I kind of hesitated to get excited or think too much about FB just because we didn't know who was going to be playing. Seems like now, we have a lot better idea. They're not going to bring charges without solid evidence, so I'm going to assume that Dekkers, Lee, Brock and Sauser are gone for good (some already are) and that Remsburg is going to miss at least 4-6 games. Hanika might be gone or he might come back late in the season. Either way, I'm not going to count on any of them to make any kind of major contribution and if they do, that's a bonus.
I'll start with the offense and do a projected depth chart and some comments.
QB: Becht, Kohl, Hughes
We kind of forget that Becht WAS a pretty highly-rated recruit. He's got some mobility, a good arm, has been in the system for a year. He's put on some weight and looks like a P5 QB. I think that we can win games with him, but it all depends on the OL, running game, WRs. But if he has protection and the running game is decent, I have faith that he can make good passes and limit turnovers. Kohl, I'd love to see him keep the RS and put a year between him and Becht, but I don't know if that's possible. He's obviously got the arm, but he's even more dependent on a good running game than Becht because he doesn't have Rocco's mobility. I feel like if the OL isn't great (again), you run the risk of ruining a talent like Kohl by putting him in and Becht is going to do better in that situation anyway. We'll see how it goes. Hughes is a big QB that is supposedly pretty mobile. I could see them putting in a Lanning-type package for him and try to keep the hits off of Becht in short yardage.
RB: Norton/Sanders, Harris, Hansen, Sama
Norton has a chance to be a really solid back, but the question is always injury. He's a tough runner who will bowl over people. But he was hurt in HS and made it only a couple of snaps at ISU before getting injured. I don't know if we can count on him to stay healthy. If he does, we have something. Sanders clearly wasn't ready early on last year. He's put on some weight and did have some good games at the end of last year. He's got good speed and can break big runs, but he needs a hole (similar to Nwangwu and Mike Warren). I don't know if he'll have that this year with our OL. Harris has good size and was a 4 star out of HS. Not great speed, but you know he is a smart kid going to Stanford. I'm guessing he's our 3rd down back where he does pass protection and catches some passes. We've already heard good things about Sama and Hansen. I'm guessing that they'd like to keep the RS on both, but with Brock out, an injury or two will force at least one of them to play over the 4 game limit. You never know...maybe one will blow up and RB is a position where guys can play early if they're ready. Both came in with college ready size.
WR: M: Noel, Jackson, Bitter, Adams. X: Higgins, Gaines, Ngoyi. Z: Stanley, Essex, Black.
Obviously, Higgins is here to be a Hutchinson replacement. I don't think that we can expect that from him, but it's more about the other guys stepping up to help than depending on one guy like we did X. He's got good size and speed and by all accounts should be our leading receiver. Noel has a lot to prove to live up to the hype. I just want to see him play tougher. No alligator arms, no running out of bounds to avoid hits. He does have talent, but I'm more concerned with his mentality. I don't know that either Noel or Stanley are real P5 starters. Stanley can get open, but he just needs to catch the ball. After that, there's a bunch of guys with a lot to prove. Gaines and Essex saw limited snaps as TRFR, but they have talent. Jackson has always had ability, but has not been consistent or able to stay healthy. Bitter is steady and I always wonder why he doesn't get more snaps given the drops that others have had. The three TRFR are all really talented, but they might need a year to really contribute. I feel like Ngoyi is going to be a great player for us eventually and may get in there this year.
TE: Dean, Brahmer, Keller. TE2: Burkle, Bjorn, Moore. F: Klotz.
Tough to predict this one. TE was really bad last year after some really good years. It sounds like Dean was hurt last year and that gives me some hope that he wasn't the total bust that it looked like. I do think that this is one of the most overall talented positions on the roster. They're just really young. Brahmer might be one of the most talented players on the roster and I don't expect him to keep the RS on. The biggest issue to me is setting the edge in the run game. Dean couldn't do it last year and if he's not better, then someone else is getting that job. I expect major improvement from this group and it will only get better in following years. Their recruiting here has been off the charts good.
OL: LT: Miller, Maro. LG: Hufford, Hasert. C: Peterson/Bonifas. RG: Simmons, Akinshilo. RT: Neal, Treiber.
I'd say we'd miss Remsburg, but he's hardly played in the past few years. Hopefully, Neal is ready after a year out of JUCO. We do have some talent. I think that Miller has a chance to be a really good player. Hufford is getting preseason all-conference mention. Simmons played really well in 2020, not so much after that. So much of this (and the entire team's success) depends on Clanton getting these guys to play up to their potential. He's supposedly simplified things. That should help, as they looked confused a lot last year. I feel like if he's anywhere near the hype, he has the horses to turn this from the worst OL in P5 to below average. That would be a huge win this season. We do have some decent skill talent and a great defense. The OL just needs to give Rocco time and move guys enough to make teams at least respect the run game.
