So, just how screwed are we?

TBJ, Hatley, Augusta, Logan step on up.

Actually depends oh what ligament is injured & requiring surgery. ACL he is done for the year. If something else it's possible he's back by October. No way of knowing until we know which ligament & the severity.

I sure hope you are right, but those guys were starting for a reason.

Not to mention, it's just one of several issues we have:

We lose versatility with the loss of Brantley. He can play inside and DE. Augusta, Hatley and TBJ solidify the interior. TBJ coming in with Div 1 size really helps.

I guess it depends if Frazier comes in ready to play. He was a really good JUCO DE. It would also be nice if Augusta could loose 30 lbs to play more snaps. Walter Brady should be around 260-265 so he has the size, but I haven't heard much about his progress. Has anyone heard anything?

I think this moves us solidly into an expected 2nd or 3rd place in the East. What that translates to in the end will be, of course, determined by the team.

I agree. I'm thinking we are staring at 3rd or 4th place in the East now. Just too many question marks at this point to overlook.

Any thoughts to moving Crawford back to the defensive side? I know he was impressing on the OL but at this point I'm wondering if we're better served with him on the DL and providing some depth. The biggest problem we face is that one injury at DT at this point and I think we're starting to give walk ons playing time.

We certainly lose some production and effectiveness by losing Brantley. There was a reason he was going to leave early for the draft. I'm a huge TBJ fan but there's still no question that a team with Brantley, Hatley and TBJ is better than a team with Hatley and TBJ. The real test is going to be on the DB's for sure. I just don't see much of a pash rush with the guys we're talking about. Maybe in a year or two but not this coming up year.

I'm not ready to throw in the towel for 1 reason...The schedule is in our favor. Also we played last year with no offense. I gotta believe Mauk steps up this year. Even if just to keep our defense off the field. Even with Brantley, we needed more from the offense, and I believe that Pinkel has been preparing that offense to contribute more in 2015.

The X factor in all of this is Odom. I followed what he did at Memphis, and I think he will end up being a great DC. The back 7 should be really good & we still have Kool.

Does this mean we won't redshirt TBJ this season and give him some snaps?

TBJ will play and will probably end up starting and getting a majority of the snaps. I think Hatley, while solid, is a career backup, spelling the starters. Unless he goes back outside, but I don't know if we can afford that numbers wise at this point.