Sneaky important positions in 2019

Couldn't we depend on Kennedy, Campbell, Brown, Herbert, Hillery to play tackle? Scaife is talented enough to play tackle but may have more value at guard paired with Donaldson. Mahoney, Jones, Boulware, Gauthier are gone. That's 4 of the top 5 interior OL from 2018.
 
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Couldn't we depend on Kennedy, Campbell, Brown, Herbert, Hillery to play tackle? Scaife is talented enough to play tackle but may have more value at guard paired with Donaldson. Mahoney, Jones, Boulware, Gauthier are gone. That's 4 of the top 5 interior OL from 2018.

You're pinning your hopes on (in order) a transfer from a small school, a RSFR, a JAG, a guy who can't get off the bench and a super young guy who can barely get PT? Personally, I'm thinking Hillery and Campbell CAN be those guys but we'll see this spring.

Going back to Lu's post, spring is CRITICAL to see the development of these players in these key positions - hoping that they take that next step.
 
I'm really not concerned with DT either. Even though we lost Willis who was probably the best player on the team last year, the guys we have this year are more than capable. Maybe none of them are the force that G was but when you can rotate 5 guys who can all play, you're in good shape. I still like Bethel at the 1 tech with Ford and Miller spelling him. Nesta and Nnoruka are a formidable force at 3 technique. Manny would often go odd front in passing situations last year with only 1 DT (usually Willis) lined up directly over center. I expect to see more of that this year too.
 
Couldn't we depend on Kennedy, Campbell, Brown, Herbert, Hillery to play tackle? Scaife is talented enough to play tackle but may have more value at guard paired with Donaldson. Mahoney, Jones, Boulware, Gauthier are gone. That's 4 of the top 5 interior OL from 2018.
I've lost hope in Brown, hopefully he proves us wrong.
In a dream scenario, Kennedy locks it down at LT and Campbell, Herbert or Hillery would emerge at RT. I'd love to move Scaife to guard, he's nice at RT, but I think he can be All-ACC at guard.
 
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You do realize that Rousseau was literally hurt in the first game of the season right?

How many plays did you expect him to make being injured for the season & only playing in one game?

I'm not knocking him at all. I'm just saying he hasn't contributed one iota. I am fully on board he's going to be a very good player...but we play UF right out of the gate. We have an ACC game in Week 2. Is there absolutely ZERO concern that he may take a little while to get his feet wet? That there will be some development needed? That he may still be working himself into shape?

Long-term, I'm thrilled about Rousseau's potential, as I'm sure you are as well. But sorry, you won't convince me that his presence makes Patchan any less important. Patchan is incredibly important, especially early in the year. I hope Rousseau makes me eat my words and has 5 sacks and plays the edge like a monster in week 1, but I don't see how you can plan for that. 97 will take the first snap on one side. Who takes the other one? Possibly Trevon Hill, but he's not a lock yet. Possibly Rousseau, but I've just laid out my brief pause on that. It sure would make me feel a lot better about that spot if Patchan came out and proved he was a solid player...and that's why I think he's important to the success of this team above most other spots.
 
We all know the season will turn on a few key positions. Namely, QB, the emergence of a reliable LT, whether someone makes the leap at DT and who takes leadership of the Safety position.

However, there are some subtle positions this upcoming year that will make a 1-2 game difference in terms of W/L. One, because of depth. Injuries are inevitable; let's just hope they're minimal. Two, because these are positions that get important snaps during games and we can't afford a heavy dropoff.

3rd DE - Depending on who wins the SDE role or what they decide to do with it (hopefully, leave Garvin over at WDE), this could be either Hill (if he arrives) or Rousseau. Either way, it's a critical position because it'll get upward of 30 snaps per game.

Swing OTackle - Another position of scary need. My hope is for John Campbell to play behind Kennedy and Scaife. For those who got to watch him practice, he supposedly wasn't that far away in his first year. If he can serve as a swing tackle, he'd give us much needed depth.

Slot - I can imagine Enos using Jeff Thomas all over the field. Thomas should play both inside and outside because he can open up the field when placed outside, but also consistently win if given option routes and such inside. With the groundbreaking emergence of the concept of motion being introduced into the offense, a guy like Mark Pope can potentially do well at this spot and be moved around the field to avoid bump.

