Early Guesses at 2018 Starters
Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 7:56 pm
I know we have several spots to fill from last season, especially on the OL. But what do you guys think the starting lineup would be if we had a game today?
I usually do a "deep dive" into each position during the summer before the season starts, just FYI, so I'll get into things a lot more in-depth at that point, after we've figured out any late transfers, seen how players did during spring practices (and the spring game), etc. If you want to see what I usually do for that, here's last year's LB's thread: http://www.leathernecknation.net/forum/ ... f=7&t=1380GV Dad wrote: Sat Feb 10, 2018 7:56 pm I know we have several spots to fill from last season, especially on the OL. But what do you guys think the starting lineup would be if we had a game today?
But, if we're just looking at how things are right now, if we had to play a game today, assuming the players who are/were seniors during the 2017 season are "done" and can't be on the team, plus any transfers that we know about and new incoming freshman, here's my best guess at what the depth chart might look like:
Offense
QB - Sean McGuire, Connor Sampson
RB - Steve McShane, Max Norris, Clint Ratkovich
WR - Isaiah LeSure, Izaiah Fuller, Brandon Gaston, Darron Wheeler
TE - Tyler Slamans, Jackson Riley, Adam Conrady
OL - Drew Wagner, Thomas Kirsch, Kyle Sanft, Chris Zobrist, Myron Cunningham, Fawaz Ayoola
Defense
DL - Khalen Saunders, Grant Kasal, Eryk Preston, Kyle Williams, J'Len Smith, Shabar Wilson, Luke Terrell
LB - Quintin Moon, Michael Bischoff, Riggs Baxter, Pete Swenson, Tom Rehfeld, Joe Turk
DB - Justin Fitzpatrick, Mike Viti, Xavier Rowe, Timothy Smith, Isaiah Cherrier
Special Teams
PK - Sam Crosa, Nathan Erickson
P - Adam Fellner, Nathan Erickson
Kickoffs - Erickson, Crosa
LS - Hunter Varga
There's really only a couple of positions where I had to put in guys who haven't had any in-game playing time yet. Despite losing our best LB in quite a while, we still have quite a bit of talent there...and really, all across the defense. I don't think that aspect will drop off much next year. Offense could be an issue...the O-Line is going to have to really step up since we lost some real solid players there, and that could make a huge difference in the productivity of our overall offense. McShane and Norris are both good RBs, but could have issues if there's no holes to run through. WR could be an issue as well...we've been spoiled there, following up the dominant combo of Lance Lenior and Joey Borsellino with a surprise record-breaking season from Acklin last year. We could have someone step up, although I haven't been hugely impressed by anyone else on the roster so far (then again, this point last year I would have said the same thing about Acklin). Maybe Broc Thompson could be one of the few true freshman to be asked to play this season...you always want to redshirt a freshman whenever possible, but if nobody else is looking like they're going to step up and make plays...then you gotta do what you gotta do.
I think we've still got our eyes on a few guys...potential transfers...still plenty of time to sign freshman who haven't made their decisions yet...so a lot could change even before spring practices. Then we've got like 4ish months of spending time in the weight room, building strength and speed, and then summer practices.