Lanknows Top 20 Countdown



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    • #18622
      Lanknows
      Participant

      My version of Thunder’s countdown of most important players for 2016. Categorized based on impact of a season ending injury happening with said player.

      Irreplaceable
      (Season Altering Impact)

      1. Cole – OL effectiveness hinges on transition to OC
      2. Peppers – no real replacement at OLB/nickel + every-down versatility + offense/special teams
      3. Chesson – no replacement for his play-making
      4. Lewis – arguably the best individual player
      5. Butt – Excellent receiver, but backups look promising.

      Would Be Missed (Replacement won’t be nearly as good.)
      6. Braden – OL depth is scary. Settled in as a plus starter at OG.
      7. Thomas – key player for D to reach it’s potential
      8. Gedeon – only established LB needs to have big senior year.
      9. O’Korn – Is QB, but unproven one with a viable backup
      10. Magnuson – if he goes down we’re in trouble at OT

      We’ll Live (Excellent players with proven backups)
      11. Wormley – force at DT or DE
      12. Glasgow – things look much better with a deep NT rotation
      13. Darboh – reliable target
      14. Smith – reliable every-down back
      15. Stribling – the corner opposite Lewis is going to be a target

      Swing Players – Need these guys to step-up to win the Big Ten
      16. Charlton – successful move to WDE opens up playing time for Gary and Hurst
      17. Allen – if he really kicks and punts effectively he belongs higher
      18. Newsome – LT is a big deal
      19. D.Hill – sure-tackling safety that can also cover
      20. K.Hill – intriguing option at FB if he can handle the routine stuff

      Just missed:
      McCray
      Wheatley
      Gary
      Mone
      Kalis

    • #18623
      Lanknows
      Participant

      I would guess the controversial thing here is putting Gary outside the top 20. I realize he’s a special talent, an impact player, and a likely starter. But if he goes down Michigan is giving his snaps to Wormley, Hurst, Godin, or Charlton. Will cost some playmaking but not much dropoff here. Hard to put a guy too high when that’s the case.

      I rank the DLmen in order of importance like this:
      1. Wormley – experience, versatility, and overall excellence
      2. Glasgow – NT has fewer options than other DL positions
      3. Charlton – WDE success is critical and his backups are unproven
      4. Mone – NT
      5. Gary
      6. Hurst
      7. Godin –
      8. Winovich
      9. Marshall

    • #18624
      Lanknows
      Participant

      I admit this is probably high/optimistic for Stribling. I’m projecting growth (see spring hype) and think he’s superior in coverage to Clark.

      Clark was the toughest guy to leave out of the top 25.

    • #18625
      Lanknows
      Participant

      If some of the freshman getting hype are legit I would tweak these a bit.

      If Bredenson is a Cole-level freshman, you can bump Magnuson a couple spots and perhaps Newsome down to just missed range (20-25).

      If McDoom is an instant impact big play guy, I think Darboh drops 5-10 spot. Not sure he affects Chesson.

      • #18628
        Thunder
        Keymaster

        FWIW, I’m more inclined to buy fall practice than spring practice hype. Spring practices are absent the graduated seniors and most of the incoming freshmen, so it’s a relatively small swath of guys going up against walk-ons, early enrollees, etc. You’re also missing some players who got injured during the season and haven’t recovered yet. If Evans, Bredeson, etc. are getting hype now, it’s more likely to carry over into the season.

        • #18634
          Lanknows
          Participant

          Agree 100%. Spring stuff tends to get inflated because there’s not much else going on. Meanwhile the fall info comes in waves and even some pretty significant stuff that (if it came in spring) we’d discuss for months gets little notice.

          For all the talk about ‘submarine’, the Fall camp is when the most interesting information comes from ‘insiders’. Later in the season is when they clam up and even throw out some BS (like Ty Isaac being the lead back going into OSU – remember that one?).

    • #18627
      Thunder
      Keymaster

      Well, I do disagree with some of this, but I can’t say too much since I’m still counting down myself…

      • #18635
        Lanknows
        Participant

        Of course.

        Just remember that I called Freddy Canteen at #20 last year, so mine is probably the 100% correct version again.

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