Anybody have a feel for kids to watch out for next year? I have seen some projected rosters and am just curious about who to watch out for.

Thanks

I'm looking forward to seeing whose steps up from the younger players that are either redshirt freshmen or sophomores to make an impact next season. I'm hopeful our depth will be better this year as we were running thin due to a number of injuries in a number of positions the latter third of the season.

I'm looking forward to seeing how our WR corps steps up after losing some prominent seniors.
Adams, Lewis, Capel, & many others all have a chance to shine, and it'll be exciting to see how they do.

cant think of any kids specifically, but two units, the OL and DL really need the redshirts and true sophomores to step up if we are going to have anywhere close to the success that we had this year.

I am also looking forward to WR play as Mock Adams and Zy Letman could make defenses sweat if we get them down field. I am a little intrigued by Jake Easter (speed) and see where coaches try to get him involved on field. Looking forward to seeing new faces at linebacker , especially Edward Davis (tackling machine in hs) and Akeem Davis. Last but not least, hoping for depth in line play on both sides of ball with newcomers Alex Taylor (how big is he now??), Bo Alexander, and on the defensive side of the ball, Brody Barrett getting into rotation at nose.

We aren't losing any LBs are we? - Ward was a solid backup

WVAPPeer wrote:We aren't losing any LBs are we? - Ward was a solid backup

I was just referring to building depth at lb.

I think we have some good guys already - with the great play of our starters they haven't gotten much chance to play - but you are right, we need some long-term depth ---

The open positions for players to step in are DL, DB, OL, PR, WR & K. With that said, my guess would be:

DL - Stout & Barrett
DB - Exford
OL - Johnson & TE-C
PR - Capel
WR - Letman, Adams & Capel
K - Rubino

We have a slew of young players. I hope all grind hard this off season to have the opportunity to shine next year.

I look forward to seeing PK - Michael Rubino (RS-Fr.), WR - Zy Letman (RS-Jr.), and OL - Victor Johnson (So.) step up and perform.

I'm looking forward to seeing Akeem and Eddy D at LB as well. Brody Barrett did good things his senior year and is huge. My biggest off season interest is how/will offensive play calling change this year? No Ledford as the run game coordinator, new faces on the OL, and good talent, albeit young, at WR. Taylor will be in his 3rd year, almost 3 full years, and wouldn't be surprised to see the offense put in his hands a little more, so to speak.

Exford might be the first one that comes to mind, just because the reviews on him were so glowing last spring before he got hurt. If he's healthy, he and Josh Thomas could give us some great depth at safety. Also interested to see where Brandon Pinckney falls in the CB depth chart. Can anyone between him, Mondo and Hayes grab that full-time starter role opposite Gibbs?

WR is so wide open that I don't know who to even consider a sleeper there. Obviously we're going to see some new faces, or guys in bigger roles.

Really hoping Tee Sims can get back to 100%. We need him bad. Would be great if Devin Papenheim is ready to contribute, though I wouldn't be shocked if he's another year away.

Speaking of the battle for CB opposite Gibbs, who ya got??? From what I remember Pinckney was playing really well, I liked Hayes a lot as a true freshman and Mondo played well too. Good problem to have.

It's a total guess, but I'll say Hayes begins the year as starter, Mondo as nickel, Pinckney as 2nd team. Might be an upset if the lineup stays the same for 12 games though.

Also I'm hoping Mondo gets a look at PR. IIRC he was pretty spectacular there in juco.

We've developed some really nice depth at both corner and safety, with a lot more on the way. And yes, very nice problem to have.

Thanks for the responses. Nice to know we have some studs ready to make an impact. Who do you guys think we had redshirted last season who could have made a big impact if they were eligible? What a nice luxury. Can't wait!

bigdaddyg wrote:Thanks for the responses. Nice to know we have some studs ready to make an impact. Who do you guys think we had redshirted last season who could have made a big impact if they were eligible? What a nice luxury. Can't wait!

Mock Adams. Zi Letman, hopefully. To a lesser extent (i.e., they'll be reserves next season), have heard good things about Ed Davis, Collin Reed, Akeem Davis and Brody Barrett. I think the staff was pretty high on Desmond Franklin as well, though it might be another year before he gets much of a chance other than maybe ST.