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2023 roster as is - who starts?

inWV

Offensive Coordinator
Sep 22, 2007
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Palmer is gone, but assuming the rest of those who can return do, and no portal kids crack the top line, who starts?
Offense
QB - CT
RB - Grant/Allen
TE - Fidone/Bork
WR - Alante, Washington
Slot - Rahmir?
OT - Teddy, Benhart/Anthony
OG - Corcoran, Nouiili
C - Piper

Rhule has featured both 3 and 4 man fronts on defense
DT - Wynn, Robinson
DE - Mathis, Nelson
LB - Reimer, Hausmann, Heinrich
CB - Newsome, Hartzog
S - Gifford, Farmer
 
Palmer is gone, but assuming the rest of those who can return do, and no portal kids crack the top line, who starts?
Offense
QB - CT
RB - Grant/Allen
TE - Fidone/Bork
WR - Alante, Washington
Slot - Rahmir?
OT - Teddy, Benhart/Anthony
OG - Corcoran, Nouiili
C - Piper

Rhule has featured both 3 and 4 man fronts on defense
DT - Wynn, Robinson
DE - Mathis, Nelson
LB - Reimer, Hausmann, Heinrich
CB - Newsome, Hartzog
S - Gifford, Farmer
Not sure on starters...But that's a lot of returning experience. Makes a big difference.
 
I’m not sure if Fidone and Heinrich return close to their potential before they had injuries..
 
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Palmer is gone, but assuming the rest of those who can return do, and no portal kids crack the top line, who starts?
Offense
QB - CT
RB - Grant/Allen
TE - Fidone/Bork
WR - Alante, Washington
Slot - Rahmir?
OT - Teddy, Benhart/Anthony
OG - Corcoran, Nouiili
C - Piper

Rhule has featured both 3 and 4 man fronts on defense
DT - Wynn, Robinson
DE - Mathis, Nelson
LB - Reimer, Hausmann, Heinrich
CB - Newsome, Hartzog
S - Gifford, Farmer
Williams at G. Banks backup at T.

Call me crazy, I would experiment with Nelson at MLB. He can still blitz from there.
 
Palmer is gone, but assuming the rest of those who can return do, and no portal kids crack the top line, who starts?
Offense
QB - CT
RB - Grant/Allen
TE - Fidone/Bork
WR - Alante, Washington
Slot - Rahmir?
OT - Teddy, Benhart/Anthony
OG - Corcoran, Nouiili
C - Piper

Rhule has featured both 3 and 4 man fronts on defense
DT - Wynn, Robinson
DE - Mathis, Nelson
LB - Reimer, Hausmann, Heinrich
CB - Newsome, Hartzog
S - Gifford, Farmer
Man this lineup doesn't look too bad. Need some improved coaching and probably some port OL and DL players, but have a shit ton potentially coming back on D. Could be a decent year. I also think Ajay Allen is the starter at RB if he stays.
 
I think we are going to see a total different lineup especially with the OL. I also expect to see a WR or two come into the mix through the portal. One thing Frost and company with the exception of Joseph were not very good at was identifying and evaluating talent and coaching up the talent they got.
 
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Palmer is gone, but assuming the rest of those who can return do, and no portal kids crack the top line, who starts?
Offense
QB - CT
RB - Grant/Allen
TE - Fidone/Bork
WR - Alante, Washington
Slot - Rahmir?
OT - Teddy, Benhart/Anthony
OG - Corcoran, Nouiili
C - Piper

Rhule has featured both 3 and 4 man fronts on defense
DT - Wynn, Robinson
DE - Mathis, Nelson
LB - Reimer, Hausmann, Heinrich
CB - Newsome, Hartzog
S - Gifford, Farmer
The problem with our o line is that they are sloooowwww. The only one on here I like is Noulli.
 
It could be worse, but I’m a little concerned about the roster. Rhule and Co. need to really win the off season roster build project.
 
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Palmer is gone, but assuming the rest of those who can return do, and no portal kids crack the top line, who starts?
Offense
QB - CT
RB - Grant/Allen
TE - Fidone/Bork
WR - Alante, Washington
Slot - Rahmir?
OT - Teddy, Benhart/Anthony
OG - Corcoran, Nouiili
C - Piper

Rhule has featured both 3 and 4 man fronts on defense
DT - Wynn, Robinson
DE - Mathis, Nelson
LB - Reimer, Hausmann, Heinrich
CB - Newsome, Hartzog
S - Gifford, Farmer
QB - CT - I worry about CT's comment about his labrum. It took me a year to be 100% from my labrum surgery. Obviously I didnt have access to the rehab and PT and he does though, just saying it's not exactly a minor surgery for a QB.

