I took a look at the spring roster and broke down all the redshirts and new names and how each spot looks going into the spring
Who redshirted in 2016 (Scholarship players):
Derron Brown, who should be moving back to safety, still listed as a linebacker, had a hand injury
Zion Echols, who should move back to RB
Nygel Edmonds, who was banged up last fall
Kanawai Noa, got hurt early in the season
Vic Viramontes
Greyson Bankhead, recovering from a non-football injury
AJ Greathouse, also had an undisclosed injury
Max Gilliam
Cameron Goode
Derrick Clark
Camryn Bynum
Gentle Williams, had a knee injury in camp
Jake Curhan
Logan Gamble
Drew Kobayashi
Matt Laris
Chinedu Udeogu
Rusty Becker (listed as a RS Jr.), got hurt later in the year
Who played as a true freshman
Melquise Stovall
Jordan Duncan
Demetris Robertson
Josh Drayden
Traveon Beck
Evan Weaver
Chris Yaghi
Who didn’t redshirt (due to injury later in the season/other reasons)
Trey Turner (achilles injury too deep into the season)
Evan Rambo (played too much before his ACL injury to qualify)
Vic Enwere (broke his foot against OSU)
Yaghi (got hurt during the first game he played after he burned his redshirt)
Tevin Paul (he’s listed on the roster page as not having redshirted, I don’t think he played at all in 2016)
New names on the roster
Elijah Hicks, taking over Cameron Walker’s #3
Alex Funches, wearing #36
Taariq Johnson, taking the #88
Gabe Cherry, wearing #92
Conspicuously absent from the roster
Da’Quan Patton (grades may have been an issue)
Gerran Brown (transferring from UW, set to walk-on to the roster in the spring, is a solid connection with the Mater Dei guys on the roster)
How the positions look going into spring
QB:
Forrest, Bowers, Gilliam, Viramontes
It’ll be easier to get a read on this battle once there’s a better idea of what the offense is going to look like, but Baldwin’s offenses at EWU usually entailed having a QB who can run. Bringing in Tuiasosopo, who was a dual-threat type QB before that archetype really existed, puts that idea forward a bit more. Having a runner favors Gilliam, who can run like a gazelle, or Viramontes, who is built like a tank. Bowers can run, and has a better arm than Gilliam, and moved up to being the backup in 2016, not that that mattered all that much. Forrest has great footwork in the pocket, but I’m not sure how good of a runner he is and his arm is a bit weak. I was thoroughly impressed by Bowers’ improvement during the fall, so I think he may have an early edge, though we haven’t entirely seen what Gilliam and Viramontes can do with the chains off from their use on scout team.
HB:
Watson and Enwere are the main guys here, and I expect them to get the vast majority of carries, with someone like McCrary coming in at various points to spell the two of them.
WR:
Robertson and Stovall will start in some capacity. I imagine that with the renewed use of a tight end, we’ll be seeing a lot of 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE), which leaves a lot of three receiver sets. Both guys have skillsets that work in every kind of offense, so they’re going to see playing time. Then comes the unenviable task of replacing Chad Hansen. Cal has a number of guys to do it, coming from his backup in Vic Wharton, Jordan Duncan, Kanawai Noa, Drew Kobayashi, or even newcomer Taariq Johnson. There’s a lot of options.
TE:
Who’s going to play here? They haven’t made any decisions that show on the roster page online, but there’s a few assumptions to be made. Ray Hudson will be moving back to tight end, his HS position. Logan Gamble has the height to play here, but needs to start acquiring mass like Mac in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Malik McMorris will most likely be used as an H-back more than the TE he’s also listed as. They’ve targeted Ben Moos for their TE spot in the 2017, as he just decommitted from Utah and set a Cal visit this weekend. He might have to play right away if he were to come.
OL:
If Cochran stays, he’s at left tackle. Uluave will be at left guard. Ooms at center. Wallace at right guard. Mekari at right tackle. If Cochran leaves, Mekari takes his spot and they get either Bennett or Curhan to take his place. There aren't enough guards at this juncture, and there may be at least one player moved inside to the guard spot from tackle, considering there's only three scholarship guards on the roster at the moment.
