Southpaw13
Helluva Engineer
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- 1,122
- Location
- Marietta, Georgia
So a conversation on the recruiting board about how many scholarships we should have at various positions got me thinking about this... what would be the 'perfect' distribution of scholarships based on running our offense and defense?
First, lets assume we get 41 scholarships on O and D (unless you think it should be unbalanced), and leaving 3 scholarships for special teams (kickers and long snapper, which we are doing right now.
Here's what I would do on O:
QB: 5, basically i'd want to sign one guy per year, and understand that someone is going to get moved here and there to AB, DB or other spots. I also don't want just 3 (or 4) because the QB gets hit so frequently, I don't want to lose the starter to injury and possibly be down to a true freshman backup. I think in my mind some of these guys are going to come in as athletes and not stay there forever.
BB: 4, for the same reason as I listed above. The number of reps needed to understand the nuances of this position, I don't want to be stuck with a true freshman being forced to play out of necessity.
AB: 8, This gives you 4 that are more experienced and can play while the bottom 4 are learning or preparing to play as they get older. Basically you get 2 per year, while you'll have some attrition due to injury or transfer, but you keep it as close as possible to 8.
WR: 7, This gives you a 3 deep at each spot on scholarship, but typically only 3 guys play at a time. I don't see a need for a higher number. You could bring in 3 in one class and still have a 2 deep of experienced guys without having to use any of them. While injuries can happen anywhere on the field, I think these guys are the position least likely to get hurt.
OL: 17. I wish we kept this number higher than we do. Seems we stay around 14 or 15 most years. I wish we signed 3 per year every year, and the occasional 4. I wish we never signed below 3 in a class. There seems to always be more attrition than other positions here because of injury risk.
On D (based on playing a 4-2-5 and occasionally 4-3)
DE: 8 - 4 deep on scholarships, preferably 4 SDE and 4 WDE, or if you prefer 4 ends that can set the edge and 4 rush end types.
DT: 8 - this is the position I think we struggle to identify guys we want/need the most. Seems we did well the last few classes, but even so I think we need to be shooting for 2 per year. If there's any position I'd like to see us go 1 or 2 spots over on, it would be here. We seem to always be around 5-6 guys here.
LB: 9 - This would be 3 deep for a 4-3, but over 4 deep for the 4-2-5. I think it's about right, since we alternate between the two sets.
DB: 14 - Again, in a 5-deep, this is not quite 3 deep, but in a 4-3 set it's more than 4 deep. This gives you a 2 deep for the 4-2-5, with a few guys redshirting or learning. I think it's about right, but you could have a few hybrid LB types such as one of the Austin's or Curry that can play both S or LB.
What does everyone else think? What would you change about the roster makeup?
First, lets assume we get 41 scholarships on O and D (unless you think it should be unbalanced), and leaving 3 scholarships for special teams (kickers and long snapper, which we are doing right now.
Here's what I would do on O:
QB: 5, basically i'd want to sign one guy per year, and understand that someone is going to get moved here and there to AB, DB or other spots. I also don't want just 3 (or 4) because the QB gets hit so frequently, I don't want to lose the starter to injury and possibly be down to a true freshman backup. I think in my mind some of these guys are going to come in as athletes and not stay there forever.
BB: 4, for the same reason as I listed above. The number of reps needed to understand the nuances of this position, I don't want to be stuck with a true freshman being forced to play out of necessity.
AB: 8, This gives you 4 that are more experienced and can play while the bottom 4 are learning or preparing to play as they get older. Basically you get 2 per year, while you'll have some attrition due to injury or transfer, but you keep it as close as possible to 8.
WR: 7, This gives you a 3 deep at each spot on scholarship, but typically only 3 guys play at a time. I don't see a need for a higher number. You could bring in 3 in one class and still have a 2 deep of experienced guys without having to use any of them. While injuries can happen anywhere on the field, I think these guys are the position least likely to get hurt.
OL: 17. I wish we kept this number higher than we do. Seems we stay around 14 or 15 most years. I wish we signed 3 per year every year, and the occasional 4. I wish we never signed below 3 in a class. There seems to always be more attrition than other positions here because of injury risk.
On D (based on playing a 4-2-5 and occasionally 4-3)
DE: 8 - 4 deep on scholarships, preferably 4 SDE and 4 WDE, or if you prefer 4 ends that can set the edge and 4 rush end types.
DT: 8 - this is the position I think we struggle to identify guys we want/need the most. Seems we did well the last few classes, but even so I think we need to be shooting for 2 per year. If there's any position I'd like to see us go 1 or 2 spots over on, it would be here. We seem to always be around 5-6 guys here.
LB: 9 - This would be 3 deep for a 4-3, but over 4 deep for the 4-2-5. I think it's about right, since we alternate between the two sets.
DB: 14 - Again, in a 5-deep, this is not quite 3 deep, but in a 4-3 set it's more than 4 deep. This gives you a 2 deep for the 4-2-5, with a few guys redshirting or learning. I think it's about right, but you could have a few hybrid LB types such as one of the Austin's or Curry that can play both S or LB.
What does everyone else think? What would you change about the roster makeup?
