Depth Chart?
- Thread starter grillheel
- Start date
Here's my best guess, cobbled together from various sources. The defense is in complete flux because of a number of injuries and the conversion to a 4-3. It's probably meaningless at this point, to be honest.
WR - Quinshad Davis
WR - Ryan Switzer
WR - Mack Hollins
TE - Kendrick Singleton
LT - Bentley Spain
LG - Caleb Peterson
C - Lucas Crowley
RG - Landon Turner
RT - Jon Heck/John Ferranto
QB - Marquise Williams
RB - TJ Logan/Elijah Hood
DE - Dajuan Drennon
DT - Nazair Jones
DT - Justin Thomason
DE - Junior Gnonkonde/Jessie Rogers
WLB - Joe Jackson
MLB - Jeff Schoettmer
SLB - Shakeel Rashad
CB - Malik Simmons
CB - MJ Stewart
S - Sam Smiley
S - JK Britt
Here I'm using the starting secondary referenced by Charlton Warren on the Tar Heel Tour stop in Atlanta in early May (h/t @TarHeelNation11). Warren said Desmond Lawrence and Brian Walker would be the nickel backs, but emphasized it's all subject to change.
At the end of March, though, Lee Pace tweeted that it would be Malik Simmons and Brian Walker at CB and Sam Smiley and Donnie Miles at S. So who the heck knows LOL?
I could see some movement on the DL as well once everyone gets healthy. Really, the linebackers are probably the most stable group although I'm surprised Jackson is ahead of Cayson Collins coming out of the spring.
In any case, it's going to be fun to see the new defensive staff push these guys and figure out what works best for us. We've spent too long watching bad fits on personnel and bad attitudes turn our defense into a national laughingstock.
WR - Quinshad Davis
WR - Ryan Switzer
WR - Mack Hollins
TE - Kendrick Singleton
LT - Bentley Spain
LG - Caleb Peterson
C - Lucas Crowley
RG - Landon Turner
RT - Jon Heck/John Ferranto
QB - Marquise Williams
RB - TJ Logan/Elijah Hood
DE - Dajuan Drennon
DT - Nazair Jones
DT - Justin Thomason
DE - Junior Gnonkonde/Jessie Rogers
WLB - Joe Jackson
MLB - Jeff Schoettmer
SLB - Shakeel Rashad
CB - Malik Simmons
CB - MJ Stewart
S - Sam Smiley
S - JK Britt
Here I'm using the starting secondary referenced by Charlton Warren on the Tar Heel Tour stop in Atlanta in early May (h/t @TarHeelNation11). Warren said Desmond Lawrence and Brian Walker would be the nickel backs, but emphasized it's all subject to change.
At the end of March, though, Lee Pace tweeted that it would be Malik Simmons and Brian Walker at CB and Sam Smiley and Donnie Miles at S. So who the heck knows LOL?
I could see some movement on the DL as well once everyone gets healthy. Really, the linebackers are probably the most stable group although I'm surprised Jackson is ahead of Cayson Collins coming out of the spring.
In any case, it's going to be fun to see the new defensive staff push these guys and figure out what works best for us. We've spent too long watching bad fits on personnel and bad attitudes turn our defense into a national laughingstock.
Thanks for the response RH. I know it's way early to be looking at this stuff but I just was curious about how things stood, particularly on defense, after the spring and had not seen much about it. I am so hopeful we can somehow get this defense turned around cause it's not been fun being the laughingstock you referred to.
4 predicted starters on the o-line were picked by Phil Steele to be all-acc is some capacity. If those guys can stay healthy, the offense could be tops in the ACC, certainly in the coastal. Quise, Hollins, Switzer, Hood, and Quinshad also made the list. Cant believe TJ Logan isnt on there.
http://philsteele.com/All_Conference/2015/2015 Preseason/ACC.html
http://philsteele.com/All_Conference/2015/2015 Preseason/ACC.html
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I want to see TJ Logan carrying the ball more this season. I'm not sure what the heck happened last year, but he got buried behind Hood and Morris on the depth chart. We definitely need to give Hood his carries, but Logan has some unique skills and is explosive in the open field. That backfield is awfully crowded with Ty'son Williams showing well in the spring.
based on raw talent this is an excellent group of running backs. i'd put khris francis is in the mix as well if he continues to improve. we've had previous threads speculating why our backs were not used last year, but all agree it was a huge mistake. i don't think williams will be our whole running game as he was last year. if he is, fedora will lose my respect.
Don't forget Francis is rehabbing the ACL injury. I've not heard whether he'll be ready to go by the fall.
I don't think there's a single UNC fan who doesn't want to see more handoffs to running backs next season. Fedora, Littrell, and Kapilovic need to get that figured out pronto.