DL:
Still needs a coach, though this unit is headed for a number of conversions. There isn’t a true nose tackle on the roster, at least no 300+ lb guy who can take up multiple blockers. Bequette or Mekari would be the initial thought to play there, but who else can on the current roster? Maybe Chris Palmer. He's got the size, but I'm not entirely sure what else
They’re better stocked at the 3-4 DE spot. Looney can move over, as can Yaghi and Paul. Udeogu can stay on the outside, and Becker can move out there as well. New addition Gabe Cherry should get a look here. Not sure if Saffle, Weaver or Westerfield would stay at those spots with the addition of a “Joker” rush LB/DE hybrid which they’d fit the bill for.
LB:
Oh boy. There’s still no depth. Without Patton in, it’s even worse. They’ll hava few players added in at the rush end spot, i.e. Saffle, Weaver, Westerfield, Funches, but that still leaves three other spots for seven scholarship players (in the fall. In the spring there’s only six). Kunaszyk and Anoa’i came on closer to the end of last season, and Davison was about average on a below average defense. Downs needs to be used as a blitzer, somewhere where he doesn’t have to make as many reads. Aisea Tongilava, while a prolific tweeter, needs to get back on the field and moving more. Cameron Goode is unproven, though he hit hard on his HS tape
CB:
Allensworth starts at one. Drayden starts at the other. Drayden improved a lot at the end of last season, which bodes well. Franklin will get rotated in, as long as they teach him to turn around when the ball is in the air. I don’t see why they didn’t do that over the past couple years. Way too many PIs from not turning around. Anyway, there’s more than enough players at corner and nickel. They need to find a way to get Trey Turner on the field.
S:
A guess would be Hawkins and Rambo to start. There’s going to also be a hybrid type S/LB which Derron Brown would work well in, as well as the incoming Jordan Genmark-Heath. Only worry is if injuries mount again, but everyone should be healthy for the fall. Rubenzer and Psalms will see more time there in the spring with Rambo still out after ACL surgery.
STs:
Same guys in Anderson and Klumph, who were both solid last season.
On the return topic, D-Rob should be returning kicks full time, and newcomer Elijah Hicks should be given a shot at returning punts early on, an area he excelled at in HS.
Holes:
LB, DL, TE, OG
Who redshirted in 2016 (Scholarship players):
Derron Brown, who should be moving back to safety, still listed as a linebacker, had a hand injury
Zion Echols, who should move back to RB
Nygel Edmonds, who was banged up last fall
Kanawai Noa, got hurt early in the season
Vic Viramontes
Greyson Bankhead, recovering from a non-football injury
AJ Greathouse, also had an undisclosed injury
Max Gilliam
Cameron Goode
Derrick Clark
Camryn Bynum
Gentle Williams, had a knee injury in camp
Jake Curhan
Logan Gamble
Drew Kobayashi
Matt Laris
Chinedu Udeogu
Rusty Becker (listed as a RS Jr.), got hurt later in the year
Who played as a true freshman
Melquise Stovall
Jordan Duncan
Demetris Robertson
Josh Drayden
Traveon Beck
Evan Weaver
Chris Yaghi
Who didn’t redshirt (due to injury later in the season/other reasons)
Trey Turner (achilles injury too deep into the season)
Evan Rambo (played too much before his ACL injury to qualify)
Vic Enwere (broke his foot against OSU)
Yaghi (got hurt during the first game he played after he burned his redshirt)
Tevin Paul (he’s listed on the roster page as not having redshirted, I don’t think he played at all in 2016)
New names on the roster
Elijah Hicks, taking over Cameron Walker’s #3
Alex Funches, wearing #36
Taariq Johnson, taking the #88
Gabe Cherry, wearing #92
Conspicuously absent from the roster
Da’Quan Patton (grades may have been an issue)
Gerran Brown (transferring from UW, set to walk-on to the roster in the spring, is a solid connection with the Mater Dei guys on the roster)
How the positions look going into spring
QB:
Forrest, Bowers, Gilliam, Viramontes
It’ll be easier to get a read on this battle once there’s a better idea of what the offense is going to look like, but Baldwin’s offenses at EWU usually entailed having a QB who can run. Bringing in Tuiasosopo, who was a dual-threat type QB before that archetype really existed, puts that idea forward a bit more. Having a runner favors Gilliam, who can run like a gazelle, or Viramontes, who is built like a tank. Bowers can run, and has a better arm than Gilliam, and moved up to being the backup in 2016, not that that mattered all that much. Forrest has great footwork in the pocket, but I’m not sure how good of a runner he is and his arm is a bit weak. I was thoroughly impressed by Bowers’ improvement during the fall, so I think he may have an early edge, though we haven’t entirely seen what Gilliam and Viramontes can do with the chains off from their use on scout team.
