Quote:
Originally Posted by Mosbonian
So Duncan.....are there any good prospects on the present roster to step up and fill the WR shoes? This years WR crew didn't really make defenses worry and if those on the roster already couldn't beat out this crew is the cupboard bare?
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The best of the bunch is Nate Brown, who flashed at times last year. J'Mon Moore is there athletically but needs to grasp the offense better mentally.
Keyon Dilosa, who redshirted because he ruptured his Achilles', is apparently an absolute freak of nature (and could have played in the bowl game) on Danario Alexander levels (Huge, fast, strong, crazy vertical leap).
They're also going to need a freshman or two to flash, I think. I could see the Johnson kid earning some immediate PT as a kick returner/slot weapon (he's very good in the open field). Smith and Emmanuel Hall are both freshman WRs I'm very high on. Smith has great size and good speed to pair with it. Hall is more 6-2/6-3 but has good speed and seems polished.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins
Do these additions from the JUCO ranks make any of you worry about what guys like Rhodes and Bauer have shown in practice?
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I worry more about what Taylor Chappell and the tackles not named Mitch Morse showed in games. The offense clearly was better off playing McGovern at G and letting he and Boehm dominate the interior side-by-side. They can probably limp by with Chappell at RT again (he wasn't completely unplayable there, though he wasn't good) if they can find a more reliable LT.
I still like Rhodes' potential and upside, but he's only got two years in the program. It's more common for guys to need 3-4 to be solid contributors on the OL in college, especially skinny HS tackles like Clay who must add significant strength while improving technique, too.
Howell and Cuellar are, to me, a comment on the staff's comfort level with Chappell and the LT spot in general. In years past, if they were comfortable with Chappell, he'd be the guy sliding over to LT (like Morse did this year and Britt the year before).
I think this year's LT is one of Cuellar, Howell or Rhodes. With the losers pushing for time at RT, hopefully. Michael Fairchild also had a great redshirt season as a spring enrollee and might be in the mix.
Bauer had a solid redshirt year but not an enormously great one due to his hip injury as a HS senior. He's not in Nick Demien "He's never coming all the way back" territory or anything, but expectations for Bauer as a redshirt freshman should probably be tempered a little. He lost a lot of strength and development time to that injury and needs to catch back up.