starters for this coming season

[OttoinGrotto]

The biggest change to the program is depth right? Practice becomes a constant battle to keep your spot or get a spot. When you raise the floor, that pushes everybody else up.

I think it probably just makes for a better prepared team too.

If you have legit talents on the scout team, that simulates the game way better.

 

[money3189]

The biggest change to the program is depth right? Practice becomes a constant battle to keep your spot or get a spot. When you raise the floor, that pushes everybody else up.

Yessir. Irons sharpens iron.

 

[gocraz4dasu]

WR-X Justus-Simmons/Meeks
WR-Z Haynes/Gill Jr
Slot Pena/Brown
OT E Cruz or Washington/Wohlabaugh
OG Miller/Moeolo
C Reed/Ilaoa
OG Hornby/Bradford
OT Weatherspoon/Petry
TE Gadsden II/Villari
QB McCord/CDRW
RB Allen/Willis

DE Diggs/Jaquez Jr
DT Wilson Jr/Ingraham
DT Perry/Hastings
DE Jobity/Simmons
LB Wax/Sparrow
LB McDonald/Bailey
Star Barron/Martin
BS Clark/Gould
FS Chestnut/Perry
CB Grant/DeLaine
CB Lewis or Bellamy/Barnes

Punter Stonehouse/Oh
Placekicker Denaburg/Oh
Kickoffs Denaburg/Oh
Long Snap Callahan/Zuhr
Holder Stonehouse/Barron
Punt Returns Pena/Brown
KO Returns James/Gill Jr

Really don't know who the backup to Barron is. I would guess Grant would move in there even if he was starting at CB. Maybe Gould, who seems like a terrific athlete who we need to find a way to get on the field ASAP.

Love a good projected two deep! Mine certainly won't be any good on reevaluation later but this is where I'm at right now for a depth chart. The only noticeable thing off on yours is I believe Donovan Brown is still not with the team, so I don't see him being our #2 in the slot.

QB: Kyle McCord / Carlos Del Rio-Wilson / Michael Johnson Jr.

• Has got to be McCord obviously. #2 you'd have to guess is CDRW but I could see there being a surprise here since CDRW has missed a lot of time this spring. Do we get running packages in short yardage situations for Michael Johnson Jr.? Or is going to change position? To be determined but I have him as the #3, but he may just end up our #2 because of his athleticism.

RB: LeQuint Allen / Yaseen Willis / Will Nixon

• Another easy pencil in as starter with LeQuint. I think Willis will ultimately be listed as the number 2 but my hot take is that Will Nixon (our OC's son transferring in from Washington) may see more snaps than Willis this year because of his receiving ability, but Willis will surpass him in carries.

WR1: Justus-Simmons / Darrell Gill Jr.
WR2: Yazeed Haynes / Umari Hatcher or Jaylan Hornsby
Slot: Jackson Meeks / Trebor Pena

• Justus-Simmons seems like the likely #1 receiver based off of his experience and abilities, but it would not surprise me if Haynes ends up being listed the #1. Meeks I think will supplant Pena as the starter but they could sub pretty frequently (if this were Babers it would definitely be an OR scenario on the depth chart. Gill sounds like he has been impressing over the spring so I think he ends up being the first receiver on the outside to rotate in. I have Hatcher listed as OR with Hornsby, because I think he has the experience, but I have high hopes for Jaylan Hornsby despite not being on campus yet.

TE: Orondo Gadsden / Dan Villari / David Clement / Jamie Tremble

• Pretty obvious one here. Gadsden is the star and Villari the fan-favorite. Both great competitors and will dominate the snaps. Clement might be the rotational blocker for the season so he should see some snaps. Tremble is a talent who I think redshirts and sees time in any blow-outs until he reaches the 4 game threshold (or unless we see any injuries to Gadsden like last year).

LT: Enrique Cruz / Mark Petry
LG: Joshua Miller / Codie Hornsby or Joe Cruz
C: J'Onre Reed / Josh Ilaoa
RG: Da'Metrius Weatherspoon / Lysander Meolo
RT: Savion Washington / David Wohlabaugh / Jakob Bradford

• I'm going to be honest, I have no clue how the line shakes out this year for week 1. I know Savion Washington may be a bit of a surprise but he was solid at Colorado before his injury. The X-Factor is if David Wohlabaugh can come back from his injury and be ok, because, if so, he could easily be one of our starters this season. I could see Miller starting at RT and then Weatherspoon and/or Hornsby starting. I've also heard Petry has looked solid so maybe he pushes for one or more starting positions. Meolo may also start over Weatherspoon. I truly have no idea and this is pure guess-work. nIt's possible I go 0/5 on my guesses.

