Depth Chart Concerns for 2010

[rogosIRISH77]

Amidst all of this talk about the head coaching situation, I want to talk about something else that is honestly more important. What are we going to do at the safety positions and offensive line for next season? No matter who the coach is, we will be inexperienced and thin at these spots, and it could result in our demise.

At the safety spot we lose Sergio and McCarthy. We could put Harrison Smith back there, but lets be brutally honest and accept that he sucks back there. He single handedly gave up multitudes of passing touchdowns. It looks like Slaughter and younger McCarthy would be next on the depth chart, but they are both inexperienced. Anyone have further insight on their potential?

Offensive line = oh my, what a nightmare... on paper at least. T-Rob would be the only returning starter and the backups are literally nothing more than that, with no experience whatsoever. At tackle there's Romine, Clelland, and Dever. At Guard we will only need to fill one spot but its up to Cave or Nuss?!? Not to mention our center could be one of Golic's sons who is really only here because of said fact!

Maybe I am overreacting or overlooking something, but I think this could be problematic. I started this thread to gather insight, so let me know what you think. If you feel that any of these backups have good potential or think that a true freshman can really come in and be a factor, say something, and alleviate my worrying. Maybe there are possible 5th year seniors I am overlooking, I really hope so...

GO IRISH BEAT CARDINAL

 

[Riddickulous]

At safety, we will probably see a mixture of players, without a clearly defined starter. Expect to see a rotation of Slaughter, McCarthy the Younger, and Zeke Motta.

Trevor Robinson is not the only returning starter. Both Chris Stewart and Dan Wenger can apply for a fifth year of eligibility (neither will go in the draft, so this is very likely). Also, we have a solid group of young lineman waiting in the wings that can be good with proper coaching.

The BIGGEST concern is quarterback. Dayne Crist is clearly capable, but we have two freshmen and walk-ons behind him on the depth chart next year.

 

[rogosIRISH77]

Yea I am not sure about our young talent at tackle... I mean if they are already playing behind Duncan, they can't be that good. That's good to hear about Stewart and Wenger though, I was most worried about center.

 

[Riddickulous]

Yea I am not sure about our young talent at tackle... I mean if they are already playing behind Duncan, they can't be that good. That's good to hear about Stewart and Wenger though, I was most worried about center.

Matt Romine and Taylor Dever have GOT to be better than Paul Duncan. I think that Charlie Weis is letting Duncan start the rest of the year out of loyalty more than anything else. There is no way that Romine and Dever would get blown off the ball, manhandled, and penalized as often as Paul Duncan. No freaking way.

 

[jason_h537]

Slaughter is already being groomed to take over at FS. Lots of upside but its still unproven.
McCarthy is supposed to be just like his brother but faster and more athletic.
Motta can also find a spot at nickle where Brown used to play.
All 3 have huge upside but thats all it is.

The o-line should be fine. I think losing Eric Olsen will hurt alot but Wenger is no slouch.
Romine is an upgrade athletically to Duncan but there is a reason he is not starting already IMO.

Alot can change from here to next season with bowl practices, spring and fall. We should be fine

 

[BeatSC]

Do you think they might birng Leonard Gordon back?

 

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

IMO losing Sergio Brown helps our depth chart and team.

 

[Junkhead]

Young and Duncan are both huge but slow and beat outside too easily. The thing that concerns me, is that the coaches seem to think (and should know) that they are by far our best options. Does that mean the others (Romine, etc) aren't that good, or that our coaches aren't great at evaluating talent? I think the younger guys will improve at a much faster rate, as they have less Latina poisoning their systems.

 

[callmesir]

2010 Depth Chart.

2010 Depth Chart.

I've been scouring the interwebs looking for some kind of 2010 projected lineup. I think most of the sane people in the world think that Clausen and Tate are gone. Where does that leave us? The senior class that is leaving probably won't be too big of a loss but I guess I wonder about the Decommits, I know about Martin... Who's next? Does Crist recover in time to prevent a True Freshman from having to start. Just like to have your input into what our starters might look like next year.

Let me give it a try.

LT LG C RG RT
T. Robinson C. Stewart B. Cave C. Watt M. Romine

WR RB FB QB TE WR Slot
M. Floyd J Gray. R. Hughes Crist/Hendrix/Goodman? K. Rudolf S. Evans Tailer Jones.

DE DT DT DE
K. Lewis-moore I. Williams T. Stockton E. Johnson

WLB MLB SLB
B. Smith. C. Calabrese A. Barr I'm assuming Te'o will take his mission. Barr will sign.

