I would argue that improvement along the OL would be the biggest reason for surprising teams next year and it is becoming the one spot I am most interested in following this Spring. Let's look at who we are losing, who is coming back, and who will be entering the program
LEAVING
Larry Mazyck
Keyon Haughton
Bryan Peters
RETURNING
Jordan Shelley-Smith (SR)
D'Andre Banks (SR)
Joe Gibson (JR)
Jayson Rhodes (JR)
Will Smith (JR)
Jacob Bragg (SO)
Clyde McCauley (SO)
Larry Hughes (SO)
Aaron Garza (FR)
Hunter Saulsbury (FR)
Mesa Ribordy (FR)
Jackson Jenkins (FR)
Beau Lawrence (FR)
NEW
Cam Durley (FR) - will be here at semester
Antione Frazier (FR)
Chris Hughes (FR)
Hunter Harris (FR)
Looking at that leads to quite a few thoughts...
1.) Have to minimize injuries...
2.) I see two seniors and 3 juniors, of which I think the 2 seniors will be starters and 1 junior will be a starter (although I think Rhodes could develop). That means in 2017 we would return 3 starting OL and in 2018 we would be returning 4 starting OL possibly.
3.) The development of JSS and Banks is huge for the team next year, even though they are seniors. It makes sense that both could/would develop being that JSS is still a pretty new OL and Banks is in his second year of D1 ball. If they can be legit P5 OL for us, it really helps.
4.) In an ideal world we would be able to redshirt 2 of McCauley/L Hughes/Durley this year, but think two of them play. We have some tackles in the pipeline, but really not too many that are upper classmen. I think JSS and one of those 3 start, but need another one of those three to be a backup.
5.) I still find it interesting that they backed off of Malanga and didn't try and replace him with a JUCO OT. They replaced Perese with a couple of JUCO DTs essentially, but not on the OL. Has been mentioned by some on here before, but that has to be taken as a sign that the staff feels good about what they have
6.) Could be the first time in a while that we have stability in the starting group. 6 guys come back that have started a game before, haven't had that in a while. You could have a starting group of, let's say for argument's sake, JSS/Bragg/Gibson/Banks/McCauley and could see that being the starting group for the entire year
7.) The 2017 OL recruiting class could really bring this whole thing full circle. We need 5 solid OL prospects. They would be that next wave of starters that would be solid backups in 3 years and finally get us on that solid OL rotation in terms of numbers at the spot
8.) Finally, I see this as a survival year - a chance to be solid, but we are still pretty thin. A lot of the backups will be RS FR types...but the 2017 season they will still be backups but be RS SO types. I really hope point #6 above holds true and we can survive this season like that as we are getting close to finally being stable on the OL...but still a year or so away from really being a solid unit overall.
LEAVING
Larry Mazyck
Keyon Haughton
Bryan Peters
RETURNING
Jordan Shelley-Smith (SR)
D'Andre Banks (SR)
Joe Gibson (JR)
Jayson Rhodes (JR)
Will Smith (JR)
Jacob Bragg (SO)
Clyde McCauley (SO)
Larry Hughes (SO)
Aaron Garza (FR)
Hunter Saulsbury (FR)
Mesa Ribordy (FR)
Jackson Jenkins (FR)
Beau Lawrence (FR)
NEW
Cam Durley (FR) - will be here at semester
Antione Frazier (FR)
Chris Hughes (FR)
Hunter Harris (FR)
Looking at that leads to quite a few thoughts...
1.) Have to minimize injuries...
2.) I see two seniors and 3 juniors, of which I think the 2 seniors will be starters and 1 junior will be a starter (although I think Rhodes could develop). That means in 2017 we would return 3 starting OL and in 2018 we would be returning 4 starting OL possibly.
3.) The development of JSS and Banks is huge for the team next year, even though they are seniors. It makes sense that both could/would develop being that JSS is still a pretty new OL and Banks is in his second year of D1 ball. If they can be legit P5 OL for us, it really helps.
4.) In an ideal world we would be able to redshirt 2 of McCauley/L Hughes/Durley this year, but think two of them play. We have some tackles in the pipeline, but really not too many that are upper classmen. I think JSS and one of those 3 start, but need another one of those three to be a backup.
5.) I still find it interesting that they backed off of Malanga and didn't try and replace him with a JUCO OT. They replaced Perese with a couple of JUCO DTs essentially, but not on the OL. Has been mentioned by some on here before, but that has to be taken as a sign that the staff feels good about what they have
6.) Could be the first time in a while that we have stability in the starting group. 6 guys come back that have started a game before, haven't had that in a while. You could have a starting group of, let's say for argument's sake, JSS/Bragg/Gibson/Banks/McCauley and could see that being the starting group for the entire year
7.) The 2017 OL recruiting class could really bring this whole thing full circle. We need 5 solid OL prospects. They would be that next wave of starters that would be solid backups in 3 years and finally get us on that solid OL rotation in terms of numbers at the spot
8.) Finally, I see this as a survival year - a chance to be solid, but we are still pretty thin. A lot of the backups will be RS FR types...but the 2017 season they will still be backups but be RS SO types. I really hope point #6 above holds true and we can survive this season like that as we are getting close to finally being stable on the OL...but still a year or so away from really being a solid unit overall.
