Defensive Tackle
Kevin Gilliam
Kemari Copeland
Gerard Johnson
Andrew Hanchuk
Emmet Laws
Christian Evans
Defensive End
Keyshawn Burgos
Jason Abbey
Aycen Stevens
Deric Dandy
Jordan McDonald (I would be gobsmacked if he doesn't portal)
James Jennette (Ditto)
Zeke Chikinwe
Sherrod Henderson
JC is going to earn his money this offseason.
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Watched a little bit of film on the incoming freshmen (Evans, Henderson, and Big Zeke.) Evans is the most ready, but all three guys have a lot of work to do. Evans is strong and has a great motor, but he has a lot to learn with his hands. Henderson and Chinweke are both very raw.
What happened to Jennette?? I thought he was supposed to be the next coming of Ken Ekanem
Only if Ekanem wasn't allowed to eat for days on end. He never got any bigger and Abbey has passed him by.
I won the Bednarik with Jennette in the video game, was hoping that was an indicator of his trajectory lol
Wait, why do you think McDonald is going to portal. Wasn't he hurt all this year? He played well last year. APR, Nelson, and McCray ate up most of the snaps, now that they're leaving there are a lot more snaps to go around. I expect he'll still be behind Burgos, and Stevens probably passed him. But, he has a chance at beating out Abbey and Dandy.
Both McDonalds got buried on the depth chart prior to the injuries and their father was making some very unflattering comments on the ole brid app. I would be absolutely stunned if either returned
While I'm not going to argue that development under this staff has been quite underwhelming, the McDonald bros were "projects" coming in.
Neither were top-50 in VA that year and I believe Fuente and Co. "flipped" them from LA-Monroe.
Maybe the truth is they were probably always best suited at the G5 level. Dad might need a bit of a reality check.
Rumors the family wasn't really happy with how they were being used/developed in the defense. Haven't heard that for a while though
We probably need to see if we can get a legit pass rusher in the portal, but that's easier said than done. Maybe someone will breakout, but you don't want to bank on that.
Kameron Olds, 4* DE from Kent State, originally from Midlothian, VA?
Has offers from LSU, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Miss St, Minnesota, Nebraska and a few other ACC programs.
Aycen Stevens... sleeper-pick-De2'ish... your kinda guy.
...he is a yesteryear/throwback kinda pure football natural tackler who jus' plain 'gets it'.
💪🏼
b.street
What's up with Copeland? Breaking weight room records, coaches raving in the offseason, then barely gets any burn. Any chance he's able to break out next year?
Depends on the health of his triceps. Hopefully he can practice in the spring, but not sure if he will be able. Hopefully he has a Gosnell-like recovery and able to come back quickly and effectively. The silver lining being with the injury occurring in the 4th game, this year will count as a RS-year and he still has two years of eligibility.