CB FS SS CB
R. Blanton D. Mccarthy H. Smith G. Gray

KR Riddick/C. Wood.
PR Tailer Jones.

I'm Assuming that the last recruit we get worth mentioning is A. Barr... No Seantrell Henderson and No Kyle Prater...

I have a rough time imagining us having too much offensive success next year unless we suddenly learn to to run block and copy stanford's playbook... hmmmmmm Jim Harbaugh?

 

[callmesir]

Sorry for the formatting fail

Sorry for the formatting fail

ant suggestions on how to do it right?

 

[jason_h537]

Dan Wenger, Chris Stewart and T Rob will all be back and Romine will likely take over at Tackle. I would not be surprised if T rob is moved to LT and have read that Cave, Watt, and Nuss have all shown great progress

Dayne is expected to be healthy by spring

Slaughter and McCarthy probably have the lead at Safety right now

Line backers will be Brian Smith, Te'o and Harrison Smith.

Wehave talent, just need some one to really stress fundamentals.

D-line should be much better with age and experience

 

[patman1868]

I think it will be interesting to see what happens with the depth chart next year. The O-line will be a lot different but hopefully some guys like Watt, Romine etc can step in and play.

As mentioned the defensive backfield is changing a lot also. Hopefully with Slaughter getting some PT there as the season when on and now a whole offseason to get used to the position he will be able to continue to grow as a player.

Besides parts of the O-line, QB, Safetys, and one main WR though most everyone is returning though, at least it is not like 2007 when it seemed like everyone left.

 

[fightinirish68]

what about the fr safety

 

[Flanigan44]

Depth Chart

Depth Chart

My crack at the depth chart (first backup or two in parens):

Offense.
Tackles: Robinson, Romine (Dever)
Guards: Stewart, Watt (Nuss)
Center: Wenger (Cave)
TE: Rudolph (Ragone)
WR1: Floyd
WR2: Kamara
WR3: Goodman (Walker/Toma/Shaq)
RB: Allen (Hughes/Riddick)
QB: Crist (Hendrix/Rees)

Defense (assuming a 4/3).
DE: KLM, Fleming (Neal/Filer/EJ)
DT: EJ, I. Williams (Stockton/E. Williams/Cwynar)
OLB: B. Smith, H. Smith (Filer/Fleming)
ILB: Manti (McDonald/Poz/Calabrese)
S: Slaughter, McCarthy (Motta)
CB: Gray, Walls (Blanton)

The D could change a lot depending on whether we reun a 4/3 or 3/4, whether EJ stays inside, and whether Fleming is at DE rather than OLB (likewise w/ Filer).

The only place I am really concerned about depth is the secondary (who is our 4th Safety? probably a frosh. who is our 4th corner? Banks or a frosh.) At QB I am concerned about experience -- Crist obviously has the talent and it sounds like Hendrix and Rees do too (or at least one of them), but the lack of exp there will likely cause problems.

 

[irish4ever]

The BIGGEST concern is quarterback. Dayne Crist is clearly capable, but we have two freshmen and walk-ons behind him on the depth chart next year.

I don't know, Luck (true frosh) did quite well for Stanford this year. Of course he had a good supporting cast (RB especially) to where he didn't have to "carry the load". Surround them with solid players and play calling and I'm sure one or the other could step up and suffice, if need be.

 

[Honey Nut Irish]

Dayne Crist will be the starting qb next year. Hendrix and Rees are here for backup duty only.

 

[GoIrish41]

Offense.
Tackles: Romine, Clelland
Guards: Stewart, Robinson
Center: Wenger (Cave)
TE: Rudolph
WR1: Floyd
WR2: Tate
WR3: Goodman
RB: Wood
QB: JC I hope, but probably Crist

Defense
DE: EJ, Fleming (Neal)
DT: Stockton, I. Williams
OLB: Filer, B. Smith
ILB: Manti
S: McCarthy, Motta
CB: Gray, Walls

 

[49er-Irish]

Defense
DE: EJ, Fleming (Neal)
DT: Stockton, I. Williams
OLB: Filer, Flemming
ILB: Manti
S: McCarthy, Motta
CB: Gray, Walls

Flemming is good, but I think he should stick to one position at a time. I hope Filer can step up into the other OLB position opposite B. Smith.

On the O-Line I think Zac Martin will make a push at RT.

 

[GoIrish41]

Flemming is good, but I think he should stick to one position at a time. I hope Filer can step up into the other OLB position opposite B. Smith.

