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Way too early two-deep projection?

Looking into the ol' crystal ball:

Offense:
QB - Penix, Tuttle, McCulley
RB - James/Carr/Baldwin/Ellis (No ranking, pretty wide open going into camp)
WR - Fryfogle, Marshall
WR - Swinton, Hewitt
WR - Matthews, Brown
I think the 2nd string WR is going to be fairly interchangeable among the slots.
TE - Hendershot, Bjorson
T - Jones, Weaver
G - Katic, Benson
C - Carpenter/Powell (I have Powell as starting G, but he could play C too)
G - Powell, Nworah
T - Bedford, Haggard

Defense - I've got no clue on how that's going to shape up after the 1s. And even then, with the rotation they've used the last few years on DL, we could see a lot of guys getting reps there. Overall, I really like how the back 7 looks certainly as far as starters go. I'm interested to see if Robbins or Williams will be able to make a crack at some significant playing time considering they were both big 4* gets a couple years ago.
 
Defense - I've got no clue on how that's going to shape up after the 1s. And even then, with the rotation they've used the last few years on DL, we could see a lot of guys getting reps there. Overall, I really like how the back 7 looks certainly as far as starters go. I'm interested to see if Robbins or Williams will be able to make a crack at some significant playing time considering they were both big 4* gets a couple years ago.
Agree. Should be one of the better coverage teams in the country this coming year. Bringing in Anderson and Hardy will only help and addresses the one hole our defense had last year. This year, interior depth on the DL will be the one thing to keep an eye on. Sio and Elliott are two quality tackles but then gets murky after that. Transfer from NIU will help and suppose Anderson has some size to play inside need be.
 
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Looking into the ol' crystal ball:

Offense:
QB - Penix, Tuttle, McCulley
RB - James/Carr/Baldwin/Ellis (No ranking, pretty wide open going into camp)
WR - Fryfogle, Marshall
WR - Swinton, Hewitt
WR - Matthews, Brown
I think the 2nd string WR is going to be fairly interchangeable among the slots.
TE - Hendershot, Bjorson
T - Jones, Weaver
G - Katic, Benson
C - Carpenter/Powell (I have Powell as starting G, but he could play C too)
G - Powell, Nworah
T - Bedford, Haggard

Defense - I've got no clue on how that's going to shape up after the 1s. And even then, with the rotation they've used the last few years on DL, we could see a lot of guys getting reps there. Overall, I really like how the back 7 looks certainly as far as starters go. I'm interested to see if Robbins or Williams will be able to make a crack at some significant playing time considering they were both big 4* gets a couple years ago.
Thanks. It is a starting point.
I am hoping Marshall has worked hard all off season. Would like to see a lot from him.
 
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Thanks. It is a starting point.
I am hoping Marshall has worked hard all off season. Would like to see a lot from him.
Marshall & Swinton are both going to get a lot of chances this year, if I were a betting man. If I were also a betting man I'd say it's going to be a bit of an embarrassment of riches so to speak that the big 4* WR recruit may not hardly get on the field at all as a true freshman. But, boy, if he does, that means he's overtaken some kids that made some clutch plays last year (I'm looking at you Javon Swinton during the last PSU drive). This is honestly going to be a really stacked WR room.
 
Looking into the ol' crystal ball:

Offense:
QB - Penix, Tuttle, McCulley
RB - James/Carr/Baldwin/Ellis (No ranking, pretty wide open going into camp)
WR - Fryfogle, Marshall
WR - Swinton, Hewitt
WR - Matthews, Brown
I think the 2nd string WR is going to be fairly interchangeable among the slots.
TE - Hendershot, Bjorson
T - Jones, Weaver
G - Katic, Benson
C - Carpenter/Powell (I have Powell as starting G, but he could play C too)
G - Powell, Nworah
T - Bedford, Haggard

Defense - I've got no clue on how that's going to shape up after the 1s. And even then, with the rotation they've used the last few years on DL, we could see a lot of guys getting reps there. Overall, I really like how the back 7 looks certainly as far as starters go. I'm interested to see if Robbins or Williams will be able to make a crack at some significant playing time considering they were both big 4* gets a couple years ago.

Nice list. I'd add that AJ Barner might see at least as much time as Bjorson as 2nd string TE.

I'm really hoping for a breakout year from Brown in the slot position.
 
Marshall & Swinton are both going to get a lot of chances this year, if I were a betting man. If I were also a betting man I'd say it's going to be a bit of an embarrassment of riches so to speak that the big 4* WR recruit may not hardly get on the field at all as a true freshman. But, boy, if he does, that means he's overtaken some kids that made some clutch plays last year (I'm looking at you Javon Swinton during the last PSU drive). This is honestly going to be a really stacked WR room.

