Linebacker preview.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2023/8/15/football-season-preview-position-breakdown-the-linebackers.aspx

TAMC had a field goal kicker hitting a 53 yard kick in their Spring game, has seven all conference preseason selection, had the best defense in their conference, and will have a new offense which no one has seen yet.

Player mentioned in OL preview not yet on website roster, committed in July. From American River
Zaire Collier Simonton. OL 6-3 328. Had an offer from New Mexico State 247 3*

We had some players who seemed to be less effective or be placed in a role where they didn’t get the notoriety they had in the 2019, after we changed defensive coordinators. Two are Nick Eaton who was Freshman All American , and Da’Von Frazier who was the most improved player in 2019, This isnt a criticism just an observation that those two guys dropped in their play or production, coincident with the change in the defense coordinator, and both were moved to a different position.

Another roster position change.
Both Connors twins are now DBs. This raises the question of whether they are identical twins, they sure look alike. Porter played well in his opportunities at linebacker, starting one game, but we are loaded there and if he has athletic ability similar to his brother he should be a DB.

Idaho is lucky that Nevada and Cal are coming off disappointing years. They have a good chance of winning at Nevada.

Not a poll, but projected finishes in the Big Sky. Davis is picked third behind Montana State and Idaho
They made a mistake on Idaho, the linebacker they tout is now at Georgia Tech. They got a linebacker from South Dakota. I think Idaho has some major questions on defense. Both Montana State and Idaho have tougher schedules than Davis, based on last seasons results.

https://theanalyst.com/na/2023/08/fcs-college-football-preview-2023-big-sky-conference/

i noticed they didn’t mention DaVon Frazier on the position overview, and the roster now lists him as a linebacker. He started against Idaho as a nickel back. (our most frequent starting lineup is a 3-3-5). Ive always had some sympathy for Frazier as they moved him to linebacker in 2019, he had a great game at the end of the season, he bulked up to play linebacker in 2020 and then they moved him back to DB (new defensive coordinator).
There is a sophomore transfer, Lamont Shamburger from D3 Benedictine College, who had 25 tackles 15 solo and 5 interceptions for them as a true freshmen. His name was mentioned on the preview video.

The DB coaches know the players better. New QB coach, first day of fall camp.

Good review. Gavin Cooke is now a DB and got his name mentioned.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2023/8/10/football-season-preview-position-breakdown-the-defensive-backs.aspx

Where did anyone say everyone should be BCS? My own opinion, not shared by anyone else in this thread, is that BCS and FCS should lose the distinction as far as scholarships but that implies BCS moving in the FCS direction as well. No level needs 85 scholarships, thats just squirreling away talent.
It is humorous when Davis pretends it is more of a public ivy prestige University than Cal or UCLA. It’s even more ridiculous now that the SATs aren’t required. Davis wouldn’t tarnish its reputation by having the same standards as other UCs.

Cal lost a boatload of transfers. I don't know what site is definitive but i see a list of 19 guys who transferred from Cal. That’s another piece of it, how many slots you have.

I have no knowledge on whether the admissions office is slow or not:
but there are considerations for transfers that make it complicated. To transfer to UC and get credit for courses taken elsewhere those courses need to map to some course at UC. If someone transfers from University of Michigan or UCLA thats not an issue, but if someone transfers from a school with a lot of vocational type of coursework they might be admitted but lose credits. I’m not knocking the value of more practical education, but that is not what UC does. In addition UC doesn't offer second bachelors degrees certificates etc, so transferring after graduating means getting admitted to a grad program, also not true everywhere else.

Aggies were tabbed No. 16 in the Stats Perform FCS Preseason Top 25 Poll. 6th of 6 Big Sky Teams

https://theanalyst.com/na/2023/08/defending-champ-jackrabbits-voted-a-unanimous-no-1-in-the-fcs-preseason-top-25-poll/

Aggies projected as an at large bid.
https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2023-08-02/way-too-early-2023-fcs-playoff-bracket-preseason-predictions?utm_campaign=trending
Weber misses the cut in this projection.

Davis in the same conference as Nevada and San Jose State makes too much sense to ever be considered. When I was a student in the 70s a Nevada game program said Nevada was our oldest rival.
I’d like to get rid of the FCS/FBS dichotomy, it basically comes down to number of scholarships, 22 separate the two, split the difference and have everyone have 74. FBS schools wouldn’t notice the difference and it would be worth it to FCS schools to get rid of the minor league distinction. Schools that absolutely can’t afford it don’t have to allocate all the scholarships.

There is an economic/ecological concept called Tragedy of the Commons which describes what happens to a commonly shared resource with no owner. Example are over grazing of a commons or over fishing in the ocean. In college football we see a similar situation. Each conference and each school tries to maximize their individual benefit from the shared resource of fan interest but at the expense of the good of the sport as a whole.

I was in Lincoln Nebraska on business 20 years ago, and i wandered over to Memorial Stadium and watched practice. The stadium, which is 100 years old this year, had cast into the structure the names of teams from the Big 8 of 1923. Nebraska isn't in the same conference as any of those teams.
The conference and school administrators are hurting the product in pursuit of money. It will eventually result in less interest and less money.

[ Maybe but not after the just two days of camp. Harper was a recruited guy, said to have had an offer from Montana State, and was in 3 games last year, totaling 8 completions in nine attempts and a touchdown, he’s got to be number 2. He’s the only one who’s completed a pass. Harper has been around since 2020 same class as Dixon, who they moved to tight end.

Yes, like what they did pre pandemic, but i wish they had waited a bit so they had a meaningful comment about the freshman, which is difficult on first day of practice.
I’d like to hear about newcomers.
Positions where freshmen might get playing time are receiver, offensive line, running back, and defensive back. Same thing regarding the JC transfers at tight end,,We have some good recruits from 2023 in those spots and they are also positions where we need to replace losses.

Mitchell Dixon is now listed as a tight end.