Game 1 Depth Chart / Game Notes vs Ohio

[Trueblue25]

I was under the impression that the secondary, with young but experienced players, was pretty strong?

My concern here is durability. They’re all young, and Hanna’s light at rover.

I suspect his playmaking ability won him the rover spot, as it seems more about the guy being able to disrupt all over the secondary, rather than being the hit stick.

 

[007]

hope Alford and Gadsden can make impacts. Taj is not a one.

the ol has legit measurable across the board. now have it translate. No problems with Ilaoa and Ellis being in the two deep.

rb and lb are the two best units on the team.

not sure how stout the dl is. we’ll see.

Agree about the DL

Not surprised about the younger guys making the 2 deep on OL. Vett at C... Hope Schmidt is a difference maker.

Really like the LBs and CBs. Arku was ok, but Wax was the better player to my eye. Duece and Williams - legit ACC talent

 

[upperdeck]

Kinda, but its football. Players dont always step up the way you expect them to. If Hanna's the starter its because he's the best there. Some times you keep a guy in because he makes the whole unit perform better collectively despite what physical limitations he may have.

Hanna made a bunch of nice plays last yr when he probably should not have even been on the field with his experience and size.. he may not be a ton bigger but probably much stronger and knowing the role better maybe he does his fits better now and that means alot in this style of D,

 

[money3189]

Hanna made a bunch of nice plays last yr when he probably should not have even been on the field with his experience and size.. he may not be a ton bigger but probably much stronger and knowing the role better maybe he does his fits better now and that means alot in this style of D,

Totally agree

 

[bigmike]

Feel better about short yardage capability - at least on paper. Will hope for consistent conversions Saturday.

 

[Trueblue25]

Feel better about short yardage capability - at least on paper. Will hope for consistent conversions Saturday.

Howard’s going to make a difference here I’m thinking.

 

[sutomcat]

Some comments...

It looks to me as though the staff is penciling Taj in at the slot. His backups are both also slot guys.

That opens up playing time for Johnson, Alford, and Gadsden. Gadsden appears to have taken the lead in the race for PT among true frosh WRs.

I assume Dakota is listed as a second string guy because he hasn't been practicing. He will start if he is 100%.

Hanna played rover last year. Wish he was bigger.

I think we are pretty small with our safeties and a bunch are going to play to keep them healthy all season.

 

[upperdeck]

and the better we run the ball the more we keep the safeties off the field and not having to stop the other teams from running the ball.

 

[Nahson]

Yes, my mistake. Hawaiian/Maori name of Ilaoa is what threw me off. I guess I get partial credit.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

I’m surprised Abdul Adam’s didn’t make the two deep. I had to check to see if he was still on the roster (he is). Not sure if that is because he’s out of game shape due to opting out last year.

I still hoping the 1-2 punch of Tucker and Adams will give us a dynamic running game.

 

[SUDadx2]

"Juniors are seniors.

Many R-So are seniors."


Yes, academically. But eligibility wise we have a ton of Freshman (recruiting classes of 2020 and 2021) and RS-Fr (recruiting class of 2019).

They have enough eligibility on the clock to be here for another three years. That's a lot of development and experience that can be had in three years.

Look at the two-deep depth charts of our opponents. I bet most of our opponents are playing older, more experienced, players.

 

[PhatOrange]

Some comments...

It looks to me as though the staff is penciling Taj in at the slot. His backups are both also slot guys.

That opens up playing time for Johnson, Alford, and Gadsden. Gadsden appears to have taken the lead in the race for PT among true frosh WRs.

I assume Dakota is listed as a second string guy because he hasn't been practicing. He will start if he is 100%.

Hanna played rover last year. Wish he was bigger.

I think we are pretty small with our safeties and a bunch are going to play to keep them healthy all season.

You think our safeties are small? It looks like the physically biggest 2 deep of safeties we've fielded in years.

(it's actually comical when you think of people dismissing all the excuses that was last year's season and the talk generally focuses around the OL but at times we were running Greenwood and Cole at safety with Sharod Johnson at nickle and/or safety. Last year was just a complete mess.)

 

[tep624]

• Agree with others-Very surprised Sharod is starting, as he hasn't shown much in his years here. Was expecting Jackson or Alford as the 3rd starter. Happy he's stepping up.
• Impressive that Lutz held his ground against Howard and Adams-2 good talents in their own right
• Am happy that Labrosse won the job (though I'm pretty sure we'll also see Simmons on the field quite a bit), as he seems to have a great combo of size, speed, and hands.
• Interesting to see Orondo on the 2-deep ahead of older guys like Isiah Jones and Javontae Williams. Think we have a lot of talent at WR.
• Pretty impressive for a True Freshman (Ellis) to make the 2 deep ahead of older guys like Froumy. Ellis was one of my favorite guys in the class and could really power our running game
• No big surprises on the Defensive Front 7. Believe Cantin-Arku will be like a fourth starter.
• Will be interesting to see if Hanna can hold up at Rover at 170.

One thing I'd say on Sharod - Jamal Custis didn't show much his 3 years and then broke out. Maybe Sharod took that leap during this training camp and if so - GREAT development for us. I think there is enough talent behind him that this wouldn't be a "have to play the senior" decision due to lack of options.

I also love that it looks like the true Frosh on the 2 deep are there due to physical readiness and talent. All 3 are physically developed heading in, Ellis is just plain massive and Duce/Oronde look like JR's already.

