"Worst case" Starting Lineup - Football 2024

Missing Barnham, the LB transfer from Maryland.

I appreciate the effort to really do "worst case," but I think some things are missing:

LB -- You forget that Barham has transferred to Michigan from Maryland.  So he'll be in there.

OL -- Hinton probably will start.  And even a worst case scenario should have a couple of (as of yet unknown) transfers in it.

RB -- Mullings needs to be in here, because there is no realistic chance that he leaves.  (And what a beast he is going to be).

DL -- I know this is "worst case," but Stewart looks very likely to return to me.  We'll have another great D line.

So the question is QB.  We'll be fine to excellent at every position group.  But JJ's decision looms very large over Team 145.

That D still looks stout to me.  Graham, Grant and Moore look like terrors for the opposition.

I like Mulllings at running back unless he is out of eligibility 

While, yeah, this is worst case, don't you think Trente comes back for a starting role?

QB: Davis/Orji

RB: Marshall, Mullings, Hall

WR: Morris, Morgan, Moore????

TE: Loveland, Bredeson, Klein, Tonieli

OL: Persi, El-Hadi, Crippen, Priebe, Hinton

DL: Graham, Benny, Grant, Pierce

Edge: Moore, Guy, Bennett

LB: Rolder, Hauserman, Barnham, Hood

CB: Johnson, McBurrows, Hill, Waller

S: Sabb, Johnson, Berry

If they get JJ back, Edwards, Stewart, and Paige this team is a top 10-15 team next year. They need some depth at WR, edge, corner, safety, and QB. That and we forget: some freshmen can come in and contribute faster than expected, and some guys have had to sit behind others and can be developed more than we think. 

No Benny? 

"This feels like an 8-4 type team, depending on QB play."

(pulls up 2021 roster) o ye of little faith

Yeesh. Let's think positive. We're not dead yet.

Who is Henderson at RB?

If needed, Orji/Davis  ala Tebow/Chris Leak.

( With Orji actually throwing ) 

Mullings at RB, Barham at LB and McBurrows at nickel

I like this approach, because then each player that announces a return is a bonus. It's fun to think about where this team will go and how they continue to establish their identity.

My company is based out of Atlanta, so I've had a lot of conversations with Georgia fans about how last year felt after finally breaking through in 2021 - "house money" is the term that comes up a lot. It was amazing to win, but wouldn't have been unbearable to lose at that point, finally having gotten the monkey off their back. I think that will be us next year - but maybe we copy them and just go win the whole thing again for fun. 

If we do, we'll need to follow a path like Georgia did.- they lost 14 starters and had 15 drafted. They brought back Ringo and Nolan Smith but the rest of their defense was unproven and unknown beyond that. Last year was really odd, in that CB2 was the only question, and there seemed to be 4-5 possible answers to it. I think we just have to remember most years in college football are full of questions until 3-4 weeks in. Our staff has shown a great ability to find answers. 

I think Brian's column suggested/implied that Paige, Q. Johnson, & Stewart are likely to come back, and it also seems like Jaden McBurrows and Zeke Berry saw more playing time at DB this season than Jones & Hillman, so if you slot all of those guys in your projected starting defensive lineup consists of 9+ returning guys who saw substantial playing time this year plus Barham who started for Maryland. That feels like a top 10 defense again if you can find someone decent to fill in at CB2. 

As for the offense, it'd be shocking if Hinton and Mullings didn't come back as they're the next in line for significant playing time bumps at OL and RB. The biggest question marks are definitely JJ, a bigger outside WR, and OL depth. It feels like you could address 2 of those 3 in the portal to get the offense up to a top-25 offense.

As for win total, a lot of it depends on how much of a drop off Washington, Oregon, and USC experience losing their starting QBs and other important pieces (e.g., Deboer going to Bama, UW and Oregon losing multiple additional offensive starts on top of their QBs). But even with your worst case scenario they should be favored against at least 7 teams (Fresno State, Arkansas State, Minnesota, Illinois, MSU, Indiana, and Northwestern), underdogs versus Texas and OSU, and TBD versus UW, OU, and USC. In my mind this still feels like a 9-10 win team if Harbaugh comes back and potentially a 10-11 win team if Harbaugh and JJ come back.

I'm all in on Orji. Can he pass? Of course he can. He's a QB. One more year of seasoning and he'll be all polished up into a sophomore Jalen Milroe. With Mullings and the run game plus the defense, I'm not totally giving up on back-to-back just yet.

Hey, if focusing on the absolute worst case makes you happy, go for it

Based on the recruiting roundup segment today it sounds like it could be a whole lot worse than that. Yeesh.

Goode?

Duplicate

Hinton has already said he is coming back, so I presume he would start.

If all the players on the DL leave that are eligible, then I can see Etta breaking through and having a very good season next year. 

The offense looks worrisome in this worst case scenario, while the defense looks good.  

Someone needs to earn their paycheck and coach/teach Orji how to pass…

He’d be deadly if it ever happens.