2018 Starting 22

[AstroDin]

I pulled the starting lineup against Wofford for reference.

2017 STARTERS

QB PJ Blazejowski
RB Antonio Wilcox
RB Ridge Gibson
C Matthew Schmidt
LT Andy Godwin
RG Reed Kroeber
RT Jacob Conrad
LG Terrell Bush
TE Andy Schumpert
SE Logan McCarter
FLK Thomas Gordon

SPUR Joe Farrar
FS Bryan Okeh
SS Aaquil Annoor
WLB Elijah McKoy
MLB Reynard Ellis
RC Darius Kearse
LC B. Lemmons
NG Jaylan Reid
DT Jonah Tibbs
DE Chinedu Okonya
BAN C. Washington

I thought it would be interesting to have a thread that has our thoughts and a thread we can follow the position battles up to kickoff against Clemson. Below is the 2018 starting lineup minus the players graduated.

2018 STARTERS

QB
RB
RB
C
LT Andy Godwin
RG Reed Kroeber
RT Bo Layton or Jacob Conrad
LG
TE
SE
FLK Thomas Gordon

SPUR
FS Bryan Okeh
SS Aaquil Annoor
WLB Elijah McKoy
MLB
RC Darius Kearse
LC B. Lemmons
NG Jaylan Reid
DT Jonah Tibbs
DE Chinedu Okonya
BAN C. Washington

[AstroDin]

So, for 2018’s open starting positions we’re going to have some battles. I’ll get this started penciling in my thoughts. Some are a bit out there.

QB JeMar Lincoln - I think Lincoln will be the starter for most of the season, it would not surprise me if Harris starts against Clemson.
RB Kealand Dirks - Ridge Gibson and Carson Maples backup
RB Darius Morehead - Devin Wynn and Triston Luke backup
C Cole Neely – Jonathan Bockhorst backup
LT Andy Godwin
RG Reed Kroeber
RT Bo Layton or Jacob Conrad - Layton was the RT starter for a lot go games in 2017
LG Jordan Harris or Chris Breedlove - I think Harris will develop into the LG starter.
TE Jake Walker - Vann will backup, Ryan Miller could get some PT.
SE Cam Burnette - stud
FLK Thomas Gordon

DEFENSE

SPUR Jordan Willis – Willis starts depth to be a rotation thing, I think we might see Davonta Porter move to WLB.
FS Bryan Okeh
SS Aaquil Annoor

Furman has some musical chairs here to play with at both linebacker positions. A few scenarios.

WLB Elijah McKoy — Davonta Porter and Ben Page depth
MLB Donavan Perryman — Tyler Voyles and Jack Owen depth

or

WLB Davonta Porter — Jack Owen and Ben Page depth
MLB Elijah McKoy — Donavan Perryman, Tyler Voyles and a freshman depth

RC Darius Kearse
LC B. Lemmons or Amir Trapp
NG Jaylan Reid
DT Jonah Tibbs
DE Chinedu Okonya
BAN C. Washington depth Adrian Hope

[MNORM]

I pulled the starting lineup against Wofford for reference.

2017 STARTERS

QB PJ Blazejowski
RB Antonio Wilcox
RB Ridge Gibson
C Matthew Schmidt
LT Andy Godwin
RG Reed Kroeber
RT Jacob Conrad
LG Terrell Bush
TE Andy Schumpert
SE Logan McCarter
FLK Thomas Gordon

SPUR Joe Farrar
FS Bryan Okeh
SS Aaquil Annoor
WLB Elijah McKoy
MLB Reynard Ellis
RC Darius Kearse
LC B. Lemmons
NG Jaylan Reid
DT Jonah Tibbs
DE Chinedu Okonya
BAN C. Washington

I thought it would be interesting to have a thread that has our thoughts and a thread we can follow the position battles up to kickoff against Clemson. Below is the 2018 starting lineup minus the players graduated.

2018 STARTERS

QB
RB Darius Morehead
RB Kealand Dirks
C
LT Andy Godwin
RG Reed Kroeber
RT Bo Layton or Jacob Conrad
LG
TE
SE
FLK Thomas Gordon

SPUR
FS Bryan Okeh
SS Aaquil Annoor
WLB Elijah McKoy
MLB
RC Darius Kearse
LC B. Lemmons
NG Jaylan Reid
DT Jonah Tibbs
DE Chinedu Okonya
BAN C. Washington

[MNORM]

Astro...what do you see in Wynn to put him ahead of Deon Sanders?

[The Jackal]

Astro...what do you see in Wynn to put him ahead of Deon Sanders?

