The Cardinal Countdown: 93 Days Until Kickoff

2021 Season Recap: Brady walked on just a few weeks before fall camp last year and was looking to position himself to be in the running for taking on the then vacant role of starting punter. Eventually the Australian Mark Vassat won the gig, but Hodges earned the job of being the holder on extra points and appeared in twelve games last season. Oh, you don’t remember him? I guess he did his job fairly well then.

2022 Season Outlook: While I think Vassat is still the guy heading into the fall, I think many see an opportunity for a guy like Brady to challenge him during the offseason. Brady has a big leg and I think can push Vassat to improve after a season that was just so-so in my opinion. Brady and Vassat are classmates in terms of eligibility, but I believe Vassat has a full 6-7 years of experience on him sitting at 26 years old his second season with the Cards. This position could be one to keep an eye on as the summer progresses. If the Australian struggles again the other lad from the “land down under…Kentucky” may put his Tennessee punting boots on and steal his gig.

Sweet Tweet:

Brady dropping in 65 yarders with 5+ hang….certified #bombsquad

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2021 Season Recap: Dawson saw action in five games last year, getting some reps against EKU, UCF, FSU, Syracuse, and Duke. He did get his name on the stat sheet a few times with a couple tackles against Syracuse, both of which went for no gain. While a situational player for most of the year the majority of his snaps came in late game situations at the nose. He helped provide some depth in the middle when the Cards were looking for a breather or had the game in hand.

2022 Season Outlook: Dawson, while still a freshman on paper, is entering his third season with the Cards thanks to COVID and a redshirt. This is where they need him to step up. Until recently I think many, myself included, thought the battle at NT would be a three man race with the odds on favorites being Dawson and Tell (99) with Caleb Banks playing the role of ‘Rich Strike’. But with the addition of Lole I think one of them get pushed out in 2022 and has to wait another season to get significant reps. More than handful of times last year we saw Dawson get some great push up front and jump off the line, but can he do that consistently for 40-50 plays a game week in and week out? At this point there is no denying Dawson will be in the mix but they need him to be performing at the level of an upperclassmen with his experience at this point. Year three we hope to see some more athleticism and strength for sure, but also want to see that football IQ increase as well, a big piece of the puzzle for the guy who is stepping into that nose tackle position.

Sweet Tweet:

This is some of the “explosiveness” and power I was referring to. He’s got the drive to make some plays for sure, just need to be consistent with it. Side note: Dawson will come to your kids birthday party and jump over them for $10 a pop. Who wouldn’t want 275lb hovering over your little princess?