Possible Candidates To Switch Positions This Spring

[Stallion]

No he definitely would have had offers if he was willing to move positions

[StallionsModelT]

No he definitely would have had offers if he was willing to move positions

Elite speed? No
Size? No

[WordUpBU]

I can see Lancaster moving but then again he's one of the few legit burners of the smaller slot guys so I could see him sticking where he is.

I don't see Line moving as LB has Yenga, Tui, Horton, Bordano, and possibly Seals if he doesn't move to DE. I see Line as either TB or FB.

I see Gresham as even less likely to move if he is as athletic a runner as Ponyfans speculates.

Minor will likely grow into a DT.

Sanders & Malone are probably too small/skinny for DB in the tackling department and I question Deion Jr's long range speed as well making the CB transition. Slot/returner is likely their future.

Seals IMO is the most likely mover. He's 230 listed last season and a 4-2-5 DE playing a wide technique (like TCU does) is a spot where a quicker undersized end can thrive. It's also very similar in responsibility to that boundary side OLB in Mason's scheme he worked well at. Sanders would have for perfectly.

Wood might be the strong DE or bulk into a 3 technique tackle. BU & TCU at times had 265 pound 3techs in recent years.

It's also going to be interesting to see which DE's stick at end and which long armed 3-4 ends bulk into 3tech tackles.

Don't rule out a larger/slower safety moving down to the Nickel Hybrid or possibly the WLB/boundary LB to get more speed on the field.

[StallionsModelT]

I can see Lancaster moving but then again he's one of the few legit burners of the smaller slot guys so I could see him sticking where he is.

I don't see Line moving as LB has Yenga, Tui, Horton, Bordano, and possibly Seals if he doesn't move to DE. I see Line as either TB or FB.

I see Gresham as even less likely to move if he is as athletic a runner as Ponyfans speculates.

Minor will likely grow into a DT.

Sanders & Malone are probably too small/skinny for DB in the tackling department and I question Deion Jr's long range speed as well making the CB transition. Slot/returner is likely their future.

Seals IMO is the most likely mover. He's 230 listed last season and a 4-2-5 DE playing a wide technique (like TCU does) is a spot where a quicker undersized end can thrive. It's also very similar in responsibility to that boundary side OLB in Mason's scheme he worked well at. Sanders would have for perfectly.

Wood might be the strong DE or bulk into a 3 technique tackle. BU & TCU at times had 265 pound 3techs in recent years.

It's also going to be interesting to see which DE's stick at end and which long armed 3-4 ends bulk into 3tech tackles.

Don't rule out a larger/slower safety moving down to the Nickel Hybrid or possibly the WLB/boundary LB to get more speed on the field.

Good suggestion on Seals. I think Nick Horton might get spun down to DE also. He has good size at 6-3 240 and was a pretty good edge rusher at Garland before he got hurt. I think Wood sticks at DE but I wouldn't be opposed to a starting DL that looked like this:

DE- Seals
DT - Wood
DT - Minor
DE - Horton/Pruitt

[WordUpBU]

It would be nice if he were amenable to changing positions but he seemed pretty adamant about being a QB. The lower divisions are definitely the place for him to pursue that.

Davis is a real conundrum. On one hand he was BY FAR our best offensive weapon last season. On the other, I don't think I've seen a more "deer in the headlights" QB in my life. If his first option wasn't there he was taking off. It just didn't look like the game ever slowed down for him last season. Maybe working with Morris will help that but I just don't see him as a QB. He would be a fantastic wideout or safety. His size and athletic ability is just too good not to be on the field somewhere.

He's got the raw tools to be a WR or Safety but give the kid a break at QB. What line did he have? When Jones says "I didn't expect to not be able to block them at all" regarding one of your opponents, it's not a fair test for the QB.

I think SMU has a few options at S and WR that make moving him less attractive to me given that he's the only athletic runner at the position and accounted for all SMU's running advantage last season. If he's at all serviceable in the air you probably need to stick with him at QB until the OL proves it won't get a slower kid killed. Also if the OL struggles to run it his ability to read/option defenders and put the math in your favor is unique on this roster.

He's got the tools (arm, speed, strength, size) to be SMU's best QB talent in decades but obviously needs some work. I don't know if you ignore that for Cassell/Burcham/Kristich or a freshman that maybe run 4.7 running downhill with a quick trigger on a friendly hand timer.

[sbsmith]

He's got the raw tools to be a WR or Safety but give the kid a break at QB. What line did he have? When Jones says "I didn't expect to not be able to block them at all" regarding one of your opponents, it's not a fair test for the QB.

June said that after the first game, the line was better by the time Davis became the starter.

[WordUpBU]

He's got the raw tools to be a WR or Safety but give the kid a break at QB. What line did he have? When Jones says "I didn't expect to not be able to block them at all" regarding one of your opponents, it's not a fair test for the QB.

June said that after the first game, the line was better by the time Davis became the starter.

The box scores disagree. The sack % was high and ypc by non-Davis was minimal.

[Stallion]

When a QB can't deliver the ball in 4-5 seconds on 80% of his plays-the sacks tend to pile up. The Eye doesn't lie. He was lost

[sbsmith]

The box scores disagree. The sack % was high and ypc by non-Davis was minimal.

The box scores can be misleading, if you watched the games then you saw that our subsequent opponents (especially when conference play began) weren't all over our QBs right after the snap on every play like they were in the Baylor game. Sack percentage doesn't really tell you if the sack was due to the QB holding onto the ball forever. The way Davis moves and thinks in the pocket doesn't help his o-linemen.

