2014 2-deep

Is Mike Matthews a true center or was he just moved there?

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Could Ifedi make a case for going out to RT? He seems to be doing better than Harrison or MM

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Why would he replace Cheek? I could see him going out to RT after Ogbuehi and Harrison leave.

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Is Mike Matthews a true center or was he just moved there?

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True Center. Listed there on recruiting services, played at center last season.

See Lewis, Patrick, except Pat Lewis started at Guard.

You've posted like 12 versions of this now unfortunately, all of them have the positions wrong. I'll just do it by position group.

QB - all three will play. Our staff wants 4 QBs at all times. Not going into a season with 2. It's why we are taking two in '15. One will play (to give us 3) and one will RS. That will spread them across years and get us where we want so we can start taking 1 per year and RS them

RB - Don't count out Brandon. He's finding out some hard truths that you have to run with purpose and you have to be able to block to play here. He's got electric speed though and he'll put it together. It just hasn't happened yet.

WR - all your positions are misnamed. I'll just lay out the four

(Z) - this is where Evans plays. The skill set is generally the guy that runs good routes and gets open a lot because it's the front side of the play so often. This is what Michael Crabtree played at Tech and Quinton Patton at La Tech so you can see lots of different kinds of receivers can fit. My understanding is Kyrion Parker will probably take over this position (he's redshirting). Jaquay ran some here Sat. Pope has in the past. I don't think either of those guys is polished enough. You might see Kennedy or RSJ here some next year too imo.

(Y) - this is where Kennedy plays (and Swope before him). With most QBs, this is the high catch position. Manziel likes longer throws though but it's generally the "glamour" position in this offense. Quickness and an ability to turn on a dime are primary qualities. Think Wes Welker. Kennedy isn't a perfect fit here but unless we move him to Z, it's his job. RSJ is interesting and a variation from things in the past. His size makes it a matchup nightmare. Long term I think Tabuyo may be a great fit as may Jeffrey.

(H) - the other slot where Holmes plays. This is the motion guy. Jet sweeps like the WVU offense. We run this now but with very limited effectiveness. It's why Quiv is here. Outside of that, this position runs many short hard cut patterns so like the Y, you want a shifty guy. But they also run a lot of seem routes to pull safeties so they need to be fast. Very fast preferably. I think you'll continue to see Holmes and Quiv here mostly next year. I think with a new QB, both inside WRs will get a lot more work. Johnny just likes the outside throws better. But with the speed we have here, getting these guys the ball in space more can create explosive plays

(X) - Walker's spot. This position runs more deep patterns than the Z. One of the primaries is the fade as if he can beat a corner, he's often in single coverage because defenses rotate to the front side. This guy needs to get off press coverage well because it's his job to be so difficult to defend that the safeties cannot shade away from him. I think Pope and Jaquay are good fits really as they are both big enough to force a bigger corner out there. We need one or the other to really step forward though. I actually think RSJ could play here with great effectiveness if we leave Kennedy at Y

TE - Clear, Alexander. Koda Martin isn't playing here. He's a tackle. And he's redshirting

OT - Ogbuehi, Cheek, Stuckey. All the freshman will redshirt so don't even bother to include them. We need to bring in at least one JUCO. We'll probably bring in two. Harrison or Ifedi may be tried out here in the spring to just see

OG - Ifedi, Harrison, Compton will be your top 3. Gramling, Wilson, Tipoti will be here so you have enough bodies to try to move the starters out to tackle if need be

C - Matthews, Compton. We're toying with Ledwik at center but either way he's redshirting. I think we'll bring in an inside guy in this '14 class to work at center though

WDE - Hall, Taylor, Taylor, Garrett. We could leave Obioha here but won't most likely unless we just aren't getting what we need out of the others. Johnson redshirts. So will Cunningham if he comes. Both, like Hall, need a year but this time we aren't so desperate for bodies.

SDE - Obioha, Stansbury, Arnold. Points may be here but I think long term we turn him into our big fat guy. He has a frame that looks like it could hold 350 and he's still athletic. My guess is we are turning him into a NT. Long term I think Cunningham may go here. He's got a great frame to put on weight. Garrett could probably play either side honestly but my guess is as a fish he'll stick to WDE.

DT - Zo Williams, Walker, Manning, prob Points. Washington will RS. The difference between the 3-tech and the SDE is mostly length. You want people with long arms on the edge because that's a more useful quality in space.

NT - Golden, Robinson. Points or Walker could play here in case. Long term I think Points will be an excellent NT but he's got a lot of weight to gain so I think he's better suited to DT next year. NT is about size (not height) and strength. You are often taking on double teams against the run. Production here can be deceiving because your job is to not get moved and if so you are absorbing two guys and keeping the lanes free for others. This is Daylon Mack's position in case you don't know. It's also Josh Frazier if we get him.

WLB - Claiborne is a poor fit at Mike and will not play there beyond this year. He'll be an elite Will because he's just so much better in space and his lack of size isn't such a liability. Baggs, who has been fine on the outside where 300lb guards don't lock him up, backs him up along with Wade. I think Josh Walker may go here but he's big enough we may try him at multiple spots depending on need or if we get Freeman (who is also probably a WLB).

MLB - Mastrogiovanni likely starts. Chevis backing him up. My guess is we will try a few guys here if we aren't getting what we want. Hilliard is a little undersized and we like him at SAM but he might be able to go here. Sanders could bulk up some. Hoza, Walker or Whitley are others that could come in and make it theirs.

SLB - Washington, Hilliard, potentially Wiggins. This is where Hoza would likely play. This is a tough position because you need to be good in space, big enough to take on TEs in setting the edge, and fast enough to run with guys out of the backfield. We've had an exceptionally tough time at this position this year and have basically given up trying to find an every down guy. I think this position may see the biggest improvement though because Wash and Hilliard will have both had a year practicing it.

BS - Matthews, Honeycutt, Wiggins, DSG. This position requires more physicality as when we walk a safety into the box it's more likely to be this guy. They generally have less ground to cover so it hides the footspeed of the first two better. I think DSG being a midterm guy may challenge here. He's both bigger and faster than Matthews. It's just going to depend on how fast he mentally gets it. Our coaches have a serious hard on for this guy though so I don't think they're going to hold him back at all.

FS - Miles, Raven, Davis (I still think he'll end up here). Everett in a pinch again. I'm not sure how he feels about it. If DSG is the BS though, I bet we go with Everett at least initially because we need an experienced guy that can help him along

CB - Everett, Harris, Sezer, Garner are probably your top four. Harvey or Ellis could work their way in. Watts will probably redshirt

Nickle - Ellis, Harvey. I actually think Harvey could start here. Ellis is a nice cover guy but he's not thick enough to provide run support. He's a great penny or dime though. Watts may also end up here