Looking to next year
Obviously, way too early for this kind of discussion, but it's what we do on fan message boards.....obsess about things far into the future.
We could look very, very different on D next year - and not in a good way. I think we will be in good shape when we have the ball.
Defense
GONE: Tillery, Bonner, Tranquill, Coney - those are some very big shoes to fill. The two D line spots could be filled by some combo of Jayson Ademilola, Kurt Hinish and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa. Jordan Genmark Heath and Bo Baeur could be our LBs. Look for Shayne Simon to get some reps, too. Maybe some others will emerge. Regardless, we will have growing pains replacing these guys.
LIKELY GONE: Love - I suppose he could come back, but you have to think he'll get some good draft feedback. Really hope Shaun Crawford can come back strong next year.
MAYBE GONE: Okwara, Kareem - I tend to think both will be back, and they would both benefit by coming back, but they could be tempted.
Offense
GONE: Mustipher, Bars, Williams - obviously we've already replaced Bars with Aaron Banks, but finding a new center of Mustipher's ability and leadership ain't happening. Who will emerge as our RB home run hitter to replace Dex?
LIKELY GONE: NA
MAYBE GONE: Boykin, Claypool, Finke - i think only Boykin, of these three, would be a likely draft pick. It will depend on how each scores in their draft evaluations. I lean toward all of them coming back.
Book with another year, and our relatively young O-Line with some more seasoning, plus our depth at WR, and I think we're going to be scoring more points next year. Unfortunately, I think we'll need to. Overall, we'll be very good, a pre-season Top Ten team.
Just one moron's opinion.
Edit: Updated based on inputs.....
Replies to: Looking to next year
I'm keeping an eye on the hospital births..weight, size, reaction time, spit up speed..etc.
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Yet this year we lost 2 top 10 Olinemen, a 1300 yard running back, a 4th round pick at tight end,
and our two leading receivers and our offense evolved and is still pretty effective. I think the staff has done a great job of recruiting depth and the defense should evolve next year, too.
We may not get top 5 recruiting classes very often but the staff has been doing a good job recruiting to the team’ needs.
Williams is out of eligibility
But I think running back should be OK.
Assuming Wimbush decides to move on we better hope Book stays healthy. Would have liked to see Jurko get more reps to see what he can do but I suppose he will win the back up job over Davis, but who knows.
Even losing Mustipher, overall the OL should be improved with a year of experience (assuming the coaching is up to the task).
No reason to think Finke won’t be back. The receiving corps should be OK if a couple of the young guys step up, but more speed would be nice. I don’t see much change at TE losing Weishar but Kmet gaining a year of experience. I assume Mack will be back and hope he can finally live up to his potential.
Linebacker will be interesting. I’m a bit surprised Lamb has not seen any action. Maybe we will see the same kind of improvement from Bauer and Bilal that we saw from Coney. Maybe they will be lucky and get something out of Crawford but his injury history gives pause.
Don’t forget they have to replace Yoon and Newsome who have both been pretty solid.
Dexter is out of eligibility, not that it matters
as you said, he'd likely be gone anyway..
problem for Okwara and Kareem is that this is a very deep DL draft. Staying another year actually
pays for itself. Biggest worry next year is LB. There wasn't much playing time for subs this year, which leads me to believe there isn't much depth.
15-yard penalty for looking beyond the next game...
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MTA's return will help along the DL.
And I think some of the guys you fear will be gone might be back. Boykin. Okwara.
Will Claypool come back?
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It would be in his best interests
Assuming Boykin leaves, this gives Claypool a golden opportunity to be featured as a #1 WR, catching passes from one of the most accurate QB's we've ever had.
He could easily have a 1000 yard season, and with Kevin Austin stepping up, we could have a 1-2 combination at WR that we haven't seen since Tate and Floyd.
If Claypool left after this year, he could probably be a later round pick with a good NFL Combine showing, but it's really a no-brainer for him to stay.
Yup, forgot about him
Looks like he may be back for our bowl game(s), so great news.
Looking forward to Myron sacking his cousin a time or two in the NC game.
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