2017 Starters on both sides of the ball

[East Coast Mustang]

Take your guess...here's mine:

QB- Peavey
RB- X. Jones
WR- Sutton
WR- Proche
WR- Quinn
TE- Epps
LT- Pursley
LG- K. Smith
C- Brown
RG- Saena
RT- Wilds


DE- Lawler
DT- Gentry
DT- Biggurs
DE- Gary
LB- Rhone
LB- Ward
Star- K. Mitchell
CB- Wyatt
S- Clemons
S- Onu
CB- C. Davis

Offensively, we are stacked at the skill positions. I know Hicks has experience, but Peavey had all last year in the system and is more talented, athletic, and a better fit for Chad's scheme, which is why I give him the edge. RB is a toss-up for me, I think all three of Jones/West/Ke'mon will get touches and we will be able to wear defenses down. At WR we have a probable first round pick, a four-star transfer who's started games in the SEC, and Proche who had over 700 receiving yards last year. And we're deep there too- I think Benson will have a breakout RS Fr year, and then you've got Honey, Kevin Thomas, Shelmire, Shelby Walker. No idea about TE- if Epps can block and catch a few passes he'll be more than serviceable there. Up front, I'm hoping Pursely can return to his 2015 form at LT, otherwise I'd give Natour the nod there again. I don't think we'll be able to keep Kadarius off the field, we almost burned his RS last year, he's too talented and athletic. Brown is a solid, solid center and Saena is more than serviceable at RG. At RT I've heard good things about Wilds this spring but I could also see Natour, Webb, or Todora there. It will be nice to have a semblance of quality depth along the OL for the first time in a long time.

Defensively... [deleted]. Lawler and Gary are solid, and Gary gives us versatility in that he can slide inside on passing downs and allow guys like Badejo and the JUCO DE to come off the edge. No idea about the DTs, it would sure be nice if the RS Freshmen Jones and McLaurin can provide some depth there. I still have nightmares from the Navy game.

The LB position frightens me too. If Ward and Spears could up their game and be big contributors this year that would be huge. not sure what to expect from Carmouche since he played RB last year and is out for the spring.

In the secondary, we're really going to miss Horace and Millines -- hope the youngsters can grow up fast there. We're going to have to outscore a lot of teams in order to win this year, but I'd set the over/under on wins at 7.5. I wouldn't be surprised by 9-3 and I wouldn't be surprised by 6-6. I think our offense is going to be really, really good this year.

[JasonB]

QB- Peavey
RB- X. Jones
WR- Sutton
WR- Proche
WR- Quinn
TE- Becker
LT- K Smith
LG- Natour
C- Brown
RG- Saena
RT- Pursley

DE- Lawler
DT- Gentry
DT- Gary
DE- Badejo
LB- Rhone
LB- Ward
Star- J. Williams
CB- Wyatt
S- Clemons
S- McQueen
CB- Sutton

[ojaipony]

QB- Gillens (yes, I think he's just that good)
RB- X. Jones/Freeman/Thomas/West (doesn't really matter, they are all good and will get plenty o reps)
WR- Sutton
WR- Proche
WR- Quinn
TE- Epps
LT- K Smith
LG- Natour
C- Brown
RG- Saena
RT- Pursley

Will see lots of rotation on Dline (I hope we get 3 deep) and I hope Spears and Carmouche can be studs at LB with Ward/Mitchell/Williams/Rhone giving quality minutes. Same with secondary - I hope C. Davis, Clark, Clemons, McQueen, etc can provide quality rotation/depth . . .

DE- Lawler
DT- Gentry
DT- Gary
DE- Badejo?
LB- Spears
LB- Rhone
Star-McQueen
CB- Wyatt
S- Onu
S- Clemons
CB- Sutton

[malonish]

How realistic is it for Gillins to beat Peavey and Hicks given that he isn't in full practice mode yet?

[mrydel]

And our returning 1,000 yard rusher not in the top 3 RBs?

