Spring practice is a time for young guys to get some attention. It is a time when the staff can work more with freshmen and sophomores to get them up to speed. This creates more competition for starting and backup positions in the fall while building a competent depth chart, because everyone battles injuries. A lot of the returning upper-classmen did not get a lot of action this spring, so I’m going to focus the stock up article on some young guys who I felt stood out.

I think the first player who must be mentioned is Hodge. I felt the young physical specimen had an outstanding spring in many ways. He kind of made a position change. He’s listed as a defensive lineman on the spring roster, where he was going to play that stand-up rush end. He plays that position really well, by the way. But after a few weeks and it becoming clear the depth at linebacker is going to be an issue, the staff started experimenting with moving Hodge around in the second level. Hodge flashed as a playmaker here as well. He looked like he belonged when playing with the second unit in Yulee’s middle linebacker spot.

While he needs work to play linebacker more consistently, you have to give him credit for embracing the change and excelling at it. Hodge proved he can be relied on as a playmaker and will give the linebacking unit a nice shot in the arm when it comes to depth. He’ll also be one heck of a chess piece for new DC Brad Lambert to play with, as he can be moved around all over the field. It was a great Spring for Darius Hodge.

After linebacker, the next position I had serious questions about was wide receiver. While attending Spring practice the first couple of weeks, it was clear the wide receiver position was lacking. As the weeks went on, a couple players started to stand out at wide receiver. Talik Keaton and Broc Thompson. Keaton is a redshirt freshman and Broc Thompson is seeing his first time on the field as a freshman from Fork Union.

Keaton seems to be the better route runner of the two and a guy who can make a living working the slant/out routes or sitting down in an opening against a zone and making his money after the catch.

Broc Thompson is a totally different type of wide receiver. He’s only listed at 6’2, but looks like he’s 6’3-6’4, because he has long arms and is so thin. As Spring progressed and he started to make plays, Broc Thompson started to remind me of Darius Watts. Not wanting to put that kind of pressure on the young kid, but that’s the type of player he is. He’ll make his living on the outside, using his length to his advantage against shorter corners.

I also want to give Coach Baker some credit in this piece because he seemed to really be coaching this unit hard all Spring and the improvements of Keaton and Thompson will hopefully be the fruits to his labor come Fall.

While I think Darius Hodge had the most impressive spring, the guy whose stock probably went up the most was Devin Miller. I didn’t know much at all about him going into Spring drills. Early on Zach Leininger was getting a lot of the third team reps as the #3 tight end. But during individual drills, there was this #83 who ran routes with the tight ends like he was a wide receiver. That was Devin Miller. He’s just noticeably smoother than the other guys.

As it usually turns out, Leininger had a slight injury issue and was held out of action over the last couple of weeks, which opened the door for Miller to shine. Miller came to Marshall at 6’3 215 in 2017 and is now listed at 6’3 236, so the young man has put in the work. Guys like Miller is who Spring practice is for and we might have found us another diamond in the rough at tight end. He’ll give us a solid #3 this coming season and don’t be surprised if he doesn’t push Xavier Gaines pretty hard for the starting spot in 2020.

The fifth player whose stock rose this Spring is Owen Porter. He just always seemed to stand out to me when he was on the field. I can honestly say that I was never looking for him while watching practice, but #43 always seemed to make an impact. Whether it be setting the edge vs the run, pushing the right tackle into the quarterback’s comfort zone, or running across the field though traffic to make a play. He seemed to always be in the action.

The staff got a long look at Porter this Spring. And while I’m not sure how much playing time it will lead to this coming season, I think Owen Porter proved this Spring that he could be the next local product who makes an impact on the field for Marshall.