Analysis of 2014 Projected Starters

[StallionsModelT]

QB Neal Burcham (SO)
RB K.C. Nmelchi (JR)
WR Der'rikk Thompson (SR)
WR Darius Joseph (JR)
WR Nathan Halverson (SO)
WR Jeremiah Gaines (SO)
LT Seaver Myers (SO)
LG Chauncey Briggs (SO)
C Taylor Lasecki (JR)
RG Daniel McCarty (SO)
RT Kris Weeks (JR)

DE Beau Barnes (SR)
NG Darrian Wright (SR)
DE Zach Wood (JR)
LB Stephon Sanders (SR)
LB Kevin Pope (SR)
LB Nick Horton (FR)
LB Jonathan Yenga (JR)
CB J.R. Richardson (JR)
CB Horace Richardson (SO)
FS Darrion Richardson (SO)
SS Hayden Greenbauer (SR)

I'm sure I'm wrong on a couple of predictiosn (maybe Prime Time Jr starts instead of Halverson). I read that the staff was tinkering with moving Briggs inside. Seaver Myers was highly touted of of high school so it would be nice to see him reach his potential and contribute next year.

First blush impressions of the offense - We are gonna be young and light on playmakers. Darius Joseph is a nice chain mover but we lose our most reliable deep threat in Holman and our most sure-handed receiver in Jeremy Johnson. I like the idea of the physical presence of Jeremiah Gaines but does he have the speed to play on the outside? Seems to me he'd be better utilized playing an H back or TE type of role offensively. Sadly, despite having like 20 guys on scholarship to play receiver we really don't four guys that I feel confident running out there and producing at a high level (especially with a soph. QB). On the OL we are young and inexperienced as well. We are probably going to start at least three underclassmen and the two deep will be littered with more. Lasecki is a future NFL caliber center and Weeks has pretty good athleticism at tackle. Burcham is a total mystery. I throw out anything that happened last year. Kid was put in a tough position. It does sound like its his job to lose though. K.C. should be the starting RB with a mixture of the stud freshman Gresham. Move Prescott Line to inside linebacker please.

Defensively we are actually pretty decent on the line. Barnes, Wright, and Wood have all played significant roles for a couple years now. At linebacker (assuming Stephon Sanders is back at 100% and Pope is granted his medical redshirt) we have a nice mixture of experience and athleticism. Yenga is a real talent and has a nose for the football. Sure would be nice if we could add Mike Mitchell to this mix. Nick Horton is gonna be my pick for freshman that stands out and makes a name for himself next season. On the backend....yikes. We lose 3 starters and our lone returning starter is coming back off a nasty injury. Greenbauer, if healthy, is one of the better safeties in the AAC. JR Richardson was highly recruited but the ACL injury is always a concern. I think it'll be a real battle b/w Horace Richardson and Ajee Montes for the other starting corner position. At free safety Darrion Richardson flashed a bit as a true freshman. We are probably gonna start 3 more underclassmen in the secondary as well.

As a whole, I think this is the year where our lack of depth and poor recruiting really exposes us as the season progresses. I think there are several nice players but we are going to be young on the offensive line, young at QB, and inexperienced at WR. Defensively while we look fairly solid in the front 7, our secondary is gonna be tested early and often all year. I would compare this roster, talent-wise, maybe a notch below last year. Gilbert was so good for us that he covered a lot of our warts. Without him I think we struggle to average 20 ppg.

Prediction: 4-8

[mrydel]

I think they have said Pope will be at RB.

[Big12Mustang]

QB Neal Burcham (SO)
RB K.C. Nmelchi (JR)
WR Der'rikk Thompson (SR)
WR Darius Joseph (JR)
WR Nathan Halverson (SO)
WR Jeremiah Gaines (SO)
LT Seaver Myers (SO)
LG Chauncey Briggs (SO)
C Taylor Lasecki (JR)
RG Daniel McCarty (SO)
RT Kris Weeks (JR)

DE Beau Barnes (SR)
NG Darrian Wright (SR)
DE Zach Wood (JR)
LB Stephon Sanders (SR)
LB Kevin Pope (SR)
LB Nick Horton (FR)
LB Jonathan Yenga (JR)
CB J.R. Richardson (JR)
CB Horace Richardson (SO)
FS Darrion Richardson (SO)
SS Hayden Greenbauer (SR)

I'm sure I'm wrong on a couple of predictiosn (maybe Prime Time Jr starts instead of Halverson). I read that the staff was tinkering with moving Briggs inside. Seaver Myers was highly touted of of high school so it would be nice to see him reach his potential and contribute next year.

First blush impressions of the offense - We are gonna be young and light on playmakers. Darius Joseph is a nice chain mover but we lose our most reliable deep threat in Holman and our most sure-handed receiver in Jeremy Johnson. I like the idea of the physical presence of Jeremiah Gaines but does he have the speed to play on the outside? Seems to me he'd be better utilized playing an H back or TE type of role offensively. Sadly, despite having like 20 guys on scholarship to play receiver we really don't four guys that I feel confident running out there and producing at a high level (especially with a soph. QB). On the OL we are young and inexperienced as well. We are probably going to start at least three underclassmen and the two deep will be littered with more. Lasecki is a future NFL caliber center and Weeks has pretty good athleticism at tackle. Burcham is a total mystery. I throw out anything that happened last year. Kid was put in a tough position. It does sound like its his job to lose though. K.C. should be the starting RB with a mixture of the stud freshman Gresham. Move Prescott Line to inside linebacker please.