 

[CuseLegacy]

The term freshman is a little misleading, but technically yes.

Only 1 first year player in that OL 2 deep though. And most in at least their 3rd year.

It's all part of the plan. Make the other team think we are young and inexperienced.

 

[RF2044]

Some comments...

It looks to me as though the staff is penciling Taj in at the slot. His backups are both also slot guys.

That opens up playing time for Johnson, Alford, and Gadsden. Gadsden appears to have taken the lead in the race for PT among true frosh WRs.

I assume Dakota is listed as a second string guy because he hasn't been practicing. He will start if he is 100%.

Hanna played rover last year. Wish he was bigger.

I think we are pretty small with our safeties and a bunch are going to play to keep them healthy all season.

Simmons being experienced, and a possible NFL draft prospect, is really, really, really going to help the secondary and stabilize the safety position. I liked Carter last year -- a lot -- and LeBrossie. Need both of those guys to take a step forward, now that they aren't rookies.

Need to avoid injuries [fingers crossed], but I like the first unit of the secondary.

If Chestnut is all he's cracked up to be, we're cooking with gas @ DB.

 

[Scooch]

"Juniors are seniors.

Many R-So are seniors."


Yes, academically. But eligibility wise we have a ton of Freshman (recruiting classes of 2020 and 2021) and RS-Fr (recruiting class of 2019).

They have enough eligibility on the clock to be here for another three years. That's a lot of development and experience that can be had in three years.

Look at the two-deep depth charts of our opponents. I bet most of our opponents are playing older, more experienced, players.

Yeah, well Dino made those choices. What can you do?

 

[sdhall01]

I am shocked we didn’t get an “or” at QB. I’m not complaining, I’m just shocked.

 

[007]

It's all part of the plan. Make the other team think we are young and inexperienced.

In perpetuity?

 

[SUDadx2]

Yeah, well Dino made those choices. What can you do?

I like it. (Although Dino did not choose to have Covid affect the football landscape the way it has)


You can either look backward or you can look forwards. I choose to look forward and I like what I see for the program.


Hopefully the guys who have multiple years of eligibility remaining are getting their ducks in a row and lining up that second degree or looking at a masters program. The athletic department seems to have a good academic support system for the athletes. I sure hope they are looking at this in order to keep these young men eligible.

Of course some guys will get buried in the depth chart and choose to tranfers in search of more playing time. And some will choose not the do the extra academic work and leave after four academic years.

Most people on this board know the NCAA gave an extra Covid year of eligibility, but do we know if the schools are obligated to offer a scholarship beyond four years of academic work? Anyone?

 

[Scooch]

I like it. (Although Dino did not choose to have Covid affect the football landscape the way it has)


You can either look backward or you can look forwards. I choose to look forward and I like what I see for the program.


Hopefully the guys who have multiple years of eligibility remaining are getting their ducks in a row and lining up that second degree or looking at a masters program. The athletic department seems to have a good academic support system for the athletes. I sure hope they are looking at this in order to keep these young men eligible.

Of course some guys will get buried in the depth chart and choose to tranfers in search of more playing time. And some will choose not the do the extra academic work and leave after four academic years.

Most people on this board know the NCAA gave an extra Covid year of eligibility, but do we know if the schools are obligated to offer a scholarship beyond four years of academic work? Anyone?

I'm not trying to be negative. And I understand that other programs may have more experience than we do. It's just that we're in Dino's sixth season and he completely owns the current state of the roster. If we fail to get to a bowl a terribly unconvincing rationale, at least to me, is that we are "too young" to expect to win 6 games. Maybe we are, we'll see, but that's entirely on Dino.

 

[OrangeinBoston]

I'm not trying to be negative. And I understand that other programs may have more experience than we do. It's just that we're in Dino's sixth season and he completely owns the current state of the roster. If we fail to get to a bowl a terribly unconvincing rationale, at least to me, is that we are "too young" to expect to win 6 games. Maybe we are, we'll see, but that's entirely on Dino.

The "young" thing is just an excuse. This is a very experienced team and should play that way.

 

[Scooch]

The "young" thing is just an excuse. This is a very experienced team and should play that way.

I think one can correctly say that our back 7 is pretty young. Everywhere else it seems that the starters are very experienced, and a lot of the backups are as well. I mean, it's SU, depth and experience has been a challenge for every one of the 30 years I've been following the program.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I'm not trying to be negative. And I understand that other programs may have more experience than we do. It's just that we're in Dino's sixth season and he completely owns the current state of the roster. If we fail to get to a bowl a terribly unconvincing rationale, at least to me, is that we are "too young" to expect to win 6 games. Maybe we are, we'll see, but that's entirely on Dino.

Yeah I'm to the point where I legitimately don't care about any context whatsoever.

We get to a bowl or we don't, and decisions about the future are made from that point.

 

[richmondcuse03]

Love seeing Chestnut out there and starting. After the experience the young guys got last year, it says a LOT to me that he won the job. Monroe turning Cuse into CB U.

 

[RandomGuy]

I’m surprised Abdul Adam’s didn’t make the two deep. I had to check to see if he was still on the roster (he is). Not sure if that is because he’s out of game shape due to opting out last year.

I still hoping the 1-2 punch of Tucker and Adams will give us a dynamic running game.

I dont think he started practicing til last week. Dunno if it was with contact, or not.