Herald UND football mailbag: Backup QB race, position impressions, waiver status and more

Q. Is there an update on the players with eligibility waivers?

A. Jonnie Wiltshire and Montre Samuels-Parker practiced throughout the spring, so UND has been hopeful they'd receive an NCAA eligibility waiver. I believe Avery Scott was hopeful at one point in time, too.

Every time I've asked about the situation it seems just a little less likely for a green light.

At this point, UND is remaining positive about the situation, but I personally will believe it when I see it. I don't think it's helpful for the cause that the general tone nationally feels to have skewed toward a pushback on older players receiving extra time.

UND doesn't seem to have a date they're circling to find out about the status, either, so I'll be curious to learn when they would have to pull the plug.

Q. What positions may UND still add a player in the offseason?

A. Safety, linebacker and wide receiver would be my top areas to take a swing at help in the offseason. Wide receiver is a solid group, but I think they could use a pure burner.

At safety, you might still be looking for that Zach Lewis clone and linebacker could use a body to put pressure on the young options like Jake Starcevic and Mason Miller. After Mike Devereaux and Ethan Boll, the group has very little to no experience.

Q. How does the running back corps rate?

A. UND seems to always find talented running backs, and I think Charles Langama and Matt Lawson are going to have big years. Colton Brunell will also play and has come a long way in the last year.

Langama has some special traits, and he'll have the chance in the fall to gain full trust of the staff. The young player from Maple Grove still needs to show he can be really consistent and reliable.

Lawson, meanwhile, has some nice experience under his belt from Illinois State, even though he's still young, as well. Lawson has versatility and feels like more of an Isaiah Smith skillset in terms of pass catching and inside-outside run mix, whereas UND didn't have that option so much last season.

Fall camp will be a good time to check out 2026 recruit Tyler Zdon, who passed on some strong Division I offers to pick UND.

Q. Adding length to the roster has been emphasized. What positions are we seeing the results of this?

A. One area UND fans will really notice the emphasis is at cornerback. The FCS Freshman All-American in 2025, Grant Noland at 6-foot, is going to be the short one out there.

Akron transfer Ben Kamara has come in at 6-foot-4 with some playing background in the MAC and runs around with a similar look to former UND standout Deion Harris.

Evan Kludt out of Alexandria at 6-foot-3 is also drawing lots of praise from the coaching staff for his spring as he develops heading into Year 2.

Q. How much stock do you put into spring ball?

A. I think you can learn from watching spring ball, but everything is layered in so much context. Many years (not so much this year) older players are sitting out reps, so you might see someone jump off the page a bit who is going to be sitting behind a better player when everyone is available in the fall.

In a similar note, reps are more fairly distributed across a roster in the spring so production in practice isn't a perfect indicator at what we're going to see in the fall.

There may also be a newcomer learning curve at play for some players. B.J. Fleming last season didn't pop much at all at spring ball. His productivity was behind receivers like Sam Strandell and Deng Deng.

By the fall, he quickly became UND's top target at receiver.

I try to stay with learning about skill sets and body types — not put a ton of stock into tracking the stats of it all in my head. Fall camp is a much greater predictor of in-season success.

Q. What position groups look better through spring? What about groups a step behind?

A. I think the number of big passing plays at spring ball hints at both sides of this answer. UND's wide receivers have some more explosiveness and play-making, despite losing B.J. Fleming. The extra year of development for Deng Deng, Korey Tai, Jimmie Maxson III and Kristen Hoskins, mixed with the additions of Caleb Goodloe and Cameron Weir, make for a deeper unit as a whole.

I should probably mention the tight end group is vastly different than a year ago, too. Hunter Kallstrom, a Wyoming transfer, is going to make an impact and you still return Aidan Behymer, Nathan Hromodka, Watson Hafer, Haydn Stay, Tray Kuntz and Mason South.

For most of last season, UND didn't have a healthy and/or eligible Kallstrom, Behymer and Hromodka.

So for a step behind, I think UND's secondary is still adjusting to losing the number of 2025 snaps eaten up by guys no longer in Grand Forks like Zach Lewis, Jy Martin, Avery Scott, Antonio Bluiett and Bennett Walker.

Q. Are the 7-0-1 numbers still a thing? If so, do you have a prediction?

A. Eric Schmidt appears to be keeping spring ball numbers away from the single digits again this year.

All-American Lance Rucker will be back in 0, I would expect. Injuries have derailed the receiving abilities of Sam Strandell some, but I still view him as an important program piece. Assuming he's back in the fall, he could be back in No. 1.

Replacing No. 7 of Malachi McNeal will be interesting. UND's captain-type leaders may be on the offensive line in players like Ben Buxa and Caleb Olson ... guys who can't wear No. 7.

Could it be Old Dominion transfer Mike Devereaux? He isn't as much the vocal leader of McNeal, but he's going to need to play a ton of snaps, and I think the staff likes his development.

Jonnie Wiltshire would be an obvious candidate if he's allowed an extra season.

Q. What's the two-deep look like for the defensive line?

A. That will depend on the status of Montre Samuels-Parker, but if he's not provided an extra year, I would say the starters are edges Lance Rucker and Kaden Vig with tackles Logyn Eckheart and Kylyn Macklin.

As for backups, I think tackle Tyler Henry played well late in 2025 and edge Brody Thornton feels like an emerging star for the post-Rucker Hawks.

Braden Mohr can help on the edge if he can be healthy, which is a big if after two seasons almost completely wiped out to injury. I'd also like to see more of Kefa Pereira at tackle in his first season transferring in from Eastern Illinois.

Wyatt Kuhn would be my darkhorse pick to be depth help at tackle. His frame is trending in the right direction and you always like a big-bodied, small town North Dakotan (New Salem) in the mix.

Speaking of North Dakotans, can this be the breakout year for Grand Forks' Erick Paye? He's got all the physical tools to do it at edge.

I think anyone who follows recruiting is also quite curious about the Beaver twins out of Missouri when they arrive for the summer and fall camp. Like Grant Noland a year ago, some gaps in the roster may be filled with true freshmen as the recruiting success under Schmidt impacts the program.

Q. Is there a future NFL draftee on the roster?

A. I'll be curious what kind of NFL feedback Lance Rucker will receive this year if he has another dominant year. He's only listed at 230 pounds but different pro systems may want an edge with more of a linebacker body type.

Other than Rucker, Trace Thaden comes to mind as an option. He's a 6-foot-7 tackle around 300 pounds with a prep background as a tight end so there's plenty of athleticism there.

Q. How do you think Danny's offense will change from the previous version we saw?

A. I think Danny Freund has always prided himself in adapting to his roster. So I'm not sure it's easy to put a finger on exactly how it's going to change, but I think Freund will lean into the strengths.

UND will be strong on the offensive line and at tight end but Eric Schmidt has passed out the challenge to be more explosive in the passing game at the same time.

That sounds like a recipe to be well-balanced. For likely a myriad of reasons, UND's offense was predictable late in the year in 2025. I don't think a Freund offense ever receives that label.

Q. Who stuck out this spring?

A. That's tough to pin down without a ton of context, so I'll just throw out some names I think are on good paths.

Jerry Kaminski, Deng Deng, Matt Lawson, Caleb Goodloe, Hunter Kallstrom, Brody Thornton, Ethan Boll and Avery Dixon.

Q. Who handles the kicking?

A. A lot of kicking takes place outside the normal practice window, but I would expect the true freshman in the 2026 class — Brainerd's Sawyer Riffle — to challenge Kenten Laughman, who handled the starting duties down the stretch in 2025 after C.J. Elrichs was injured. We'll get a better idea of Riffle at fall camp.