I don't think there's a single UNC fan who doesn't want to see more handoffs to running backs next season. Fedora, Littrell, and Kapilovic need to get that figured out pronto.
I'm in total agreement that the running backs (probably our most talented position group) were under-utilized last season. I'm not sure if the blame for that lies with Marquise, Littrell, or Fedora, but I feel like we need to establish a running game. I think the jury is still out on Littrell.
damm, i forgot about that. i really hope francis rehabs successfully and sees the field next fall. he's a good kid who's worked hard, a team player, plus he has some talent.
Jimmy. I wish he gets healthy too. But to be honest with you. If we don't have him for the first game and is ready to go. I hope he takes a redshirt year to get totally healthy. Considering we already have a crowded backfield. And I think this is Morris and Brunsons last year. So it would be nice to have this kid for a full year. Just not for a partial year. Just my take.
Couldn't agree more, Bobby. Unless Francis insists on coming back ASAP, it makes a lot of sense to hold him out. On the other hand, if he does come back, maybe we redshirt Ty'son Williams. Having 5 good RBs active at the same time is probably too many to keep them all happy.
This isn't going to be very nice, but something has been bothering me.
Does anybody else feel like we just have a bunch of generic, interchangeable guys on the DL and in the secondary? We have no impact players IMO. If we swap out player B* for player A* do you even notice? No, because none of those guys have set themselves apart from the others with their production.
Maybe that's unfair. But I want to see some guys step up this season. I want to know that when we need to stuff a third-and-short run, we have a playmaker who's going to stick his nose in there and get the job done. Or in an obvious passing situation, we're going to have a shut-down guy who's going to prevent the long gainer.
I'm sure most of you shared my sentiment at the end of last season, which is that there was no distance on 3rd down that wasn't achievable for opposing offenses. I'm not sure I can take another season of that ineptitude.
* Names have been omitted to protect...well...somebody
Does anybody else feel like we just have a bunch of generic, interchangeable guys on the DL and in the secondary? We have no impact players IMO. If we swap out player B* for player A* do you even notice? No, because none of those guys have set themselves apart from the others with their production.
Maybe that's unfair. But I want to see some guys step up this season. I want to know that when we need to stuff a third-and-short run, we have a playmaker who's going to stick his nose in there and get the job done. Or in an obvious passing situation, we're going to have a shut-down guy who's going to prevent the long gainer.
I'm sure most of you shared my sentiment at the end of last season, which is that there was no distance on 3rd down that wasn't achievable for opposing offenses. I'm not sure I can take another season of that ineptitude.
* Names have been omitted to protect...well...somebody
i can't imagine anybody disagreeing with you. we have plenty of good, but not great 3-star players, and therefore it's unrealistic to expect an outstanding defense this year. we can expect improvement however, for two reasons: first of all -- more depth. thats especially important in a fast paced quick-score offense like ours and a defense thats probably not going to get a lot of 3-and-outs. having fresher legs on d in the 4th quarter should translate into a couple of wins (look at close games lost in crunch time last year). the second area of improvement is fundamentals. it's been reported that our new coaches are starting from ground floor teaching fundamentals on defense. i like that! of course what i like even better is the prospect of our highly regarded defensive coordinator landing more 4-star talent in the near future!
To defend the players on D. Not saying anyone above is wrong because they did look like total crap most of the year. But was the scheme so hard that the kids had to think to much. I mean they always had to go back and simplify the defense. Maybe[ hopefully] this staffs defense is easier and less read have to be made so these kids can just react and run to the ball. As we all know if you hesitant at all on the defensive side of the ball, you are already late to get your assignment done. We just got to pray and hope Chizic and company can just get this defense to middle of the pack. If so with our schedule. Maybe we can have a 9 win season. Just my take. GO HEELS!!!!!!
that seems like a reasonable expectation. middle of the pack defense plus a more balanced offense and a more experienced offensive line = 8 or 9 wins imo.
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Lots of good stuff in this thread guys. First, I agree with @Raising Heel that there are no discernible differences between Player A and Player B on the DL or in the secondary. IMO, I tend to feel the DL is like this more because of talent (misses on DL prospects the last several years, not just by Fedora's staff), but the secondary is like this more because of scheme.
I wish y'all could've heard what I heard from Charlton Warren. I know it was a rah rah Ram's Club event, but that guy seemed to truly mean it when he said the following (I'm paraphrasing):
At Nebraska, I had one, maybe two guys who I could plug in in the secondary and not lose sleep over it. That's why I had the same player starting at [can't remember if he said corner or safety] and also had him as the primary backup at every other position in the secondary. Here at Carolina, I have six guys I feel I can plug in and not lose any sleep over.
