Best talent in years | Syracusefan.com

Best talent in years

kcsu

kcsu

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Top to bottom this looks to be our best team talent wise in years. Yes we have some big shoes to fill at QB and OT but other than those two positions i think we are in as good as shape as we have been in a very long time.

CB/S: Morgan, Eskridge, Kelly, Desir, Wilkes, Lyn, Reddish. I think we can find four that can play
DE: Simmons, MPB, Welsh, Robinson, Trejo, Raymon, Manley. Not a bad rotation and i really like Welsh as a darkhorse as everytime he was on the field he made plays. Guy has a great motor.
DT: Walls, Zion, Bromley, Crume, Williams. Five man rotation and all solid
LB: Davis, Lynch, Arciniega, Spruil, Washington, KS Juco forgot his name. Solid group that can run.

QB: I think Charlie gets the nod but Hunt and the Kid from Jersey are solid as well.
TB: Smith, PTG, AAM, Morris, Mcfarland, Ash, Rene. Best talent in years.
WR: Funderburk, West, Foster, Kobena, Chris, Flemming, Hale, Cooper, Big deep and finally a few guys with speed. I have a feeling Kobena is going to shine.
TE: Thompson, Wales, Paris, Provo, Baten. Everyone can run. Really hope Thompson is back to 100% as he looks to be our best since Gedney.
OT Hicky and whole lot of question marks. This is our weakest position. Hope that Knapp steps up
OG: Trudo, Palmer, Miller, Foy, and a bunch of others. Solid group i expect Miller to grab the open slot.
Specials are as solid as they have been in a long time with everyone back. I think that Kobena and Desir keep their jobs unless the kid from Florida makes the grade than i would expect to see him on KO returns and possibly punts as well.

All in all this is a very talented and deep team. We have more weapons on O than we have had in a very long time. If Charlie or Hunt can manage the weapons, If we can find another OT we are going to be a very tough out. Our D should keep us in most games. I think that we are going to be very hard to run on. I see Reddish earning all league honors and i have a feeling that either Kelly or Morgan will step up at the Safety position. Lynn is solid and Eskridge had great range and talent just want to see him up the physical nature of his play. This D is deep fast and talented and will be a pleasure to watch. I predict we win 7 in our first year in the ACC. Things are looking good and will continue to improve with our addition in the ACC and the IPF. Go Orange!!
 
Kansas City here I come ! Great write up . I think your spot on , we should pull are weight in the ACC next year .
 
KC, that is the glass half full argument (which I agree with), but it does hinge on a couple of big if's - OLine and QB .
Something tells me that they are going to figure our how to get Slashton on the field and then we really will be a tough out.

I think you meant then kid from PA not Jersey (Austin Wilson). You left out the speedster Clark who I think will surprise before Kobena does.

Anybody know how Sugar Bear is doing after his surgery?
 
Yes, kcsu! Needed a good football post. Between the weather and the lack of activity on the football board, February is a tough month.

Few thoughts:

You forgot about Anderson in the secondary (or maybe you didn't).

Noticed in the depth-chart thread you had Zian Jones slotted as a starter. If Bromley and Raymon both play DT full-time, I expect Jones to be 5th in the DT rotation behind Williams and Crume. Man, that is some DEPTH.

Josh Kirkland is the Kansas JUCO. Shafer used everyone's favourite cliche to describe him, he's just a "football player".

We have some big holes to fill on the O line but I think we have the guys to do it. GMC has said we will likely lean more on the run next year because of the personnel we have returning (and leaving). I believe a more run focused offense will make the jobs of our new OL starters easier because young OL usually have a much tougher time with pass pro than with run blocking. Can't wait to watch the tunas up front battle it out in the spring.

It is going to be a tough first year in the ACC, especially considering our OOC schedule. I think 7 wins is possible and the hardest 11 noses in the ACC lining up for the Orange is a guarantee! Go Orange!
 
I think I am more confident with our OL then most. Say what you want about Marrone, but he could evaluate talent, especially on the OL. I think he left us loaded at that position. He spoke very highly on Knapp, and Emerich. I fully expect Knapp to step right in and be a 4 year starter, opposite Hickey. If, and that's a big if these 2 can stay healthy, I feel OL will once again be a strength. That only really leaves QB as a ?. Unfortunately that's the 1 position you don't want a question mark. Still I think either Loeb, or Hunt can be serviceable at worst. If we can get off too a good start I can see a 8 win season, maybe even sneak in another win.
 
In 1999 we had a very solid team but no QB.

It seems that we finally replaced McNabb last year- it took 13 years.

Without solid QB play we struggle. In other words, all the talent will be wasted if we fail at QB. hopefully somebody emerges in the spring.

We don't a repeat of the post-McNabb era!!
 
"WR: Funderburk, West, Foster, Kobena, Chris, Flemming, Hale, Cooper, Big deep and finally a few guys with speed. I have a feeling Kobena is going to shine."

* Other than the QB position, which is a major unknown until he is in a pressure situation. The WR corp is the biggest concern for me. I like Kobena but don't personally see him being a consistent performer game in and game out. He'll probably makes plays in certain games because of his speed but I'm not sold on him having all of the other WR skills to be a consistent threat. This group could easily be a very talented group as well as a very talented group on paper only. We have no idea.

