Looking Ahead to 2016

[UCF 10 Georgia 6]

Don't worry I'm not giving up on this season. Just was looking at how we stack up next year for all those who think it's gloom and doom.

Offense
QB- Justin Holman (SR) Will be a seasoned, above average QB who will be top 2-3 in conference with decent supporting cast
RB- Taj McGowan (SO) Has good vision, decent burst. Right now his 2 problems are a weak offensive line and only 1 offseason in a college weight room (falls a little easy right now on leg tackles)
WR- Jordan Akins (JR) Showed flashes of breakout potential in FIU game..will he recover from ACL?
WR- Tre'Quan Smith (SO) Showed flashes in spring game and FIU game..doesn't stand out as much so far because of inexperienced QBs and lack of a running game
WR- Tristan Payton (SO) Will develop into a good WR..showed top end speed on a couple reverses in the Furman game..hasn't been utilized effectively yet
TE- Micheal Campbell (SR) veteran experience
Here's where it gets tricky:
LT- Aaron Evans (JR)
LG- Chester Brown (SR)
C- Jason Rae (SR)
RG- Tyler Hudanick (SO)
RT- Luke Palmer (SO)
The offensive line is the heartbeat of any offense, and ours is simply not very good. You would think they would improve with experience for next year, but some of them don't simply look good enough to begin with. We need to land a couple graduate transfers or something..just find a way to get 2-3 offensive linemen that can come in and make an impact..
- our skill players are good enough to compete..the offensive line is holding us back in all aspects of the game in my opinion

Defense
DE- Luke Adams (SR) - veteran, not a huge fan but having seniors is nice
DT- Jamiyus Pittman (JR) will be a beast by 2016..already very effective run stuffer as a Sophomore
DT- Demetris Anderson (SR) assuming he has a full recovery..he will compliment Pittman very well
DE- Titus Davis (SO) already cracked 2-deep at DE..will improve with year of experience on field and in weight room
OLB- Chequan Burkett (JR) average linebacker.. won't really help us or hurt us too much
MLB- ???
OLB- Errol Clarke (SR) same as Burkett..won't really help us or hurt us too much
CB- Shaquill Griffin (SR) has improved this year compared to last year..will only improve more heading into senior season
CB- Chris Williams (SO) most talented defensive player on our roster..mark my words. If the gunshot injury isn't a long-term concern he will be a stud for us
D.J. Killings (SR) experienced corner who was ready to make an impact this season before injury
FS- Drico Johnson (SR) pleasantly surprised with Drico Johnson..he is one of the only guys that has really stepped into the role and stepped up his game..
SS- Tre Neal (SO) talented young safety..making freshman mistakes right now but he will be fine

I think our defense is good enough to keep us in ball games..just think we really wouldn't have many points scored against us if we had an actual D1 offense right now..our defense is on the field so much

Offensively, like I've stated, we have guys at skill positions like Justin Holman, Tre'Quan Smith, Jordan Akins, Tristan Payton, and a couple others but our offensive line/young QBs have really neutralized our skill players ability to do anything.

Add a couple good recruiting gets (hopefully), and welcome back a healthy Justin Holman, Jordan Akins, Luke Hiers, Demetris Anderson, Chris Williams, D.J. Killings, and its not all "gloom and doom"..

Like I said, grab a couple immediate offensive line transfers and we can compete.

 

[UCFBS]

No! GoL needs to go ... now!

More seriously now ... I'm not saying anything about 2016. I'll wait and see how the season starts. That's what I've said from the get-go. But I do like the talent we recruited.

 

[KNIGHTTIME^]

We should be ok in 2016 especially if we can start filling up recruiting classes with 25 quality players.

 

[UCFBS]

We should be ok in 2016 especially if we can start filling up recruiting classes with 25 quality players.

I think a lot of people have been knocking our current Freshmen (and Redshirt Freshmen) and Recruiting, not realizing these guys are pretty good ... just not experienced.

Which is why 2016 won't be based on 2015 recruiting, but far more on the 2013-2014 recruiting ...
Plus ... the leadership of the 2011 (this year's seniors) and 2012 (next year's seniors) recruiting classes.

Stanback was not a good sign, but I'm hoping he was just an outlier.

 

[SADUCFKNIGHT]

I've given up on this season bc of the coaches but solid post.*

 

[firm_bizzle]

Where is Kyle Gibson?

 

[mattropolis]

We should be ok in 2016 especially if we can start filling up recruiting classes with 25 quality players.

For the next two years we should use the 5 extra recruits each year just to bring in more OL. We over-recruited OL in 2004 but it sure did pay dividends in 2007.

 

[Knight_Classes_begin_7pm]

In my opinion, I don't think we want to take losses while Brent Key gets trained. Play calling has to change. In today's game, they figure out the plain vanilla, 1950's play calling real quick. Look at how well GA Tech has done with the triple option. LSU uses alot of trick play and different play calls. FACT: If we have no strategic play calling, we're going to lose.

 

[firm_bizzle]

6-6. Cure Bowl.

 

[anon_x731qvsnsyb8i]

I have a gut feeling that Jordan Akins may take this as a sign and quit football. I have little faith in his return. He looked more lost than the younger kids at times. Especially during certain situations.

