Is there any one player that we can’t afford to lose?

[chinngiskhaan]

Assuming that all others are healthy, is there any one player that is so important that losing them would derail any chance of a conference championship? I honestly don’t think so. The top end talent is not as elite as it has been in years past (IMO, we don’t have anyone on this team at a JJ/Lloyd/Bolles/Weddle level), or is at least too inexperienced to show their true talent level… but the depth is solid team wide.

QB: Cam is the most obvious choice here, but I (for some reason) feel that Barnes wouldn’t be a huge step down in production. We would have to change some things up, but I think he might be better than Cam in some ways.

RB: The RB situation can’t get much worse than it has been the last few weeks (Curry out and TT out (for all intents and purposes anyway). Despite our running backs being out, we still did enough to win at RB.

WR: Imagine that this team is at full strength (IOW Kuithe not hurt). Do we really get that much worse if one of our decoys goes down with an injury? (it’s a joke guys, relax)

TE: We’ve already seen here that the offense can survive without Kuithe, even when the running game sucks as well.

OL: We are told that we are 10 deep here… Not sure if there is anyone on the Oline that is absolutely essential to the success of the team.

DL: These guys all seem pretty much interchangable. They sub in and out all the time, if someone like Fillinger or Tafuna went down, we would be okay.

LB: Same thing here. Diabate went down, and the defense was fine. He helps, as does Reid, but neither one is absolutely essential to the success of the team on their own.

CB: Phillips would hurt but Vaughn has ridiculous length, and in some matchups he might actually fare better than Phillips (that might be a stretch). I think he might be the most overlooked potential star (meaning will be some day, not now) on this defense. I think I heard he has a 6 ft 7 wingspan. If he can buckle down and work on his skills and movement he could be a legit NFL star with that length.

S: We have several guys here who can perform well. Losing Cole Bishop would hurt, but it wouldn’t derail our defense.

K: Redding got us to the Rose Bowl last year. Not worried here if the new starter goes down.

P: errrrrr… If our punter (who has been decent at least) goes down that could be a major problem… but he’s made of steel… right? RIGHT???

[AlohaUte]

Cam, Kuithe, and Tavion. We only 1/3 … sort of. It seems like we might as well have lost Tavion if he can’t get himself in order.

On the Defensive side, Clark Phillips. That would be a brutal loss.

[chinngiskhaan]

we already did lose Kuithe though… AND Tavion… AT THE SAME TIME… and we still won against a solid Pac12 team rather easily.

In my hypothetical I suggested asked if there was any 1 player that we couldn’t afford to lose, assuming all others were ready to go. Kuithe going down didn’t hurt too much (at least not yet), TT essentially going down at the same time didn’t hurt too much either.

Cam going down would hurt, and it MIGHT cost us a trip to the Pac12 championship, but I’m not super worried about it.

[rbmw263]

i get that Bryson Barnes as an idea is fun. But man some of you are way too high on him for really no reason

[ProudUte]

Losing Cam would make a difference.  Not necessarily because of talent.  But, Cam has so much game-time experience.  That cannot be taught.  This is why senior QB-led teams typically succeed.  I like Barnes and given time he may also be very good.

Losing Phillips would hurt.  I don’t think there is any doubt about that.

Otherwise, I think you are right.

[chinngiskhaan]

sure, but would losing cam and cam only eliminate us from Pac12 contender status? I don’t think so. That is my point.

[rbmw263]

it absolutely would

[Zigziggler]

This really isnt a comment in reference to who we cant afford to loose, but what happened to Ricky Parks?  If he is floating on the practice squad, why dont we play him.  We now are recruiting well enough or utilizing the portal to pick up a back in the future.

[Tony (admin)]

I feel like I’m too superstitious to answer this question

[2008 National Champ]

The answer is and always will be Rising. Of the others, losing Phillips would hurt the most since now that he’s moved to nickel, there are a lot of things Scalley can scheme with him and Bishop. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Phillips get a sack in the next couple of weeks.

I think Barnes would do fine running the offense in Rising’s absence but you said conference championship, not fine. Some garbage time reps and one throw in the Rose Bowl don’t show me enough to definitively say that there would not be a significant drop off. Starting a game 0-0 is a lot different than any situation he has been in so far and saying that he could take over a game and be the whole offense like Rising did last week is assuming facts which are not in evidence.

If Rising was no longer available starting this week, I think Barnes could lead the team to either 4-3 or 5-2 the rest of the way. I’m not sure that’s enough to get the team in to the CCG, let alone win.

[rbmw263]

has Clark moved to Nickel?

[2008 National Champ]

They’ve been trying to get him there since he got on campus. He struggled with it in 2020 and all of the injuries on the other side in 2021 didn’t give much opportunity. Also, having Nephi be so flexible allowed Clark to stay outside while Nephi played a hybrid LB/S instead of the traditional CB/S that you associate with the Nickel.

JT, Vaughn and Marks being healthy and playing with more confidence allows Phillips to move to Nickel which is a huge upgrade over Mataele, even if the true math is Phillips/Vaughn > Phillips/Mataele. With Jaylon Johnson, it was an exceptional cover corner who would shut down one guy. With Clark, the potential is that by lining up all over the field, the offense never knows who he is covering which can be a force multiplier. I believe that his 3 picks last week were against 3 different receivers and field/boundary alignments didn’t matter.

Assuming competent play out of the corners, having Phillips and Bishop be equally adept at pass coverage and run support (Phillips shut down either a 3rd and 2 or 4th and 2 run while the game was still in doubt) will take a lot of pressure off the front 6. I don’t know if the move is official but even if it stays 50/50 like last week it really enhances Scalley’s options. Not to mention that in 2023, either Ritchie or Bishop will play the nickel and the corners will stay the same so you are getting your best alignment now while building experience for the future ensuring that Phillips getting drafted will not gut your secondary.

[chinngiskhaan]

Also… I’m sorry. If everyone gets hurt tomorrow. I’m truly sorry. I’ll knock on wood now… There, done.

[Extra Medium]

Bro what are you doing? We don’t talk about these things man. Do you want to curse us?