catdaddyp

I was surprised to hear him say the secondary has the most depth. It feels like the situation we had along the DL last year in that we knew the talent level had been increased, but didn’t know how it would play out. If the secondary can take a step forward like the DL did, this defense should be one of the best in the conference. I was disappointed to hear there is still an ongoing competition at QB. Seemed like the spring game made it pretty obvious who the best QB was. Might be a situation where they are still hoping Bullock makes a leap in progression before the season begins?

MAC Media Days

It’s definitely time to see progress in the win column. Should have happened last year, but didn’t. I’m not sure how many coaches actually care about the preseason rankings. If picked low, they can use it for motivation. If picked high, potentially have to fight off complacency. Some coaches actually let someone else on staff do the voting and turn it in for them.

There’s definitely a chance for Akron and UMASS to go bowling. There have been a number of similarities between the two football programs. Both rosters were the worst in college football when Moorhead and Brown took over. Looking at Akron: Likely losses: Ohio State, Rutgers, South Carolina Most Likely Wins: Colgate, Kent State, Buffalo Would need 3 from: Ohio, Bowling Green, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo Looking at UMASS Likely Losses: Missouri, Mississippi State, Georgia Most Likely Wins: Central Connecticut, Wagner, Buffalo Would need 3 from: Eastern Michigan, Toledo, Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, Liberty, UCONN I haven’t followed MTSU enough to have much of an opinion.

Updates are completed. I doubt any more players receive ratings at this point as Rivals has moved on to the 2025 class. Akron finished tied for the best comprehensive (HS,JUCO, & Portal) class in the MAC last year and finished 2nd this year. Rivals did not do a comprehensive ranking in 2022. So far, 6 players from the 2022 class have been selected All-MAC - more than any other school in the conference for the 2022 class. The 2024 final rankings: 1 - Toledo 2 - Akron 3 - WMU 4 - EMU T5 - Kent T5 - Ohio 7 - Miami 8 - BGSU 9 - Buffalo 10 - Ball State 11 - NIU 12- CMU

Thought I’d bump this thread so everyone could see where the 2022 class currently stands. It usually takes a few years for freshmen to develop and contribute. It also takes a few years to look back and see how impactful the class actually was. So far, there have been 6 all-conference players (1 freshman, 5 portal) and 17 starters from the 35 player class. Only scholarship players are listed below. 2022 Freshmen Still on the Team: RB - Charles Kellom WR - Bobby Golden OL - Keylen Davis OL - Tyhler Williams DT - Kiawan Murphy LB - Bryan McCoy (All-MAC) 2022 Freshmen No Longer on the Team: QB - Dijon Jennings RB - Anthony Stallworth TE - Marquell Darnell OL - Jourden Hale OL - Ki’Marii Landers LB - Jaharon Griffin Transfer Portal Additions still on the Team: WR - Alex Adams (All-MAC) CB - Devontae Golden-Nelson Transfer Portal Additions No Longer on the Team: ( * has been placed beside players who have exhausted their eligibility) QB - Jeff Undercuffler * RB - Clyde Price RB - Cam Wiley WR - Daniel George (All-MAC) * WR - Shocky Jaquel-Louis (All-MAC) * TE - TJ Banks * TE - Caden Clark OL - Max Banes OL - Anthony Whigan (All-MAC) * DE - Victor Jones * DT - Curtis Harper * DT - Ravontae Holt * DT - Devon Robinson LB - Tim Terry * S - Kerry Martin (All-MAC) S - Nate Thompson * S - Jaden Woods JUCO Addition still on the Team: LB - Antavious Fish JUCO Additions No Longer on the Team: WR - Caleb Anderson DT - Kyle Thomas CB - Cam Threatt

Have to agree with the poster. Not sure why AAC would jump the gun on this and limit their own conference. Some form of NIL salary cap is coming as it’s already being discussed by ADs and HCs (in particular Big10 and SEC). Not sure what it’ll look like since there is so much to hash out and they have to make sure whatever they decide isn’t struck down by the courts.

