Hey guys. Ill take a stab at this for my first post here.
QB: Tajh is very good. Big arm great accuracy. He has a tendency to not trust a receiver whop has early drops and not even look back to them. He can be rattled...but not by hitting him. He gets rattled by making mistakes and in the past has spiraled down. HBackups are above average/very good in fact Id say Stoudt and Kelly would start for roughly half the ACC teams.
RB: McDowell (25)was knicked up last week. Hes a warrior but a fifth year senior starting for the first time. Theres a reason for that. Behind him Zac Brooks ois young (true soph) and has shown flashes..still putting it together. DJ Howard (22) doesnt have the elite speed needed and is a streaky player. Two years ago he got in a groove against Auburn and literally drug their team play after play down the field. At times though he disappears.
TE Tons of talent very young. No complete player here. Closest is Sam Cooper (86) but he tore his ACL in our spring game and YES tore his ACL and is playing 16 weeks later. So he is still recovering. Behind him is Seckinger (81) receiver turned TE...lacks ideal TE size good hands needs to improve blocking. Darrel Smith (40) will play a hybrid FB and TE roll he is a mauler. He will fight you. He is not big, not fast...just a gritty old school football player. He is the best blocking option at TE but not much else.
OL - LT is solid Brandon Thomas starts there currently, but everyone is waiting on Isiah Battle to come on and relegate BT somewhere else. Thomas will play Guard in the NFL next year likely a 3rd -4th round pick. He play OT in college out of position out of necessity. Battle has prototypical NFL Lt size, speed and strength...he just hasnt put it together yet
LG- Kalon Davis and David Beasley both play here. Both are good college starters nothing more. Flashes at times and struggles at others.
C Norton has been serviceable all year. Very talented but very Young. (True Soph). Very dependable with his snaps but at times can be out manned. That said he held up very well against Whitlock from WF last week (who has been very successful in his career at wreacking havoc) despite batlling the flu
RG - Tyler Shatley is a stud. Spent 3 years as a DT before switching to OG last year out of necessity. Old fashioned bruiser. Strongest player on the team. Will play on Sundays next year. No depth behind him to speak of...the one not playing at LG usually slides over if he needs a breather.
RT- Here is our biggest weakness (IMO). Giff Timothy has beeen the incumbent. Started all last year. Affectionately called Whif Timothy by many. Shaq Anthony is a talented RS Freshman who has played a bunch. He came from a HS that ran Air Raid(where he was an LT)...as a result he is very advanced in his pass blocking but his run blocking is still developing. The best Player here is Brandon Thomas...but Battle has to take care of business for that to happen
DEFENSE
DE - Vic Beasley is top 5 in the nation in sacks and TFL. He is undersized at 240lbs. But very very strong and plays much stronger. 93 Corey Crawford is very steady on the strong side. He has been a bit of a disappointment as GREAT things were expected but he has only been very good and dependable. Not many busts but few wow plays either. Shaq Lawson backs both up and while a true freshmand is very very very good. He will likely supplant one of the two next year.
DT - Really an embarrassment of riches here after it being a weakness just a few years ago. Carlos Watkins will not play as he is still recovering from a car crash 2 weeks ago where he was bruised up and one of his best friends was killed. (FYI no alcohol involved just a wet unfamiliar country road and a bad curve) (50) Grady Jarret is the son of Jesse Tuggle and nephew of Ray Lewis and while only 5'11" is a bowling ball inside. Williams, Watson, are good starters. Dependable and at times brilliant fewer but still occasional busts. Reader is a true Soph and will be very good in time. He is a 315lb DT who also pitched for the baseball team. Very athletic but needs to get his weight under control
LB - Again 3 years ago this was the weakness of team, total overhaul here. 33 Shuey is a gritty hard hitting seldom out of position slightly slow white LB. 42 Anthony is a middle LB who is very athletic and was a former 5* #1 LB out of HS...he iss just now really showing the flash as a Junior. At SLB is (34) Quandon Christian..he is much maligned by tiger fans but has plaayed better as a RS Senior finally. There is depth in former 5* Tony Steward who is coming along after 2 ACL tears in 3 years. True Freshamn Ben Boulware (10) gets some PT...very much like the descrip of Shuey above. White linebacker. Poor Man's Brian Urlacher..loves to hit and is fun to watch on kick cover teams as he drills someone every play.
CB- 4 return from last years crappy secondary and they are improving but still very susceptible. BIG Weakness here
S- Lots of bodies. Many of them freshman. Lots of promise. Litttle Results. Another WEAKNESS.
Cant wait...Hope its quiet as church though around 4pm tomorrow
