Long post warning.
Hope this answers some of your questions apaladin. I think there are some guys you are assuming are leaving who might have another year. I've tried to focus on the guys we expect to be back right now. Just my opinion on this. I spend a lot of time looking at recruiting stuff, so I'm always up for looking at the future. Hopefully Astro can add to this when he's ready.
Note: Several guys on the team are listed as redshirt seniors, so based on the covid year, I think they all have a year they can still use. I'm basing some of this off of that assumption.
I think we'll still be a pretty good football team, but I also think there will likely be some growing pains just because it's hard to replace the experience of some of the guys we could be losing. Thankfully, some of the less experienced guys who could be starting next year have already played a decent amount of football for Furman.
QB: This will always be a question mark when you lose a multi-year starter. I think it's good that Jones did get a few starts this year. Mixed results, but that's not unexpected with a young guy's first extended playing time and the pressure that goes along with that. I think you can infer from Jones's good throws that he has arm to be successful. It will come down to how quickly the recognition part of it comes along I suppose. I'll also be interested to see if he's used at all in the run game. I've not seen anything of Garcia except his HS tape, and I'm not sure it's ideal to have a true freshman (Hedden) getting a lot of playing time. Furman had to go that path several times in the last 15 years and it usually didn't work out well. I would not be opposed to bringing in a transfer QB but it would have to be a guy like Sluka. A bonafide starter looking for a 1 year stint.
RB: Based on the seriousness of Smith's injury, it's probably going to be Grant Robinson as the featured back next year. KT tested the portal last year, but he should be in line for more carries next year assuming he stays. Hicks has been such a good blocker for us and has run hard when he gets the ball so hopefully he stays as well. I've said it every week in the recruiting thread but I'm really excited to see Gavin Hall get on the field. He's producing at a high level at the highest level of GA football. I think he's going to be a really good player for us. That would give us 4 guys next year. The way this year has gone, not sure if they would look to bring a portal guy in here or not. That's assuming Smith isn't ready to go next year. If he is, then I doubt they bring anyone else in besides Hall.
WR: Assuming everyone returns, I think we'll be ok with Harris, Harris, Ferguson, Hinton, Hughes (?), Holbrook, and Hamilton (we have a lot of WR's with a last name that begins with H...). We're also bringing in two guys, Varvel and Hester (another H). I'm shocked we haven't seen a few more jump balls to Josh Harris this year. He's so good at going up and grabbing them when he's had the chance. I've heard the coaches are high on the guys we have there now, so I don't see a portal addition but who knows.
TE: This spot is interesting. Chappel played a lot as a true freshman, but with Pline and Gissinger moving on, we're going to have two guys who need to put on some weight in Tormey and Pryor. Not sure if Youngblood is coming back. Preferred walk-on Ruckh has the size but I haven't seen much of him. I wouldn't be surprised if we tried to grab another portal TE.
OL: Brasher, Hundley, Wilson, Petit, and Lamb should all be back and have started. Several of them have played a decent amount. Johanning, Hughes, and Toomey are all listed as RS seniors. I think they each could have 1 more year left. If all those guys came back our depth would be fine here I think. After that though, there isn't a lot of playing experience. Elliot will be a RS SR but from what I can tell he's never played a snap at CSU and he hasn't played this year according to the participation report. After that we'll have RS freshmen Balliew, Garner, and Luna and true freshmen Akinsola, O'Dell, and Gregory. If the 3 RS SRs don't/can't come back, then I think we may look for at least 1 guy in the portal.
DL: DE Jackson, DT Stanfield, and NG Stephens should all return. Barton is listed as a RS Sr so he might have another year? Returning at DE would be RS freshmen Bussey and Stoneking. Additional DT returners would be RS sophomore Dudek and RS freshman Vincent. Additional NG returners would be RS sophomore Harrison and RS freshman Hernandez. Incoming freshmen are Dobbins, Edwards, and Knauber. I like what I've seen from all of them but I really love watching Knauber's film. That guy seems relentless. Not really sure what they'll do here. If Barton isn't back, they might target a guy in the portal. Not sure.
BAN: Both Clark and Maier could return. In addition to them, RS freshman David Alabi returns. Dobbins or Edwards could possibly move here as well. If both Clark and Maier are back, we're absolutely fine here.
LB: Gilby moves on, but we should return DiMaggio and hopefully McCormick will be able to and want to return. If they're both back, our starters will be pretty good. In addition to them, Achina, Chiedo, Earl, and Herbert return. Not sure if the coaches will be looking for a portal guy here. May depend on if Scianna and Kuzemka have an extra year and return. I think there is a lot of potential here, so I don't foresee a portal addition.
CB: We could have both Yates and Robinson back which would give us two good starters. I think they've both upped their games this year and would feel good about this position with them both back. With that said, like several positions, there are some unknowns after them. Ingram has played some but not a ton. Dalton and Moson both have have a lot of potential but will have been relatively untested. Both played in the VMI game. Holmes is listed as a DB, so I'm not sure if the coaches see him here or at a safety position. There are 3 potential DBs committed currently: Den Johnson, Jordan Miller, and Fredrick Logan. Might bring in a portal guy here, but my guess is they roll with Yates, Robinson, and Ingram as the rotation unless one of them leaves.
FS: This is going to be an interesting spot. Ryan possibly has the 6th year he could use and would be huge if he returned. Jack Rhodes went from a RS sophomore last year to a Senior this year, which makes me think he's planning on leaving. Seth Johnson did something similar last year. AK Burrell would be next in line and has played some this year, but if both Ryan and Rhodes leave, this could be a spot for a portal guy. They may feel good about Burrell taking over though. Will still need another guy here for depth purposes.
SS: Like Ryan, I think Brinson might have a year left he could use? If he does leave, then I think Caleb Williams will likely slot in to start here. He's played the last two years and has looked pretty good. Tre Mcleod and Justin Hartwell would be the back ups here. I'd expect one of the true freshmen might slot in here as well.
K/P: All specialists will hopefully return so we should be ok here.
Looks like we will lose about 15-16 startes:
