QB: JG or Christ, McBride, Shrout
*Clearly a battle between the top two guys. A tertiary battle will be between McBride and Shrout for #3.
*If JG wins the job, we don't need him to be Josh Rosen. We need him to be Connor Shaw. Tough, Decent arm, Legs extend drives, and a little more toughness.
RB: Chandler, London, Jordon, Banks, Coleman.
*Hope I didn't forget anyone. I expect it to be RB by committee. The two newcomers (London and Banks) could see big roles, but Jordon isn't going to give his carries away. And Pruitt doesn't act like a big Chandler fan... Solid group but not elite.
FB: Pope, Blakely
*Pope looked really good here in the spring game. Willing blocker. Above average athlete and pass catcher from this position. Blakely isn't the pass catcher that Pope is, but he's a big and willing blocker.
WR: Callaway, Jennings, Palmer, Johnson.
*Solid group with a clear cut 1 and 2. Need more consistency from Palmer. Johnson is a steady performer.
Slot: Murphy, Williams, Byrd, Jones
*Murphy had a really nice spring. Williams has he best burst of the group... he's a Terry Godwin type player. If Byrd buys in he could be a Jarvis Landry type player but the longer he's here to more I question how much he wants it (that's JMO).
TE: Wood-Anderson, Wolf or Bumphus
*DWA is an NFL player if he lives up to his abilities. He understands that blocking gets him drafted but his an excellent reciever as well. He's an x-factor that could make life a lot easier for our QB and outside receivers.
*Need to keep Bumphus at TE to help our tackles. He blocked his ass off in the spring game. I would like to see him drop a little body fat, but not much. He reminds me of Dwayne Allen.
*Wolf will play, but I would like to see the other two guys play well enough to take his snaps.
LT: Richmond, Smith
LG: Carvin, Locklear, Crosby
C: Johnson, Locklear or Brooks
RG: Calbert, Locklear
RT: Smith, Tatum or Brooks, Crosby
*Ill believe Chance Hall can play when I see it. Richmond needs to get bettter or get passed up by someone else, but I don't see that happening on this roster.
*Jahmir Johnson could play tackle for us in year 1, but having no idea where he is physically I didn't place him on the depth chart. He's a x-factor for sure.
*Tatum was so bad in the spring that demoted him. I'm hoping that was uncharacteristic, but given that we gave Emerson a look a RT, I'm betting it wasn't...
*If we could add a grad transfer here that we believe can play... it's a no brainer. You can't let a nightmare on the OL keep this team from winning 6 games. JMO but there is a huge different in 5-7 and 6-6 from a perception standpoint around the country. JMO
OVERALL:
It all comes down to the OL and QB play.
I am encouraged by what I saw in the spring game. We seem to be playing to our strengths. I like our formation variety. We have decent depth at the skill positions (minus TE). If the OL can be anything above a nightmare, we should be good enough on offense to make a bowl game.
Quite frankly, I'm not sure I would trade skill groups with UK, Mizzou, UF, or USC. I think we have several NFL players... just need a decent OL and tough, smart QB play to give us a shot.
*Clearly a battle between the top two guys. A tertiary battle will be between McBride and Shrout for #3.
*If JG wins the job, we don't need him to be Josh Rosen. We need him to be Connor Shaw. Tough, Decent arm, Legs extend drives, and a little more toughness.
RB: Chandler, London, Jordon, Banks, Coleman.
*Hope I didn't forget anyone. I expect it to be RB by committee. The two newcomers (London and Banks) could see big roles, but Jordon isn't going to give his carries away. And Pruitt doesn't act like a big Chandler fan... Solid group but not elite.
FB: Pope, Blakely
*Pope looked really good here in the spring game. Willing blocker. Above average athlete and pass catcher from this position. Blakely isn't the pass catcher that Pope is, but he's a big and willing blocker.
WR: Callaway, Jennings, Palmer, Johnson.
*Solid group with a clear cut 1 and 2. Need more consistency from Palmer. Johnson is a steady performer.
Slot: Murphy, Williams, Byrd, Jones
*Murphy had a really nice spring. Williams has he best burst of the group... he's a Terry Godwin type player. If Byrd buys in he could be a Jarvis Landry type player but the longer he's here to more I question how much he wants it (that's JMO).
TE: Wood-Anderson, Wolf or Bumphus
*DWA is an NFL player if he lives up to his abilities. He understands that blocking gets him drafted but his an excellent reciever as well. He's an x-factor that could make life a lot easier for our QB and outside receivers.
*Need to keep Bumphus at TE to help our tackles. He blocked his ass off in the spring game. I would like to see him drop a little body fat, but not much. He reminds me of Dwayne Allen.
*Wolf will play, but I would like to see the other two guys play well enough to take his snaps.
LT: Richmond, Smith
LG: Carvin, Locklear, Crosby
C: Johnson, Locklear or Brooks
RG: Calbert, Locklear
RT: Smith, Tatum or Brooks, Crosby
*Ill believe Chance Hall can play when I see it. Richmond needs to get bettter or get passed up by someone else, but I don't see that happening on this roster.
*Jahmir Johnson could play tackle for us in year 1, but having no idea where he is physically I didn't place him on the depth chart. He's a x-factor for sure.
*Tatum was so bad in the spring that demoted him. I'm hoping that was uncharacteristic, but given that we gave Emerson a look a RT, I'm betting it wasn't...
*If we could add a grad transfer here that we believe can play... it's a no brainer. You can't let a nightmare on the OL keep this team from winning 6 games. JMO but there is a huge different in 5-7 and 6-6 from a perception standpoint around the country. JMO
OVERALL:
It all comes down to the OL and QB play.
I am encouraged by what I saw in the spring game. We seem to be playing to our strengths. I like our formation variety. We have decent depth at the skill positions (minus TE). If the OL can be anything above a nightmare, we should be good enough on offense to make a bowl game.
Quite frankly, I'm not sure I would trade skill groups with UK, Mizzou, UF, or USC. I think we have several NFL players... just need a decent OL and tough, smart QB play to give us a shot.
