Spring ball starts in 12 days, and I'm bored, so here's a list of the scholarship players on offense for this spring. Returning starters are bolded. Players who played their positions (not just special teams) in 2014 are italicized.
QB (3)
Jeff Lindquist, JR
KJ Carta-Samuels, FR
Jake Browning, FR
RB (4)
Deontae Cooper, SR
Dwayne Washington, JR
Lavon Coleman, SO
Jomon Dotson, FR
WR (4)
Jaydon Mickens, SR
Marvin Hall, SR
Dante Pettis, SO
Brayden Lenius, SO
TE (4)
Josh Perkins, SR
Darrell Daniels, JR
David Ajamu, SO
Drew Sample, FR
OL (13)
Dexter Charles, SR
Siosifa Tufunga, SR
Jake Eldrenkamp, JR
Shane Brostek, JR
Cory Fuavai, JR
Coleman Shelton, SO
Andrew Kirkland, SO
Dane Crane, SO
Kaleb McGary, FR
Jesse Sosebee, FR
Matt James, FR
John Turner, FR
Devin Burleson, FR
That's 28 scholarship players this Spring, not counting John Ross or anyone else splitting time between Off/Def this spring. Of those 28 players, 5 are starters from 2014 (Pettis started the last 5 games), 10 more saw action in 2014, and 13 are essentially "new" under the Petersen regime.
Considering the lack of depth, that means there'll be a lot of one-on-one time with the coaches, especially for the QBs and WRs. I'm sure the OL will be fluid this spring, trying many different combinations, so I wouldn't read much into that until the Spring "Preview" at the end of April. It'll be interesting to see what Petersen, Smith, and the new Offensive Quality coach Hamdan do with the offense, considering how pitiful it was last year. I expect they'll make major changes now that they have QBs who can throw the ball downfield now.
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Comments
We could use the combine as a surrogate measure since if they weren't participating there, they likely won't be practicing this spring. If that's the case, sounds like it's only Ross.
Next years roster will feature a transition class plus two full years of recruiting. We know how questionably Sark recruited in 2009, 2010 and 2011... and how that played out in 2013-14. I'd bet one year from today, that roster has many fewer Sark players on it. They'll be crowded out by okg's staying enrolled and developing... and Peterman signing full balanced classes that make it to school.
It's certainly possible that magna carta or brownling are an improvement, but I'm not sure why we should expect it.
If QB play is worse this year than it was last year, I expect this bored to be awesome.
My theory depends on him watching the game film and understanding how devastating he can be when he gets up field. The time for the razzle dazzle is in the second level, you need to get north before you think about it.
If that lesson is learned, I think he'll be the surprise of the season, perhaps the beneficiary of quick dump offs by the young QBs.
Why are any of you surprised we're 14 years into a non-existent rebuilding plan?