New Additions = Improved Depth

[FuriousStyles]

Honestly I’m done being fooled. My expectations this season are extremely low.

Besides the OL I’m not sure we’re a much better team and I don’t think our coaching hires were that great.

This is the time of year to fall in love with the hype and see a path to 15-0 but I think the ceiling of this team is 8 wins. I can see 6-6 but I don’t see any path to 9 wins. (Regular season)

As much as I want to call you a mope… I think you’re spot on.

FML

 

[Page305]

Good analysis. Also, Texas, USC, and Oklahoma! "out recruiting" Miami has led to what?

Texas sucked donkey balls, USC was meh, and Norman has a very bad case of Brent Veneralables Disease.

Big Manny is building towards something better than what Manuela put on the field.

USC at 11-3 was "meh"???
Texas 8-5 "sucked donkey balls"??

sheesh my goodness.



Aren't we saying 8 wins for us would be a good season?

 

[powelkm]

Not really.

Aside from Ajay Allen, I don’t see any of the other RB’s necessarily taking on a larger role.

Parrish is the most consistent, so I would guess the Coaches will give him the most carries.

I’ll believe it when I see it with Chaney; I hope against hope CJ Jr gets used in a multifaceted way, but who knows how that goes, TF’s for whatever reason at Miami regardless of their talent seem to always have an issue getting on the field. I don’t see it with Fletcher, but he’s the quintessential Mario-Back.

Position	Player
QB	Tyler Van Dyke	Jacurri Brown	Emory Williams
RB	Henry Parrish	Don Chaney	Ajay Allen
	Mark Fletcher	Christopher Johnson Jr.	Tre'vonte Citizen
TE	Elijah Arroyo	Jaleel Skinner	Dam Mammerelli
	Cam McCormick	Riley Williams	Jackson Carver
WR - X	Colbie Young	Tyler Harrell	Isaiah Horton	Frank Ladson Jr.
WR - Z	Jacolby George	Shemar Kirk	Robby Washington	Michael Redding III
WR - F	Xavier Restrepo	Nathaniel 'Ray Ray' Joseph	Brashard Smith
LT	Zion Nelson (?)	Samson Okunola	Jalen Rivers
LG	Javion Cohen	Tommy Kinsler	Lauranec Seymore	Lou Cristobal
C	Matt Lee	Jonathan Denis	Ryan Rodriguez	Lou Cristobal
RG	Anez Cooper	Jalen Rivers	Logan Sagapolu	Antonio Tripp
RT	Francis Mauigoa	Matthew McCoy	Michael McLaughlin
LDE	Jafari Harvey	Nyjalik Kelly	Cyrus Moss	Collins Acheampong
LDT	Leonard Taylor	Branson Deen	Thomas Gore	Joshua Horton
RDT	Jared Harrison-Hunte	Anthony Campbell	Ahmad Moten	Jacob Lichtenstein
RDE	Akheem Mesidor	Rueben Bain Jr.	Chantz Williams	Jayden Wayne
DE/LB	Malik Bryant	Cyrus Moss
WLB	Wesley Bissainthe	Keontra Smith	Chase Smith	Raul Aguirre
MLB	Francisco Mauigoa	Corey Flagg Jr	Bobby Washington Jr.	Marcellius Pulliam
NB/Striker	Te'Cory Couch	Jaden Davis	Jaden harris	Kaleb Spencer
LCB	Davonte Brown	Damari Brown	Demetrius Freeney	Chris Graves Jr.
SS	James Williams	Markeith Williams
FS	Kamren Kitchens	Brian Balom
RCB	Daryl Porter. Jr.	Jadais Richard	Malik Curtis	Robert Stafford

The season hinges on health & development.

Get/keep Ty Harrell healthy & get Kirk developed & integrated into the Offense.

Same with CJ Jr, he's a weapon that allows for flexibility & versatility offensively. You have to get him on the field & playing, don't waste that speed.

Defensively it's the same, development & integration.

CB will come down to finding someone between Richard, Damarri Brown, Roger Stafford, DP Jr & D Freeney to play at Boundary & figuring out the Nickel.

The biggest issue the CB group & Secondary overall will have is Speed, the current staff still hasn't figured out the secret science of finding fast DB's, the same thing that plagued the previous staffs; but otherwise they have to get the new talent with upside on the field.