DE1: Fadil Diggs / King Joseph-Edwards / Caden Brown
DE2: Kevin Jobity / Denis Jaquez Jr. / Chase Simmons
DT: Isaiah Hastings / Rashard Perry / Michael Nwokocha or Marsaad Watson
NT: Dion Wilson Jr. / Braylen Ingraham / Elijah Fuentes-Cundiff

• Fadil Diggs is really the only guarantee here. I'm not sure if Jobity will get the start as the DE or not, but he's my best guess right now. I could see a scenario where someone I've listed as a DT could kick outside. I think it's also possible we see James Heard Jr. line up outside on pass rushing downs occasionally, so I considered listing him as a DE. I think Dion Wilson mans the NT spot and Hastings wins out for the starting DT. I had high hopes for Nwokocha when we signed him but I think it's going to take him some time to acclimate, but I could see him being listed as a DE. The DTs look like a solid group, which I did not expect in December, so kudos to HCFB and staff for that.

LB1: Marlowe Wax / Anwar Sparrow / Zyian Moultrie-Goddard or Jahide Lesaine
LB2: Derek McDonald / Kadin Bailey or Heard Jr. / David Omopariola
Star: Justin Barron / Heard Jr. or Jaeden Gould

• I'm unsure who is the back-up to the Star position for Barron but I believe it would be based situationally on pass/rush so it would swap between Heard Jr. and Gould. it feels like we are deep at LB so maybe there is a shake-up but it sounded like McDonald had a strong spring. Wax and Barron are etched in stone.

CB1: Devin Grant / Marcus Washington or Jaeden Gould / Jayden Bellamy
FS: Duce Chestnut / Cornell Perry
SS: Alijah Clark / Jaeden Gould
CB2: Clarence Lewis / Marcellus Barnes / Greg Delaine

• I think the safeties will be interesting because I'm not sure on the back-ups there. I really want us to switch Devin Grant back to FS and have him play there but I think we start the year with him as the starting CB (which I personally think is a mistake). Clarence Lewis has too much experience to not start despite how much I want Marcellus Barnes as the starting CB. Ideally for me, I'd have Grant as FS, Clark as SS, Lewis as CB1, and Barnes as CB2 with Gould Chestnut subbing in for whoever needs a breather. But again, I don't think we see that week 1. Gould I do think will see quite a bit of playing time.

 

[money3189]

A lot will happen throughout the next 2 months. Many ways to gain ground and lose ground. Will be a lot of competiton in camp. No way I can predict a two deep but its fun to talk about it.

 

[shu 49]

Could be. Miller has a really good shot at starting and also needs to be considered.

In the spring, as far as I could tell, Spoon played exclusively at tackle and E Cruz bounced between OT and OG (though mostly at OT). That makes me think it is more likely if we decide to move a tackle inside, it is Enrique, not Weatherspoon.

When thinking about Miller, I think we need to keep in mind that he bounced between OT and OG as well. He is surely a candidate to start at either position. I have him playing OG right now if for no other reason than I think we have more quality players at OT than OG right now. Also think that is his more natural position though.

Hornsby has the disadvantage of missing all spring ball so he will be in catch up mode early. It might be he starts off the season on the bench and gets worked into the lineup over time Would not be surprised if Bradford starts the season as the second starting OG and gets replaced by Hornsby after a couple of games.

We have a bunch of good looking OL that appear to be right about the same level. Hard to make a call which ones end up on top right now.

I also forgot about Miller. Wahlabaugh could be a starter too depending on injury from last year. Bradford and Petry make almost as good a second line as first line.

 

[shu 49]

Could be. Miller has a really good shot at starting and also needs to be considered.

In the spring, as far as I could tell, Spoon played exclusively at tackle and E Cruz bounced between OT and OG (though mostly at OT). That makes me think it is more likely if we decide to move a tackle inside, it is Enrique, not Weatherspoon.

