MSU’S Leach looks to fine tune Air Raid as spring practice begins

Let the fine-tuning of the Mike Leach Air Raid offense begin.

As Leach enters the second spring practice with the Bulldogs, the work begins on getting every area around the program better.

MSU will actually get on the field for practices this year after the workouts were canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Bulldogs conducted all of their team meetings virtually and that just created a tough situation.

It will be interesting to see how much progress MSU can make in the spring with the opportunity to get on the field and make corrections.

Leach will be able to get a look at an offense that introduced many new young players last season and has so much potential.

Quarterback Will Rogers and wide receiver Jadan Walley, who made an impact as a freshman duo last season, will be looking to improve on that connection.

Rogers completed 239-of346 pass attempts for 1,976 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, while Walley caught 52 passes for 718 yards and a pair of scores.

The continued development of running backs Jo’quavious Marks and Dillon Johnson will be a key for the Bulldogs. Even though the numbers were not extremely impressive last season, Marks and Johnson had some good moments on the field.

Defensively, there will be some holes to fill. MSU will be missing the leadership piece that Erroll Thompson and Kobe Jones provided, but there are some talented players waiting in the wings to show what they can do.

One of those is cornerback Emmanuel Forbes. He turned some heads last season as a freshman with his five interceptions.

Linebacker Aaron Brule, who was the second-leading tackler behind Thompson with 46 tackles, also returns for the Bulldogs.

MSU will still be a young football team in many areas so that’s why spring practice is so valuable.

Successful teams are often built this time of the year.