Technically, they play different positions. Wynn is a "tailback" in Furman's offense, while Sanders is a "running back" (read: Fullback)

My opinion: Sanders is perhaps going to be one of the most critical pieces of Furman's offensive puzzle in 2018. Furman was able to hammer teams last year with a constant 4 quarter barrage by Dirks and Wilcox. Gibson has, at least to this point, been primarily a blocking fullback in his time at Furman. Gibson is a key piece of the offense and does yeoman's work out of the backfield and special teams, but to this point he hasn't separated himself as guy who is going to get 15 carries a game. Of course, neither has Sanders.

Sanders has shown flashes of being really good. He was sidelined with an injury and did not have many touches last year. I don't know whether he was recovering from injury or it became a depth chart thing.

I think someone is going to have to step up and play Antonio Wilcox's role as the second battering ram inside. Furman's offense really works well when defenses are constantly worried about the inside run game. Sanders seems like the most obvious candidate to pick up those carries if he is full speed.

[AstroDin]

Astro...what do you see in Wynn to put him ahead of Deon Sanders?

I accidentally removed Sanders, I agree with Jackal - Sanders is an interesting piece. If he is back to his old form - he's a helluva athlete.

[AstroDin]

So, for 2018’s open starting positions we’re going to have some battles. I’ll get this started penciling in my thoughts. Some are a bit out there.

QB JeMar Lincoln - I think Lincoln will be the starter for most of the season, it would not surprise me if Harris starts against Clemson.
RB Kealand Dirks - Deon Sanders, Ridge Gibson and Carson Maples backup
RB Darius Morehead - Devin Wynn and Triston Luke backup
C Cole Neely – Jonathan Bockhorst backup
LT Andy Godwin
RG Reed Kroeber
RT Bo Layton or Jacob Conrad - Layton was the RT starter for a lot go games in 2017
LG Jordan Harris or Chris Breedlove - I think Harris will develop into the LG starter.
TE Jake Walker - Vann will backup, Ryan Miller could get some PT.
SE Cam Burnette - stud
FLK Thomas Gordon

DEFENSE

SPUR Jordan Willis – Willis starts depth to be a rotation thing, I think we might see Davonta Porter move to WLB.
FS Bryan Okeh
SS Aaquil Annoor

Furman has some musical chairs here to play with at both linebacker positions. A few scenarios.

WLB Elijah McKoy — Davonta Porter and Ben Page depth
MLB Donavan Perryman — Tyler Voyles and Jack Owen depth

or

WLB Davonta Porter — Jack Owen and Ben Page depth
MLB Elijah McKoy — Donavan Perryman, Tyler Voyles and a freshman depth

RC Darius Kearse
LC B. Lemmons or Amir Trapp
NG Jaylan Reid
DT Jonah Tibbs
DE Chinedu Okonya
BAN C. Washington depth Adrian Hope

[Jasper]

Always fun to speculate on potential starters before practice starts and all bets are off. Rather than post a whole lineup, I just want to mention a few positions and players.
First of all both returning QB's looked good in the spring. CCH is open to playing them both so we should not be surprised at that if the fall practice sessions don't bring some separation. I don't see the freshmen in the mix unless someone blows the staff's socks off in the next month. Secondly, I want to mention two Jordans: Willis and Harris. Willis looked very good last year in his limited role and I think is a potential star at the SPUR position since Joe Farrar is not returning. Jordan Harris showed a lot of potential as a freshman lineman on defense before being hurt against NC State early on. There had to be a good reason that this staff moved him from defense to the offensive line. He sure looked very good in that role in his HS tape. I don't think they moved him to ride the pine although it will take a while to develop. Thirdly, I think Elijah McCoy will stay at WLB with Donovan Perryman moving to MLB. Lastly, as the Jackal pointed out, there is a role open at FB in this offense. Throwing two big, fresh inside runners at a defense wears them down and opens up other aspects. Deon Sanders , IF healthy, could well fill that role. He is a very good athlete who showed some signs of shiftiness and speed before he was hurt. As much fun as this exercise is, we all realize that we can throw it all out the window once injuries and freshman surprises enter the picture in a few weeks.

[JohnW]

Saw an article earlier this summer from Reed Kroeber's HS saying he was moving to center, roster has him as a tackle. I agree Harris will be the starter at LG and Breedlove will start at RG if the Kroeber move to center happens. Layton and Godwin are the tackles. I think Devin Wynn could start as TB, given his size he strikes me as more of an every down player. I see Willis replacing Farrar, Hope maybe beating out Washington, Voyles at MLB, and Lewis maybe not starting but playing a lot at DT, also expect the same with Chinedu and Lawrence. Expect Weems and Kearse/Lemmons at CB. Agree Annoor and Okeh are the safeties, haven't a clue who backs them up. As a last thought it would not surprise me that Jack Owen makes some noise at ILB, he's bulked up to around 220 according to the roster.

