When does practice start and which Freshman do you think will make an impact this year?

[Publix Substitution]

What about Sands? I would think he would be 3rd ahead of Mack unless I'm out of the loop.

[BullyPulpit]

11 minutes ago, BullyPulpit said:

Both are RS Freshman, but I expect big things out of WR Dukes and LB Polk. Polk is a very large, fast, athletic LB (6'4'' 230 lbs). He has grown an inch and put on about 40 pounds in the past 2 years, as he transitioned from safety to linebacker. We were lucky that he got to spend last season getting stronger, faster, and learning the position better. An injury in his senior year of high school might have kept some of the bigger schools away. If he shows great coverage skills, he will easily be able to shutdown opposing teams TEs with his size and speed. He is going to be an integral part of our success this season, as we lack depth and talent at the LB position. 

As for Dukes, he spent his RS year getting stronger (added 14 pounds of muscle) which he can easily carry with his 6'4'' frame. Adding him in with MVS (6'5''), Dillion (6'5''), Wilcox (6'4''), Bronson (6'3''), Solomon (6'3''), and Clerveaux (6'3''), and QF will have a lot of targets that can potentially high-point the ball and frustrate smaller defenses. I can't remember a time we had so many 6'3''+ receiving threats in our arsenal. Compliment that with the speedsters (Barr, Antoine, Reed) and sure-handed all-purpose possession guys (McCants and Alaka) and this might be the deepest WR/TE receiving corps we have ever seen at USF. 

Just went back to provide some perspective, and our 2007 WR/TE corps was much smaller and had far less depth. We had Johnson and Mitchell (6'5'' and 6'4'') and then our other WRs were all 5'11'' to 6'2''. Definitely the first time we will be fielding a receiving corp with 7 guys topping 6'3''. 

[IBulleve]

4 hours ago, tburns said:

QB- Flowers/Kean/Oladuken     

RB- Johnson/Tice/Mack

TE- Wilcox, Dillon

WR- Valdez Scanting/Salomon

WR- McCants/Bronson

Slot- Antoine/Barr

LT- Mayes/Atterbury

LG- Hall/Larkin/Robertson

C- Ruff/Galati

RG- Wiggs/Bethel

RT-Norman/Polk

* Transfer WR from Rice might make early impact

 

DE- Love/Brown/Black

DT- Senat/Gonzalez

DT- Hector/Bronson

DE- Livingstone/Jackson/Johnson

LB- Sanchez/Thomas

LB- Polk/Sawtelle/Bayes

CB- Nichols/Hampton

CB- Hoggins/Wilkins

NB- McGee/Watts

SS- Abraham/Ferguson

FS- Fullwood/Thomas

*Juco Farrar and freshman Naytron Culpepper maybe make early impact. 

I think this is accurate. The interesting thing is WR. We are deep so there's multiple combinations that could work. I would rather have McCants in the slot personally and let Bronson/Dukes get the reps outside. Hopefully Bronson can develop even more this year to give us that speed threat to stretch the field. 

WR MVS/Salomon/Dingle

WR Bronson/Dukes/Alaka 

Slot McCants/Antoine/Barr

Its going to be interesting to see how they structure this defense. I know there's a lot of talk about the 3-3-5 being similar to the 4-2-5, but we don't have that traditional stand up end that can also drop in coverage. Maybe Vincent Jackson. I'd like to see them take a DL off the field and get Jaymon or Watts in there on passing downs. 

Edited July 13, 2017 by IBulleve

[Skingraft]

That's a good roster, especially if we can get a couple of them see a leap in performance based upon better coaching on the Defensive side of the ball

[BullyPulpit]

49 minutes ago, IBulleve said:

I think this is accurate. The interesting thing is WR. We are deep so there's multiple combinations that could work. I would rather have McCants in the slot personally and let Bronson/Dukes get the reps outside. Hopefully Bronson can develop even more this year to give us that speed threat to stretch the field. 

WR MVS/Salomon/Dingle

WR Bronson/Dukes/Alaka 

Slot McCants/Antoine/Barr

Its going to be interesting to see how they structure this defense. I know there's a lot of talk about the 3-3-5 being similar to the 4-2-5, but we don't have that traditional stand up end that can also drop in coverage. Maybe Vincent Jackson. I'd like to see them take a DL off the field and get Jaymon or Watts in there on passing downs. 

McCants seemed to be our 2nd option behind Adams on the quick-hitting WR bubble screens that Flowers became so proficient at throwing. Putting him in the slot takes away his ability to breakthrough the first defender and get to the second level. I hope that Barr, Antoine, and, possible Reed (if he can develop to his full potential) can be true field-stretching speed options out of the slot. 

[Bull Dozer]

32 minutes ago, BullyPulpit said:

McCants seemed to be our 2nd option behind Adams on the quick-hitting WR bubble screens that Flowers became so proficient at throwing. Putting him in the slot takes away his ability to breakthrough the first defender and get to the second level. I hope that Barr, Antoine, and, possible Reed (if he can develop to his full potential) can be true field-stretching speed options out of the slot. 

I don't think we saw McCants used to his full potential last season when he was outside.  He would be a big time problem in the slot:

 

• He's too fast to try to cover him with a LB
• He's built like a RB and hard to tackle
• He has the speed to stretch the defense
• He's athletic enough to make people miss in space and strong enough to run through arm tackles by DB's
• He has the probably the best hands on the team

 

I think you use the taller guys outside (MVS, Dukes, Salomon, Bronson) that can use their size speed combo's to really stretch the field and go up and get the football which opens a ton of real estate for McCants to get the ball and wreak havoc after the catch.    

 

 

Edited July 13, 2017 by Bull Dozer

[IBulleve]

1 hour ago, BullyPulpit said:

McCants seemed to be our 2nd option behind Adams on the quick-hitting WR bubble screens that Flowers became so proficient at throwing. Putting him in the slot takes away his ability to breakthrough the first defender and get to the second level. I hope that Barr, Antoine, and, possible Reed (if he can develop to his full potential) can be true field-stretching speed options out of the slot. 

A lot of those were in non-traditional formations where the WR's were all bunched outside. I'm not saying he should never line up outside, but I think his potential is maximized in the slot. 

[Brad]

This thread started slow, but is developing into a great read - thanks fellas. 

[Gatorbull325]

6 hours ago, Atlanta Bull said:

No WR DeVontres Dukes in the 2 deep? 

Man we have too many recievers now lol I hope we get to use them this year. 

[Gatorbull325]

4 hours ago, IBulleve said:

I think this is accurate. The interesting thing is WR. We are deep so there's multiple combinations that could work. I would rather have McCants in the slot personally and let Bronson/Dukes get the reps outside. Hopefully Bronson can develop even more this year to give us that speed threat to stretch the field. 

WR MVS/Salomon/Dingle

WR Bronson/Dukes/Alaka 

Slot McCants/Antoine/Barr

Its going to be interesting to see how they structure this defense. I know there's a lot of talk about the 3-3-5 being similar to the 4-2-5, but we don't have that traditional stand up end that can also drop in coverage. Maybe Vincent Jackson. I'd like to see them take a DL off the field and get Jaymon or Watts in there on passing downs. 

Jaymon needs to start.