Wanted to start a thread on where things stand positionally heading into camp, one that we can all use to update as camp moves along and many of us have a chance to see workouts in person. This is my opinion, please do not take it as gospel and feel free to add your own color, comments or disagreement with anything I throw out there. Sorry in advance for the length of this post.
QB - 6 on the roster with English, Mancuso, Walker, Chenault, Hughes and Rolfe. Hughes was a walk on last season, Rolfe is one this season. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the battle for the starting role seems to be between Mancuso and English, though it would not surprise me to see Walker get inserted if he happens to light it up during one of the 4 games he can play in while retaining his redshirt. It will be interesting to see who is taking the first team reps when camp opens next week. English proved to be inaccurate at times with his throwing during conditioning and workouts, while Mancuso has shown some improvement and Walker has a nice arm. Satterfield has taken over as passing game coordinator, and it will be interesting to see what schemes he and Durden pull out this season and who will excel within those schemes and concepts. KJ couldn't make a read to save his life last year and would run as soon as he saw his first read wasn't open - when he could see over the line. Mancuso had that problem at times last year, while Chenault showed the most poise in the pocket.
RB - 6 on the roster with Howard, Goodall, Dykes, Campbell and two walk ons, Smith and Huhn. When X went out last season, Howard and Dykes were able to do some really good things in their four games each, and should do even better with more playing time and repetition. It will be interesting to see if X can stay healthy this season and live up to the expectations. One of our problems at RB is that all three of these young men are built the same way and are not everyday between the tackles kind of runners. We don't have a bowling ball like Gordon on the roster this year that can run over people. If the staff was smart, they'd line up some of the TEs or even LBs (Dressler was a beast in HS) in the FB position to free up the RBs between the tackles, or to take snaps and pick up any short term gains needed to move the chains. It will likely be RB by committee this year, and let's hope they all stay healthy, especially X. Cameron Cloud was an athlete pickup who is listed as a WR but could see some time at RB as well.
WR - 13 on the roster. Only 4 returning WRs that saw playing time last season in J Brown, Jasper, Maffe and I Brown. JB was injured for a good portion of the season, Jasper and Brown were limited to 4 games, and Maffe was starting towards the end of the season. Fortunately Fuller and Fessler came on board, Devon Perry moved from DB to WR and Cameron Cloud came in with the last class. Unfortunately Castellano will be out all season with an ACL injury. Three walk ons - Simpson, McDonough and Jacque - are also on the roster. Powell will likely be a TE when camp starts. We had the best receiving corp in the CAA, and perhaps in FCS, last season and failed to take advantage of the size and speed that is now no longer with us. Gone are a great core group of Cortrelle, Brissett, Drake, Bevels and Wilkins. Satterfield seems to have a good relationship and rhythm as a new coach, and again will be the passing game coordinator this season. I'd look for position by committee here with 7 potential starters in rotation and Cloud getting time during his 4 games. While we do not have a 4.4 guy in Cortrelle any longer, Fuller has some wheels. Fessler, Maffe and Jasper are all 6'3 or taller, and several others are 6'1 or 6'2, so there will still be several big targets on the field. Look for a lot less 11 and 12 personnel sets and more 4 receiver sets, and more tunnel screens and outs and less long balls.
TE - 4 on the roster, until Powell moves into that role. Only 1 returner in Tsangeos, 1 in the 2019 class (Close) and two walk ons. Not a lot of experience here, and will be interesting to see how the TEs are used in the offense. I do not believe any of these guys are blocking, hands in the dirt TEs but hopefully I am wrong. With a new position coach in Richardson dedicated to the TEs, hopefully they can be coached up and integral to the success of the offense moving forward. This is the shakiest position group on offense, in my opinion, because there are no Hudson, Jacob, Geraghty types on the roster that could do the blocking and catching.
OL - 13 HEALTHY OL currently on the roster, including returning starters in McConnell, Coleman, Settepani and Sumpter. More, Singleton, Seekford and Snavely all got playing time last year, and several members of the 2019 class in Coll, Lamp, Salyers and Elia will all get their time this year for sure. Also have a walk on from FL in Messmacher. If the line stays healthy this year and we are not forced to move people like Jacob to the line because of injuries, this group could be the biggest asset to the offense this year. All the returners are solid and will hopefully allow the freshmen to maintain their red shirts while getting their 4 games in and turning into solid OL over this season and heavy contributors next when a few of the young men graduate. I am really looking forward to watching this group this season.
ST - Griffin Trau gone. Duncan Trau, Breckenridge and walk on Jake Larsen will be battling for XP duties, Will be interesting to see what happens with these guys pushing each other. Not sure if we will be good outside of 40 yards, and hopefully we won't have to worry about it because we will be getting 6 each drive. Had a few criticall misses on FG and XP last season, need to make sure those don't happen this season.
