LAKE CHARLES – Competition has been the main focus of spring practice for the McNeese Cowboys through the first two weeks of action.
 
A younger and more inexperienced team in areas than there was in 2017, head coach Lance Guidry says despite the youth and inexperience, this team has a chance to be better and more talented than the 9-2 Cowboys from a season ago.
 
"We're trying to stack days," said Guidry who is entering his third season at the helm. "It's not as much an offense vs. defense competition as it is position vs. position. We're trying to get guys to compete against each other within their own groups and trying to get the best players at the top. We're just working at getting better each day at different things."
 
A depleted offensive line heading into the spring session dropped by two more when both Collin Fountain and Jimmy Converse had should surgery that has sidelined them for the spring. That has left the Cowboys with just 7-8 offensive linemen and eliminated the spring game and any high-snap scrimmages.
 
"There's just no way we can do a spring game or any 100-play scrimmages with just the linemen we have," said Guidry. "But we've been doing some live tackling on our full pad days."
 
Here's a look at how the spring has been going by each position:
 
Offensive line – really thin going into spring but should be in a lot better shape come fall camp.
 
Wide receiver – Trevor Begue has had a nice spring up to this point as well as Nate Briscoe and some of the other young players. Cyron Sutton, Kylon Highshaw and Tre Roberts have made some catches. They wide receivers have been mix-matching a bit from day to day.
 
Running back – Only a few running backs are being tackles – J'cobi Skinner, Mac Brisco and Ben Jones while Justin Pratt and David Hamm have been limited in contact. Briscoe has been the shining star on offense as he's made some good runs going up against the speed and physicality of the defense. Ryan Ross is returning but he's only about 70-percent right now.
 
Quarterback – There is no controversy, just competition. Cody Orgeron hasn't had a bad day yet while James Tabary has had some good days and some average days. Orgeron has started in front of Tabary a couple days but Tabary won his job back last week.
 
"Some people say we have a QB controversy, no, we have a competition," said Guidry. "Just like every other position, there's competition at quarterback. It's not any different when it comes to trying to get better and I think it'll only make you better when you have someone threatening you."
 
Tight End – Austin Nelson is sitting out the spring but Lawayne Ross and Dontay Hargrove have done some good things.
 
Safety – The first thing glaring on defense is the free safety position with Gabe Foster who is very fast and talented. He's had the two biggest hits of the spring so far. Cory McCoy is doing well at the Buck safety as his speed is making the defensive backfield better. Trent Jackson is back at weak safety and has put up some solid practices.
 
"We feel like from a skill point, a speed point, we're better than last year," said Guidry. "But we don't have the experience Dominique (Hill) and Andre (Fuller) had so there's some give and take there.
 
Linebacker – This position has seen some good competition among returning senior Christian Jacobs, who received a medical redshirt after getting injured early last season, as well as returning starter BJ Blunt. Tre Porter, Khoury Kraus and Andrew Hyacinth have been competition hard as well.
 
Defensive end – There are a bunch of good ends including returning starters Chris Livings and Micah Udeh. Livings, who missed a majority of the season last year due to a broken wrist, is limited in action this spring. Cody Roscoe and Christian Robinson are also competing well.
 
Defensive tackle – redshirt freshman Cameron Peterson is expected to do a lot of good things for the Cowboys this season and beyond. He's a taller and longer tackles, standing 6-foot-5 and weighing in the 270 range. He's expected to start this season and could end up being a four-year starter for the Cowboys. Also at that position are returners Jonta Jones and Harris Tafah.
 
"It seems like we're going to be faster than we were in all areas of the defense," said Guidry. "We're not as good as we were right now because we don't have a lot of experience. Every day is a different day with these young guys. But talent-wise, we have a chance to be better, but that has to transfer over into Saturday nights."

***NOTE***
Coach Lance Guidry made some coaching title changes during the offseason. Those include:
• Kerry Joseph switching from WR to QB coach
• Landon Hoefer switching from QB to WR coach
• Wayne Cordova switching from Buck safeties to DB coach
• The addition of former McNeese QB, Tyler Bolfing, as the new TE coach