When thinking about Miller, I think we need to keep in mind that he bounced between OT and OG as well. He is surely a candidate to start at either position. I have him playing OG right now if for no other reason than I think we have more quality players at OT than OG right now. Also think that is his more natural position though.

Hornsby has the disadvantage of missing all spring ball so he will be in catch up mode early. It might be he starts off the season on the bench and gets worked into the lineup over time Would not be surprised if Bradford starts the season as the second starting OG and gets replaced by Hornsby after a couple of games.

We have a bunch of good looking OL that appear to be right about the same level. Hard to make a call which ones end up on top right now.

Give u Miller over Hornsby on no spring camp makes great sense. i wasnt as excited about big spoon as some others were cause Diggs was kinda playing around with him and then slowjng down. Washington in my mind will definatly start there at rt. i think lol.

 

[kcsu]

There could be several changes made before we step on the field against Ohio on August 31st, but Gould was the #2 Star all spring. Although Jalil Martin has worked at safety, he played CB for most of the spring and ran with the 2's and 3's. With the additions of Clarence Lewis and Marcus Washington, Martin could be back at safety sooner than later.

The true freshman Braheem Long was behind Clark. Barry Buxton and Cornell Perry were behind Chestnut.

With Clarence Lewis (Notre Dame) and Marcus Washington (L'ville/Georgia) joining the team after spring the quality of the CB room appears to be significantly improved. I don't know why Washington is not mentioned more often. Perhaps because he transferred in after spring, but I think he's flying under the radar so far. IMO there could be six corners in the mix; Grant (his length helps with longer WR's. He needs help over the top), Bellamy, Lewis, Delaine, Washington and the true freshman Barnes.

Up front Elijah Fuentes-Cundiff got some run with the 1's and Michael Nwokocha got some run with the 2's. Everyone mentioned should be in the mix. Plenty of depth. Producers will play.

Wax leads the LB corps. McDonald is not the fastest, but he's smart and tough. He might not be in on passing situations. Sparrow and Zyian Moultrie-Goddard (ZMG) were the #2's in the spring. ZMG looked pretty good at times. Bailey is probably going to still be recovering this season. He might play but will he be 100% before 2025? Heard and Lesaine give us decent depth.

On the other side of the ball... Gadsden is a WR in my book. Who comes out of camp as our best blocking TE, Mang, Clements, Villari? At TE Villari is the most versatile. He can easily be used as an H-back. Clements is young and large (6.6, 275). The incoming freshmen, Tremble and Washington could see time if they're ready.

With the addition of Meeks and Ross-Simmons, the WR room is much deeper with better quality than we've had in a while. Gadsden, Ross-Simmons and Meeks is a quality combination. Backed by Pena, Haynes, Gill and Hatcher. Has Donovan Brown made it out of the doghouse?

The offensive line. We have definitely added size and improved our depth up front. I'm not convinced this group will be championship caliber, but it will be interesting to see who emerges as the starters come August 31st. Please stay healthy.

McCord is our QB1. Curious to see who comes out of fall camp as QB2. Is CDRW finally healthy? Will the true frosh Jakhari Williams be ready to contribute? What becomes of Braden Davis who saw reps at WR in the spring?

The running back room as talented but does it have sufficient depth? The addition of Will Nixon will help with the depth. He is experienced and has good hands out of the backfield. Allen and Willis will run 1 and 2. Hart will see some time (not more than four games), but he will benefit from a year of development because he will be needed in 2025.


I believe fall camp starts on July 30th which will give the players almost four full weeks to compete with each other and sort this out before classes start on August 26th and they enter game week before the game versus Ohio on the 31st. Should be an interesting month.


I will be there on August 31 for the Ohio game. Will you?


Go Orange!

great write up thank you

 

[IthacaMatt]

Will the development philosophy be to take a natural coverage guy and teach them to play downhill/ in the box, or take an athletic box defender and get them comfortable in coverage?

Would they be comfortable with an athletic LB like Bailey playing there on run downs, and a downhill safety like Clarke playing there in obvious passing situations?

I think they will probably look for a safety, but the right LB (since we're only playing 2 in our base) would be making good use of the guys already on the roster.