Over at InsideTheU, David Lake wrote a nice breakdown of the new additions UM added this offseason, and which ones will play a bigger role this year. He has stated on the Cover 3 pod, that UM ideally wants to rotate 2.5. So essentially starters, immediate backups, and guys who are green but can be reliable in small sample sizes.

Only 5 teams were able to pull in a top 10 recruiting class along with a top 10 portal class. Those teams were LSU, USC, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Miami.

Looking at the new transfer portal additions, along with the strong freshman class, I believe that our 2 Deep is better than it was last year.

The new additions that will find themselves starting are:
Javion Cohen (upgrade)
Matt Lee (upgrade)
Francis Mauigoa (upgrade)
Francisco Mauigoa (upgrade)
Davonte Brown (TBD)

In addition to the newcomers finding themselves in the starting roles, here are the others that I believe raise our teams' floor:
Ajay Allen
Mark Fletcher
Tyler Harrell
Shemar Kirk
Nathaniel 'Ray Ray' Joseph

Reuben Bain
Anthony Campbell
Branson Deen
KJ Cloyd (potential starter per ITU)
Bobby Washington Jr.
Raul 'Papo' Aguirre
Marcellius Pulliam
Jaden Davis
Jadais Richard
Damari Brown
Demetrius Freeney

The one position group that has a true issue of depth is the Safety position. If Kam were to go down, that's the biggest dropoff from an All-American to Markeith Williams or Brian Balom. Also, I am high on the freshman LBs cause I think their physical traits fit what Guidry's defense likes to do.

All in all, with the new coordinators and improved depth, I believe the 2023 season will be a more positive season and we'll like what we see out of this team.

I will add the 2023 UM Depth Chart below as it stands.

Position	Player
QB	Tyler Van Dyke	Jacurri Brown	Emory Williams
RB	Henry Parrish	Don Chaney	Ajay Allen
	Mark Fletcher	Christopher Johnson Jr.	Tre'vonte Citizen
TE	Elijah Arroyo	Jaleel Skinner	Dam Mammerelli
	Cam McCormick	Riley Williams	Jackson Carver
WR - X	Colbie Young	Tyler Harrell	Isaiah Horton	Frank Ladson Jr.
WR - Z	Jacolby George	Shemar Kirk	Robby Washington	Michael Redding III
WR - F	Xavier Restrepo	Nathaniel 'Ray Ray' Joseph	Brashard Smith
LT	Zion Nelson (?)	Samson Okunola	Jalen Rivers
LG	Javion Cohen	Tommy Kinsler	Lauranec Seymore	Lou Cristobal
C	Matt Lee	Jonathan Denis	Ryan Rodriguez	Lou Cristobal
RG	Anez Cooper	Jalen Rivers	Logan Sagapolu	Antonio Tripp
RT	Francis Mauigoa	Matthew McCoy	Michael McLaughlin
LDE	Jafari Harvey	Nyjalik Kelly	Cyrus Moss	Collins Acheampong
LDT	Leonard Taylor	Branson Deen	Thomas Gore	Joshua Horton
RDT	Jared Harrison-Hunte	Anthony Campbell	Ahmad Moten	Jacob Lichtenstein
RDE	Akheem Mesidor	Rueben Bain Jr.	Chantz Williams	Jayden Wayne
DE/LB	Malik Bryant	Cyrus Moss
WLB	Wesley Bissainthe	Keontra Smith	Chase Smith	Raul Aguirre
MLB	Francisco Mauigoa	Corey Flagg Jr	Bobby Washington Jr.	Marcellius Pulliam
NB/Striker	Te'Cory Couch	Jaden Davis	Jaden harris	Kaleb Spencer
LCB	Davonte Brown	Damari Brown	Demetrius Freeney	Chris Graves Jr.
SS	James Williams	Markeith Williams
FS	Kamren Kitchens	Brian Balom
RCB	Daryl Porter. Jr.	Jadais Richard	Malik Curtis	Robert Stafford

Who slides over to safety if there are injuries in the 2 deep?

 

[Brains]

The more I look at this roster, the harder it becomes for me to convince myself of my prior 8-5 prediction.

Kinchens is good, and the CBs should be passable, but the defense stinks overall.

