First Look at 2013
While there is still an impressive list of unknowns with the coaching staff, and thus how the team will look schematically, it is never too soon to take a look at the personnel.
QB Losses: N/A We all know that Brendon Kay has gotten a 6th year and will enter next year as everyone's starter. But a new coaching staff might have other ideas. I wouldn't be shocked to see someone from the Coney/Coyne/Norvell trio give Kay a slight push, but in the end its Brendon's job.
RB Losses: George WinnThere is plenty of talent on hand, just not much in the way of proven production. RDA4 is a fantastic weapon to have, but he is not, and will never be a guy who can carry the ball 19 times a game. Jameel Poteat, Ti'on Green, and Deionte Buckley are all immensely talented, but unproven. Call it a hunch, but I wold bet on Ti'on Green winning the job out of spring and Poteat deciding to transfer.
TE Losses: Travis Kelce, Demetrius Richardson Kelce is gone to the NFL and he leaves a massive, massive void at the spot. Richardson brought little to the passing game but was a great asset in the running game. Blake Annen will be back, and he is the only guy with experience, but he hasn't played with any consistency since the end of the 2010 season. D.J. Dowdy is the man to watch. Though he will only be a red shirt freshman he is the guy best suited to carry on the freak factory tradition that has become the tight end position at UC.
WR Losses: Kenbrell Thompkins, Damon Julian, Danny Milligan File KT in the DJ Woods "It sucks to lose his experience, but its good to lose his inconsistency" file. No receiver was targeted more, or caught fewer balls than KT. His catch rate was sub 50% all year long. Dame Julian had a good middle of the season run, but was MIA to start the year and missing for large parts of the stretch run. Anthony McClung is back to lead a talented collection of youngsters, but like the running backs the rest of the receivers are heavy on talent, light on proven production.
OL Losses: Sean Hooey Nine of the top 10 on the two deep are back, including all five starters. That group powered the best rushing attack in 35 years of Bearcat Football while allowing sacks on only 4 percent of passing attacks, which is outstanding. Eric LeFeld, Austen Bujnoch and Parker Ehringer all have the NFL in their future, Sam Longo could as well with another good year. In short this might go down as the best OL in UC history. Not predicting it, but it is well within the realm of possibilities, particularly if the new staff sticks with zone concepts in the running game.
DL Losses: Dan Giordano, Brandon Mills, Walter Stewart (sort of), Adam Dempsey, John Williams So there goes half the defensive tackle rotation, and most of the DE rotation. Jordan Stepp and Cam Beard will be back as DT starters. Stepp was serviceable this year, and Beard had his moments, but their lack of bulk was an issue in run defense. Behind them is a whole lot of question marks. Alex Pace is a massive kid with a lot of upside, but he will be a redshirt freshman next year. Brandon Mitchell and Roney Lozano have been "next" for a while, I don't think they will be again. At end there is a complete reset, that tends to happen when 88.5 TFL and 49 sacks walk out the door. Silverberry Mouhon played alot as a freshman, and he generally looked like freshmen do, lost with flashes of competence. Coach Tubs will need Silverberry to make a huge leap, and get big contributions right away from Hartsfield and Jordan, and whatever other JUCO's he manages to get into the fold. I am kind of assuming that Hartsfield and Jordan will get the first cracks. I like some of the young guys, particularly Posley but I don't think any of those freshmen will be ready to go for 40 snaps a game next year.
LB Losses: Maalik Bomar Greg Blair has another year, though he might not use it and Nick Temple will be back for a third straight year as a starter. Jeff Luc will be eligible after transferring from FSU and sitting out this year. My guess is that the starting look will be WILL Temple, MIKE Blair, SAM Luc. Solomon Tentman will be fully healthy for the first time in his career and will give UC valuable depth at the spot. Griffin, Jones and McClain will all be red shirt freshman and will likely fill out the two deep barring big moves from some of the former walk ons.
DB Losses: Drew Frey, Cam Cheatham, Chris Williams, Dominique Battle, Aaron Roberson The secondary will be hit hard by graduation, but unlike the defensive line there is alot of proven production coming back. Deven Drane will be back for a third season as a starter, Aaryn Chenault is back for his second as a starter, Trenier Orr played well as a spot back up at corner and is most likely the leader for Cheatham's former spot. Leviticus Payne played in every game as a true freshman. Adrian Witty was a man without a position, bouncing between nickle and safety, though he made his biggest impact at Nickel. He could be the man on the spot there, or he could be moved back to safety. The only question is who replaces Frey? And I have no idea.
Special Teams Losses: N/A Everyone is back, quite literally.
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First Look at 2013
