Thoughts on the roster:
QB - Obviously Becht is a great player. Probably a draft pick. He's a good leader and has good mobility. Needs to clean up those pick sixes and learn to spread the ball around a little more, but I guess I don't blame him for looking at Noel and Higgins rather than risking it with someone else. This year, he has a good group of WR/TE, but not the security blanket that those two were. He'll need to get better at making his reads and not locking in. Behind him Moberly saw some action last year, but he was pretty raw. Becht better not get hurt.
RB - I think that Hansen is a workhorse back if he can stay healthy. Sama is kind of the lightning part of the duo, but man does he need to be more decisive hitting the hole. He reminds me of Nwangwu in that you know the skills were there, but it took him until his last year before it actually clicked. If he can't figure it out, he's going to be passed on the depth chart. Dylan Lee has good size, but didn't really get many snaps in is TRFR year. Seems like he's doing well this spring though. I really liked Flora's speed for a walk-on and could see him getting a scholarship when we have the 105. Also, Ryver Pepper's film was outstanding. I just think that there are too many guys in front of him to burn the RS.
WR - They got two outstanding players from the portal and I could see them both starting. Townsend especially seems like a little bit shiftier Noel, but not as consistent. Green and Alston were brought in from the portal last year and barely played. This will be their last shot. Daniel Jackson was slated to start last year and got hurt (again). This is also his last shot to play. Eskildsen and Overby saw some snaps as TRFR and showed promise. If either of them take a big step forward, they are going to play major snaps if not start. Carson Brown may be limited, but at least you can trust he'll make the catch. It wouldn't surprise me to see TRFR Zay Robinson make some waves, just because he's a great athlete. But like RB, there seem to be too many guys in front of him to actually burn the RS.
TE - A really interesting group. We're getting back to having Kolar/Allen/Soehner type depth and talent. Probably not the greatest news for the WR room. Brahmer is back. Moore is back and probably in the Klotz role. Burkle had a good end to the season. Alexander off of RS/injury. And the walk-ons are really good too...Walsh, Bjorn.
OL - I'm going to put the starters as LT Neal, LG Barrett, C Bonifas, RG Hasert, RT Miller. But, I think that Black and Buhr have a good shot to get in there somewhere as well. Our tackle depth is not as good as it is on the interior, but some of those guys can flex outside if needed. It will be interesting to see the two deep this fall...where the Heltons land, who is in what spot, etc. We're definitely going to miss Jalen Travis, but I think that overall, this OL may end up being better at run blocking.
DL - Probably the biggest unknown on the roster. I feel like NG is set with Orange/Hawk/Carnell plus the new JUCO transfer. We have depth and talent there. But DE? That's kind of a mystery to me. I'd feel better if Onyedim was back. Ezeogu has shown flashes and needs to put it all together. Mendeszoon can be a decent situational pass rusher. That's kind of it for known players. Same has done nothing so far and probably needs more weight. They got 3 guys from the portal, hopefully 1-2 are hits. Jace Gilbert is coming off of RS. Then there's 3 TRFR. Lots of work to do here, but they ARE going against some pretty good OLs on a daily basis, so that would help. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see someone like McLaughlin move up to DE in certain situations.
LB - The one benefit of all the injuries last year is that a bunch of guys got snaps. Willich, Bacon, Klosterman all barely or didn't play and are back. Brezina and McLaughlin only played part of the season and are back. Really, only Kooper Ebel was unscathed. But we also get Lovett and Sadowsky back. Goodwin and Barnes saw plenty of snaps. I have no idea what the depth chart is going to look like here. If I were to just guess, the starters would be Willich, Bacon and Brezina, but who knows?
CB - We have one know commodity and that is Jontez Williams. Who starts opposite him? To me, that is an open competition between Tre Bell, Beni Nogoyi, David Coffey, Mathew Bess and Quentin Taylor. I think that Tre Bell might get the nod, but I'm not sure.
S - Just like CB, we have one guy back that is sure to start and that's Cooper. But unlike CB, most of the guys competing for the other spots have gotten quite a bit of playing time. James, Surges, Patton, Neal all played at least some...a lot due to injuries, but at least they got some experience. I feel like they can settle on a couple to start, but the others are going to play a lot too.