LB is better than last year, but weak overall.

DT is weak other than Taylor.

There is no sure thing at WR.

RB is a wild card.

This just looks like another weak team.

 

[Brains]

Position	Player
QB	Tyler Van Dyke	Jacurri Brown	Emory Williams
RB	Henry Parrish	Don Chaney	Ajay Allen
	Mark Fletcher	Christopher Johnson Jr.	Tre'vonte Citizen
TE	Elijah Arroyo	Jaleel Skinner	Dam Mammerelli
	Cam McCormick	Riley Williams	Jackson Carver
WR - X	Colbie Young	Tyler Harrell	Isaiah Horton	Frank Ladson Jr.
WR - Z	Jacolby George	Shemar Kirk	Robby Washington	Michael Redding III
WR - F	Xavier Restrepo	Nathaniel 'Ray Ray' Joseph	Brashard Smith
LT	Zion Nelson (?)	Samson Okunola	Jalen Rivers
LG	Javion Cohen	Tommy Kinsler	Lauranec Seymore	Lou Cristobal
C	Matt Lee	Jonathan Denis	Ryan Rodriguez	Lou Cristobal
RG	Anez Cooper	Jalen Rivers	Logan Sagapolu	Antonio Tripp
RT	Francis Mauigoa	Matthew McCoy	Michael McLaughlin
LDE	Jafari Harvey	Nyjalik Kelly	Cyrus Moss	Collins Acheampong
LDT	Leonard Taylor	Branson Deen	Thomas Gore	Joshua Horton
RDT	Jared Harrison-Hunte	Anthony Campbell	Ahmad Moten	Jacob Lichtenstein
RDE	Akheem Mesidor	Rueben Bain Jr.	Chantz Williams	Jayden Wayne
DE/LB	Malik Bryant	Cyrus Moss
WLB	Wesley Bissainthe	Keontra Smith	Chase Smith	Raul Aguirre
MLB	Francisco Mauigoa	Corey Flagg Jr	Bobby Washington Jr.	Marcellius Pulliam
NB/Striker	Te'Cory Couch	Jaden Davis	Jaden harris	Kaleb Spencer
LCB	Davonte Brown	Damari Brown	Demetrius Freeney	Chris Graves Jr.
SS	James Williams	Markeith Williams
FS	Kamren Kitchens	Brian Balom
RCB	Daryl Porter. Jr.	Jadais Richard	Malik Curtis	Robert Stafford

IF Harrison-Hunte is a starter, we are ****ED SIDEWAYS.

 

[AUcane]

USC at 11-3 was "meh"???
Texas 8-5 "sucked donkey balls"??

sheesh my goodness.



Aren't we saying 8 wins for us would be a good season?

USC was a whisker away from the CFP. They’re in line to get it this year again.

Texas is shaping up to have a real good year and OU will be improved.

 

[Page305]

USC was a whisker away from the CFP. They’re in line to get it this year again.

Texas is shaping up to have a real good year and OU will be improved.

Absolutely. That's why I'm confused about what was said.

 

[Empirical Cane]

USC at 11-3 was "meh"???
Texas 8-5 "sucked donkey balls"??

sheesh my goodness.



Aren't we saying 8 wins for us would be a good season?

USC was a weak 11-3. Paper tiger.

Yes, Texas sucked donkey balls relative to expectations (Miami has been King of suck balls mountain for a long time).

My point was I believe Big Manny is building our Canes to something better, even without #1 classes.

 

[Empirical Cane]

The more I look at this roster, the harder it becomes for me to convince myself of my prior 8-5 prediction.

Kinchens is good, and the CBs should be passable, but the defense stinks overall.

LB is better than last year, but weak overall.

DT is weak other than Taylor.

There is no sure thing at WR.

RB is a wild card.

This just looks like another weak team.

If Cohen and Lee hype are to be believed, I think 7/8 wins are very doable.

Miami is several 3rd and 2 conversions away from getting momemtum rolling....

 

[Page305]

USC was a weak 11-3. Paper tiger.

Yes, Texas sucked donkey balls relative to expectations (Miami has been King of suck balls mountain for a long time).

My point was I believe Big Manny is building our Canes to something better, even without #1 classes.

.....Big Manny


Yeah I'm out

 

[Empirical Cane]

USC was a whisker away from the CFP. They’re in line to get it this year again.

