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Saturday, April 5, 2014

2014 Spring Game Depth Chart

I'm excited to see how Jake Ryan looks at middle linebacker.
As far as I know, the team won't be releasing a spring depth chart, so I'm going to take a stab at whom we'll see on the two-deep Saturday afternoon. Keep in mind that some players are being held out for disciplinary and health reasons, so this doesn't necessarily reflect what will happen in the fall. I'm just trying to put together bits and pieces from the news, interviews, etc.

QB: Devin Gardner, Shane Morris
RB: Derrick Green, DeVeon Smith
FB: Joe Kerridge, Sione Houma
WR: Devin Funchess, Freddy Canteen
WR: Jehu Chesson, Csont'e York
TE: A.J. Williams, Keith Heitzman
LT: Mason Cole, David Dawson
LG: Kyle Bosch, David Dawson
C: Jack Miller, Patrick Kugler
RG: Kyle Kalis, Chris Fox
RT: Ben Braden, Logan Tuley-Tillman

SDE: Brennen Beyer, Taco Charlton
DT: Matt Godin, Tom Strobel
NT: Willie Henry, Ryan Glasgow
WDE: Frank Clark, Mario Ojemudia
SAM: James Ross, Royce Jenkins-Stone
MIKE: Jake Ryan, Ben Gedeon
WILL: Desmond Morgan, Joe Bolden
CB: Blake Countess, Jourdan Lewis
CB: Raymon Taylor, Channing Stribling
FS: Jarrod Wilson, Jeremy Clark
SS: Dymonte Thomas, Delano Hill

16 comments:

  1. How's the coaching for the CB's going?

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    1. I don't think anybody can really answer that question right now.

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  2. Can you let us know who won't be participating do too injuries or disciplinary reasons? I think we know the disciplinary one. But I'm not 100 percent sure who's not back from last year's injuries.

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  3. I like this depth chart a whole lot better than any we've had around here in a long time. Especially on the defensive side of the ball. Especially at Linebacker and DB. I'm pulling for Jeremy Clark here in a big way. it would be ever so nice to have a real big Strong Safety coming over to fix the occasional problem. It's been a long time since we've had a beast patrolling back there.

    Throw in Pipkin and Mone' to soak up some blocking and then hopefully Peppers in the Slot corner spot, and this defense has a chance to mature into a nasty outfit.

    I hope.

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    1. When we don't have to throw in 2 nose tackles who have either torn their ACL in the past year, or are a freshman, then I'll be happy.

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    2. I can't disagree with you. The good news is that we might be there.

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    3. Interior DL is Wormley, and Henry for this year. Otherwise it's just hype, freshmen, and injuries.

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    4. I definitely think we'll see someone else emerge this year on the interior. Godin looked pretty darn good in last year's spring game, but he got hurt during the year. And Hurst has supposedly been a beast, and he looked good in a few practice clips. I don't think we have the same riff-raff that we did when guys like Ash and Wilkins were on the team.

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    5. Not to appear even more flakey than I really am, but I'd cheerfully take the very quick Dymonte Thomas coming downhill from the safety position as well.

      Even a cursory look at this depth chart should be making people feel a lot better about things across the board, both sides of the ball. For the first time in a long time we are solid two + deep with experienced, maturing kids at every position.

      Can you find spots where you'd like to be better? Absolutely! You have to wish your Sophomore with some starts, Left Tackle, Nose Tackle and Tight End were here. But despite still being young, there are anywhere from some, to a lot of starts at nearly every position.

      Is this a Big Championship team? I sincerely doubt it, although there is the one element that is always helpful in that pursuit, the veteran QB. But ..... this team isn't gonna get beat up physically like the last two have as we now have size and athletic ability all around, with more on the way.

      Better days are beginning.

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    6. Magnus, has there been any buzz on Poggi? I know he needed to gain some weight, but I'm surprised we haven't heard anything about him.

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  4. It will also be real good to find out that AJ Williams can actually run a pass pattern and catch the football. I'm not suggesting that I think he can't. I'm merely saying that I'll be feeling a whole lot better about things on the offensive side when I know for sure that he can.

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  5. Mason Cole as both LT spots?

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  6. This depth chart, even though not fully reflective of how things will be in the fall, really encapsulates the problems with this team. There are exactly four players (Gardner, Ryan, Countess and Funchess) who could even be classified as very good, likely to make some level of all-conference team, with a chance at first team. Of the rest, you have two groups. One group consists of players who have basically topped out performance wise at somewhere between meh/decent and good, including Glasgow, Beyer, Clark Ojemudia, Ross, Bolden, Jenkins-Stone, Morgan, Taylor and Wilson, Miller, Kerridge, Houma and Williams. The other group is players who still have potential for improvement, but who don't have a season of proven, high-level production on their resumes, including Charlton, Godin, Henry, Strobel, Gedeon, Lewis, Stribling, Thomas, Hill, Morris, Green, Smith, Canteen, Chesson, York and the whole Oline.

    There are no great players on this team. Not one. No one that you could project going into the season as a likely first team all-conference pick, or potential all-American. No one who even comes close to projecting as a first round NFL pick. Among the last group, none have even shown enough to be able to say "this guy's going to be really, really good". And you have to develop great players in order to win championships. Period. A team full of good just isn't enough.

    This is the pivotal year for this program under Hoke. He and his staff have to show that they can actually develop top-notch recruits into top-notch players on the field, something they have failed to do so far, and something that should not take 4 or 5 years for a capable coaching staff with the kind of on-paper talent they have.

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  7. Ok...so a work in progress...however once Peppers gets in we will really have a need for safeties? Can't we allow Jbreezy to cover the entire def. secondary and put in an extra LB, Lineman, etc...we can call it the 5-5-1! I kid, I kid, GO BLUE..

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