RB - Grant/Allen - We HAVE to try and keep both of them on the roster. PERIOD
TE - Fidone/Bork - We need all of our TE's (Fidone most of all) to step up and be the players they were recruited to be.
WR - Alante, Washington - You would think these two would be our main targets. Unless we get a high profile transfer
Slot - Rahmir? - He would be smart to transfer. He could be the focal point of an offense at an FCS.
OT - Teddy, Benhart/Anthony - Have to hope Teddy can come back to full form. Benhart and Anthony are NOT D1 tackles.
OG - Corcoran, Nouiili - Never expected we would miss him like we have. He will no question be a starter.
C - Piper - Started to play better but he still has a long way today. We need to have some plan B's in place.

Rhule has featured both 3 and 4 man fronts on defense
DT - Wynn, Robinson - Both need more development but could be great. Robinson needs to take some weight off. He's not athletic enough to be playing at 315lbs because he's not strong enough to be a true nose.
DE - Mathis, Nelson - As much as Mathis struggled I think he would benefit from better coaching. Nelson obviously is a plug and play starter.
LB - Reimer, Hausmann, Heinrich - Who would have thought by the end of the year we wouldn't really be missing Heinrich because of Hausmann. New DC needs to find a package to get all 3 of them on the field together.
CB - Newsome, Hartzog - HAVE to keep both of them here. Such a good base for our new DC to have these guys
S - Gifford, Farmer - I actually think Gifford is more of a lock than Farmer. I think both would still start. I think farmer needs to keep developing his technique. Still takes bad angles and he's not fast enough to make up for it.
 
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I agree, but I think part of the slow issue is coaching. We definitely need some portal help, but also I think coaching will go along way.
I think the winter season lifting, the spring practices, then the work before fall practice, and then fall practice there will be a large improvement in the conditioning and quickness with a lot of the players.

A lot of the improvement I expected to see this year that wasn't realized may begin to take shape as we look 6-8 months down the road.

When I watch some of the high school films of some of these kids like Robinson, Corcoran, and Piper it shows a dramatic loss of athleticism and footspeed attributed to the lifting regime, the gains of poor weight, and lack of condition.

Robinson looked like a total stud in high school, NU needs to recapture his previous talent.

With the volume of close losses over the last 2 years, a lot of that ground could be made up with 6-8 months of really intense, focused work.

Plus, it appears HITTING people in practice and scrimmages is back on the table. Rhule plans to toughen up these guys, then who knows what happens.

It's likely the NU returning players will be put through lifting and physical paces they've never had the benefit of for 2-3-4-5 years before.

The strongest will survive, and the others will go by the wayside.
 
Palmer is gone, but assuming the rest of those who can return do, and no portal kids crack the top line, who starts?
Offense
QB - CT
RB - Grant/Allen
TE - Fidone/Bork
WR - Alante, Washington
Slot - Rahmir?
OT - Teddy, Benhart/Anthony
OG - Corcoran, Nouiili
C - Piper

Rhule has featured both 3 and 4 man fronts on defense
DT - Wynn, Robinson
DE - Mathis, Nelson
LB - Reimer, Hausmann, Heinrich
CB - Newsome, Hartzog
S - Gifford, Farmer


Good list, agree for the most part.

OL: I do think we could see Luto at OG and Corc at RT (but what we really need is a talent infusion through the portal).

TE is scary thin too.

WR: I would expect an impact guy from the portal. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Alante move inside.

DL: Thin here. If they plan to run 3-4 they need to find some NT's. Hutmatcher is about it on the current roster. Getting Nelson and Mathis back would be huge, losing both would hurt.
 
One things for sure. They need to hit the portal hard for inside linebackers. I don't want to see Henrich out there and Reimers needs to be a backup as well. They wouldn't start for any other team in the B1G maybe northwestern.
 
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Good list, agree for the most part.

OL: I do think we could see Luto at OG and Corc at RT (but what we really need is a talent infusion through the portal).

TE is scary thin too.

WR: I would expect an impact guy from the portal. I also wouldn't be surprised to see Alante move inside.

DL: Thin here. If they plan to run 3-4 they need to find some NT's. Hutmatcher is about it on the current roster. Getting Nelson and Mathis back would be huge, losing both would hurt.
If Teddy P. heals up OK, Corcoran is probably at RT with Lutovsky at guard. I would hope they feature a 4-3 that can stop a simple stretch run.
 
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send grant packing

that dude wore down like a cheap drill bit
I wouldn't be shocked to see Grant and/or Yant being moved to FB until Rhule can recruit a FB type that he likes to use. Yant is big enough already, Grant would need 20# or so. It might be what it takes to get them on the field next year if Allen and Ervin are both healthy.
 