Texas is shaping up to have a real good year and OU will be improved.

USC plays in PAC 12. Goodness they make ACC look like a powerhouse.

Texas should be improved this year, just like every year, will they actually do it this year?

I believe Brent Veneralables is in BIG trouble at OU....

 

[Zombie-Cane]

USC at 11-3 was "meh"???
Texas 8-5 "sucked donkey balls"??

sheesh my goodness.



Aren't we saying 8 wins for us would be a good season?

I never read anyone posting that 8-5 means we had a good season. I saw folks posting that 8-5 would be a huge step in the right direction and positive momentum compared to what we all just endured.

 

[D_G87]

Brian Monroe was on Donno podcast and said if all RB’s are healthy he could see a Chaney, Allen and Fletcher rotation. To me that’s our most talented (until Citizen is back) rotation. I do think the staff likes Parrish reliability and trust him so he’ll play.

 

[Manfred_Cane]

USC was a weak 11-3. Paper tiger.

Yes, Texas sucked donkey balls relative to expectations (Miami has been King of suck balls mountain for a long time).

My point was I believe Big Manny is building our Canes to something better, even without #1 classes.

Texas had a lot of injuries last offseason that cost them during the season. Nayor and another WR got hurt in the spring that caused them to miss the whole year. Multiple injuries on the OL as well. If you look at their losses, it's against Bama, Texas Tech, Ok St, TCU and Washington.
They didn't hit their O/U of 8.5, and it's really cause of their injuries. Gotta remember, they only won 5 games the year before lol so they did improved as a whole.

Now if they 8-5 this year, then it's a HUGE issue.

When it comes to UM, I think we're on the same track as Texas & Sark. We get 8 wins this year to build to next year

 

[Empirical Cane]

Brian Monroe was on Donno podcast and said if all RB’s are healthy he could see a Chaney, Allen and Fletcher rotation. To me that’s our most talented (until Citizen is back) rotation. I do think the staff likes Parrish reliability and trust him so he’ll play.

If OL plays above average in run blocking, RB that benefits most is???

 

[FrancisSawyer]

I agree with your assessment but replacing last year’s DT’s of Jackson/Miller/Moutrie/Roberts with Deen/Campbell/Gore is at best a push. I know Campbell is a big dude but I’m not as high as him as most with him coming from being a veteran backup at a bad G5 program.

I’m actually higher on CB than most. I know we lost Stevenson and Ivey to the NFL but with the addition of Richard/Freeney and both Brown brothers I think we elevated the floor there as well. At very least a push.

I really like Markeith, think he’s going to be a stud but agree that after him the depth is concerning. Hopefully moving Harris is the solution along with Balom exceeding expectations.

As you mentioned, the coordinators are the wildcard. Even dudes I may not be high on may really surprise in a system that better suits them.

Overall huge improvement to the roster and a lot to be excited about going into next season.

Agree with pretty much everything here. I'm also not as high on Campbell as some but I am high on Deen.

We are on the same page at CB where I think the staff did an exceptional job in turning that room over and really elevating our floor. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this group gels and how the battles all shake out. Is Stafford really that good? Will Richard start? Will Freeney make a move?

Safety depth is a legitimate concern and I also like moving Jaden Harris over to Safety. Kam must stay healthy and I'm in full agreement about Markeith Williams who I have really liked from the beginning. What intrigues me is how James Williams will be used by Guidry and if the new scheme will have a transformative effect on JW.

LB will be very interesting as so many things can happen in terms of who proves that they can be consistent and how much the young kids will improve over the season. We will see a better unit here but 2024 will be when the LBs start to break out.

Our DE group is becoming one of the best units on the team but the best players are still very young. We will see some great flashes and we will have some growing pains. Like LB I expect DE to really take off next year. I fully expect Bain to win a starting job at DE at some point this season and never give it up. Is Kelly ready to take the next step?

Both coordinators are crucial to our success and I loved the Guidry hire(will do offense in a different post). I think that his scheme fits the personality of UM much better than Steele and I'm truly looking forward to seeing how Guidry puts it all together.

 

[Manfred_Cane]

Agree with pretty much everything here. I'm also not as high on Campbell as some but I am high on Deen.

