Roster thoughts

[alathIN]

In past years VU's football limiter has less often been about whether the best players we could put on the field were good enough, but more about how exploitable were the lesser players we had to put on the field.
"Lesser" could simply mean a freshman who hadn't had enough coaching yet, or a pretty good middle linebacker pressed into service as a nose guard. But whatever variety of "lesser," being forced to field a player who the opponent can take advantage of. Just having a starter and a backup at every position who is a passable SEC level player has been an Achilles' heel of VU football ever since I can remember.

I think in most position groups, this roster is going to be better than we're used to in this respect. OL and DL in particular look to have much better quality depth than we are used to. And WR - in the past we might have a Will Sheppard out there, but the opponent could double team him with impunity because they weren't afraid of the #2 or #3 WR. On this roster, if you overcommit to Shepard, Q or Carter or Maloney can make you pay.

I do think we'll miss Ray Davis. He lacked breakaway speed, but he was rarely tackled for a loss and could be relied on for a short yardage 1st down, or to pick up a blitzing LB. The current RB room has better breakaway speed, but I want to know who is that guy who you know will do his job and not hurt you.

We'll miss Orji too, but when you look at the LB roster there's a good mix of experienced upperclassmen and young talent. Should be pretty good here.

CB looks questionable to me. I am not sure who in that group can cover the other team's #1 WR. Better pressure on the QB and help from the safeties could make this position good enough, but the team will be a lot better if one of the younger players (or even two?) has a breakout season.

There isn't much proven depth at TE. Bresnahan and Schoenwald were both solid all-around football players who could run a route, make a catch, and throw a block. I wonder if any thought has been given to cross-training a reserve OL as a short yardage blocking TE.

After the OOC games, it's hard to see where wins will come from. Vanderbilt will be underdogs in every SEC game. Other than UGA and (hate to say this) UT, I don't think VU will be prohibitive underdogs in any of the other games - they're all conceivably winnable - but every SEC opponent will have a non-delusional expectation of beating Vanderbilt. For that matter, I don't think Wake is a guaranteed win either.

If we get a couple RBs who step up and somehow CB and TE prove adequate I think this team could win six and get to a bowl. But as usual the margins will be very thin.