I think we are now becoming a program that players of their caliber aren't expecting to necessarily start right away. The good news is we will have a lot of spots in the depth chart opening at WR next season so it will be a great year to get reps and prep for a breakout season next year. Then again, we always have injuries so you never know.
 
TE - Hendershot, Bjorson
T - Jones, Weaver
G - Katic, Benson
C - Carpenter/Powell (I have Powell as starting G, but he could play C too)
G - Powell, Nworah
T - Bedford, Haggard
Generally the same as I was thinking. However, I think Weaver will be a guard and back up Katic. Anyone hear anything about Benson's recovery? I believe his ACL surgery was in the latter half of October.
I'm also hoping that Holtz (lots of praise from CTA and Sheridan) pushes past Nworah (down about 25-30 pounds to a relatively smallish 290) as the other backup guard.
I think Sales could be one true freshman to see some action backing up the other tackle. Still have Rafferty as getting the first shot there, however.
I agree with Mushroomgod re AJ Barner. In fact, I could see him eventually taking away the starter's role from Hendershot, at least as a pass catcher, if Peyton is still having issues with drops.
 
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Generally the same as I was thinking. However, I think Weaver will be a guard and back up Katic.
I honestly think Haggard will be #2 at both tackle spots I was just trying to not repeat names too much, so I just threw Weaver in. Similarly that's how I feel about Marshall/Swinton/Hewitt too to be honest. I think there will be a lot of rotation on the outside.

Is anyone going to take a crack at the 2 deep on defense? That's the really tricky one.
 
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I’ve never seen depth like this on the defensive side. We’ve always had decent skill guys on offense but that defensive side is going to be competitive up to 3 deep in some spots. 4th quarters will no longer be a problem. Bets on our backs will lead the B1G in interceptions? Might even average 2 a game in the 4th quarter.
 
The good news is more than half of the two deep on defense are seniors. That’s also the bad news.
I thought the SAME thing. I know we should be happy to have an upperclassmen heavy lineup. I'm just trusting that CTA has his guys he believes in for the future and we'll just see more 1-2 year starters for 3-4 year starters.
 
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I thought the SAME thing. I know we should be happy to have an upperclassmen heavy lineup. I'm just trusting that CTA has his guys he believes in for the future and we'll just see more 1-2 year starters for 3-4 year starters.

Although that is the case due to this weird COVID year, our roster is also larger this year. We will have a lot of college level experienced depth. They won't have much game experience but they will have battled week in and week out against these veterans. So it will be deceptive to think we are a super young and inexperienced team when really next season will merely be proof of the new ground level foundation CTA has created for this program. I think next year is the year we hit refresh and turnover to new players at key positions, even with guys like McCulley and team (assuming Penix is gone)......Yet I believe we have every reason to still expect a 7 win type of team.
 
I honestly think Haggard will be #2 at both tackle spots I was just trying to not repeat names too much, so I just threw Weaver in. Similarly that's how I feel about Marshall/Swinton/Hewitt too to be honest. I think there will be a lot of rotation on the outside.

Is anyone going to take a crack at the 2 deep on defense? That's the really tricky one.
What about Buckley the transfer from Texas A&M? I would expect to see him gets some reps as well.
 
I’m anxious to see if we can cut down on the silly penalties.
Roughing and taunting type penalties.
Nothing ticks me off more than someone making a good play then taunting the receiver,etc.
It’s all about discipline and playing under control. Be aggressive but know when to walk away.
 
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Although that is the case due to this weird COVID year, our roster is also larger this year. We will have a lot of college level experienced depth. They won't have much game experience but they will have battled week in and week out against these veterans. So it will be deceptive to think we are a super young and inexperienced team when really next season will merely be proof of the new ground level foundation CTA has created for this program. I think next year is the year we hit refresh and turnover to new players at key positions, even with guys like McCulley and team (assuming Penix is gone)......Yet I believe we have every reason to still expect a 7 win type of team.
We won’t actually have any idea how young we will be in ‘22 until we see how many seniors return next year for a bonus year. They’ll all be eligible under COVID rules. Some will take advantage it’s just a question of how many. There’s no way every eligible player will leave with a year left to play. We won’t be as young as people think IMO.
 
