The Grounds

I took a look at the current roster, and not including seniors, broke down consensus recruiting evaluations to determine whether we had legitimate to solid starters (85, or mid-3 star, or higher) or potential true impact guys (90, or 4-star, or better).

At QB, everybody on the roster fits into the solid starter profile or better, with the "worst" of the bunch of Brendan Marshall rounding up to an 85, including two potential impact guys in Lambert (R-Fr) and Sims (Jr). Plus, we are 2-deep at the Jr, R-Fr, and Fr years. No need here.

At TB, we have two potential impact guys in Richardson (if he gets the touches) as a Jr and Smoke as a Fr. Morgan has reportedly looked serviceable as a redshirt. We should take a guy here - we have 3 juniors and only 1 R-Fr and 1 Fr at the position barring LaChaston Smith's wish to get a look here.

At WR, there is a bucketload of talent, potential, and impact - Smith, Jennings, Terrell are impact guys by my crude cutoff and Severin is close; we have seen flashes from others beyond this list. Gamble, Nixon, Levrone, and Johnson fit in as at least potential solid starters. Outside of a true impact talent, there is a ton of depth here and no real need.

At TE, we are thin, depending on where Dockins ends up long term and other position moves. McGee looks like a good player, and there is intrigue behind him, but no sure things. We should definitely be looking for talent here.

At OL, we actually now have 11 guys at the sophomore class or younger, with 7 as likely OT, and 4 as likely OG/C, depending on movement. 7 project as potential solid starters, though there are no premium talents here, even if some of the guys we feel pretty good about. We don't need quite as many bodies here as some seem to think, if we add 1-3 in each of the next 2 classes for 4-5 total, we will end up with 15-16 OL on the roster. Depth at the OG/C positions should be sought, as well as impact talent.

On the DL, we have impact guys at the ends in Moore and Harold, but not a lot of depth behind them. At tackle, we have lots of potential and guys likely to be solid starters or better, and a lot of depth. We could stand to add at least 2-3 on the line, with a focus on end.

The story is similar at LB - we have an impact guy in the middle (Moore) and a lot of solid starter types on the outside, though there is excitement about the potential of Brim to be better than that - and we are athletic here. Overall, there are 7 guys here at the sophomore class or younger, so adding premium talent, especially on the outside, is likely more important than adding a lot of bodies.

At DB, we have a solid 2-deep at both the safety and CB positions, led by Tre, Reese, Phelps, and Harris with a lot of solid young guys behind them. We have 10 guys who are sophomores or younger, so this is another position where depth is less of a concern than potential impact talent.

Overall, based on these (admittedly rough) estimations of impact and starter-level talent, our needs probably are:

QB: 0
RB: 1-2
WR: 1
TE: 1-2
OT: 1
OG/C: 1-2
DE: 2
DT: 1
OLB: 1
MLB: 1
CB: 1
S: 1

That comes to 12-15 spots, though if high-end talent wants to come, those can probably move around a bit.