RE: 2020 football roster is up
Here's my take:
OFFENSE
If the starters on the line stay healthy its a really good group. If there start to be injuries then there is next to no experienced depth. With Bowers being less mobile and concussion prone we need that group up front to do a good job.
In terms of weapons there is potential to be a very, very good offense. At RB the biggest question is if Ducker is so good you absolutely have to get him on the field as a true freshman, b/c otherwise a group of Nettles, Collins, Gregory & Oliver is more than adequate as it is.
As far as pass catchers go; Crawford should have a big year as the #1 tight end (possibly #1 target, period). We pretty much know what Tucker is at this point: solid but not exceptional. Hopefully Richie can be more consistently dangerous in his 2nd year in the offense and w/ Bowers. Robinson is useless we all know that. If either or both McCray/Toure can step up and live up to their recruiting rankings that would be a major game changer. Throw in Love, Mitchell, Payne & Travis and it's not very likely that any of the freshman get much of an opportunity this year, although Howard & Rudolph look like legit playmakers on film.
DEFENSE
Linebacker is the team's best position group with Deveaux, Pugh, Cole, Labus & Rattin leading the way.
Up front you have Kramer who is pretty much the only known commodity. Mattox showed some very nice flashes last year as a freshman. Pretty much just have to hope that a few guys are actually really good players and are just young/haven't had an opportunity yet. If not, only positive thing I could say is we have some really decent #'s so we could run lots of players in and out allowing them to go all out on every play and try and wear down opposing O-Lines.
At CB we have 2 likely starters in Walker & Thomas, but there should be a ton of competition as well with Aitken, Harris, March, Evans & Gandy. So while largely inexperienced this could turn out to be a really solid group.
Safety should be interesting, to say the least. There's 2 RS-Soph walk-ons in Ross & Earl that have little to no playing time, and that is your most D1 experience. Seems likely that the transfer Appolon will have a really good chance at taking one of the starting spots. Ross, Earl, early enrollee Brown & RS-Frosh coverted CB Henderson are the likely other competition. For my $$ with very limited info to go on with it being such a young group, I would go with Appolon and Henderson. Gives you the ability to play your base 4-3 defense, a nickle type defense with Henderson covering the slot & a 4-4 type defense with Appolon in the box and Henderson in the deep middle; all without having to substitute and tip the offense off as to what you are going to do from snap to snap.
Overall the defense really worries me for this season, but I think has a really good shot at being an elite group in the next few years.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Abrell (LS), Richardson (K), and Ference (P) should be a pretty elite group. Only question will be who will return punts and kicks. Would love to see a truly dynamic playmaker back there for a change. Seems like since Tommy Lee left it's just been a caravan of "we know they won't drop the ball" guys, with a sprinkling of actual returns from Beebe. Possible candidates: Richie, Love, Howard, Waylee, Rudolph & Beiber.
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