He may have used a different number than six, maybe five, but either way, the point is he felt pretty confident after spring practice that he could mold this current unit into a successful one. He alluded a few times to the fact that the bad performances last year were due to scheme rather than talent.
ETA: and as for the DL, I'm really hoping players like Nazair Jones start to truly shine this season. I think there's potential for the DL to be better because of player progression as well as Coach Scott's coaching.
I wish y'all could've heard what I heard from Charlton Warren. I know it was a rah rah Ram's Club event, but that guy seemed to truly mean it when he said the following (I'm paraphrasing):
At Nebraska, I had one, maybe two guys who I could plug in in the secondary and not lose sleep over it. That's why I had the same player starting at [can't remember if he said corner or safety] and also had him as the primary backup at every other position in the secondary. Here at Carolina, I have six guys I feel I can plug in and not lose any sleep over.
He may have used a different number than six, maybe five, but either way, the point is he felt pretty confident after spring practice that he could mold this current unit into a successful one. He alluded a few times to the fact that the bad performances last year were due to scheme rather than talent.
ETA: and as for the DL, I'm really hoping players like Nazair Jones start to truly shine this season. I think there's potential for the DL to be better because of player progression as well as Coach Scott's coaching.
As for the running backs, yeah we are all in agreement that they need to get the ball more, but more than just getting them the ball more, the running game needs to be effective. I don't want them getting the ball just to get it, if they're averaging two yards a carry, what's the point? The coaches know Marquise was way too big a percentage of our running game last year. They've mentioned it in multiple off-season interviews. I agree @grillheel that the jury is still out on Littrell. Very interested (and a bit nervous, TBH) to see how the play-calling pans out this season.
A couple points I'd like to make. One thing I'd like to see more of is 'traditional running plays' out of our spread formation, especially on first down. You don't have to run the read-option every play. There is nothing wrong with taking the snap in the gun and handing it sideways to Logan and letting him run through (hopefully present) holes for yardage. Too much reliance on the read-option last year and too much running on second down. I hate second down runs unless you've got 5 yards or less to go for the first. Too many times last season our offense would be on a roll having just picked up a few first downs, then on the next first down, we'd attempt a pass that was either an incompletion, a minimal gain, or even a loss of yards. On second down, we'd run it and get stuffed and suddenly it's 3rd and 10, and we couldn't pass deep last year so we'd do something underneath and not get the first. Run on first down and do it effectively, and this offense will hum.
Secondly, I want to see Logan as RB1 until someone else proves they're worthy. We keep mentioning Hood......I like Hood and hope he does well here. But IMO, he still needs to prove he's ready for a major workload. Yes he was hurt last year, but still, I'd say Logan had the most impressive overall performance of any of our running backs last year. We need to learn how to utilize Hood's downfield running. Too many times it seemed like we handed it to him on a play designed for him to attack the line diagonally....if he's running sideways, he loses some of his ability to be stronger than the other guy. He needs to get it on plays where he takes the ball and just runs down hill, IMO, no pulling blocks or anything like that. JMO
A couple points I'd like to make. One thing I'd like to see more of is 'traditional running plays' out of our spread formation, especially on first down. You don't have to run the read-option every play. There is nothing wrong with taking the snap in the gun and handing it sideways to Logan and letting him run through (hopefully present) holes for yardage. Too much reliance on the read-option last year and too much running on second down. I hate second down runs unless you've got 5 yards or less to go for the first. Too many times last season our offense would be on a roll having just picked up a few first downs, then on the next first down, we'd attempt a pass that was either an incompletion, a minimal gain, or even a loss of yards. On second down, we'd run it and get stuffed and suddenly it's 3rd and 10, and we couldn't pass deep last year so we'd do something underneath and not get the first. Run on first down and do it effectively, and this offense will hum.
Secondly, I want to see Logan as RB1 until someone else proves they're worthy. We keep mentioning Hood......I like Hood and hope he does well here. But IMO, he still needs to prove he's ready for a major workload. Yes he was hurt last year, but still, I'd say Logan had the most impressive overall performance of any of our running backs last year. We need to learn how to utilize Hood's downfield running. Too many times it seemed like we handed it to him on a play designed for him to attack the line diagonally....if he's running sideways, he loses some of his ability to be stronger than the other guy. He needs to get it on plays where he takes the ball and just runs down hill, IMO, no pulling blocks or anything like that. JMO
By the way, @grillheel and @heelz2345 , I started a thread on premium about seat location, but I don't think y'all are premium. Where did y'all end up selecting your seats? Do you like where you ended up? I got another Bowles Lot pass 
THN11, we are in Section 222 again, at the top. I like sitting up high to see plays develop. We are in the Bowles lot again too, so looking forward to seeing you and RH this year.By the way, @grillheel and @heelz2345 , I started a thread on premium about seat location, but I don't think y'all are premium. Where did y'all end up selecting your seats? Do you like where you ended up? I got another Bowles Lot pass
Excellent. Y'alls tailgating spread is unbeatable. RH and I will be in 206, Row N. Smack dab on the 50, but y'all get the shade haha.