2nd DT - This one is huge. It's a wild card right now. Bethel has been there, but if we're going to be really good, and we accept no one (even a blooming Nesta) is going to truly replace what a 23 year old Gerald Willis provided, we need the 2nd and 3rd DTs to chip in here. The ideal situation is Jon Ford takes a massive leap. There are doubts among observers. We shall see.

Nickel - Blades? Bandy sliding inside for specific packages? A Safety? More Striker? This position is critical to continuing last year's surprising climb to the top of the 3rd down conversion statistical rankings.
Totally agree.
Well done.
One proviso....... this year will show the tremendous presence that Gee Willis had for our Canes.
He will be Hard to replace.
No doubt.
Nesta and Ford need to step up big time.
 
Totally agree.
Well done.
One proviso....... this year will show the tremendous presence that Gee Willis had for our Canes.
He will be Hard to replace.
No doubt.
Nesta and Ford need to step up big time.
Agreed. On record saying I don't think we can replace his impact this upcoming season. Definitely not with one player. We may be alright at DT enough to be decent, but prob won't be gamechanging unless one of the guys makes an unexpected leap.

For as much credit as we give Willis for his 2018 year, when you re-watch all the plays, it was his consistency that stood out. Dude played a lot of plays at a really high level. Absolutely disruptive force. Not being 1st team All-ACC was laughable.
 
3rd DT is worriesome to me. At this point, Ford is a JAG and bethel is barely serviceable. Jmo
Agreed though I won’t say Ford is a JAG just yet. Bethel has been disappointing. Basically we are just really hoping this UCLA kid is legit (and he does look promising)

Not ideal
 
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Agreed. On record saying I don't think we can replace his impact this upcoming season. For as much credit as we give him, when you re-watch all the plays, it was his consistency that stood out. Dude played a lot of plays at a really high level. Absolutely disruptive force. Not being 1st team All-ACC was laughable.
His motor never slowed down.....he was always there doing his thing.....He had the vision of (produce this year, and I will write my ticket)...He saw it, and he did...very true.
 
Definitely concerned about o line. Talent, depth, and chemistry. Not too worried about d line as long as we stay healthy.
 
Guards still unknown as well. Is Donaldson going to continue to get torched? Is Reed ready? What about depth behind them
 
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If I was Butch Berry my starting 5 today would include Scaife, Gaynor, Donaldson inside and Reed off the bench as the swing guard.

Then you find 2 tackles from this lot, however daunting it may seem:

Kennedy - brought here to play LT
Campbell - pushed for the RT job in 2018
Hillery - played some TE in 2018
Brown - entering 4th season at UM
Herbert - entering 3rd season at UM
Dykstra - Matt Pipho 2.0
Nelson - will benefit from being an EE
El Gammal - big and athletic but raw
 
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Not being worried whatsoever isn't really sound reasoning. Bethel is more of a rotation guy and not a high impact player. Nesta will be asked to do a LOT more than he did last year. Higher snap count and a higher level of play is needed, Need to get something out of Ford as well.

Gerald Willis was essentially a 5th year senior who was a HS AA and known stud. His problem was off the field and between the ears. No one doubted that Gerald Willis was a really good football player.

We're relying on some unproven guys to take leaps and hold down this rotation for sure, that's even if we think that the UCLA DT is a player.
bethel was exactly what they wanted him to be. he was the nt to willis 1 gapper. his job was to hold his gap let lb's run to ball. he did that. Bethel is gonna also start at one dt spot rightfully so he earned it. Nnorruka has shown can do what willis did and silvera will be asked to do more as a true sophomore but is a 5 star recruit. lets not forget that. people were so scared about dt last year and they didn't miss a beat. I don't expect it this year either I think more depth this year with the 3 true freshman added also
 
Not to many guys offensively scare me other than Jeff Thomas. I guess I'm just having flashbacks of last year's offense which is causing my worry but to the audience who else should we be excited about? I mean if we get Tate Martell going " YOU BETTER HOLD URE ***" but other than him who else
 
Man oh man you guys will not give this o-line stuff a rest. We have a extremely talented & highly rated o-line. Probably the most highly rated outside of Clemson in the conference. Did you see how long Richts run plays took to develop? It felt like an eternity before the running back hit the hole. The defense was able to pin their ears back for 4 quarters vs these guys because there was zero misdirection or creativity. They’ll look like a completely different bunch this year with a new scheme. Guaranteed.
 
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