Had a thread on this a while ago in the egriz club, we've seen a few changes come about since. We're on to the 2017 team and it'll be interesting to see how this team shapes up. The experience that returns in many spot is VERY GOOD - but there's also some obvious holes and areas of concern with depth/experience/etc.
Taking a stab at a possible 2-deep, here's what I see:
QB: Phillips / Jensen OR Hill
RB: Calhoun / Favors OR Green Or McCombs
WR: Curran / Akem OR Eaton
WR: Calhoun / Taylor OR Toure
WR: Louie-McGee / Homan OR Lyons
WR: Horner / Bingham
T: Reese / Torres
G: Villanueva / Scott
C: Sprunk / Luke
G: Hart / Eickmeyer
T: Jackson / Ralston
DE: Schye / Maua
DT: Davidson / Longoria / Rodriguez
DT: Mckee-Osibodu / Bradley / Tilleman
DE: Sims / Bedell
LB: Buss / Olson
LB: Strahm / Fa'atuiese
LB: Banks / Sirmon
CB: M. Sanders / Alexander
SS: Strong / Epperly
FS: Sandry / J. Williams
CB: McKinley / Cowans
K: Semenza OR Purdy
P: E. Williams
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Some observations
Would/Could Ben Weyer return from a medical redshirt - I believe he can, the question is would he want to? Sprunk has probably locked in the job at center but RG, Dietrich's prior position, could be somehwere a healthy Ben Weyer could succeed at.
WR depth is wide open - We're hearing great things about the red shirting freshman but doing good in practice and on the scout team is one thing, doing good in a game is another. The WR corps returns practically every major contributor who will all dramatically help whoever is our starting QB with a deep, talented, and experienced group.
The right side of the O-line will be inexperienced and young We've got lots of young guys that'll be dueling for two presumed spots. I took some wild-ass guesses on depth there and could be way off in my projections. The 2016 O-line is going to be pretty young, it'll feature 2 seniors in Spunk and Reese and the rest will be RS-sophs or RS-frosh most likely - as will the depth. This could lead to some growing pains with the OL...
Developing depth at DT should allow Jesse Sims to go back to DE or at least I hope he does, he had a great 2016 spring camp as a DE. Reports are he's a weight room warrior, would love to see the trio of him, Schye, and Bedell rushing the QB from the edges next year. DT depth will be interesting, Davidson and presumably MMO return as the anchors in the middle. Nate Bradley should return. Young guys like Longoria and Rodriguez (who won scout team player of the year) will get a legit shot to contribute
Corner will probably need a transfer or two Cowans in a few years could become a great player, he showed flashes of it as a true freshman, but flashes of greatness mean very little, needs to be consistent. The starting two of Sanders and McKinley will bring great experience and skill. Behind them is mostly young and/or untested.
Locking in a starting QB will be the #1 key to 2017's success We've got quite the grouping. Senior SEC transfer in Reese Phillips who will presumably open the starter and have the full chance to keep the job assuming he can show continued development in it. JuCo transfer Hill who brings a more athletic/physical aspect to the job, but will need to adapt fast. Hill I saw was recently named as the 13th best JuCo QBs in the nation and this site (not sure their source) gave him 3 stars. Other players ranked around him were going to Sun Belt or C-USA schools. Then there's Stitt's hand-picked freshman QB, Gresch Jensen who has had nothing but high praise from Andrew Selle and Bob Stitt. Could an RS Frosh come in and run with it? Brandon Bea as well throws a nice ball, he displayed that in fall camp. Kaegi a bit of a wild card to see if he's adapted and ready to compete.
Running back depth is unknown Will Tre Favors finally step up? Watch for Cody McCombs to make some noise. Younger backs in Martinez and Green were hurt this fall so we'll need to see what they can do. Stitt has shown he wants 2 to 3 backs he can rely on. Who will that be beyond Calhoun?
All 6 LBs from the 2-deep return This unit will presumably be the strength of the team. Depth can be leaned on a little more in 2017 I'd think.
I have no clue who our kicker will be I'd say Semenza if it weren't for his close-range meltdown as the season went on. Purdy looked good late but the team had to have Williams kick off and he couldn't get the ball to the endzone (however maybe that was the plan?)
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Per this wild guess the Griz would:
- Return 7 or 8 starters on offense (8 if you count Calhoun at RB)
- Return 7 to 9 starters on defense (Sandry & Sims both started 3 games, you could say we return 9)
- Have an average weight of 306 pounds on the O-line
- Return a whopping 88% of all receiving yards by receivers
- But... return just 1% of the total passing yards
- Return all top 3 tacklers (Buss, Strahm, Strong)
- And return 7 of the top 10 tacklers
- Return 45% of those that tallied sacks
- Return 67% of those that forced a turnover
