johnnytsunami01
Sophomore
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2012
- Messages
- 4,370
Hey guys was wondering what you thoughts would be on the ranking of the overall position groups on this team prior to fall camp. Also make sure to give a brief description to facilitate discussion.
Mine would be as follows:
1.) WR:
National championship level talent and coaching for the WRs. Richards has the ability to be the best WR in the country if he stays healthy and really wants it. Thomas has everything you want from a slot receiver, just get him the ball and watch what he can do. What really separates this group is the depth. If Cager plays like he did against Wisconsin and during the Spring (playing like a 6'5'' beast) then he will be unstoppable. Hightower already proved he belongs, Harley is Mr. Consistent according to Brown, Pope is a 5 star, Ezzard is a beast, and Njoku is a Njoku. None of them aside from the first two are proven stars, but the talent is off the charts.
2.) RB:
Homer is an every down type of back. He does everything right from running to blocking. He is extremely quick and finishes every play. Deejay showed last year what he can do with the ball in his hands, just watch the ND game if you have any questions. Whats makes them so highly ranked is the depth. Lingard is a legit 5 star RB and possibly the fastest player on the team with great strength to go along with it, yet he is not going to be higher on the depth chart than 3rd. Burns actually surprised a lot over the spring and showed that IF healthy he can be great for short yardage. Davis might not see the field just based off depth and the fact he is a freshman.
3.) LB:
Quaterman and Pickney are two of the best in the whole nation. The reason this group is not higher is depth. Will McCloud play like most believe he can with his talent? Perry, Mike Smith, and Steed definitely have improved and are no pushovers, but are they ready to take that next step in-game? How will Smith and Finley do in this new Striker position? There are a lot of questions for this position group, but if answered like we want this could be even higher at the end of the season.
4.) S:
Johnson is a beast, he might not have that athleticism you would expect from a superstar, but he has great football iq and heart. Redwine was good and worked great with Johnson last year. There are still some questions about him though, and this year will really be big for him. Hall and Carter are young and unproven, but extremely talented. If they play to the level of their talent watch out. Prefer not to see Knowles back there, but the coaches say he has improved and is really consistent, I just hope I don't have to see plays like he did against FSU last year.
5.) DL:
DE was a huge question coming into spring, but that seems to have been answered. JJ and Garvin are two of our best defensive players and absolute beasts at DE. Jackson is probably one of the most underrated guys on our squad, his help on passing downs when he moves inside is not talked about enough. Rousseau is unproven, but were you living under a rock during spring? Have you seen him recently? He could turn out the best of the bunch and hes not even a starter. I personally have high hopes that Patchen can make an impact on some plays this season if healthy, but we will have to wait and see.
DT is the bigger problem. Willis seems to be a beast by all accounts. Bethel is solid. If Ford can step up and be the #2 DT and fill Nortons role look out. Nesta is a monster, but he is only a Freshman so we will have to wait and see if his strength can translate without a year with Gus. But if he is able to dominate and bring that Nastiness to this DT position with Willis look out. Miller looks to have a solid future, but I would expect it might take a year or two for him to truly develop.
6.) TE:
Irvin hasn't shown anything to say he is a solid #1 TE for us. His biggest problem is consistency and heart. I think he is a great pass catcher, but sometimes it seems he is not giving it everything he has and is not 100% focused, leading to dropped passes and questionable routes. If he can turn it around mentally, I think he can prove a lot of people wrong. Jordan and Mallory look like the two best freshman TEs in the country, but are unproven. We will have to see how good they can turn out, but they have all the talent in the world.
7.) QB:
Rosier is Rosier. He is not going to be very accurate and he will get happy feet with defenders pressuring him. He will make some good judgement on when to run and when to take a chance on a deep ball, but he is not going to win the game for you (unless you need a touchdown drive at the very end of the game). He can be solid, but he will definitely be someone good opponents are going to force to throw the ball in the air in order to beat them. Perry has all the talent in the running game, the question is his accuracy. Far too many inaccurate passes left him behind Rosier in the depth chart. He needs to improve in the mental aspect and his accuracy, if he does he has the best arm talent of anyone on the squad. Williams impressed everyone this spring, but he is just a Freshman. What really surprised was his accuracy and his calmness. He was not forcing bad passes and knew when to throw the ball away or tuck it and run. He could be extremely solid, just needs more reps at the college level
8.) CB:
Jackson has the ability to be a first round talent, but he has only really played to that ability for 1 year. This year will prove his level. After him Bandy is a beast, but he is quite small. Dean has all the athleticism and length you would want from a star CB, but he hasn't put it all together according to the coaches. We will see if he is able to during the season. The freshman look like monsters with their height and athleticism, but they are only freshman and may need some time to develop fully.
9.) OL:
This has been the main question mark for a long time for this offense. This year is no different. Recently, Richt made some really nice comments about the depth of this group, but it is still a bit worrisome. St. Louis and Gauthier are proven good starters, but aside from that the rest are question marks. Donaldson is a beast, but will he be able to move to RT and still be a beast? Has Jahir really taken the next step to become a starter, or is there no one better? We definitely have some talented sophmores (Herbert, Gaynor) and freshman but OL takes the most to develop and be ready to play so we will have to see how ready they are.
10.) ST:
Baxa had a really bad senior season and that is all we have to go off of. It will be interesting to see him, hoping for the best, it can really go either way with him. Feagles had at least 1 horrible punt a game last year. Some punts didn't even go 20 yards. Hopefully he has been working on it, he definitely has potential, but right now all we can go off of is the games last year.