Yeah, I was on that side in 208 for years and I was closer to the 50, but when they realigned a few years ago, I went for the shade. Just too old to take that heat. We do usually have a pretty decent tailgate and you know you guys are welcome to join us. May have some old folks' music playing though.
RH, I'm hoping that Jalen Dalton on the DL and Mike Hughes in the secondary may be those "impact" players we're looking for, but I realize that will probably not be this year. Hoping those guys really help us going forward.
short answer NO but I think I could roll it down hill.What, you mean you CAN'T hand-clean 308 pounds??
The most recent football roster (link) shows Jalen Dalton is up to 280 lbs. As a weakside defensive end! That's nuts. Not sure if they're planning on moving him to strongside. If not, and he has retained the speed that made him such a sought-after edge rusher, then I can't wait to see what he can do on the field.
For frame of reference, Julius Peppers (who was also 6'6") played at 270 lbs. his sophomore year and 285 his junior year. So it can be done, assuming a player has the right frame and athleticism.
i'm optimistic about the defense because it looked like too many times we didn't have a clue what we were supposed to be doing. hopefully this will be taken care of.
it was good to hear the positives about the secondary but i'm so tired of seeing us all over the receiver and not make a play because we don't know where the ball is. hope that changes.
as to the offense where do i start.
our receivers can't shake my mother on the line of scrimmage so all of these one yard passes to the wide outs need to be reconsidered. it seems like most of our completions the last gazillion years are for negligible gains. throw the ball downfield.
find a way to get switzer the ball more often, he can make things happen.
we have good backs that need a little help at the line, find a way to give them the help.
it was good to hear the positives about the secondary but i'm so tired of seeing us all over the receiver and not make a play because we don't know where the ball is. hope that changes.
as to the offense where do i start.
our receivers can't shake my mother on the line of scrimmage so all of these one yard passes to the wide outs need to be reconsidered. it seems like most of our completions the last gazillion years are for negligible gains. throw the ball downfield.
find a way to get switzer the ball more often, he can make things happen.
we have good backs that need a little help at the line, find a way to give them the help.
Well, I bumped this because of the depth chart on the front page. Anyone else surprised by a few things? Hood over Logan and Williams? Miles over Green? Weiler in front of Jones? How much PT will Hughes get? I realize we use a lot of receivers and will sub a lot on D. Just trying to get some of y'all's thoughts.
I suspect the depth chart reflects how the coaches want to be a more physical team overall. Not surprised by Hood at all, and Miles can be a physical hitter ( one of few on D last year). Plus we need more playmakers so hopefully Hughes and Britt can make more plays. Also glad to see Smith make 2nd team behind Shott, he looks the part of a physical linebacker. Overall I like the depth chart to start the year
If only because of Dinkins' lack of size, I expected the staff eventually to move either Powell or Crawford to play behind Jones. I think Jones, Powell, Crawford, and Clarke will be our best 4 DTs.
I don't think Dalton is really a 3rd teamer. In fact, I expect him to be pushing hard to start once he gets college game experience.
Williams is going to carry the ball against SoCar and do well this season.
Gonna assume you mean Ty'Son Williams.
That was a surprise to me. I know the coaches have been raving about him in camp, but he's ahead of a very experienced senior in Romar Morris and considered an "OR" with a very experienced junior in TJ Logan. As someone said on premium, we should probably expect to see Logan/Morris in the slot and Hood/Williams at the tailback spot. Having two of those guys on the field at the same time, plus as many as three receivers, conjures up all sorts of wild ideas about what we could do with the offensive play-calling. Let's see what Littrell does with it.He is small - but we play the TE most the time as a stand up, even a couple of yards off the OT. That and the fact that we are depleted at TE, and Singleton is tough, add up to mean Singleton starts at TE.
If Chris Clark had honored his original commitment, he probably would be starting against SoCar.
I think Fritts will prove valuable and could take the starting job before the end of the season. We definitely need his size at TE close to half the downs.
I don't doubt Singleton's toughness, but I wonder how this affects our running attack, particularly with the RB's. I realize we are thin at this position, and it is what it is, but many of us have felt we need to utilize our very capable running backs better and I hope this doesn't hinder our ability to do that. This isn't a knock on Singleton at all; I just want us to establish a decent run game to open everything else up.
