1. Rochell IMO, hasn't shown he's physically ready to win against a solid starting OL. I don't remember him making any plays last year. New year, I get it, just saying.
2. Trumbetti looks great on film and I expect him to be a really good player, but he's what, 18-19?
3. Hounshell has played like 3 snaps and isn't physically imposing and has shown nothing.
4. Springman is your best mention, but again, still limited to non-contact and coming off of a knee injury.
5. Utupo has been non-existent in any meaningful minutes, Matuska, Cage, Hayes, Mokwuak, Williams, all nothing.
6. I think Hayes has great athleticism, so he'll get time, but again, going from playing NY high schoolers to USC, Stanford, etc?
7. I think our depth is fine. Quality of depth? These guys are incredibly young and unproven IMO. Next year, we're going to have really good quality and quantity of depth, but I think this year the offense is going to have to shine and the back end of the defense will have to force turnovers.
1. Tuitt didn't show much of anything his freshman year despite earning some reps.
2. Isn't it safe to say that any freshman that has ever made an impact, did it at that age? So, we need impact freshman to step up and provide minutes. Luckily, we have the numbers on the line.
3. Actually, I believe there were reports that Hounchell was physically imposing. But, I do believe his shoulders are still a concern. Before he dealt with these injuries, the staff really liked him.
4. Agreed. Waiting to see how Springmann looks in Summer/Fall. Really need him back.
5. This group hasn't shown anything but lack of past success is no guarantee of future failure. Every year, teams must rely on new players to step up and I think we have the numbers to find at least a few new contributors.
6. Do you believe the others have "athleticism"? This goes back to the same argument above. We need some players to prove themselves.
7. Yes, you win for obvious, expected answer of the year award
Of course we expect our backfield to be stronger considering we are returning a lot of starters and adding a lot of talent (Hello Cody Riggs) and we are hoping that our most athletic safeties will lock their positions down. But, we have some very quality players in the front 7, couple that with a defensive coordinator who is looking to mold the defense to his personnel and I think we can make a case for, at the very least, a solid defense. I'm not a kool-aid drinker yet, I think there will be some pains with a new defense and the loss of some great players but I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that our DL will be porous or that our linebacker play will be poor.
We have athleticism in numbers at every linebacker position, and we have a lot of youth. Every team, every year relies on new, young players to step up and challenge for minutes. It's why we follow recruiting so fervently and we just signed a consensus top 10 class (again), to follow on the heels of a consensus top 5 class the year before. And the 2013 class had 13ish redshirts. We have to believe that there are stars waiting to be discovered and I think Kelly and BVG will do exactly that.