QB - 6 on the roster with English, Mancuso, Walker, Chenault, Hughes and Rolfe. Hughes was a walk on last season, Rolfe is one this season. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the battle for the starting role seems to be between Mancuso and English, though it would not surprise me to see Walker get inserted if he happens to light it up during one of the 4 games he can play in while retaining his redshirt. It will be interesting to see who is taking the first team reps when camp opens next week. English proved to be inaccurate at times with his throwing during conditioning and workouts, while Mancuso has shown some improvement and Walker has a nice arm. Satterfield has taken over as passing game coordinator, and it will be interesting to see what schemes he and Durden pull out this season and who will excel within those schemes and concepts. KJ couldn't make a read to save his life last year and would run as soon as he saw his first read wasn't open - when he could see over the line. Mancuso had that problem at times last year, while Chenault showed the most poise in the pocket.
RB - 6 on the roster with Howard, Goodall, Dykes, Campbell and two walk ons, Smith and Huhn. When X went out last season, Howard and Dykes were able to do some really good things in their four games each, and should do even better with more playing time and repetition. It will be interesting to see if X can stay healthy this season and live up to the expectations. One of our problems at RB is that all three of these young men are built the same way and are not everyday between the tackles kind of runners. We don't have a bowling ball like Gordon on the roster this year that can run over people. If the staff was smart, they'd line up some of the TEs or even LBs (Dressler was a beast in HS) in the FB position to free up the RBs between the tackles, or to take snaps and pick up any short term gains needed to move the chains. It will likely be RB by committee this year, and let's hope they all stay healthy, especially X. Cameron Cloud was an athlete pickup who is listed as a WR but could see some time at RB as well.
WR - 13 on the roster. Only 4 returning WRs that saw playing time last season in J Brown, Jasper, Maffe and I Brown. JB was injured for a good portion of the season, Jasper and Brown were limited to 4 games, and Maffe was starting towards the end of the season. Fortunately Fuller and Fessler came on board, Devon Perry moved from DB to WR and Cameron Cloud came in with the last class. Unfortunately Castellano will be out all season with an ACL injury. Three walk ons - Simpson, McDonough and Jacque - are also on the roster. Powell will likely be a TE when camp starts. We had the best receiving corp in the CAA, and perhaps in FCS, last season and failed to take advantage of the size and speed that is now no longer with us. Gone are a great core group of Cortrelle, Brissett, Drake, Bevels and Wilkins. Satterfield seems to have a good relationship and rhythm as a new coach, and again will be the passing game coordinator this season. I'd look for position by committee here with 7 potential starters in rotation and Cloud getting time during his 4 games. While we do not have a 4.4 guy in Cortrelle any longer, Fuller has some wheels. Fessler, Maffe and Jasper are all 6'3 or taller, and several others are 6'1 or 6'2, so there will still be several big targets on the field. Look for a lot less 11 and 12 personnel sets and more 4 receiver sets, and more tunnel screens and outs and less long balls.
TE - 4 on the roster, until Powell moves into that role. Only 1 returner in Tsangeos, 1 in the 2019 class (Close) and two walk ons. Not a lot of experience here, and will be interesting to see how the TEs are used in the offense. I do not believe any of these guys are blocking, hands in the dirt TEs but hopefully I am wrong. With a new position coach in Richardson dedicated to the TEs, hopefully they can be coached up and integral to the success of the offense moving forward. This is the shakiest position group on offense, in my opinion, because there are no Hudson, Jacob, Geraghty types on the roster that could do the blocking and catching.
OL - 13 HEALTHY OL currently on the roster, including returning starters in McConnell, Coleman, Settepani and Sumpter. More, Singleton, Seekford and Snavely all got playing time last year, and several members of the 2019 class in Coll, Lamp, Salyers and Elia will all get their time this year for sure. Also have a walk on from FL in Messmacher. If the line stays healthy this year and we are not forced to move people like Jacob to the line because of injuries, this group could be the biggest asset to the offense this year. All the returners are solid and will hopefully allow the freshmen to maintain their red shirts while getting their 4 games in and turning into solid OL over this season and heavy contributors next when a few of the young men graduate. I am really looking forward to watching this group this season.
ST - Griffin Trau gone. Duncan Trau, Breckenridge and walk on Jake Larsen will be battling for XP duties, Will be interesting to see what happens with these guys pushing each other. Not sure if we will be good outside of 40 yards, and hopefully we won't have to worry about it because we will be getting 6 each drive. Had a few criticall misses on FG and XP last season, need to make sure those don't happen this season.
