Spartan Nation Magazine. 

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 Hondo S. Carpenter, Sr. and everyone at SpartanNation.com!