On the O-Line I think Zac Martin will make a push at RT.

haha. My bad, I meant to have B.Smith as the other OLB.

 

[BearGB]

Offense.
Tackles: Romine, Clelland
Guards: Stewart, Robinson
Center: Wenger (Cave)
TE: Rudolph
WR1: Floyd
WR2: Tate
WR3: Goodman
RB: Wood
QB: JC I hope, but probably Crist

Defense
DE: EJ, Fleming (Neal)
DT: Stockton, I. Williams
OLB: Filer, B. Smith
ILB: Manti
S: McCarthy, Motta
CB: Gray, Walls

KLM? Armando? I don't think they should lose their positions. I guess things could change as the year progresses, but both definitely deserve to be starting the opener based on their play this year.

 

[jason_h537]

If a coach can come in and teach technique our linebackers will be great. All 3 (Te'o, and the Smiths) have tremendous ability.

 

[rogosIRISH77]

how the fuck could you put jonas gray at RB?? he probably wont even play... Allen is obviously the starter and a mix of Hughes and Riddick. Allen is one of the best players on our team. If he was healthy we wouldve been a lot better off this season, and Charlie didn't run it enough as it was, so under a new coach, Allen will be a top back in NCAA.

Depth Chart (As best as you could put it today, a lot changes over spring/summer)
/ slashes denote sharing time depending on situation, and OR denotes one of them will get the position, , comma means next listed is next string down

QB- Crist, Hendrix, Rees
RB- Allen, Hughes, Riddick, Gray
FB- Hughes maybe? who knows all we have is Paskorz and Narvaez
WR- Floyd, Kamara, Goodman, Shaq, Walker, Tailer Jones
TE- Rudolph, Ragone, Eifert or J. Golic or Welch
LT- Romine, Z. Martin
LG- Stewart, Cave
C- Wenger, M. Golic Jr.
RG- T-Rob, Watt
RT- Dever, Clelland

DE- Lewis-Moore, C. Martin
DT- Johnson, H. Williams
NT- I. Williams, Cwynar
DE- Neal / Fleming / Filer
SOLB- H. Smith / Fleming
MLB- B. Smith, McDonald
WOLB- Te'o, Posluszny
CB- Gary Gray, Banks, ?
CB- Robert Blanton, Banks, ?
SS- Slaughter, Motta
FS- McCarthy, H. Smith, ?

LS- Cowart
P- Turk
PK- Tausch
Holder- Goodman
KO- Ruffer
KR- Riddick, Tailer Jones
PR- Goodman, Tailer Jones

 

[Riddickulous]

If a coach can come in and teach technique our linebackers will be great. All 3 (Te'o, and the Smiths) have tremendous ability.

In my opinion, the starting three should be: Te'o, Fleming, and Filer.

 

[49er-Irish]

I say we move back to the 3-4 and have our front seven look like this:

DE: E. Johnson, KLM
NT: I. Williams
ILB: T'eo, B. Smith
OLB: Filer, Fleming

I think this woud get the most talent on the field in the right position to make plays. I guess it will depend on the new DC though.

 

[callmesir]

I say we move back to the 3-4 and have our front seven look like this:

DE: E. Johnson, KLM
NT: I. Williams
ILB: T'eo, B. Smith
OLB: Filer, Fleming

I think this woud get the most talent on the field in the right position to make plays. I guess it will depend on the new DC though.

to be honest.... if we're adapting a defense to the talent already in place... a 3-4 probably makes the most sense

 

[rogosIRISH77]

to be honest.... if we're adapting a defense to the talent already in place... a 3-4 probably makes the most sense

we tried a 3-4, it sucked. 3-4 defenses don't work in college. nobody else has a successful one. don't try it, ever.

 

[jason_h537]

Alabama runs a 3-4. they seem pretty successful to me

 

[callmesir]

Alabama runs a 3-4. they seem pretty successful to me

beat me to it....

 

[Flanigan44]

Don't stone me, but I think H. Smith is actually a good linebacker. The problem of starting him or Filer (assuming Fleming plays DE) is a good one to have.

 

[NDOM]

Don't stone me, but I think H. Smith is actually a good linebacker. The problem of starting him or Filer (assuming Fleming plays DE) is a good one to have.

I agree with that to a point. 1) He needs to gain some weight and 2) He needs to just start tackling the player instead of trying to focus on striping the football. He has a lot of bad habits he needs to work on. But I agree, his best position is linebacker.