[WordUpBU]

I can see Lancaster moving but then again he's one of the few legit burners of the smaller slot guys so I could see him sticking where he is.

I don't see Line moving as LB has Yenga, Tui, Horton, Bordano, and possibly Seals if he doesn't move to DE. I see Line as either TB or FB.

I see Gresham as even less likely to move if he is as athletic a runner as Ponyfans speculates.

Minor will likely grow into a DT.

Sanders & Malone are probably too small/skinny for DB in the tackling department and I question Deion Jr's long range speed as well making the CB transition. Slot/returner is likely their future.

Seals IMO is the most likely mover. He's 230 listed last season and a 4-2-5 DE playing a wide technique (like TCU does) is a spot where a quicker undersized end can thrive. It's also very similar in responsibility to that boundary side OLB in Mason's scheme he worked well at. Sanders would have for perfectly.

Wood might be the strong DE or bulk into a 3 technique tackle. BU & TCU at times had 265 pound 3techs in recent years.

It's also going to be interesting to see which DE's stick at end and which long armed 3-4 ends bulk into 3tech tackles.

Don't rule out a larger/slower safety moving down to the Nickel Hybrid or possibly the WLB/boundary LB to get more speed on the field.

Good suggestion on Seals. I think Nick Horton might get spun down to DE also. He has good size at 6-3 240 and was a pretty good edge rusher at Garland before he got hurt. I think Wood sticks at DE but I wouldn't be opposed to a starting DL that looked like this:

DE- Seals
DT - Wood
DT - Minor
DE - Horton/Pruitt

I think it makes sense to keep Horton and the rest of the ILB's at LB. Frankly the MLB in the 4-2-5 is equivalent to the BUCK LB in Mason's scheme. The MLB in Mason's scheme is much like the WLB (SLB in TCU's terminology) where it's a smaller lighter guy usually if there are roster issues.

Horton/Tui at Mike and Yenga/Bordano at WLB is pretty good for a scheme overhaul.

I expect the DB's to shuffle around. Randolph, Darrion Richardson, Justice, and Crosby could all play deep safety, Weak Safety, Nickel Hybrid, or possibly if needed WLB. Lots of options there but I do think limited depth in the secondary keeps too many from shifting down.

If I had to place a starting D guess I can easily see the following making sense:

CB- Jr Richardson/Montes/H Richardson
FS- D Richardson/Lagasse
WS- Randolph/?
Nickel/SS- Justice/Crosby
WLB- Yenga/Bordano
MLB- Horton/Tui
DE- Gentry/Wood
DE- Seals/Nabushoshi/Pruitt
DT- Minor/Riley-Ayers/McCleneghen
NT- Reed/Saena/Hollie

It's gonna be interesting to see how it shakes out. The following guys are versatile enough to play multiple spots depending on how big or small the DC is willing to go.

Yenga- WLB, MLB, Nickel, SpeedDE
Seals- WLB, MLB, SpeedDE
Minor- DE, DT, NT
Wood/GentryMcCleneghen- DE, DT
Randolph- CB, WLB, WS, FS, Nickel
Darrion R- CB, FS, WS, Nickel

There will be holes roster wise but that is a lot of flexibility they can use to make the parts fit.

[Stallion]

The depth in the secondary is coming from a bunch of Mini-me Offensive players that are going to be moved to Defense. There are about 6 mini-me Offensive players that are getting "recruited over" right now at Receiver. That's the biggest emphasis in our recruiting class-its pretty obvious. Yet SMU is not recruiting many DBs especially CBs. This is compounded by more mini-me receivers in recruiting class that retained their scholarships. About 2 of them are going to DB too.

[lwjr]

Wouldn't Deion Jr's lack of height prevent him from playing CB? I can't vision a 5'7 CB. I always thought Davis would end up as a RB CB, Safety. Thankfully I'm not the coach lol

[Stallion]

that's the point 5'7" is too small to play in Morris' schemes on either offense or defense. He generally likes taller blocking Receivers. Oh of course you can use 1-2 in his misdirection game-speed option-Wild Mustang. But not 6 Mini-me receivers. You move them-some transfer-recruit some more that fit your offense. Several like Halverson and Lancaster had better CB skills than receiving skills in high school. Give them a look. The transition away from the Run N Shoot is ALWAYS a [deleted].

[WordUpBU]

that's the point 5'7" is too small to play in Morris' schemes on either offense or defense. He generally likes taller blocking Receivers. Oh of course you can use 1-2 in his misdirection game-speed option-Wild Mustang. But not 6 Mini-me receivers. You move them-some transfer-recruit some more that fit your offense. Several like Halverson and Lancaster had better CB skills than receiving skills in high school. Give them a look. The transition away from the Run N Shoot is ALWAYS a [deleted].

Which WR seem to be likely movers? I can see moving a couple out of Malone, Halverson, D Stewart and Ingram.

Sanders is just really limited outside of slot WR or returner. Probably a 4.6 guy with good quicks but no size.

[Stallion]

Nate Halverson:

"Named All-State on offense and defense by the Oregon Coaches Association". All the recruiting services had him at DB

Lancaster:

I personally saw Lancaster play 3 games during high school and he has excellent, very impressive cover skills-just too small. He played every down at CB at Lamar and was not impressive in spot duty at receiver in the games I saw