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2024 LB Depth and playing time

FrancisSawyer

FrancisSawyer

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With Spring practice beginning in March there will be a lot of competition on Greentree. At LB we return starters Kiko Mauigoa and Wes Bissainthe at Mike and Will respectively. However there is significant playing time to be won. The departure of Cory Flagg and KJ Cloyd creates a huge opportunity for what is a group of young but very talented LBs who will all be competing to fill those roles. My question is who do you think will step up and fill those 2 spots? For the first time in what seems like an eternity, we have plenty of talented albeit inexperienced depth at the position. This spring the following will be competing for PT....

Raul "Popo" Aguirre
Bobby Washington
Marcellus Pullium
Chase Smith
Malik Bryant
Cam Pruitt
Adarius Hayes

I'm going with Raul Aguirre, Marcellus Pullium and Bobby Washington. Aguirre played the most of all the freshmen LBs last year and this season he should be poised for a much larger role. Washington has the type of physical gifts that could make him a terror at OLB. If the light bulb comes on for him this off season it will be fun to watch. Pulliam is another kid that has the potential to expand his role this season. He played sporadically throughout last season mostly on special teams. He had a beautiful interception vs Thomas Castellanos of Boston College last season.

Malik Bryant is a talented kid but he may need more time to develop. Pruitt and Hayes are both EE's and anything is possible but they both need to put on a bit more weight and gain core strength. Booker Pickett Jr has an excellent skill set but arrives in the summer.
 
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Still think we look to add a KJ Cloyd type via the portal in the spring for veteran depth. That said, I think Wes should and will be on watch as far as potentially losing his starting spot to a younger player by midseason. Also not sure if you can include Pickett with this group. I believe he's going to be playing Edge.
 
Hopefully Pope and Pullium can set up into bigger roles. Fingers crossed that Smith stays healthy, if he doesn't make a move up the depth chart, he maybe a candidate to grad transfer.
 
tsimonitis said:
Hopefully Pope and Pullium can set up into bigger roles. Fingers crossed that Smith stays healthy, if he doesn't make a move up the depth chart, he maybe a candidate to grad transfer.
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I was wondering if anyone had any update on Chase and how he was progressing/recovering. I know someone on here I believe it was this past offseason that said he was practicing good and the coaches liked what they were seeing.
 
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Bird4um said:
Enough with the transfers... Recruit and develop so you don't need to portal.. We should have a backer or two that can play.
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No offense, but this type of thinking is antiquated and frankly, stupid.

In a perfect world - yes, someone should step up amongst the Popo/Pulliam/Chase Smith/Bobby/Bryant/freshmen. But when you commit to a quarterback of Cam Ward’s caliber + enter Year 3 yet to win 8 games in a single season, you don’t really have the luxury of leaning on hope.

You simply can’t squander the opportunity we have in ‘24. We have one legit linebacker - Kiko. And guess what? He’s a demon when he attacks downhill, but he got exposed plenty of times working sideline to sideline on pass plays. It’s not his skillset which is perfectly ok, and yes he can always improve there. He’s still a good player.

My point is more so that Wes is built from the same cloth as Kiko, except he got bullied against Rutgers and has a loooooong way to go to be relied on as #2.

So even in a defensive scheme like Guidry’s where we really only need 2 LBs on the field, we only have one that can be relied on. We absolutely need another in the Spring Portal imo, even if it’s an experienced depth guy.
 
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WeBallinBoyz said:
No offense, but this type of thinking is antiquated and frankly, stupid.

In a perfect world - yes, someone should step up amongst the Popo/Pulliam/Chase Smith/Bobby/Bryant/freshmen. But when you commit to a quarterback of Cam Ward’s caliber + enter Year 3 yet to win 8 games in a single season, you don’t really have the luxury of leaning on hope.????????????

You simply can’t squander the opportunity we have in ‘24. We have one legit linebacker - Kiko. And guess what? He’s a demon when he attacks downhill, but he got exposed plenty of times working sideline to sideline on pass plays. It’s not his skillset which is perfectly ok, and yes he can always improve there. He’s still a good player.

My point is more so that Wes is built from the same cloth as Kiko, except he got bullied against Rutgers and has a loooooong way to go to be relied on as #2.

So even in a defensive scheme like Guidry’s where we really only need 2 LBs on the field, we only have one that can be relied on. We absolutely need another in the Spring Portal imo, even if it’s an experienced depth guy.
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Hope is hearing about a hurricane coming and hoping it won't hit you.. No control

This program has control over who it recruits and how well it develops....

Other programs have freshmen and sophomores that can play.. so should we.
 
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There are 8-9 four star players to choose from at LB on this roster. Are there any ACC teams with this much talent at LB? Develop these guys in spring and fall camp. No more transfers are needed for this group.
 
WeBallinBoyz said:
No offense, but this type of thinking is antiquated and frankly, stupid.

In a perfect world - yes, someone should step up amongst the Popo/Pulliam/Chase Smith/Bobby/Bryant/freshmen. But when you commit to a quarterback of Cam Ward’s caliber + enter Year 3 yet to win 8 games in a single season, you don’t really have the luxury of leaning on hope.

You simply can’t squander the opportunity we have in ‘24. We have one legit linebacker - Kiko. And guess what? He’s a demon when he attacks downhill, but he got exposed plenty of times working sideline to sideline on pass plays. It’s not his skillset which is perfectly ok, and yes he can always improve there. He’s still a good player.

My point is more so that Wes is built from the same cloth as Kiko, except he got bullied against Rutgers and has a loooooong way to go to be relied on as #2.

So even in a defensive scheme like Guidry’s where we really only need 2 LBs on the field, we only have one that can be relied on. We absolutely need another in the Spring Portal imo, even if it’s an experienced depth guy.
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I didn't read the comment you replied as "NO TRANSFERS EVER AGAIN," but rather, "Can we back off the portal parade a bit." I think you both will agree with this:

We need to rely significantly less on the portal while continuing to recruit at an elite level.

Maybe I'm wrong in my assumption that you'll both agree. Thing is, the elite programs generally are taking significantly less portal players than we have. And yes, I'm aware of what FSU did last year and I've seen what Ohio $tate has done this off-season. Alabama, Georgia, Michigan take 3-5 transfers a year, not double digits. I'm not saying we need to do what Dumbo at Clemson is doing (2 transfers total in portal era), but I am saying that HS recruiting is still king.
 
WeBallinBoyz said:
No offense, but this type of thinking is antiquated and frankly, stupid.

In a perfect world - yes, someone should step up amongst the Popo/Pulliam/Chase Smith/Bobby/Bryant/freshmen. But when you commit to a quarterback of Cam Ward’s caliber + enter Year 3 yet to win 8 games in a single season, you don’t really have the luxury of leaning on hope.

You simply can’t squander the opportunity we have in ‘24. We have one legit linebacker - Kiko. And guess what? He’s a demon when he attacks downhill, but he got exposed plenty of times working sideline to sideline on pass plays. It’s not his skillset which is perfectly ok, and yes he can always improve there. He’s still a good player.

My point is more so that Wes is built from the same cloth as Kiko, except he got bullied against Rutgers and has a loooooong way to go to be relied on as #2.

So even in a defensive scheme like Guidry’s where we really only need 2 LBs on the field, we only have one that can be relied on. We absolutely need another in the Spring Portal imo, even if it’s an experienced depth guy.
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No one got more bullied against Rutgers than Kiko. I was truly disappointed in him
 
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