[Digetydog]

QB- Peavey
RB- X. Jones
WR- Sutton
WR- Proche
WR- Quinn
TE- Becker
LT- K Smith
LG- Natour
C- Brown
RG- Saena
RT- Pursley

DE- Lawler
DT- Gentry
DT- Gary
DE- Badejo
LB- Rhone
LB- Ward
Star- J. Williams
CB- Wyatt
S- Clemons
S- McQueen
CB- Sutton

I think you pretty much nailed it.

[2018Mustang]

In my opinion, Aphonso Thomas is our best RB and I would love to see him get a big load of carries in the fall. However, it is hard to put out a RS freshman when you have Jones (who set the record for most rushing touchdowns by a freshman and was also 2nd on the team in catches that year), West (who was a 1000 yard rusher last year and is an upperclassman), and Freeman (who played last year and is a physical specimen with a huge ceiling)

[Stallion]

problems problems problems

I truly believe we have 4 RBs that have the potential to be 1,000 yards rushers if they were the designated back-3 without question could do it in 2017 if each were the primary starter

[Fresno Mustang]

Rau vs Epps Vs Becker will be an interesting camp battle. I think all 3 will get significant time barring injury but hopefully one of them emerges for us. Hopefully Carmouche and Spears push the older LB's.

[JasonB]

problems problems problems

I truly believe we have 4 RBs that have the potential to be 1,000 yards rushers if they were the designated back-3 without question could do it in 2017 if each were the primary starter

I agree. I also think Thomas might be the best of the bunch, but Jones was absolutely explosive last year before his injury. He is a different level.

If the experience makes the OL better and the youth provide quality depth in the OL, I could see SMU running a ton this season and maybe getting 2 RBs to 1000 yards.

My simplified offense would be run, run, run, run, playaction deep to sutton, run, run, run, playaction deep to sutton. In fact, the winner of the QB competition would be a combo of best deep ball and most mobile, which puts Peavy and Gillens in the lead. Pretty basic .

[78pony]

Agree, Jason B. Except I would eliminate a run or maybe two to go play action at Sutton again, with an occasional counter off the initial p.a. look.

[Stallion]

We've got as much talent at all 3 receiver spots. James Proche if he continues to improve can put up All-American numbers by the time he's a Senior. 57 catches for 709 yards and 6TDs is a breakout freshman year-and he's just scratching the surface. Sutton had 49 catches as a freshman. Trey Quinn, Castille, Kevin Thomas, Brandon Benson, Shelmire even Shelby was awesome the other nite. That's 3 deep and the talent at WR was probably significantly more highly recruited than the RBs.

We want to make defenses respect our entire offense and cover the entire field. I don't see us being a one dimensional running attack with just a few bombs to Sutton at all. That's what we did when Sutton was our only weapon in 2015. See Clemson which threw the ball 100 more times than they ran it. I think Chad will run the ball a little more than Clemson but this offense requires balance. A great passing game will open things up for the running game AND Courtland Sutton. I'd like to see about 60 catches out of each starter at Receiver.

We can open up a whole bunch more offense just by sustaining drives which was sometimes difficult with a true freshman QB. Its amazing that in 2015 we had Sutton and Davis as a running threat. Now we have about 15 weapons-SMU is young at every position but with significant experience so they should only improve. This is when it gets fun--at least on Offense. Not there on Defense yet

[PonySnob]

Is Alex Honeys time to show why he's on scholarship after Courtland leaves?


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[Stallion]

Courtland's backup doesn't get much playing time. He made a pass that I thought looked like a badly overthrown ball look like a piece of cake the other nite-just reached out with his 6-4 frame and long arms and went and got it in stride. Wished they had a replay of that. He'll be ready I think by the time we really need him-which hopefully will be in 2018. It's not going to be easy for any of these guys to crack the starting lineup

...and if he doesn't then we got Michael Woods coming in 2018 who already has 15 offers and about 8 P5 offers. Finding quality receivers for the future is not high on my worry list

[mrydel]

The main improvement we need on offense is the ability to make one yard on 3rd or 4th and one. Being able to do that would have had us in a bowl last year.