I think the staff has done a really nice job recruiting the OL. In general, it just takes longer to develop offensive linemen than most other positions. The OL was in rough shape when Moorhead took over. There were a handful of players that had talent, but still needed developing. The rest really should have been nothing more than situational backups. From the 1st class (2022) Landers started as a freshman and unfortunately was lost to JUCO. The following year Williams and Davis became starters as redshirt freshmen (expecting both of them to only get better from here). Whigan was an immediate starter and All-MAC guard from the portal. Banes was a starter from the portal when he wasn’t injured. The 2nd class (2023) brought in two starters from the portal in Blanchard and Frank. All of the freshmen (Morris, James, and Mann) redshirted, so still too early for them, but they look promising. The 3rd class (2024) has 2 JUCO All-Americans (Walker and Fox), 1 JUCO that was on the All-American watchlist before the year began (Burrell), 1 All-MEAC (Thomas), a part-time starter at Miami (Seymore), a starter at Southern (Fields), a former Alabama recruit (Shor), and a prep recruiting win over Boston College (Mitchell). There were 5 linemen that transferred out this offseason and 5 that transferred out last offseason from the previous staff. So 10 OL didn’t get the job done at a high enough level that the current staff inherited. That’s tough. They won’t all work out but the talent and athleticism has been increased dramatically. As far as the stars go, most of these guys would be fringe 3 star guys according to Rivals ratings, which basically means either a multi-year starter, potential all-conference player, or potential late round pick in the NFL draft. This ought to be the year we see substantial improvement from the OL.

I won’t have much to add about the specialists except stats, but I figured it was time for an update with so much turnover. (K) Garrison Smith - [Redshirt Junior, New] - Transfer from McNeese State. Was 48 of 48 on extra points and 18 of 21 on field goals in two years at McNeese. Also handled kickoff duties. FCS freshman All-American. Owen Wiley - [Sophomore, Returning] - Went 12 for 12 on extra points and 4 of 6 on field goals. Only misses were beyond 40 yards. Matthew Schramm - [Freshman, New] - Chose Akron over Marshall. (P) Dante Jackson - [Redshirt Senior, Returning] - Former JUCO. 3 for 3 on extra points and 2 of 3 on field goals. 65 punts for a 37.5 average. Also handled kickoff duties. Avery Book - [Senior, New] - Transfer from Augustana. 48 punts for a 44.8 average in 2023. 1st Team All-conference for two years. Joseph Castle - [Sophomore, Returning] - Did not play in 2023. (LS) Liam Reardon - [Redshirt Junior, New] - Transfer from Iowa. Emmet Rhoades - [Redshirt Freshman, New] - Transfer from Florida A&M.

Bumping all of these. I think I have everyone added now.

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Great question. We have 3 players who are best suited at RT (Blanchard, Thomas, Walker) but one of them will likely play LT. My best guess is Blanchard since he started there last year before injuries limited most of his season. LT = Blanchard LG = Davis C = Williams RG = Seymore RT = Thomas Coach Rodriguez likes to play anywhere from 8-10 linemen each game so I’m sure if this ends up being the actual lineup we’ll still probably see Walker, Lyons, Fox, Burrell, and Fields work in. If James is ready to be the starter at LT like he was in the spring game, that’d give even more options. Perhaps Shor starts to play up to his potential too? We finally have an experienced OL with enough versatility and depth, should a few players get injured for any length of time, it shouldn’t derail performance like it did last season.

In the process of updating the positions and realized both Fox and Walker were 1st Team JUCO All-Americans this past season. Not sure what went on at Texas State with Walker, but I’d imagine both players will be pushing for starting spots. At first I thought Fox would be the backup (and he still may be the backup), but he should at least push Williams for first team snaps.

Pittsburgh is/was legitimately interested in him, but haven’t offered yet. They still might if they miss on other targets. If that happens, I’m not holding my breath he’ll stick to his commitment.

Both Granger and Walker could end up being sneaky good pickups. They are boom or bust types, so why not take a swing and see what happens. Fox was most recently a JUCO and I assume would be on scholarship. He should compete for the backup center spot. Kumfert is probably a walk-on. I don’t think he played at St. Francis. If he did, it wasn’t much.

This will be Moorhead’s most talented team since his arrival. In that sense there should be plenty of optimism. On the flip side, the three Power games early in the schedule make for a difficult setup to start the season. All the conference games are winnable.

Big time get for us. Syracuse was firmly after him. He took a round of OVs - with one of them being to Syracuse and finished his OVs with us. The staff apparently sealed the deal at that time. The Syracuse insiders at Rivals were all over this one and predicted the commitment to Akron yesterday.

Probably a good career move at this point. UCLA’s football program sounds like it’s a mess.

I think the additions of Reed and DeWalt may have been in response to the losses of Jester and Laing-Taylor. Regardless, I’m looking forward to what they can bring to the table. Hunter was added last year and could be an All-MAC CB if he can stay healthy. He’s dealt with injuries since his time at South Carolina. If he’s healthy he should start opposite of Golden-Nelson. I know Laing-Taylor was working in with the 2s before his issue and I believe Jester was too, so they were both in the running for the two deep. That said, I agree that Greenwood and Lewis will likely at least see starter type of snaps.