We need a minimum of 1 guy that shows up every game and makes catches in all situations. We need another guy with speed that forces teams to double him when he goes deep, which means he has to run good routes, make good reads on the ball, have good hands, and be able to get distance from the defender without the use of speed alone. I don't know who those 2 guys are going to be. I like what we have at that position but there is more that we don't know about these guys ability to step up.
 
qdawgg said:
"WR: Funderburk, West, Foster, Kobena, Chris, Flemming, Hale, Cooper, Big deep and finally a few guys with speed. I have a feeling Kobena is going to shine."

* Other than the QB position, which is a major unknown until he is in a pressure situation. The WR corp is the biggest concern for me. I like Kobena but don't personally see him being a consistent performer game in and game out. He'll probably makes plays in certain games because of his speed but I'm not sold on him having all of the other WR skills to be a consistent threat. This group could easily be a very talented group as well as a very talented group on paper only. We have no idea.

We need a minimum of 1 guy that shows up every game and makes catches in all situations. We need another guy with speed that forces teams to double him when he goes deep, which means he has to run good routes, make good reads on the ball, have good hands, and be able to get distance from the defender without the use of speed alone. I don't know who those 2 guys are going to be. I like what we have at that position but there is more that we don't know about these guys ability to step up.
Expand...
We have enough talent that two or three guys will step up. If Foster is healthy look out for him. Big strong athletic. Funder has a chance to be special maybe our best since Mike Williams. Kobena and Chris and the new kid have speed. Our TE can all stretch the field and will be really hard to cover by LB's Add in some great backs and we have more weapons than we have had in years. I wish we had one more year of Ryan but so be it. Loeb or Hunt will step up and do fine.
 
Agree that the increased depth should continue to demonstrate itself in special teams.
 
I really like the new staff. The old staff appeared to be very good at game planning, and adjustments especially on defense. I'm hopeful that carries over.
 
Loeb may well have a Todd philcox or a Kevin Mason year. I think he will.
 
OrangePA said:
In 1999 we had a very solid team but no QB.

It seems that we finally replaced McNabb last year- it took 13 years.

Without solid QB play we struggle. In other words, all the talent will be wasted if we fail at QB. hopefully somebody emerges in the spring.

We don't a repeat of the post-McNabb era!!
Expand...

That's the game of football. Without solid QB play, every team struggles. This year, we need a capable game manager who will not make errors that cost us games. A Trent Dilfer type. We don't need a stud. You need studs to have excellent seasons on contenders. We are still building for that. The year after next, we need to hope one of the young guns (Wilson, Kimble, Hunt) steps up and stars. That's when we turn the corner from building to competing.
 
Crusty said:
KC, that is the glass half full argument (which I agree with), but it does hinge on a couple of big if's - OLine and QB .
Something tells me that they are going to figure our how to get Slashton on the field and then we really will be a tough out.

I think you meant then kid from PA not Jersey (Austin Wilson). You left out the speedster Clark who I think will surprise before Kobena does.

Anybody know how Sugar Bear is doing after his surgery?
Expand...

I think he means Kimble, who attends a high school named Jersey.
 
kcsu said:
Top to bottom this looks to be our best team talent wise in years. Yes we have some big shoes to fill at QB and OT but other than those two positions i think we are in as good as shape as we have been in a very long time.

CB/S: Morgan, Eskridge, Kelly, Desir, Wilkes, Lyn, Reddish. I think we can find four that can play
DE: Simmons, MPB, Welsh, Robinson, Trejo, Raymon, Manley. Not a bad rotation and i really like Welsh as a darkhorse as everytime he was on the field he made plays. Guy has a great motor.
DT: Walls, Zion, Bromley, Crume, Williams. Five man rotation and all solid
LB: Davis, Lynch, Arciniega, Spruil, Washington, KS Juco forgot his name. Solid group that can run.

QB: I think Charlie gets the nod but Hunt and the Kid from Jersey are solid as well.
TB: Smith, PTG, AAM, Morris, Mcfarland, Ash, Rene. Best talent in years.
WR: Funderburk, West, Foster, Kobena, Chris, Flemming, Hale, Cooper, Big deep and finally a few guys with speed. I have a feeling Kobena is going to shine.
TE: Thompson, Wales, Paris, Provo, Baten. Everyone can run. Really hope Thompson is back to 100% as he looks to be our best since Gedney.
OT Hicky and whole lot of question marks. This is our weakest position. Hope that Knapp steps up
OG: Trudo, Palmer, Miller, Foy, and a bunch of others. Solid group i expect Miller to grab the open slot.
Specials are as solid as they have been in a long time with everyone back. I think that Kobena and Desir keep their jobs unless the kid from Florida makes the grade than i would expect to see him on KO returns and possibly punts as well.

All in all this is a very talented and deep team. We have more weapons on O than we have had in a very long time. If Charlie or Hunt can manage the weapons, If we can find another OT we are going to be a very tough out. Our D should keep us in most games. I think that we are going to be very hard to run on. I see Reddish earning all league honors and i have a feeling that either Kelly or Morgan will step up at the Safety position. Lynn is solid and Eskridge had great range and talent just want to see him up the physical nature of his play. This D is deep fast and talented and will be a pleasure to watch. I predict we win 7 in our first year in the ACC. Things are looking good and will continue to improve with our addition in the ACC and the IPF. Go Orange!!
Expand...

I love your optimism. My question mark revolves around the WRs. Lots of potential there but nothing earned as of yet. If we have the same level of play as this past year, watch out!
 
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