Defensively we are actually pretty decent on the line. Barnes, Wright, and Wood have all played significant roles for a couple years now. At linebacker (assuming Stephon Sanders is back at 100% and Pope is granted his medical redshirt) we have a nice mixture of experience and athleticism. Yenga is a real talent and has a nose for the football. Sure would be nice if we could add Mike Mitchell to this mix. Nick Horton is gonna be my pick for freshman that stands out and makes a name for himself next season. On the backend....yikes. We lose 3 starters and our lone returning starter is coming back off a nasty injury. Greenbauer, if healthy, is one of the better safeties in the AAC. JR Richardson was highly recruited but the ACL injury is always a concern. I think it'll be a real battle b/w Horace Richardson and Ajee Montes for the other starting corner position. At free safety Darrion Richardson flashed a bit as a true freshman. We are probably gonna start 3 more underclassmen in the secondary as well.

As a whole, I think this is the year where our lack of depth and poor recruiting really exposes us as the season progresses. I think there are several nice players but we are going to be young on the offensive line, young at QB, and inexperienced at WR. Defensively while we look fairly solid in the front 7, our secondary is gonna be tested early and often all year. I would compare this roster, talent-wise, maybe a notch below last year. Gilbert was so good for us that he covered a lot of our warts. Without him I think we struggle to average 20 ppg.

Prediction: 8-4

FIFY

[StallionsModelT]

Snowball's chance in hell.

[Junior]

I think they have said Pope will be at RB.

that's what i have heard as well.

[ponyte]

Do we have a punter that can boom it out past 17 yards next year?

[alamocitystang]

Love not having expectations. I think the defense will be much improved over last year. Gresham has the potential to make a huge difference. Joseph had a great year last year. Gaines has playmaker potential. Big question mark is whether Burcham can play or not. Wouldn't mind burning red shirts if Colbert or the Westlake guy can come in and do well. I find it interesting that most of the starters come from June's best class (#49 on scout). I was excited about Burcham when he committed. Still have some hope, but would love to have a duel threat QB like Colbert who knows how to win. Seems to be a good complement to the run and raid. The offense can be executed well without great play from the oline. Getting the ball away quickly is a hallmark so you should need half the time that a more traditional offense needs. My biggest concerns are QB play and defense. I think there is talent on D but wonder if they can come together. The secondary seems more athletic, but no one is a known quantity. Sounds like they've developed some confidence and swagger in spring ball. On offense, I am afraid we have little to no deep threat without tearing off a redshirt. No speed guys as starters. Jordan Ingram could potentially fill this void. This goes back to can Neal throw. And I guess, more importantly, is he a gamer? We lost the nation's best practice QB. Sounds like Neal could be the worst. What I saw in the ice bowl and the last drive in the first half vs Houston were encouraging from a skills standpoint. Consistency is always the question. This team could thrive with an apathetic fan base and a lack of expectations. I think we win 6+. The talent level trumps a 4 win season but causes us to just miss a big 8+ win year.

Games I think we should win:
USF, UConn, UNT, Tulsa, Memphis

Games I think we could win:
UH, ECU, Baylor, TCU, Cincy

Games We should lose:
UCF, A&M

The formula is simple. Have to win all 5 of the shoulda and get one of the "could" wins and off to Miami we go!

[Stallion]

too simple-we'll lose a game we should win-always do

[malonish]

Do we have a punter that can boom it out past 17 yards next year?

Me. I've played too much flag football in corporate leagues so I will only have one season of eligibility.

[Big12Mustang]

Love not having expectations. I think the defense will be much improved over last year. Gresham has the potential to make a huge difference. Joseph had a great year last year. Gaines has playmaker potential. Big question mark is whether Burcham can play or not. Wouldn't mind burning red shirts if Colbert or the Westlake guy can come in and do well. I find it interesting that most of the starters come from June's best class (#49 on scout). I was excited about Burcham when he committed. Still have some hope, but would love to have a duel threat QB like Colbert who knows how to win. Seems to be a good complement to the run and raid. The offense can be executed well without great play from the oline. Getting the ball away quickly is a hallmark so you should need half the time that a more traditional offense needs. My biggest concerns are QB play and defense. I think there is talent on D but wonder if they can come together. The secondary seems more athletic, but no one is a known quantity. Sounds like they've developed some confidence and swagger in spring ball. On offense, I am afraid we have little to no deep threat without tearing off a redshirt. No speed guys as starters. Jordan Ingram could potentially fill this void. This goes back to can Neal throw. And I guess, more importantly, is he a gamer? We lost the nation's best practice QB. Sounds like Neal could be the worst. What I saw in the ice bowl and the last drive in the first half vs Houston were encouraging from a skills standpoint. Consistency is always the question. This team could thrive with an apathetic fan base and a lack of expectations. I think we win 6+. The talent level trumps a 4 win season but causes us to just miss a big 8+ win year.

Games I think we should win:
USF, UConn, UNT, Tulsa, Memphis

Games I think we could win:
UH, ECU, Baylor, TCU, Cincy

Games We could lose:
UCF, A&M

The formula is simple. Have to win all 5 of the shoulda and get one of the "could" wins and off to Miami we go!

FIFY

[malonish]

FIFY

I don't agree. Could lose = (could win or should win). Those are neither.

[East Coast Mustang]

If ya'll think we can beat Baylor you're out of your [deleted] mind. I'll be happy if we keep that one within 3 TDs

[Big12Mustang]

If ya'll think we can beat Baylor you're out of your [deleted] mind. I'll be happy if we keep that one within 3 TDs

If history is any indicator...last time we played BU we lost by 35 points = 5 TDs

[StallionsModelT]

The atmosphere at Baylor for the first game of their new stadium will be beyond crazy. They will do whatever they can to hang 60 on us.

[Smu97186]

Looking at our offense, we are gonna be stacked next season there, only losing one senior. If burcham develops we could see an incredible offense in 2015