Assuming no major surprises tomorrow and through August - who plays/shirts?

QB: Kyle Allen - No idea, anywhere from starting to redshirting
WR: Frank Iheanacho - Plays
WR: Jamal Jeffery - Redshirts
WR: Speedy Noil - Starts
WR: Josh Reynolds - Plays
OL: Kealvin Davis - Redshirts
OL: Jermaine Eluemunor - Starts
OL: Avery Gennessy - Plays
OL: J.J. Gustafson - Plays
OL: Zach Ledwik - Redshirts
OL: Koda Martin - Redshirts
DE: Qualen Cunningham - Plays
DE: Myles Garrett - Starts
DE: Jared Johnson - Redshirts
DT: Zaycoven Henderson - Plays
DT: Deshawn Washington - Redshirts
LB: Otaro Alaka - Starts
LB: Josh Walker - Plays
CB: Nick Harvey - Plays (Possibly starts)
CB: Armani Watts - Redshirts
S: Donovan Wilson - Plays (Possibly starts)

I think it's feasible that Kenny wins the starting job and Joeckel backs him up. Again, who knows, but I'm saying it's a possibility.

Lot of this is easier when you think about pipeline rather than just individual.

QB: Kyle Allen - the long term plan is to take 1 QB per year so that we have 4 on campus at all times. Looking back at UH's '11 season will help you understand why (they started their 4th string QB something like 8 games). It's too important of a position to risk your backup not being ready. We've been stuck on 3 because of transfers so we head into the season with a SR and SO and FR. We plan to take 2 QBs in '15 and likely play one and redshirt one. That will get us to '16 with SR, JR, SO, FR. Allen plays.

WR: Frank Iheanacho - we really are thin at outside receiver. We return Pope and Jaquay who played this year there. Parker will also enter the mix. Otherwise it's moving someone else so unless Nacho just isn't ready, he's probably playing. Also he's the kind of freak athlete that if he turns out won't stay 5 years anyway so a redshirt is probably a waste of time. Btw, the best comparison is probably Benjamin at FSU, not Evans.

WR: Jamal Jeffery - think he'll surprise some people as he's a little jitterbug that will be a great Y imo. I'm 50/50 on whether he plays. If we leave Kennedy at Y and back him up with Tuboyo he's going to be hard to find a spot for. But he may force his way into the mix and we're thin enough that any injury will find him on the field.

WR: Speedy Noil - plays. Someone has to take over for Manziel. We're working on developing a mouthpiece that has a slot for his weed

WR: Josh Reynolds - like Nacho. We need outside guys. Unless the lightbulb comes on with Pope/Jaquay, I'm guessing they all play. Think he'll compete for the X role.

OL: Kealvin Davis - redshirt. He needs to gain about 40 pounds.

OL: Jermaine Eluemunor - he's going to compete for the RT job. Possible he moves inside if Harrison or Ifedi move outside. He's not a LT imo and is probably a G at the next level.

OL: Avery Gennessy - similar outlook to Eluemunor except he has better feet and could project to LT next year.

OL: J.J. Gustafson - redshirt. He needs to reshape his body after the last year.

OL: Zach Ledwik - redshirt. I think the plan is to try him out at center and see how it goes. He moves really well but with Compton a SR, we're going to need a backup C next year and then a starter after Mikey graduates.

OL: Koda Martin - redshirt. He was told he'd shirt but that he might spend the year as a 3rd TE. I bet he shirts and we use Ced in that role though.

DE: Qualen Cunningham - he's the youngest guy in the class I think which suggests RS. Our DE pipeline: 2 SRs, 1 JR, 3 SO. You'd like about 2 per year so I can see a case for playing him. Just going to depend on where he falls on the depth chart after fall camp.

DE: Myles Garrett - plays. Most college ready player we've recruited in a long time

DE: Jared Johnson - see Cunningham. I think only one of the two will play and it's possible both shirt.

DT: Zaycoven Henderson - Like DE, you'd want about 2 per class. He's the NT to Manning's DT. With Mack already lined up for next class and being able to play either spot most likely, there's little reason to shirt him imo. I'll be a little surprised if either DT we took this year ever starts for us, but that says more about the other guys we've recruited than the two of them.

DT: Deshawn Washington - Redshirt. Undersized and doughy. Very productive but just doesn't look the part. A year hanging out with Larry Jackson may change that. I hope he becomes fast friends with Ivan Robinson

LB: Otaro Alaka - we recruited 5 freshman LBs in '13. 3 played (one projected at each position) and 2 redshirted. The one spot we didn't redshirt a guy is at SAM. Our depth chart here is a little off with SR (Baggs), 2 SO (Wash, Hilliard). I think he needs a year in the gym but he'll be the most natural SAM on campus the day he arrives. A lot may depend on the others tbh

LB: Josh Walker - He projects to WLB and with Claiborne (SO) and Wade (FR) it seems logical to redshirt him. But if he's ahead of Wade in fall camp, he's got to play. I'd really like to RS him just to get some space between he and Claiborne.

CB: Nick Harvey - plays. One of the most naturally gifted athletes you'll find. The reason he is rated so low (which is still national top 100) is because of size only. He may well be the best safety in the state but size imo makes him a questionable choice for the pos in college. Sumlin mentioned it in his presser as a possibility though. Tremendous with the ball in his hands too. I think he'll get a shot returning punts.

CB: Armani Watts - Most underrated guy in this class. He's not a combine guy, he's just a football player. Great instincts for the ball and you can almost slot him anywhere. I really like his WR film when I first saw it. Great change of direction and you can see why he was immediately projected to corner despite playing WR and S in high school. Think he'll be a really really good one.

S: Donovan Wilson - Sumlin mentioned in his presser that he expects him to walk right into the 2-deep. Hyperbole? Maybe. Our safety situation is pretty dire though. I think he plays as we seem to be planning on a huge DB class in '15 so redshirting him would only muck up the pipeline further.

We wont redshirt Allen, it would really hurt our pitch to Kyler Murray.

Basically, what we've told Murray is he'll come in, redshirt and then he'll be two years of eligibility behind Allen so he would have at worst two years to start (and probably three, I doubt Allen stays four years if hes as good as advertised.

Also, everything Ive heard is that our coaches expect Kyrion Parker to be an All-SEC receiver eventually. Dude absolutely destroyed on the scout team last year.

quote:

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Also, everything Ive heard is that our coaches expect Kyrion Parker to be an All-SEC receiver eventuall

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yep. They are very excited about Parker. James White is another that is going to play a lot more than people expect next year.

I like these write ups guys, keep 'em coming!

not sure I'm following. He's not part of this class.

If you are asking where he plays, he played Y (inside slot that Kennedy plays) in the fall. I imagine he and Kennedy will both be starters next year though so one of them will undoubtedly be moved. My first blush at next year's depth chart might be:

Z - Parker, Jaquay, Nacho
Y - Kennedy, Tubuyo, Jeffrey
H - Speedy, Quiv, Holmes
X - RSJ, Reynolds, Pope

But that's nothing more than me speculating. It really isn't based on much. We'll know a lot more once Spring practices start.

My bad, I was looking at the topic wrong.