(10-08-2018, 09:56 PM)donkey687 Wrote: The sky is falling said Chicken Little. We have a lot of things to fret about after the last two games, but replacing Fanaika who is only playing because 2 other guys got hurt, replacing Branch who doesn't play much, replacing Edwards and Simmons who haven't played much due to injury and worrying about guys who are not lighting the world afire around going pro early are not insurmountable obstables. Losing Love, Hall, Okereke, Holder and Burkett are major losses, but as you said, we go through that every year and then some. Our younger safeties are probably better than the guys we are losing. Dalman will have some experience replacing Burkett. We have some young talented corners who will play more next year. We have one of the most highly touted running backs that we have ever had coming in next year. The biggest loss will probably be early entry JJAW, but we have lots of young talent in the WR ranks. We will be okay albeit thin on the OL depth beyond the top 5-6 guys.
This seems like the much more reasonable take on things.
Things may indeed be terrible next year, but the turnover and lack of identifiable replacements doesn't look worse than to be expected for college football.
I guess there are two kinds of situations to look out for: departing solid guys with no clear heirs, and losing unique, game-changing talents.
Okereke falls into the first category. I haven't tracked snaps but think he doesn't come off the field much - and two of the three guys who play will be gone.
Holder similar but less dramatic on the replacement side.
Love is a unique talent. Still, the current troubles in the run game show that is usually more dependent on OL than RB.
Guessing who might go pro early is pretty much a fool's game, as it depends as much (or more) on and individual's approach towards school and life as pro prospects. But, on the relatively high trouble side is Smith, who would seem to have good pro prospects and while there is talent at the TE spot, so far no one has shown the range of abilities as Smith (even with some limitations blocking). JJAW also has unique skills, but the WR corps even without him still seems solid and far above the Stanford average.
Of course none of the personnel issues matter if we can't get back our strength and nastiness on the two lines. The DL coming back stronger is absolutely key. I don't see an OL of Little, Hamilton, Dalman, Herbig, Sarell as inherently incapable, though of course they have a ways to develop. [Yes, that's a guess that Herbig returns]
The good news is that it should get at least a little better much sooner than next year. I am counting on a week of healing, resting, and getting the team's collective head on straight doing wonders for performance.