St. Paul Gazette

[Matt]

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St. Paul Bandits
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The 2023 Draft

1.9 - WR Mel Ransbottom (41/71) - The Bandits passed up some pretty good players, including DT Rob Whalen, to draft a position of need. They are hoping Mel teams up with 3rd year WR Buddy Collier and 4th year TE Rich Gregory to help the Bandits passing game.

2.8 - LB Rondell Gillooly (24/41) - "Jeff" as he's known as was another pick of need for a defense needed a strong presence in the middle. We are hoping he grows a lot in TC and by playing.

4.12 - DT Rico Boyer (6/9) - Wow. He had good combines and was on our radar, but when we didn't get our pick in to the commish in time he was chosen on our behalf and we're not sure what to think.

4.32 - G Erik Wilson (26/37) - Wilson is a stud pass protector who is strong and has a great motor. His run blocking is almost non-existent though and unless he has a big TC he won't make the team.

5.11 - C Lee Cavanaugh (17/38) - A monster run blocker with great endurance that is often caught flat footed on pass plays.

6.10 - C Skip Burke (12/60) - Skip didn't have a great combine but his college coaches at Kansas loved him. We're not sure if he's as good as they made him but we are excited to see how he turns out.


Key Off-Season Acquisitions

QB Rod McAleese (50/50)/QB Desmond Warren (49/49)

Signal caller was the main focus of the Bandits this off-season and they ended up signing not one, but two quarterbacks. McAleese comes from Kalispel where he was released this off-season after being a 1st round pick in 2017 out of Oregon State and starting 91 games for the Stags. Warren ironically was drafted by St. Paul back in 2012 but never had a chance to really play before being released. Since then he's played for three teams, including two full seasons as Waco's starter. Obviously both players have strengths and weaknesses and it might take TC and a few preseason games to see who better fits the Bandits offense.

[Ozias]

Ransbottom is the WR I was looking to get in the draft, but since I was away there was no way I could make a trade and land him.

He looks to be a very good wr.

[Matt]

Training Camp 2023

Veterans

DT Roger Munoz (79/79) - (88/88): Wow...release the beast. Combined with Kurt Lee there isn't a better DT combo in the league.

FS Jeff Morrison (43/44) - (48/48): The second year man makes the switch to FS where his lack of run defense shouldn't hurt as bad and his ability to play zone and diagnose plays should help him out a lot.

CB Ben Garrison (52/66) - (60/66): Replacing Inoue in a few short years shouldn't be as hard now that Garrison is coming into his own. He can play bump and run with the best of them and is a head hunting corner.

C Norm Conley (50/59) - (56/59): Norm was picked to be the long term center for the Bandits and signed a nice 5 year deal during the off-season. He rewarded them with working hard in TC. All though a liability against the pass he is a smash mouth run blocker that can play all game.

CB Randall Inoue (73/73) - (66/66): There is nothing good about getting old...especially when old happens to be 31 years old.

LB Billy Joe Ruegamer (24/48) - (29/49): This kid would be a beast in a 3-4 if he keeps getting better as his pass rush strength is top of the line and his pass rush technique has a chance to be top of the line. As for now he'll play the preseason but then sit behind incumbent starter Jerome Raymond.


Rookies

1.9 - WR Mel Ransbottom (41/71) - (45/66): We don't have the best scout when it comes to wide outs but we're excited to have another young WR to compliment Collier and Gregory. Unfortunately he's also 5'10" like Collier and Gregory so the "fear the 3-headed midget" signs have already gone into production.

2.8 - LB Rondell Gillooly (24/41) - (30/50): We're excited to see the growth from our new MLB. He will compete with 2nd year man Maurice Boyer (who took a huge hit in the off-season position change) for the MLB job.

4.12 - DT Rico Boyer (6/9) - (7/13): Looking for work soon.

4.32 - G Erik Wilson (26/37) - (26/37): Will be with Boyer looking for work.

5.11 - C Lee Cavanaugh (17/38) - (21/37): Will be with Boyer and Wilson looking for work soon.

5.20 - T Trevor Rodriguez (19/53) - (24/50): Rodriguez got winded running from the tunnel to the field for his 1st practice. Might turn into a good backup though.

6.10 - C Skip Burke (12/60) - (16/51): Skip will be battling Doug for the backup center role this year. He is a long snapping expert and is said to really dislike Doug.

UDFA

C Doug Davidson (19/58) - (26/56): Doug will be battling Skip for the backup center role this year. He thinks that Skip is a really nice guy and looks forward to becoming friends.