Boise State Football: Breaking Down Spring Practice

Boise State has had double-digit winning seasons for the last six seasons in a row. It's going to be extremely difficult to try and make it seven in a row this season. The Broncos only return nine starters and are probably the team that has the most questions of any other team in the country.

The good news for Bronco fans is that they do have a great head coach in Chris Petersen, and he's shown time and time again that he can get the job done, although this may be his biggest challenge of his coaching career by far.

Boise State will get back to work during spring practice, which begins for them on March 12, and the spring game takes place April 14. It will be the first chance this program has to try and provide some answers to so many questions.

Here is the breakdown for the Broncos' spring practice.

Schedule

Boise State opens their spring practice on March 12, and the spring game will take place on April 14.

Offensive Depth Chart

Quarterback: Joe Southwick, Grant Hedrick

Fullback: Chandler Koch, Tommy Smith

Running Back: D.J. Harper, Drew Wright

Wide Receiver: Matt Miller, Geraldo Boldewijn

Wide Receiver: Mitch Burroughs, Kirby Moore

Tight End: Gabe Linehan, Kyle Sosnowski

Offensive Guard: Joe Kellogg, Spencer Gerke 

Center: Matt Paradis

Offensive Guard: Jake Broyles

Offensive Tackle: Charles Leno, Faraji Wright

Defensive and Special Teams Depth Chart

Nose Guard: Mike Atkinson, Dextrell Simmons
 
Defensive Tackle: Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe, Greg Grimes

Defensive End: Tyler Horn, Nick Alexander

Middle Linebacker: Tommy Smith, Blake Renaud

Weak-Side Linebacker: J.C. Percy

Cornerback: Jamar Taylor, Bryan Douglas

Cornerback: Ebenezer Makinde, Lee Hightower

Free Safety: Jeremy Ioane

Kicker: Dan Goodale, Jake Van Ginkel

Punter: Trevor Harman

Best Position Battle

Anytime there is a quarterback competition that is as wide open as this one is, it has to be the top position battle entering the spring. Everybody down to true freshman Nick Patti will have a shot in this competition to try and replace Kellen Moore.

Joe Southwick was the backup behind Moore, and he will likely be the early favorite to become the starter considering he has the most experience. But don't get too excited because he's only thrown a total of 54 passes for 400 yards in his career.

Other quarterbacks that will be given the opportunity to become the starter include sophomore Grant Hedrick and redshirt freshman Jimmy Laughrea. 

This likely won't be settled in the spring, but it will give us more of an idea on who the starter should be heading into next season.

Big Man on Campus

When you're only returning a total of nine starters, it's really hard to find a bright spot in this group of players. The good news for the Broncos is that running back D.J. Harper received a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA, making him the biggest man on campus. 

When you lose as many players as the Broncos did and are as young as them, nothing will fit better for this team than a solid running game. With Doug Martin on the way to the NFL, Harper will likely become the starting running back, and that's good news for Bronco fans. Harper has shown flashes of greatness in his career and has totaled 1,642 yards on 319 carries.

Expect his workload to expand (If he stays healthy) and be a huge contribution to this team.

Biggest Shoes to Fill

And we're back to talk about the quarterback position. When you're replacing the winningest quarterback in NCAA history, it's kind of a big deal and is going to draw just a little bit of attention. Besides Andrew Luck at Stanford, this may be the biggest replacement that's watched closely.

Kellen Moore threw for over 14,500 yards and had 142 touchdown passes. Again, we won't know who the replacement is anytime soon, but whoever it is, he will have gigantic shoes to fill in his first year as a starting quarterback.

Most Important Questions to Answer

Besides the obvious quarterback issues, I'm wondering just how well this team is going to respond with so many players no longer on the roster. This question, of course, can't be answered in the spring, but the spring game may give somewhat of an idea.

Again, not only is the starting running back no longer on the roster—as well as the quarterback—but a couple members of the offensive line, a wide receiver and starting tight end have also left. That doesn't include the seven starters on the defensive side of the ball that are no longer here.

Boise State is without question a rebuilding team, and they may never experience the same success they had over the last few seasons again.

That is, of course, unless they show us some positive signs heading into spring ball.