Mine would be as follows:
1.) WR:
National championship level talent and coaching for the WRs. Richards has the ability to be the best WR in the country if he stays healthy and really wants it. Thomas has everything you want from a slot receiver, just get him the ball and watch what he can do. What really separates this group is the depth. If Cager plays like he did against Wisconsin and during the Spring (playing like a 6'5'' beast) then he will be unstoppable. Hightower already proved he belongs, Harley is Mr. Consistent according to Brown, Pope is a 5 star, Ezzard is a beast, and Njoku is a Njoku. None of them aside from the first two are proven stars, but the talent is off the charts.
2.) RB:
Homer is an every down type of back. He does everything right from running to blocking. He is extremely quick and finishes every play. Deejay showed last year what he can do with the ball in his hands, just watch the ND game if you have any questions. Whats makes them so highly ranked is the depth. Lingard is a legit 5 star RB and possibly the fastest player on the team with great strength to go along with it, yet he is not going to be higher on the depth chart than 3rd. Burns actually surprised a lot over the spring and showed that IF healthy he can be great for short yardage. Davis might not see the field just based off depth and the fact he is a freshman.
3.) LB:
Quaterman and Pickney are two of the best in the whole nation. The reason this group is not higher is depth. Will McCloud play like most believe he can with his talent? Perry, Mike Smith, and Steed definitely have improved and are no pushovers, but are they ready to take that next step in-game? How will Smith and Finley do in this new Striker position? There are a lot of questions for this position group, but if answered like we want this could be even higher at the end of the season.
4.) S:
Johnson is a beast, he might not have that athleticism you would expect from a superstar, but he has great football iq and heart. Redwine was good and worked great with Johnson last year. There are still some questions about him though, and this year will really be big for him. Hall and Carter are young and unproven, but extremely talented. If they play to the level of their talent watch out. Prefer not to see Knowles back there, but the coaches say he has improved and is really consistent, I just hope I don't have to see plays like he did against FSU last year.
5.) DL:
DE was a huge question coming into spring, but that seems to have been answered. JJ and Garvin are two of our best defensive players and absolute beasts at DE. Jackson is probably one of the most underrated guys on our squad, his help on passing downs when he moves inside is not talked about enough. Rousseau is unproven, but were you living under a rock during spring? Have you seen him recently? He could turn out the best of the bunch and hes not even a starter. I personally have high hopes that Patchen can make an impact on some plays this season if healthy, but we will have to wait and see.
DT is the bigger problem. Willis seems to be a beast by all accounts. Bethel is solid. If Ford can step up and be the #2 DT and fill Nortons role look out. Nesta is a monster, but he is only a Freshman so we will have to wait and see if his strength can translate without a year with Gus. But if he is able to dominate and bring that Nastiness to this DT position with Willis look out. Miller looks to have a solid future, but I would expect it might take a year or two for him to truly develop.
6.) TE:
Irvin hasn't shown anything to say he is a solid #1 TE for us. His biggest problem is consistency and heart. I think he is a great pass catcher, but sometimes it seems he is not giving it everything he has and is not 100% focused, leading to dropped passes and questionable routes. If he can turn it around mentally, I think he can prove a lot of people wrong. Jordan and Mallory look like the two best freshman TEs in the country, but are unproven. We will have to see how good they can turn out, but they have all the talent in the world.
7.) QB:
Rosier is Rosier. He is not going to be very accurate and he will get happy feet with defenders pressuring him. He will make some good judgement on when to run and when to take a chance on a deep ball, but he is not going to win the game for you (unless you need a touchdown drive at the very end of the game). He can be solid, but he will definitely be someone good opponents are going to force to throw the ball in the air in order to beat them. Perry has all the talent in the running game, the question is his accuracy. Far too many inaccurate passes left him behind Rosier in the depth chart. He needs to improve in the mental aspect and his accuracy, if he does he has the best arm talent of anyone on the squad. Williams impressed everyone this spring, but he is just a Freshman. What really surprised was his accuracy and his calmness. He was not forcing bad passes and knew when to throw the ball away or tuck it and run. He could be extremely solid, just needs more reps at the college level
8.) CB:
Jackson has the ability to be a first round talent, but he has only really played to that ability for 1 year. This year will prove his level. After him Bandy is a beast, but he is quite small. Dean has all the athleticism and length you would want from a star CB, but he hasn't put it all together according to the coaches. We will see if he is able to during the season. The freshman look like monsters with their height and athleticism, but they are only freshman and may need some time to develop fully.
9.) OL:
This has been the main question mark for a long time for this offense. This year is no different. Recently, Richt made some really nice comments about the depth of this group, but it is still a bit worrisome. St. Louis and Gauthier are proven good starters, but aside from that the rest are question marks. Donaldson is a beast, but will he be able to move to RT and still be a beast? Has Jahir really taken the next step to become a starter, or is there no one better? We definitely have some talented sophmores (Herbert, Gaynor) and freshman but OL takes the most to develop and be ready to play so we will have to see how ready they are.
10.) ST:
Baxa had a really bad senior season and that is all we have to go off of. It will be interesting to see him, hoping for the best, it can really go either way with him. Feagles had at least 1 horrible punt a game last year. Some punts didn't even go 20 yards. Hopefully he has been working on it, he definitely has potential, but right now all we can go off of is the games last year.
