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A Review of Depth Chart vs. Preseason
How much difference was there between Game 12 last year and Game 1 this year in the team? Interestingly enough, not as much as you would think in terms of weight. Here are the largest weight changes:
Position |
Name |
Year |
2015 Ht |
2015 Weight |
2014 Ht |
2014 Wt |
Wt Difference |
% Change |
| FB | Ladarius Banks | R-Jr. | 6-2, | 255 | 6-3 | 297 | -42 | -14.14% |
| OT | Bailey Granier | R-Fr. | 6-6, | 315 | 6-6 | 345 | -30 | -8.70% |
| TE | Sean Dowling | R-So. | 6-5, | 270 | 6-5, | 288 | -18 | -6.25% |
| DE | Riley Tindol | R-Fr. | 6-5, | 262 | 6-5 | 275 | -13 | -4.73% |
| DE | Torey Agee | R-Jr. | 6-4, | 282 | 6-3, | 295 | -13 | -4.41% |
| QB | Johnny McCrary | R-So. | 6-4, | 220 | 6-4, | 230 | -10 | -4.35% |
| RB | Josh Crawford | Fr. | 5-10 | 200 | 5-10 | 208 | -8 | -3.85% |
| CB | Torren McGaster | R-Jr. | 6-1, | 200 | 6-0, | 192 | 8 | 4.17% |
| DE | Dare Odeyingbo | Fr. | 6-2, | 252 | 6-2 | 242 | 10 | 4.13% |
| WR | Trent Sherfield | So. | 6-0, | 200 | 6-0, | 190 | 10 | 5.26% |
| DE | Jonathan Wynn | R-So. | 6-5, | 255 | 6-5, | 244 | 11 | 4.51% |
| CB | LaDarius Wiley | R-Fr. | 6-1, | 205 | 6-1 | 192 | 13 | 6.77% |
| CB | Tre Herndon | So. | 6-0, | 185 | 6-1, | 172 | 13 | 7.56% |
| SS | Emmanuel Smith | So. | 6-2, | 218 | 6-2, | 205 | 13 | 6.34% |
| QB | Wade Freebeck | So. | 6-5, | 226 | 6-5 | 212 | 14 | 6.60% |
| WR | Caleb Scott | So. | 6-1, | 195 | 6-1, | 180 | 15 | 8.33% |
| OLB | Josh Smith | Fr. | 6-3, | 236 | 6-3 | 219 | 17 | 7.76% |
| OT | Blake Fromang | R-Jr. | 6-7, | 305 | 6-7 | 288 | 17 | 5.90% |
| ILB | Khari Blasingame | R-Fr. | 6-1, | 228 | 6-1 | 205 | 23 | 11.22% |
| TE | DeAndre Woods | R-So. | 6-3, | 238 | 6-3 | 215 | 23 | 10.70% |
Players of Note:
- DeAndre ATE THE HOUSE. I suspected that he would be bigger but that is a big weight gain for a former WR. Thursday showed us he could play but there is a noticeable change in his speed. I think he sill is trying to get accustomed to his weight so hopefully we will see more of a flex use for him as the season progresses.
- Big weight gain in the secondary: Seeing Herndon, Wiley and Smith with +10 extra pounds should help them on run support. We saw flashes of that throughout Thursday and should see more of that in coming weeks.
- Caleb Scott and Trent Sherfield should be able to last longer with the added weight. The bigger frame for Caleb was apparent on Thursday with the catch in traffic. I think we will see Caleb lock down the Z receiver position and become a great possession receiver for us.
- Freshman weight gain! - Seeing Dare, Khari and Josh put on weight so quickly could be a great sign of the effectiveness of Dobson's S&C program. It is hard to imagine them breaking the depth chart without the extra bulk prepping them for SEC offenses.
The QBs - It was quickly confirmed that JMac's weight lost gave him more speed, more agility and helped his ability to escape. The added weight for Freebeck, with that frame should allow him to handle hits without fear of having him laid up.
Summary :
Overall, Dobson's offseason strength and conditioning efforts have paid dividends. What we saw on Thursday (along with some unfortunate cramps) was that the team was able to handle (in terms of conditioning) the uptempo on both sides of the ball. While I did see some fall off of tackles and finishing plays in the fourth quarter, the cliff fall from last season appears to have been addressed. The jury is still out on whether the team conditioning will be able to handle the full season.