QB - Obviously Becht is a great player. Probably a draft pick. He's a good leader and has good mobility. Needs to clean up those pick sixes and learn to spread the ball around a little more, but I guess I don't blame him for looking at Noel and Higgins rather than risking it with someone else. This year, he has a good group of WR/TE, but not the security blanket that those two were. He'll need to get better at making his reads and not locking in. Behind him Moberly saw some action last year, but he was pretty raw. Becht better not get hurt.
RB - I think that Hansen is a workhorse back if he can stay healthy. Sama is kind of the lightning part of the duo, but man does he need to be more decisive hitting the hole. He reminds me of Nwangwu in that you know the skills were there, but it took him until his last year before it actually clicked. If he can't figure it out, he's going to be passed on the depth chart. Dylan Lee has good size, but didn't really get many snaps in is TRFR year. Seems like he's doing well this spring though. I really liked Flora's speed for a walk-on and could see him getting a scholarship when we have the 105. Also, Ryver Pepper's film was outstanding. I just think that there are too many guys in front of him to burn the RS.
WR - They got two outstanding players from the portal and I could see them both starting. Townsend especially seems like a little bit shiftier Noel, but not as consistent. Green and Alston were brought in from the portal last year and barely played. This will be their last shot. Daniel Jackson was slated to start last year and got hurt (again). This is also his last shot to play. Eskildsen and Overby saw some snaps as TRFR and showed promise. If either of them take a big step forward, they are going to play major snaps if not start. Carson Brown may be limited, but at least you can trust he'll make the catch. It wouldn't surprise me to see TRFR Zay Robinson make some waves, just because he's a great athlete. But like RB, there seem to be too many guys in front of him to actually burn the RS.
TE - A really interesting group. We're getting back to having Kolar/Allen/Soehner type depth and talent. Probably not the greatest news for the WR room. Brahmer is back. Moore is back and probably in the Klotz role. Burkle had a good end to the season. Alexander off of RS/injury. And the walk-ons are really good too...Walsh, Bjorn.
OL - I'm going to put the starters as LT Neal, LG Barrett, C Bonifas, RG Hasert, RT Miller. But, I think that Black and Buhr have a good shot to get in there somewhere as well. Our tackle depth is not as good as it is on the interior, but some of those guys can flex outside if needed. It will be interesting to see the two deep this fall...where the Heltons land, who is in what spot, etc. We're definitely going to miss Jalen Travis, but I think that overall, this OL may end up being better at run blocking.
DL - Probably the biggest unknown on the roster. I feel like NG is set with Orange/Hawk/Carnell plus the new JUCO transfer. We have depth and talent there. But DE? That's kind of a mystery to me. I'd feel better if Onyedim was back. Ezeogu has shown flashes and needs to put it all together. Mendeszoon can be a decent situational pass rusher. That's kind of it for known players. Same has done nothing so far and probably needs more weight. They got 3 guys from the portal, hopefully 1-2 are hits. Jace Gilbert is coming off of RS. Then there's 3 TRFR. Lots of work to do here, but they ARE going against some pretty good OLs on a daily basis, so that would help. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see someone like McLaughlin move up to DE in certain situations.
LB - The one benefit of all the injuries last year is that a bunch of guys got snaps. Willich, Bacon, Klosterman all barely or didn't play and are back. Brezina and McLaughlin only played part of the season and are back. Really, only Kooper Ebel was unscathed. But we also get Lovett and Sadowsky back. Goodwin and Barnes saw plenty of snaps. I have no idea what the depth chart is going to look like here. If I were to just guess, the starters would be Willich, Bacon and Brezina, but who knows?
CB - We have one know commodity and that is Jontez Williams. Who starts opposite him? To me, that is an open competition between Tre Bell, Beni Nogoyi, David Coffey, Mathew Bess and Quentin Taylor. I think that Tre Bell might get the nod, but I'm not sure.
S - Just like CB, we have one guy back that is sure to start and that's Cooper. But unlike CB, most of the guys competing for the other spots have gotten quite a bit of playing time. James, Surges, Patton, Neal all played at least some...a lot due to injuries, but at least they got some experience. I feel like they can settle on a couple to start, but the others are going to play a lot too.