 

[Bulldog04]

Is this not the best team we have had in like a really really long time ? I know they haven’t played yet and coaches haven’t coached yet, but on paper they are freaking stacked ! If they won 6 games last year with no depth and other things I won’t speak of, how can this not be a special year if the right people stay healthy. And I know that’s always tough but man oh man am I excited

 

[IthacaMatt]

Is this not the best team we have had in like a really really long time ? I know they haven’t played yet and coaches haven’t coached yet, but on paper they are freaking stacked ! If they won 6 games last year with no depth and other things I won’t speak of, how can this not be a special year if the right people stay healthy. And I know that’s always tough but man oh man am I excited

Most talent up-and-down the roster since the 1990s.

 

[kcsu]

Most talent up-and-down the roster since the 1990s.

Absolutely. The O is stacked. 2 deep at every position other than QB which is the case for most schools in today's world. If I'm Fran I Absolutely have two plans developed.
One for McCord and one for the second string QB.
Taylor the O and play calls to maximize the back ups strengths or more importantly to shield their weaknesses.
In Carlos situation I wouldn't ask him to make many reads or decisions. I would simply ask him to execute the play.
No RPOs.
Run, pass. KISS with him.
He has excellent skills but I believe he get overwhelmed easily so he needs to focus on execution vs decision making AND execution. Im sure about the others but with Carlos I believe I'm accurate.
Also to be clear it has nothing to do with intelligence. It has to do with his ability to multi task and process quickly.
Dino is very much the same. Smart person who has a difficult time processing quickly.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Is this not the best team we have had in like a really really long time ? I know they haven’t played yet and coaches haven’t coached yet, but on paper they are freaking stacked ! If they won 6 games last year with no depth and other things I won’t speak of, how can this not be a special year if the right people stay healthy. And I know that’s always tough but man oh man am I excited

I'm with you. By our standards, this is the most complete team we've had in a long time.

In our recent program history we haven't had skill players that are NFL draft picks. We may have a bunch of them all at the same time this upcoming season. It's nuts.

I have to think that means something for what we can achieve on the field this season.

 

[JuiceMeUp]

I'm really excited for Haynes, but I think some people might be getting too excited too soon. He'll be awesome for us, but not sure it manifests right away this season. He's got a lot of guys he's competing with that have accomplished more at this level.

I actually love the WR situation right now. Feels like most seasons we're hoping a young guy that's unproven really pops. This season, between Gadsden coming back, transfers in, development of guys returning like Pena and Hatcher, we could still have a really strong unit even if none of the young guys are quite ready.

Every practice I went to Haynes was by far and away the best WR on the field, granted JRS wasn't here yet and Meeks / OG were hurt. Made our D look silly constantly. The visible talent differential between him and everyone else spoke volumes. Him and McCord have a real connection. I really wouldn't be surprised if he was our leading receiver statistically by the end of the season.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Every practice I went to Haynes was by far and away the best WR on the field, granted JRS wasn't here yet and Meeks / OG were hurt. Made our D look silly constantly. The visible talent differential between him and everyone else spoke volumes. Him and McCord have a real connection. I really wouldn't be surprised if he was our leading receiver statistically by the end of the season.

I'm stoked and if he's ready to be our top guy already that's incredible. Just trying to be sensitive that it's a lot to put on him and there may be an adjustment from practice to game action he needs to figure out.

 

[money3189]

Every practice I went to Haynes was by far and away the best WR on the field, granted JRS wasn't here yet and Meeks / OG were hurt. Made our D look silly constantly. The visible talent differential between him and everyone else spoke volumes. Him and McCord have a real connection. I really wouldn't be surprised if he was our leading receiver statistically by the end of the season.

I can envision the McCord Haynes duo. I think they will connect on RPO's a lot. Im just hoping the physical element doesnt shorten his season. He's kinda slender.

 

[upperdeck]

The step up of the WRs is huge for OG.. In the past teams were shading him to help coverages. If you have a WR who can make you honor the deep stuff the Safety has to be ready to help that. You cant just put the best guy on OG and help out if there are 1-2 other guys who can make you pay. They will have to cover things more honest. And all of that helps out the running game as well. if Haynes and OG become an issue then they wont have so many in the box to block.

 

[NineOneSeven]

God I hope McCord doesn’t get hurt.

 

[FrancoPizza]

I believe Fran Brown told Duce he can have a longer career as a pro playing Safety

I want to win first and foremost. This is not a training academy.

 

[cusefan88]

I want to win first and foremost. This is not a training academy.