HB:
Watson and Enwere are the main guys here, and I expect them to get the vast majority of carries, with someone like McCrary coming in at various points to spell the two of them.
WR:
Robertson and Stovall will start in some capacity. I imagine that with the renewed use of a tight end, we’ll be seeing a lot of 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE), which leaves a lot of three receiver sets. Both guys have skillsets that work in every kind of offense, so they’re going to see playing time. Then comes the unenviable task of replacing Chad Hansen. Cal has a number of guys to do it, coming from his backup in Vic Wharton, Jordan Duncan, Kanawai Noa, Drew Kobayashi, or even newcomer Taariq Johnson. There’s a lot of options.
TE:
Who’s going to play here? They haven’t made any decisions that show on the roster page online, but there’s a few assumptions to be made. Ray Hudson will be moving back to tight end, his HS position. Logan Gamble has the height to play here, but needs to start acquiring mass like Mac in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Malik McMorris will most likely be used as an H-back more than the TE he’s also listed as. They’ve targeted Ben Moos for their TE spot in the 2017, as he just decommitted from Utah and set a Cal visit this weekend. He might have to play right away if he were to come.
OL:
If Cochran stays, he’s at left tackle. Uluave will be at left guard. Ooms at center. Wallace at right guard. Mekari at right tackle. If Cochran leaves, Mekari takes his spot and they get either Bennett or Curhan to take his place. There aren't enough guards at this juncture, and there may be at least one player moved inside to the guard spot from tackle, considering there's only three scholarship guards on the roster at the moment.
DL:
Still needs a coach, though this unit is headed for a number of conversions. There isn’t a true nose tackle on the roster, at least no 300+ lb guy who can take up multiple blockers. Bequette or Mekari would be the initial thought to play there, but who else can on the current roster? Maybe Chris Palmer. He's got the size, but I'm not entirely sure what else
They’re better stocked at the 3-4 DE spot. Looney can move over, as can Yaghi and Paul. Udeogu can stay on the outside, and Becker can move out there as well. New addition Gabe Cherry should get a look here. Not sure if Saffle, Weaver or Westerfield would stay at those spots with the addition of a “Joker” rush LB/DE hybrid which they’d fit the bill for.
LB:
Oh boy. There’s still no depth. Without Patton in, it’s even worse. They’ll hava few players added in at the rush end spot, i.e. Saffle, Weaver, Westerfield, Funches, but that still leaves three other spots for seven scholarship players (in the fall. In the spring there’s only six). Kunaszyk and Anoa’i came on closer to the end of last season, and Davison was about average on a below average defense. Downs needs to be used as a blitzer, somewhere where he doesn’t have to make as many reads. Aisea Tongilava, while a prolific tweeter, needs to get back on the field and moving more. Cameron Goode is unproven, though he hit hard on his HS tape
CB:
Allensworth starts at one. Drayden starts at the other. Drayden improved a lot at the end of last season, which bodes well. Franklin will get rotated in, as long as they teach him to turn around when the ball is in the air. I don’t see why they didn’t do that over the past couple years. Way too many PIs from not turning around. Anyway, there’s more than enough players at corner and nickel. They need to find a way to get Trey Turner on the field.
S:
A guess would be Hawkins and Rambo to start. There’s going to also be a hybrid type S/LB which Derron Brown would work well in, as well as the incoming Jordan Genmark-Heath. Only worry is if injuries mount again, but everyone should be healthy for the fall. Rubenzer and Psalms will see more time there in the spring with Rambo still out after ACL surgery.
STs:
Same guys in Anderson and Klumph, who were both solid last season.
On the return topic, D-Rob should be returning kicks full time, and newcomer Elijah Hicks should be given a shot at returning punts early on, an area he excelled at in HS.
Holes:
LB, DL, TE, OG
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