We are on the same page at CB where I think the staff did an exceptional job in turning that room over and really elevating our floor. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this group gels and how the battles all shake out. Is Stafford really that good? Will Richard start? Will Freeney make a move?

Safety depth is a legitimate concern and I also like moving Jaden Harris over to Safety. Kam must stay healthy and I'm in full agreement about Markeith Williams who I have really liked from the beginning. What intrigues me is how James Williams will be used by Guidry and if the new scheme will have a transformative effect on JW.

LB will be very interesting as so many things can happen in terms of who proves that they can be consistent and how much the young kids will improve over the season. We will see a better unit here but 2024 will be when the LBs start to break out.

Our DE group is becoming one of the best units on the team but the best players are still very young. We will see some great flashes and we will have some growing pains. Like LB I expect DE to really take off next year. I fully expect Bain to win a starting job at DE at some point this season and never give it up. Is Kelly ready to take the next step?

Both coordinators are crucial to our success and I loved the Guidry hire(will do offense in a different post). I think that his scheme fits the personality of UM much better than Steele and I'm truly looking forward to seeing how Guidry puts it all together.

What do you see in Deen that makes you high on him? Haven't watched much of his tape. If he can get to 300lbs before this season, I'd be very happy lol

The one thing that I really like about the Guidry hire, is that he won't try to fit a square peg into a round hole. He'll play to his players strengths. I bring this up cause during the Spring Game, he had Kelly drop into coverage a few times, and I wonder if that truly fits Nyjaliks game rn. I mean it could, i'm not an expert, but I really like the threat of him as a pass rusher. I'd be more inclined to see Cyrus Moss drop back into coverage and I think we'll see that so we can get Cyrus opportunities on the field.

 

[D_G87]

If OL plays above average in run blocking, RB that benefits most is???

Great question . I know it’s a big IF, but I think if Chaney is and can stay healthy, I think he can have a monster year. I haven’t seen enough of Allen to make a full judgment on him and Fletcher is a pup so you never know. Chaney to me has everything you want in a Back. But availability is the best ability.

 

[FrancisSawyer]

What do you see in Deen that makes you high on him? Haven't watched much of his tape. If he can get to 300lbs before this season, I'd be very happy lol

The one thing that I really like about the Guidry hire, is that he won't try to fit a square peg into a round hole. He'll play to his players strengths. I bring this up cause during the Spring Game, he had Kelly drop into coverage a few times, and I wonder if that truly fits Nyjaliks game rn. I mean it could, i'm not an expert, but I really like the threat of him as a pass rusher. I'd be more inclined to see Cyrus Moss drop back into coverage and I think we'll see that so we can get Cyrus opportunities on the field.

Deen came in at 6'2" 280 lb IIRC so he may get up to 300 lb but I'm not sure what the coaches plan for him in that regard. I like Deen's quickness and explosion. He is a very active inside pass rusher who I believe can be a great compliment to LT who is playing for NFL draft position. I think a player like Deen is a great fit for Guidry's scheme and barring injury I expect him to be productive in this defense.

Regarding Guidry playing to his players strengths I agree with you. I also think that coach Guidry is very good at communicating his concepts to his players in a manner that makes it easy to understand and ultimately execute. Did you notice the defense in the Spring Game? You didn't see much of any confusion and everyone looked like they were on the same page. The players looked comfortable in their assignments and as a result they looked faster and played faster. That's the sign of a good coach/coordinator. You can have the most amazing defense in the world but if you can't effectively communicate it to your players then the defense is going to suck.

What you are describing with Kelly seems like a fire zone or a zone blitz concept. I wouldn't read too much into it as that is a fairly common concept. In terms of dropping into coverage being something that fits his skill set or not, I can't really say. He could be fluid and athletic enough to make that play work but regardless I wouldn't put too much thought into it because Spring is the time to experiment and try things to see if they could be effective. I wouldn't worry about Kelly. The staff knows how the young man butters his bread and it's not by dropping into coverage lol.

 

[FrancisSawyer]

USC plays in PAC 12. Goodness they make ACC look like a powerhouse.

Texas should be improved this year, just like every year, will they actually do it this year?

I believe Brent Veneralables is in BIG trouble at OU....

Agree but could you go into more detail regarding Venables? Why exactly do you think he is in big trouble?