I don't think Fran is going to do something that harms the team.

 

[CbusCuse]

WR-Z OG/Tremble (Will be too good to not get some play)
WR-X Haynes/Hatcher or Gill Jr/Ross
WR-Slot Pena/Brown (will he be avail?)/Ja'meer Thomas
TE Villari/Mang or Clement
---WR4-Justus-Simmons or Meeks/ (When either a traditional slot 40% or traditional TE 35% are not on the field so maybe 75% of snaps)
OT E Cruz/Wohlabaugh
OG Miller/Moeolo
C Reed/Ilaoa
OG Weatherspoon/Bradford or C. Hornsby
OT S Washington/Petry or C. Hornsby
QB McCord/CDRW/Michael Johnson Jr.
RB Allen/Willis/Nixon

DE Diggs/Jaquez Jr
DT Wilson Jr/Ingraham
DT Perry/Hastings or Fuentes-Cundiff
DE Jobity/Simmons or Nwokocha
LB Wax/Sparrow
LB McDonald/Goddard or Bailey
----LB3 Omopariola/Lesaine or Heard (Possible Rush LB sets)
CB Grant/DeLaine or M. Washington (Ibn will be good enough to get snaps in 4 games but we have a lot of bodies)
Star Barron/Gould
BS Clark/Gould
FS Chestnut/Perry
CB Lewis or Bellamy/Barnes(will play at least 4 games)

Edit: WR-Z & WR-X swapped

 

[kcsu]

The step up of the WRs is huge for OG.. In the past teams were shading him to help coverages. If you have a WR who can make you honor the deep stuff the Safety has to be ready to help that. You cant just put the best guy on OG and help out if there are 1-2 other guys who can make you pay. They will have to cover things more honest. And all of that helps out the running game as well. if Haynes and OG become an issue then they wont have so many in the box to block.

we are going to be a very tough out

 

[money3189]

WR-X OG/Tremble (Will be too good to not get some play)
WR-Z Haynes/Hatcher or Gill Jr/Ross
WR-Slot Pena/Brown (will he be avail?)/Ja'meer Thomas
TE Villari/Mang or Clement
WR4-Justus-Simmons or Meeks/ (When either a traditional slot 40% or traditional TE 35% are not on the field so maybe 75% of snaps)
OT E Cruz/Wohlabaugh
OG Miller/Moeolo
C Reed/Ilaoa
OG Weatherspoon/Bradford or Hornsby
OT S Washington/Petry or Hornsby
QB McCord/CDRW/Michael Johnson Jr.
RB Allen/Willis/Nixon

DE Diggs/Jaquez Jr
DT Wilson Jr/Ingraham
DT Perry/Hastings or Fuentes-Cundiff
DE Jobity/Simmons or Nwokocha
LB Wax/Sparrow
LB McDonald/Goddard or Bailey
LB3 Omopariola/Lesaine or Heard (Possible Rush LB sets)
CB Grant/DeLaine or M. Washington (Ibn will be good enough to get snaps in 4 games but we have a lot of bodies)
Star Barron/Gould
BS Clark/Gould
FS Chestnut/Perry
CB Lewis or Bellamy/Barnes(will play at least 4 games)

Why OG at X? Playing on the outside takes away the things he was good at.

 

[Chip]

A lot will happen throughout the next 2 months. Many ways to gain ground and lose ground. Will be a lot of competiton in camp. No way I can predict a two deep but its fun to talk about it.

I think the competition and physicality in camp will be like nothing that many of these guys have ever seen. I can't wait to see how it plays out.

 

[RF2044]

Every practice I went to Haynes was by far and away the best WR on the field, granted JRS wasn't here yet and Meeks / OG were hurt. Made our D look silly constantly. The visible talent differential between him and everyone else spoke volumes. Him and McCord have a real connection. I really wouldn't be surprised if he was our leading receiver statistically by the end of the season.

Agreed. I think he ends up being the WR1, and a matchup headache for the opposition.

Doesn't mean he'll be the most targeted [OG], but I think his redshirt year at Georgia plus playing here in spring ball to accelerate his readiness for fall camp will have him positioned well by the time the season rolls around. Have a difficult time envisioning him not having a HUGE year.

 

[money3189]

I think the competition and physicality in camp will be like nothing that many of these guys have ever seen. I can't wait to see how it plays out.

good point