I'll start with the offense and do a projected depth chart and some comments.
QB: Becht, Kohl, Hughes
We kind of forget that Becht WAS a pretty highly-rated recruit. He's got some mobility, a good arm, has been in the system for a year. He's put on some weight and looks like a P5 QB. I think that we can win games with him, but it all depends on the OL, running game, WRs. But if he has protection and the running game is decent, I have faith that he can make good passes and limit turnovers. Kohl, I'd love to see him keep the RS and put a year between him and Becht, but I don't know if that's possible. He's obviously got the arm, but he's even more dependent on a good running game than Becht because he doesn't have Rocco's mobility. I feel like if the OL isn't great (again), you run the risk of ruining a talent like Kohl by putting him in and Becht is going to do better in that situation anyway. We'll see how it goes. Hughes is a big QB that is supposedly pretty mobile. I could see them putting in a Lanning-type package for him and try to keep the hits off of Becht in short yardage.
RB: Norton/Sanders, Harris, Hansen, Sama
Norton has a chance to be a really solid back, but the question is always injury. He's a tough runner who will bowl over people. But he was hurt in HS and made it only a couple of snaps at ISU before getting injured. I don't know if we can count on him to stay healthy. If he does, we have something. Sanders clearly wasn't ready early on last year. He's put on some weight and did have some good games at the end of last year. He's got good speed and can break big runs, but he needs a hole (similar to Nwangwu and Mike Warren). I don't know if he'll have that this year with our OL. Harris has good size and was a 4 star out of HS. Not great speed, but you know he is a smart kid going to Stanford. I'm guessing he's our 3rd down back where he does pass protection and catches some passes. We've already heard good things about Sama and Hansen. I'm guessing that they'd like to keep the RS on both, but with Brock out, an injury or two will force at least one of them to play over the 4 game limit. You never know...maybe one will blow up and RB is a position where guys can play early if they're ready. Both came in with college ready size.
WR: M: Noel, Jackson, Bitter, Adams. X: Higgins, Gaines, Ngoyi. Z: Stanley, Essex, Black.
Obviously, Higgins is here to be a Hutchinson replacement. I don't think that we can expect that from him, but it's more about the other guys stepping up to help than depending on one guy like we did X. He's got good size and speed and by all accounts should be our leading receiver. Noel has a lot to prove to live up to the hype. I just want to see him play tougher. No alligator arms, no running out of bounds to avoid hits. He does have talent, but I'm more concerned with his mentality. I don't know that either Noel or Stanley are real P5 starters. Stanley can get open, but he just needs to catch the ball. After that, there's a bunch of guys with a lot to prove. Gaines and Essex saw limited snaps as TRFR, but they have talent. Jackson has always had ability, but has not been consistent or able to stay healthy. Bitter is steady and I always wonder why he doesn't get more snaps given the drops that others have had. The three TRFR are all really talented, but they might need a year to really contribute. I feel like Ngoyi is going to be a great player for us eventually and may get in there this year.
TE: Dean, Brahmer, Keller. TE2: Burkle, Bjorn, Moore. F: Klotz.
Tough to predict this one. TE was really bad last year after some really good years. It sounds like Dean was hurt last year and that gives me some hope that he wasn't the total bust that it looked like. I do think that this is one of the most overall talented positions on the roster. They're just really young. Brahmer might be one of the most talented players on the roster and I don't expect him to keep the RS on. The biggest issue to me is setting the edge in the run game. Dean couldn't do it last year and if he's not better, then someone else is getting that job. I expect major improvement from this group and it will only get better in following years. Their recruiting here has been off the charts good.
OL: LT: Miller, Maro. LG: Hufford, Hasert. C: Peterson/Bonifas. RG: Simmons, Akinshilo. RT: Neal, Treiber.
I'd say we'd miss Remsburg, but he's hardly played in the past few years. Hopefully, Neal is ready after a year out of JUCO. We do have some talent. I think that Miller has a chance to be a really good player. Hufford is getting preseason all-conference mention. Simmons played really well in 2020, not so much after that. So much of this (and the entire team's success) depends on Clanton getting these guys to play up to their potential. He's supposedly simplified things. That should help, as they looked confused a lot last year. I feel like if he's anywhere near the hype, he has the horses to turn this from the worst OL in P5 to below average. That would be a huge win this season. We do have some decent skill talent and a great defense. The OL just needs to give Rocco time and move guys enough to make teams at least respect the run game.
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