Pretty much spot on....look for Williams some at CB and Toledo transfer Tyler Gullett could get some pt at safety.

Our front 7 on defense is all the green kool-aid I need to stay happy this summer.

OK, taking my prior effort, and editing it to match the official one:
http://tinyurl.com/zvhlr9o

QB: SPRAGUE, Windham OR Maxwell (then Duckworth?) [Sprague on track, Maxwell OR]
RB: Ouellette/White, Irons/Brown
TE: Mangen OR Morgan, C. Brown or R.Luerhman [added OR and Luerhman]
WR1: S. Smith, Ball, (then Marhefka?)
WR2: Reid, Belack (then J.Brown?)
WR3: Cope, A. Meyer [swapped A.Meyer with Belack]
LT: Lowery, Pleasants (then Dudziak?)
LG: Cooper, Gibbons [swapped Gibbons with Anderson]
C: Pruehs, Notestine [well, now we know the backup center]
RG: Wood, Anderson (then Langencamp?)
RT: Watson, McCray, (then Murdock?)

SDE: Basham, Robbins [Move Berger to DT]
WDE: Laseak, Smart
NG: Strobel or Porter, Aloese, (then Kuhar?) [I was way off here]
DT: Strobel or Sayles, Berger, (then McKnight/Arp?) [Move Berger in]
MLB: Poling, Grillot, (then Taylor/Stein?)
WLB: Brown, M. Brunson [swap Brunson and Croutch]
SLB: Moore, Croutch
CB: Fox OR M.Williams, Howell [Move M. Williams to Corner]
CB: L. Miller, R. Stites [Stites was a WR, delete Houchins]
S: Davis, Hagan or Cunningham [Move Cunningham up, delete Quallen]
S: Nelson, Hardy [Move M. Williams to corner]
PK: Zervos, O'Neill
P: Farakas, O'Neill
LS: Hale, Miller

Really this was pretty close to my guess. In a few places backup players were swapped, such as Gibbons and Anderson or Croutch and Brunson. In other places new names moved up, such as Luehrman and Cunningham, and Stites made the move from WR to CB. The positions where I was off the most were NT and CB.

At NT I projected Aloese to start, with Strobel behind him, but it starts the season with Strobel and Porter, backed up by Aloese. At Corner notably absent is Houchins, the transfer from Louisville, and M. Williams moves over to corner.

Notably absent from the depth chart are Houchins, and Quallen. I wonder if either or both continue to have injury issues?

The Good: Sprague returns. TE looking more solid than in recent years. RB stacked. DL stacked.

The Bad: Cornerback looks scary. One starter is a JUCO backed up by a walkon who played wide receiver last year. The other starter is either a third year player who hasn't played a down, so far as I know, or a safety converted to corner, who also hasn't played. I hope they are all solid, but never having seen any of them play for Ohio is more than a little scary.

So RS FR Maxwell, the unknown from small town Missouri, has passed *** recruit Joey Duckworth and has caught *** Florida recruit RS SR Greg Windham.

- Congratulations to Maxwell
- Good on who ever recruits rural Missouri
- Stars mean nothing

One other important note - this depth chart does not include most of the true Freshmen, only those that arrived for Spring camp. Thus we might see cornerback fortified by the Motley crew in fall camp. It is not unusual at all for a true freshman to play at corner. In fact, about half of the incoming CB recruits have played immediately. In the Solich era, eight cornerbacks have played as true Freshmen:
2005 Mark Parson
2009 Travis Carrie
2011 Lorenzo Fisher, Ian Wells
2012 Blake Scipio
2014 Kylan Nelson, Curtis Brunson
2015 Langston Provitt

Meanwhile ten cornerbacks have redshirted as Freshmen:
2005 Idris Lawrence
2006 Julian Posey, Shannon Ballard
2007 Kenny Jackson
2008 Tyler Futrell
2009 Jamil Shaw
2011 Devin Bass
2013 Jarid Brown
2014 Jalen Fox
2015 Maxwell Howell
Of these 10, two of them later moved to WR, Futrell and J. Brown, leaving 8 that played after redshirting.

Thus, I will not be surprised at all to see either Iilyas and Xavior, or both, on the depth chart, and on the field before the season is half over.

Tight end may be okay. Maybe some of those guys can block, as Solich seems to want from that position, and catch a little.

But our lack of speed and impact TE receiving since the very fine Jordan Thompson is marked.

Seen no receiver speed from the TE's at all for several years.

What stood out to be about Thompson was not what a big pass catching threat he was but rather what a great blocker he was. I will say that Thompson did seem to have a knack for making key catches for first downs and things like that.

As far as Tight Ends, there are two factors that I think are important, that have affected output from the position, and speed isn't one of them. One factor was the injuries that hit the position hard in 2012-2013, and which resulting in playing a true Freshman at times in 2014. The other factor has been the lack of a solid running game. The running game affects the TE output because when the other team fears the running game, they are vulnerable to play action pass plays, particularly to the TE.

When it comes to tight ends, I want a guy that is a devastating blocker first and foremost. Next I want a guy that can make the clutch catch, even when he's being hit. Thompson was all that. So was Heitzman. Mangen and Morgan are now upperclassmen this fall, both being redshirt Juniors. I believe both are going to have outstanding seasons.

Really the only TE on that list that was an outstanding pure receiver was Mooney. The others were great at the clutch short catches, though, and often got free for easy touchdowns on play-action pass plays.

It appears that this O line could be the biggest ever under Frank, average weight is 309lbs. I can't remember any line averaging this large before.
Does anyone know differently?




GO BOBCATS

+1
Very well said, and thanks for pointing out several other things of importance, including the use of speed from the wide receivers to open space for the TE. It isn't just the running game that does that.

I'll add one more point that I suspect Monroe will agree with, since he's made the point before himself. Another thing that causes the TE to slip out alone and become wide open is the ability of the QB and the running backs to sell the run fake. A little deception helps to confuse the Safeties, and cause them to pay more attention the the run, and less attention to the tight end.

As I said above, yes, the Secondary does. Safety looks solid enough, but CB looks a little scary to me. It might be fine, or not, but we just don't know as we haven't seen any of these players play a down yet.

As for OL, no, I'm not concerned. The OL made huge strides during last year. I am impressed with the job Johnson did last year. He is building much more depth than Ohio has ever had, and I think that this year will be the year the OL starts to mature, with even better years ahead. I think that by the end of the year this will be Ohio's best offensive line since 2011-2.

QB doesn't concern me at all, though it may be a bit of an adventure at first, as we determine Sprague's status. Sprague looked good at times. He doesn't have the strongest arm, and he looked particularly bad against App State, a game he probably shouldn't eve have been playing in. He had surgery after the season to repair the injury that he suffered early in the season. If his shoulder recovers, Ohio will be in good hands. He nearly set the Ohio record for pass efficiency in a season last year. Windhim also has looked good. As he builds playing time, and confidence, he can have a very good season. I still think Maxwell is the real deal, and will be the starter the next three seasons. He's raw, but as he plays, he will improve. Thus, I think Ohio can win with any of these three.

I have been arguing that since the day I watched his recruiting video. That and two bits (er, 16 bits) will get you a cup of coffee. It still needs to be proven on the field.