[The Jackal]

Always fun to speculate on potential starters before practice starts and all bets are off. Rather than post a whole lineup, I just want to mention a few positions and players.
First of all both returning QB's looked good in the spring. CCH is open to playing them both so we should not be surprised at that if the fall practice sessions don't bring some separation. I don't see the freshmen in the mix unless someone blows the staff's socks off in the next month. Secondly, I want to mention two Jordans: Willis and Harris. Willis looked very good last year in his limited role and I think is a potential star at the SPUR position since Joe Farrar is not returning. Jordan Harris showed a lot of potential as a freshman lineman on defense before being hurt against NC State early on. There had to be a good reason that this staff moved him from defense to the offensive line. He sure looked very good in that role in his HS tape. I don't think they moved him to ride the pine although it will take a while to develop. Thirdly, I think Elijah McCoy will stay at WLB with Donovan Perryman moving to MLB. Lastly, as the Jackal pointed out, there is a role open at FB in this offense. Throwing two big, fresh inside runners at a defense wears them down and opens up other aspects. Deon Sanders , IF healthy, could well fill that role. He is a very good athlete who showed some signs of shiftiness and speed before he was hurt. As much fun as this exercise is, we all realize that we can throw it all out the window once injuries and freshman surprises enter the picture in a few weeks.

On the defensive side, I think we are going to be tough. If you look at the roster and returning players, you really see two things:

1. There is no obvious need to play true freshmen.
2. The second string should be really good.

Staggs plays an uptempo attacking style of defense. They want to force turnovers and keep the pressure on the opposing offense. To do that for four quarters, you need substitutes. I don't expect much of a drop off from the first and second string defense.

[The Jackal]

Saw an article earlier this summer from Reed Kroeber's HS saying he was moving to center, roster has him as a tackle. I agree Harris will be the starter at LG and Breedlove will start at RG if the Kroeber move to center happens. Layton and Godwin are the tackles. I think Devin Wynn could start as TB, given his size he strikes me as more of an every down player. I see Willis replacing Farrar, Hope maybe beating out Washington, Voyles at MLB, and Lewis maybe not starting but playing a lot at DT, also expect the same with Chinedu and Lawrence. Expect Weems and Kearse/Lemmons at CB. Agree Annoor and Okeh are the safeties, haven't a clue who backs them up. As a last thought it would not surprise me that Jack Owen makes some noise at ILB, he's bulked up to around 220 according to the roster.

I'm really excited about the defensive backfield. Two really good safeties.

Kearse and Lemons are both quality. Lemons is going to be a bear against running teams because few offenses are going to have receivers that can match up with him physically. Kearse looked really solid last year in coverage.

I hope Trapp is as advertised. He may be one of those pure coverage guys that are few and far between at the FCS level.

You can win a lot of games with good CB play. It frees up more guys to attack the backfield.

[AstroDin]

I agree about Jack Owen now listed at 6-3 220, he's great on special teams and got some quality snaps in Staggs schemes he can play a number of roles.

I have my eye on Davonta Porter came to Furman last season listed at 6-2 180 now listed at 6-2 218 OLB. I thought Porter and Hope looked really good in the spring. I guess my question is does Porter play SPUR or WLB and does he play a similar as Owen and come in on some of Stagg schemes???

Someone also mentioned Wynn… he looked solid in the spring, he's actually a tough guy to bring down - has good size - 6-0 195. I'm curious how Corey Watkins will look in practice. Can we redshirt him? Same goes for Dejuan Bell another playmaker. Bell and Watkins were really, really good return specialists.

2018 could be the return of Furman having really good return specialists.
Thomas Gordon
Amir Trapp
Devin Wynn
Corey Watkins
Dejuan Bell

[The Jackal]

We need a “non-Morehead” guy to step up at tailback. Morehead had 95 carries last year for 618 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also had 16 receptions for 157 yards.

Wynn had 17 carries, Luke 15, and 1 touchdown between them (Luke’s long run against Wofford). I said last year that Furman is going to need to find someone to complement Morehead out there, add balance, and force defenses to defend speed to both sides of the field.

[The Jackal]

Just an interesting unrelated note, Reynard Ellis will now be suiting up for Georgia Southern.

[Jasper]

That is likely a good spot for him. I wish the young man well.