Now that the signees are in, I'll throw out a possible 2-deep for when we take the field vs the Badgers: X-R Travin Dural, Avery Peterson, Trey Quinn LT La'el Collins, Evan Washington LG Vadal Alexander, Jonah Austin C Elliott Porter, Ethan Pocic RG Josh Boutte, Garrett Brumfield RT Jerald Hawkins, Evan Washington TE Dillon Gordon, Travis Dickson Z-R Malachi Dupre, Quantavius Leslie QB Anthony Jennings, Brandon Harris or Hayden Rettig TB Terence Magee, Leonard Fournette FB Melvin Jones DE Jamauria Rasco, Tashawn Bower DT Christian LaCourture, Greg Gilmore DT Travonte Valentine, Mickey Johnson DE Danielle Hunter, Deondre Clark Sam Kendell Beckwith, Kwon Alexander Mike D.J. Welter, Clifton Garrett Will Kwon Alexander, Deion Jones CB TreDavious White, Dwayne Thomas CB Rashard Robinson, Ed Paris, Jr SS Jamal Adams, Corey Thompson FS Ronald Martin, Jalen Mills
Talking with Mike Detillier at the Bash, I asked him who he thought would take Turners place at OG, he said Fehoko Fanaika. I said, what about moving Evan Washington in? His eyebrows moved up, never really thought about that one did he. He an I both like Pocic being one of the first off the bench, the kid can play a number of positions, both his Dad and Brother played the center position. This is where his future is. I also told Mike, Grimes likes his OL a little lighter than Fehoko is at this time.
Yeh, I just don't see Fanaika getting any meaningful PT. From what I gather, he got himself in the doghouse by showing up out of shape last fall. A 3-star freshman might recover from that mistake, but not a highly-regarded JUCO transfer. Washington strikes me as more of a true tackle...of course, that's how I saw Vadal before last year too.
I thought Porter was solid and got a lot better as the season wore on. I can't see him get unseated as the starter. Our depth is exceptional on the O-line going into 2014.
On the D-line, I simply don't like the lightness of LaCouture and I think we will gashed up the middle if he plays the majority of the snaps at one of the DT spots. Time for Gilmore to step up. He's got that Michael Brockers kind of build. Same thing with Bain. I'd like to see those two take over that 2 deep spot there. Mickey Johnson may have to be the guy at the big boy spot (NT, essentially). Doubt Valentine can come in that soon and be a force, we can only hope. I expect Hunter and Rasco to become that bookend rush force we have had over the last several seasons. If that happens, then the defense is set for a dominating year. Will be interesting to see where we play Beckwith, my guess is at DE. Chavis likes his OLB's on the lighter side. Beckwith has the physical makeup of a MLB. With Garrett coming in and expected to see early playing time, I think Beckwith finds his home at DE (think Junior Galette who was essentially an OLB that put his hand in the dirt on most plays). The light switch needs to come on for Lamar Louis and he needs to develop in much the same way Kevin Minter did so we can have a dominant presence up the middle of this defense who can run sideline to sideline.
I like Jalen Mills at safety. He looked good at that position against Iowa, he is effective blitzing, reminds me a lil of Brandon Taylor.
Funny that you brought this up, McTiger. I was just doing the same.....I came up with something a little different but I have absolutely 0 insider information so this is just my two pennies based on what I saw toward the end of 2013: QB - Jennings, Rivers, Harris, Rettig, Bolden RB - Magee, Fournette, Hilliard, Williams FB - Neighbors, Jones XR - Dural, Quinn, Peterson ZR - Dupre, Diarse, Leslie, Spears, TE - Gordon, Dickson, Stokes, Smith, Washington LT - Collins, Pocic LG - Alexander, Austin C - Porter, Pocic RG - Boutte, Dodd RT - Hawkins, Washington DT - Thomas, Gilmore DT - LaCouture, Bains DE - Hunter, Bower DE - Rasco, Beckwith OLB - Alexander, Jones MLB - Welter, Garrett OLB - Louis, Feist CB - White, Collins CB - Robinson, Paris, Thomas S- Jefferson, Thompson S - Mills, Adams, Martin
