Most of them should arrive on campus this weekend. Some will still have things to work out, but we should soon know many of the players who have qualified. I wonder how long it will be until we get a Fall Roster, which will help us understand the roster changes for fall? Also, I wonder if there is a post-Spring depth chart anywhere? Last year the first time we saw a post-Spring depth chart was in the CFN preview, and perhaps that is how we'll see it again this year. I know there obviously is a depth chart; we just don't know what it is.
The class of 2014 was a very good class, and a lot of them played as true Freshman, particularly on the offensive side, and at DB:
OL -Lowery, McCray, Pruehs (I think Langenkamp may have played, but if so, got his redshirt back)
RB - OUellette (White also played, but got his redshirt back)
WR - Walker, Brunis
DB - Nelson, Brunson
For this fall, we'll see more of the class of 2014 trying to work into the rotation, plus some from 2012 and 2013 trying to work into the order, and true freshmen from 2015 trying to play as well. On the other hand, not many key players are gone, so there aren't a lot of open slots in the play rotation to move up into.
Let's look at who is gone, and who might move up:
1. RB: Edmond - played intermittantly at RB. With him gone there will only be a few more carries for the likes of Patterson, Brown, White, and Irons, who will be trying to get some carries away from OUellette. There is no 2015 RB. The biggest gap Edmond will leave will be in terms of his leadership and enthusiasm.
2. WR: Bradley, Cochran, L. Smith - We'll see more of S. Smith, Reid, Cope, Walker, and Brunis, as well as more of Dixon and Sawyer. Players that haven't played who will be trying to get some PT include Cedric Brown, Jarid Brown (who moved from CB to WR), transfer Tim Helton, Andrew Meyer, plus walkons Grimmard and Marhefka. From the class of 2015, Elijah Ball, Kyle Belak, and Langston Provitt (if he ends up at WR) will also be looking for time.
3. Safety: Kristoff and Ingol are gone, and it remains to be seen if Carpenter will be able to play. Guys that played some last year who will be looking for more time include Quallen, Macer, Devin Jones, Scipio and Toran Davis, and walkon Cunningham. Also, in the Spring the tried moving Kylan Nelson to Safety. Because they were very thin at Safety, there are no returning scholarship players who did not play, but there are definitely guys in the 2015 class who seem likely to step in and play immediately, notably Deontai Williams, Mayne Williams, and Javon Hagan.
4. DT - Gone are Crutcher, McLeod, and Davis. Guys that will get a lot more PT include Purdum, Aloese, Porter, Tautuaiki, plus Sayles who is moving inside at least part of the time. From the 2014 class, Tony Stephens, a walkon who was hurt in preseason last year, and Kyle Kuhar could also compete for time. The 2015 class includes a number of players who may become defensive tackles, but hopefully they can all redshirt. The 2015 players who could end at DT are Arp, McKnight, and Colbert.
5. DE - Kendric Smith is gone, and Sayles is going to be playing some DT in addition to DE. That will mean more playing time for Basham and Laseak, and Berger and Smart will be competing for time. From the class of 2015, we very well may see some new guys playing, including Kevin Robbins, a JUCO, and Colbert or McKnight may play at DE rather than DT.
6. Other: The only one other players with time who are gone are James Alexander, who played sparingly at OLB, Davon Henry, a tight end, and Miles Chapman, the long snapper. Jake Hale is a long snapper in the class of 2015, and he'll compete with walkon transfer Ceth Miller for the long snapping job. At TE, you'd think that 2014 JUCO Brennan Boland, who was out last year with injury, will play some at TE, as will 2014 recruit Connor Brown.
Because of all the true Freshmen that played last year on offense, I doubt any of this year's class will play at most offensive slots. It's possible that one of the linebackers from 2014 or 2015 will get time (DiCillo, Marcus Brunson, Croutch, Taylor, Cloud, and Glasco). At CB Layton, Wells, Bass, Brunson, and Nelson are all back, but if Nelson moves to Safety, that could open some playing time for 2014 recruit Fox or 2015 recruits Howell and Christian, or Provitt, if he ends up at CB.
Conclusions: Almost all of the players from last year are back. Where there are gaps, there are mostly players who are ready to stop up, and there shouldn't be a big dropoff. The places where I see players from the Class of 2015 most likely to step in and play immediately are at long snapper and Safety, plus along the defensive line.
Last Edited: 6/13/2015 2:12:32 PM by L.C.