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We won’t actually have any idea how young we will be in ‘22 until we see how many seniors return next year for a bonus year. They’ll all be eligible under COVID rules. Some will take advantage it’s just a question of how many. There’s no way every eligible player will leave with a year left to play. We won’t be as young as people think IMO.
Generally the same as I was thinking. However, I think Weaver will be a guard and back up Katic. Anyone hear anything about Benson's recovery? I believe his ACL surgery was in the latter half of October.
I'm also hoping that Holtz (lots of praise from CTA and Sheridan) pushes past Nworah (down about 25-30 pounds to a relatively smallish 290) as the other backup guard.
I think Sales could be one true freshman to see some action backing up the other tackle. Still have Rafferty as getting the first shot there, however.
I agree with Mushroomgod re AJ Barner. In fact, I could see him eventually taking away the starter's role from Hendershot, at least as a pass catcher, if Peyton is still having issues with drops.

Didn’t see Nworah on the recently released two-deep.

I’m a bit concerned about David Ellis; he was underutilized last year IMO. Hope his role expands, and he doesn’t feel buried on the depth chart.
 
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The good news is more than half of the two deep on defense are seniors. That’s also the bad news.
However, if you look closely, you'll see that only four of the defense two deep have a plus mark (+) listed with their names. All other players on the two deep are technically eligible to return in 2022. As iueyedoc99 wrote, we don't know who among them will want to return AND the staff will want to keep.
 

The pre-season depth chart is out, for comparison to our earlier projections.
One question ahead of this season has concerned the positions of Carpenter and Powell: who would play center and who would play guard. If indeed Carpenter is the starting center, I think this suggests two things:
  1. There is less chance that Powell comes back for a seventh year of college football in 2022, unless he does so to finish up his MBA. I think the staff will be wanting to get some of the younger guards (Weaver, Holtz) a lot more experience for future seasons.
  2. Cameron Knight will probably remain a backup center for most of his career. He doesn't have the size to beat out guards Katic, Weaver, Holtz . . . and later Moore.
The OL seems to be developing depth VERY nicely for years to come. Sales and Benson seem to be the tackles-in-waiting. At the end of June, Coach Wright tweeted that Benson is going to be "big-time." Coach DMC, whose opinion I trust absolutely regarding linemen, tweeted his reply as one word and four exclamation points: "Agreed!!!!"
 
One question ahead of this season has concerned the positions of Carpenter and Powell: who would play center and who would play guard. If indeed Carpenter is the starting center, I think this suggests two things:
  1. There is less chance that Powell comes back for a seventh year of college football in 2022, unless he does so to finish up his MBA. I think the staff will be wanting to get some of the younger guards (Weaver, Holtz) a lot more experience for future seasons.
  2. Cameron Knight will probably remain a backup center for most of his career. He doesn't have the size to beat out guards Katic, Weaver, Holtz . . . and later Moore.
The OL seems to be developing depth VERY nicely for years to come. Sales and Benson seem to be the tackles-in-waiting. At the end of June, Coach Wright tweeted that Benson is going to be "big-time." Coach DMC, whose opinion I trust absolutely regarding linemen, tweeted his reply as one word and four exclamation points: "Agreed!!!!"
Agree about the OL depth trend. It would be really nice to see some of the younger guys develop into a road grader type guard that can open up big holes like a Dan Feeney
 
Nworah is no longer with the team.Do you have any insight? Thought he was excited to come back for an extra year? (But also wasn’t sure he was going to crack line up either.). Did he transfer or decide to graduate and move on?
 
Not sure. Just saw a few weeks ago that he was no longer on the roster.
 
It’s the post-spring practice depth chart. Lots of moving parts, especially amongst the 2’s and 3’s is likely. The true frosh and some of the transfers will be stating their cases in August practices, vying for PT, if not early, then as the season wears on.
 
According to Nworah's LinkedIN profile, in June he joined the NAHSE / National Association of Health Service Executives in Baltimore, Maryland... The NAHSE is a non-profit association of black health care professionals with the purpose of promoting the advancement and development of Black health care leaders. Mackenzie's major was Exercise Science and he will earn his Masters in December... his desire is to get into health care administration and project management in health care IT, so I will assume he realized it was time to take advantage of a great opportunity so he could pursue his real dream. BTW, his LInkedIN profile is very impressive especially considering he just finished college. He was very active in programs that supported his major and life goals.... I'm glad for him...
 
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According to Nworah's LinkedIN profile, in June he joined the NAHSE / National Association of Health Service Executives in Baltimore, Maryland... The NAHSE is a non-profit association of black health care professionals with the purpose of promoting the advancement and development of Black health care leaders. Mackenzie's major was Exercise Science and he will earn his Masters in December... his desire is to get into health care administration and project management in health care IT, so I will assume he realized it was time to take advantage of a great opportunity so he could pursue his real dream. BTW, his LInkedIN profile is very impressive especially considering he just finished college. He was very active in programs that supported his major and life goals.... I'm glad for him...
If not playing on Sundays and not slated to for sure start, and he had a legit good career starting offer? I’d say he made the right call and wish him nothing but success ahead.
 
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