 

[Stormthecourt?]

In my opinion, I don't think we want to take losses while Brent Key gets trained. Play calling has to change. In today's game, they figure out the plain vanilla, 1950's play calling real quick. Look at how well GA Tech has done with the triple option. LSU uses alot of trick play and different play calls. FACT: If we have no strategic play calling, we're going to lose.

Yep. These kids could all get stronger and better but Key will ruin the entire offense with his preparation and play calling.
And I want to see Mike Rogers in there somewhere.

 

[Ucfmikes]

Yep. These kids could all get stronger and better but Key will ruin the entire offense with his preparation and play calling.
And I want to see Mike Rogers in there somewhere.

Where is Mike Rogers?? He was a one man highlight real in H.S. He went from prize recruit to disappeared. Is he on the roster?

 

[Knight_Light]

Don't worry I'm not giving up on this season. Just was looking at how we stack up next year for all those who think it's gloom and doom.

Offense
QB- Justin Holman (SR) Will be a seasoned, above average QB who will be top 2-3 in conference with decent supporting cast
RB- Taj McGowan (SO) Has good vision, decent burst. Right now his 2 problems are a weak offensive line and only 1 offseason in a college weight room (falls a little easy right now on leg tackles)
WR- Jordan Akins (JR) Showed flashes of breakout potential in FIU game..will he recover from ACL?
WR- Tre'Quan Smith (SO) Showed flashes in spring game and FIU game..doesn't stand out as much so far because of inexperienced QBs and lack of a running game
WR- Tristan Payton (SO) Will develop into a good WR..showed top end speed on a couple reverses in the Furman game..hasn't been utilized effectively yet
TE- Micheal Campbell (SR) veteran experience
Here's where it gets tricky:
LT- Aaron Evans (JR)
LG- Chester Brown (SR)
C- Jason Rae (SR)
RG- Tyler Hudanick (SO)
RT- Luke Palmer (SO)
The offensive line is the heartbeat of any offense, and ours is simply not very good. You would think they would improve with experience for next year, but some of them don't simply look good enough to begin with. We need to land a couple graduate transfers or something..just find a way to get 2-3 offensive linemen that can come in and make an impact..
- our skill players are good enough to compete..the offensive line is holding us back in all aspects of the game in my opinion

Defense
DE- Luke Adams (SR) - veteran, not a huge fan but having seniors is nice
DT- Jamiyus Pittman (JR) will be a beast by 2016..already very effective run stuffer as a Sophomore
DT- Demetris Anderson (SR) assuming he has a full recovery..he will compliment Pittman very well
DE- Titus Davis (SO) already cracked 2-deep at DE..will improve with year of experience on field and in weight room
OLB- Chequan Burkett (JR) average linebacker.. won't really help us or hurt us too much
MLB- ???
OLB- Errol Clarke (SR) same as Burkett..won't really help us or hurt us too much
CB- Shaquill Griffin (SR) has improved this year compared to last year..will only improve more heading into senior season
CB- Chris Williams (SO) most talented defensive player on our roster..mark my words. If the gunshot injury isn't a long-term concern he will be a stud for us
D.J. Killings (SR) experienced corner who was ready to make an impact this season before injury
FS- Drico Johnson (SR) pleasantly surprised with Drico Johnson..he is one of the only guys that has really stepped into the role and stepped up his game..
SS- Tre Neal (SO) talented young safety..making freshman mistakes right now but he will be fine

I think our defense is good enough to keep us in ball games..just think we really wouldn't have many points scored against us if we had an actual D1 offense right now..our defense is on the field so much

Offensively, like I've stated, we have guys at skill positions like Justin Holman, Tre'Quan Smith, Jordan Akins, Tristan Payton, and a couple others but our offensive line/young QBs have really neutralized our skill players ability to do anything.

Add a couple good recruiting gets (hopefully), and welcome back a healthy Justin Holman, Jordan Akins, Luke Hiers, Demetris Anderson, Chris Williams, D.J. Killings, and its not all "gloom and doom"..

Like I said, grab a couple immediate offensive line transfers and we can compete.

Good breakdown...and that's without any new players listed (other than Center Luke Hiers, who hopefully is back at 100% when he enrolls in Jan...as UCF expects huge things from him...probably would have played and had a good shot at winning starting spot this year if he didn't get hurt in HS).

Since Feb 2016 Class will be the first UCF Class in 4 years to have eligible the 25 max scholarships, while its risky, I can see UCF signing 2 or 3 JUCO's (especially if they can enroll in Jan at OL, DL or even LB for immediately help.)

Hopefully RB CJ Jones can also gain valuable experience this year as well as Taj...plus probably another incoming Freshmen for 2016 too.

There are some playing positions that could be open to some HS recruits (more WR, RB, LB, maybe DB too), as even when UCF was at max scholarships in the past, 4-5 true Freshmen still were able to crack the 2 deep and play their first year...and I'm sure when less depth, maybe 5-6 Freshmen will get that shot in 2016.

 

[firm_bizzle]

Currently 111th in recruiting. Future looks real bright.

 

[Victorywayucf]

I look forward to 2016 with head coach Matt Campbell.