Drc Blog Fb Player Moves..esteban Santiago To Og

[OldTimer]

Dodge likes look of Santiago at guard

One of the key concerns that has cropped up in North Texas first spring practice under head coach Todd Dodge is depth along the offensive line. UNT has barely had enough players to fill out its depth chart and is especially short at the tackle spots.

UNT began to address that concern by moving Esteban Santiago, a redshirt freshman from El Paso who has spent most of his time at UNT playing on the Mean Green's defensive front, to guard.

Dodge said he likes what he has seen so far from Santiago and believes he could develop into a solid player on the interior of the Mean Green's offensive front.

Santiago is one of a few UNT players who has moved in the last few practice sessions and began to settle in at a new spot. Bryant Seidle is playing linebacker after showing promise at tight end as a freshman. The former Cy-Fair standout is buried on the depth chart at this point, but Dodge believes he could be an impact player at his new position in the future after seeing him at his new spot the last few days.

One of the other key developments in practice so far has been the play of Daniel Meager. The quarterback competition was declared open at the beginning of spring practice, but Meager quickly separated himself and continues to show that he is the best quarterback in Dodge's system.

I mentioned earlier this spring that Dodge has no plans as of yet to move any of his quarterbacks to another position. All four of the contenders are still working at quarterback: Meager, Matt Phillips, Woody Wilson and Nathan Tune.

For more on spring practice and UNT athletics in general see tomorrow's all-sports notebook in the Denton Record-Chronicle.

Posted by Brett Vito at 12:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

Okay, now I'm confused about moving Santiago to guard. Not about moving him to the offensive line; that's understandable because that's where we are the weakest. But to guard? We are thinnest at the tackle spot. Does moving Santiago to guard free a guard to move to tackle? Or is someone that is still on scholarship (at guard) not expected back?

[LongJim]

A good tackle has to have several attributes that separate him from the other positions on the OL. Good lateral speed, footwork, wingspan...some are better suited to other OL positions. If Santiago hasn't played OL before, guard is probably the perfect spot for him to be. My guess is there's probably someone the coaching staff has an eye on for tackle. Or perhaps they just have to have the depth.

Really glad to hear that news about Daniel Meager. I don't know what the deal was with the QB go-round last year, but from watching him play, I liked what I saw with his (Barry Switzer voice:) 'quickness and speed', and if he gets some time, he can make throws. QB might actually be a strong position this year.

[Charlie NT 73]

Looks like Santiago is a good football player because the coaches have moved him

into the OG position, but, which one, LG or RG?

I beleive Peachy is a RT. If Santiago is a RG, then you have 2 guys at 6-5 on the right side.

Menard is 6-5 also. I guess he will play LT. Venegas must be the LG.

Looks like Eidd and Foster will be back-ups. I still think Tomlinson, the 6-5 LT recruit will

see playing time this year. Where is Carlson at this point? He is a OT also.

If Santiago is off the DL, who taks his spot? I know we are thin at DT also.

I am just speculating on all of this "musical chairs" position changes, so I will just trust

Coach Dodge and his staff. I beleive Coach Dodge is putting together the best players

at each position, to run his offense and defense.

I am glad to see that Meager is picking up the offense, and looks to be seperating from

the rest of the group of QB's.

[GreenBat]

A good tackle has to have several attributes that separate him from the other positions on the OL. Good lateral speed, footwork, wingspan...some are better suited to other OL positions. If Santiago hasn't played OL before, guard is probably the perfect spot for him to be. My guess is there's probably someone the coaching staff has an eye on for tackle. Or perhaps they just have to have the depth.

Really glad to hear that news about Daniel Meager. I don't know what the deal was with the QB go-round last year, but from watching him play, I liked what I saw with his (Barry Switzer voice:) 'quickness and speed', and if he gets some time, he can make throws. QB might actually be a strong position this year.

Santiago was All-State HM on the OL his senior year.

[Marty]

Good news on Meager. Maybe DD had the right guy at the helm all along but just didn't give him much of a chance. However, this is only April.

[UNTLifer]

Good news on Meager. Maybe DD had the right guy at the helm all along but just didn't give him much of a chance. However, this is only April.

Didn't give him a chance? How about, "Maybe DD had the right guy at the helm all along but just didn't know how to coach, and neither did his OC."

[LongJim]

Santiago was All-State HM on the OL his senior year.

Well there ya go.

[FirefightnRick]

Doesn't surprise me at all about DM. As I said before, we may be surprised what our QB's can do when they are not getting hit in the ribs or running for their lives half the time.

Rick

[good_ken]

Doesn't surprise me at all about DM. As I said before, we may be surprised what our QB's can do when they are not getting hit in the ribs or running for their lives half the time.

Rick

At first I thought it said," running for their lives at halftime." And that still made perfect sense.

[H-towngreen]

DM was a highly recruited QB his jr. year before he broke his leg. Yes there are questions about his durability and leadership. But we must remember that he does have alot of tools, and that maybe they just needed to be polished. Who better than TD to do that. He has the legs and the arm, now he just needs to get the mental part down.