I wouldn't be shocked to see Grant and/or Yant being moved to FB until Rhule can recruit a FB type that he likes to use. Yant is big enough already, Grant would need 20# or so. It might be what it takes to get them on the field next year if Allen and Ervin are both healthy.
get yant off the team too

replace these guys with players who will actually contribute
 
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get yant off the team too

replace these guys with players who will actually contribute
Yant may accomplish that without any encouragement. I don't know how you run a squad with kids like Yant and Manning quitting every other game. I understood with Manning doing so due to the affliction of his mental challenges. Yant may not have a legitimate excuse.

I imagine the new coaching staff isn't going to put up with the "maybe I'm committed/maybe I'm not committed" type of player(s). Either you're committed or you're not beginning now.

Typically, 3rd or 4th teamers are replaceable.
 
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send grant packing

that dude wore down like a cheap drill bit
I don't know if he wore down physically but I wore down mentally when watching him twirl, hop, slide, jitterbug, line dance and two-step before deciding not to take the hole and lose 4 yards.
Dude, it was 3rd and 2, all you needed to do is apply some elbow grease and we wouldn't have had to punt.
 
I don't know if he wore down physically but I wore down mentally when watching him twirl, hop, slide, jitterbug, line dance and two-step before deciding not to take the hole and lose 4 yards.
Dude, it was 3rd and 2, all you needed to do is apply some elbow grease and we wouldn't have had to punt.
he came to a complete stop a yard behind the LOS on like half of his carries in B1G play

I know we don't have even a bad OL, but put your foot in the ground and get north/south
 
QB - CT - I worry about CT's comment about his labrum. It took me a year to be 100% from my labrum surgery. Obviously I didnt have access to the rehab and PT and he does though, just saying it's not exactly a minor surgery for a QB.
To me, this is sort of a disaster in the making.

CT is waiting to decide what to do, which means he is probably considering playing another year, without getting it fixed.. as you say, if he goes the surgery route, he may miss the season and would get a medical to get his year back and try again in 2024, which by that time, we probably have someone else established.

Either way, I don't like his options for seeing the field again, unless he plays without the surgery.. which is bad news too.
 
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To me, this is sort of a disaster in the making.

CT is waiting to decide what to do, which means he is probably considering playing another year, without getting it fixed.. as you say, if he goes the surgery route, he may miss the season and would get a medical to get his year back and try again in 2024, which by that time, we probably have someone else established.

Either way, I don't like his options for seeing the field again, unless he plays without the surgery.. which is bad news too.
I agree, not a ton of great options there.
 
The roster is going to change so much in the coming months it's hardly worth speculating now.
They said we added like 31-33? new players last year, including close to our entire offensive production. I would expect a similar number again this year. The quality of the new players will be key, while retaining the best guys we can already on the roster.
 
One thing I noticed is Hausmann is a stud LB. I don’t even remember him from recruiting
 
QB - CT - I worry about CT's comment about his labrum. It took me a year to be 100% from my labrum surgery. Obviously I didnt have access to the rehab and PT and he does though, just saying it's not exactly a minor surgery for a QB.

RB - Grant/Allen - We HAVE to try and keep both of them on the roster. PERIOD
TE - Fidone/Bork - We need all of our TE's (Fidone most of all) to step up and be the players they were recruited to be.
WR - Alante, Washington - You would think these two would be our main targets. Unless we get a high profile transfer
Slot - Rahmir? - He would be smart to transfer. He could be the focal point of an offense at an FCS.
OT - Teddy, Benhart/Anthony - Have to hope Teddy can come back to full form. Benhart and Anthony are NOT D1 tackles.
OG - Corcoran, Nouiili - Never expected we would miss him like we have. He will no question be a starter.
C - Piper - Started to play better but he still has a long way today. We need to have some plan B's in place.

Rhule has featured both 3 and 4 man fronts on defense
DT - Wynn, Robinson - Both need more development but could be great. Robinson needs to take some weight off. He's not athletic enough to be playing at 315lbs because he's not strong enough to be a true nose.
DE - Mathis, Nelson - As much as Mathis struggled I think he would benefit from better coaching. Nelson obviously is a plug and play starter.
LB - Reimer, Hausmann, Heinrich - Who would have thought by the end of the year we wouldn't really be missing Heinrich because of Hausmann. New DC needs to find a package to get all 3 of them on the field together.
CB - Newsome, Hartzog - HAVE to keep both of them here. Such a good base for our new DC to have these guys
S - Gifford, Farmer - I actually think Gifford is more of a lock than Farmer. I think both would still start. I think farmer needs to keep developing his technique. Still takes bad angles and he's not fast enough to make up for it.
I dogged hausman early in the season and admit now the kid has extreme potential. Henrich is slow and not very instinctive, a mislabeled 4 star, should recruit over him
 
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