Updated Roster - 2.2.22

[Stinger92860]

Based on @Exit 4 analyis, I’ll bet the over, again. Thank you for the work you do here.

 

[Exit 4]

I’ve started add the number of years of eligibility remaining for each player in their name and dropping the RS designation. Thanks to the entire 2020 season not counting against their 4 year max service time, a lot of guys that have been here a while still have a lot of eligibility remaining.

 

[History Geek]

If your current vibe comes to fruition, then 3 starters on last year's offensive line moves to second string. That is a good thing because they weren't ready (as results showed) and could even use another year of development. It also means by definition the line will be better next year.

Also, Rochester just entered the portal.

 

[Pudge]

Been thinking about the 27 signees + the committed Cale Millen.

Here is how I would break them down. I'm going to skip discussion the QB position since the QB is always the most important recruit and Mora clearly did a much better job than any of his three predesessors in pulling in legit talent. I view Roberson, Millen and Turner as all equally important. I like all three more than anything we have had in a long time and I because you never know until they start playing, we will basically have three bites at the apple here. I still like Tyler Phommachanh, I just want him to heal this year, watch and come back in 2023. Steven Krajewski could be a great back up for us and maybe the new offensive scheme helps to boost his play.

So IMHO the most important new additions beyond the QB position which is always most important would be as follows;

1) Victor Rosa and Cam Edwards <--Got them at the top because these two were clearly the best two athletes in CT public school and if we are going to change the narrative on CT and greater New England recruiting then it starts by taking great local players and having them succeed on our field. It would be hard not to think things are changing had these two slipped off to a school like Temple or Iowa like so many local talents. Granted, neither had the P5 world beating their doors down, but I can't help but see that as a result of the COvid bump year narrowing the HS recruiting activity. If Rosa and Edwards emerge as major players, it will do a lot to change the local story. The Rosa and Edwards story however will be written in 2023+ as I expect neither to play much in 2022.

2) Sokoya McDuffie - 6'5'' DT <--I think this kid is going to be the rock we need at the center of the DL around which all our DE/LB twists and stunts can have an impact. He will take a lot of pressure off Gourdine and Evans to shine this year and collectively the three should be a solid rotation. Conversely, how bad would our 2022 D be if either Gourdine or Evans were to get hurt this year and we didnt land this anchor - I shudder to think. We needed this big dude in a big way and I already see NFL draft pick ahead.

3) Marquez Bemby - the 242lb LB from the SEC <--Whether he plays inside or outside, he's going to give our veteran LB unit the beef they need to endure. I like the idea of trying Mitchell at OLB and Bemby inside, but regardless if the staff flips that plan, Mitchell/Bemby/Swenson should have muscle and experience we need to have an effective unit. Webb should be a good back up and I like what I saw in the few snaps Tui Brown played last year. Its worth noting that I had heard Jordan Morrison practiced well last season, so maybe the new staff gives him more field time too. Long term I look forward to the development of Fogle and Speight. Wildcard at the LB position, does Hardy Langston find the fastest way to the field is playing OLB sometime this year...we shall see.

4) Nikko Pohahau - on OL. I might have to eat my words as Jacob Guidone is probably going to also give Nikko at run for the money at C for best new OL, but just looking at the tape and build, I think Nikko has great potential to really anchor one of our OT spots. He plays mean, he looks focused, he looks reliable, he looks balanced and with good foot speed. We are much better off today with the choice of Lundt, Brown, Nikko and Senn all vying for the two OT positions and I think he might emerge as the best of them this season.

5) Jacob Guidone - C. I think the Dartmouth kid will have no problem learning to set the OL and direct the blocking schemes. If this works out like planned it could free up Fortin to play LG giving us more depth and it take some pressure on developing young Yakiri Walker as the center of the future. C and LG were our weakest chain links in the OL last year. Anyone watching the portal closely this offseason probably noticed how hard it is to find centers...for that reason Guidone as a C conversion marks pretty high on my list of accomplishments for its potential impact.

6) Donavon Branch - DE. Branch shows a nice combo of physicality and speed at the DE position. Probably wont have in impact in 2022, but in 2023+ I expect things to happen as he has perhaps the most obvious upside of any of our HS recruits.

7) Notable mentions - Brinson at CB looks solid to me, Hicks is certainly a talent at WR, Joly is very intriguing for a big play TE after a couple years in the weight room, Hoffman is a interesting athlete for DE/TE, Mountali-Johnstone has good potential to be a two way TE that has surprising ability to stretch the field, Murawski at OT is a mountain of a kid, already 344lb him and lastly does a kid like Prince Samuel evolve into the next Darrien Beavers? Skinny kid today, brickhouse LB in three years - I hope so.

Overall I see fewer head scratchers in this recruiting class than the prior years. Edsall usually had 2 to 3 kids that I really didn't understand (ie ceiling = back up). I see everyone coming in has some decent potential and good reason to be a part of this program.

Lets see what new coaching can do for these guys.

You are filling out the roster and depth chart with some insightful comments.

My immediate Feb 3 view of a 1-11 team in need of a shot of maturity, leadership and positivity: OUR most important incoming is Roberson today. Leave Iowa in your deep state brain. He comes in with skills and the psych to overcome ... gathers 7 on 7 type games now and we start on a good path. Of course, I give lot of credence to his HS coaches and anecdotal info on his makeup. Plus Mora. And co-equal important is Guidone to a line that was humbled infused with spirit by a champion ALL Ivy. Lead from Day One. Gather, compete, challenge. With our new OLine coach Sammis; another High Academic achiever at UVA

The next tier on this page is Bembry (because of the hint given to us by Mora) and then Will Knight. If you listen and watch his interview in his high school career into UD, he has something special. I don't know why he left UD or the other bumps. I expect he is talented, instinctually gifted and a leader. Plus some holdovers stepping up

 

[Blades]

Great analysis, one guy I think has a great chance at starting as a Freshman is Spearman at Safety. He is already on campus and is a nice looking athlete.

Speaking of, has anyone seen a list of the true FR/prep players coming in mid year ?

 

[Jimdish255]

Would be nice to see a walk-on or 2 step up and contribute. Not unheard of. Plus we're definitely not done. If someone becomes available it's always possible Mora has a pipeline.

 

[businesslawyer]

I would’ve made that assumption too, but looking at Barboza playing time at UTEP he wasn’t a starter there and was behind a Rs-FR at tackle. I say the reason we couldn’t run was also part of play calling and choice of picking Mensah over Nate most of the time. I really wanna say we have a way talented roster than UTEP but because of play calling and QB rotations throughout the season we didn’t really maximize our potential.

You are free to say it. And you may be right. But there is no evidence that our roster was better than anyone’s.

 

[Pudge]

Would be nice to see a walk-on or 2 step up and contribute. Not unheard of. Plus we're definitely not done. If someone becomes available it's always possible Mora has a pipeline.

If some guy becomes available, the week before summer camp - particularly at a position we need - we are gonna take him. Not like the old days. and definitely helps to have an NFL mindset

 

[Meego1963]

I would love to see Johnson and Hardy move to LB
Is there any talk of moving Chris Johnson to linebacker? When they recruited him he mainly was an LB - 6-2 215.

 

[gioff2323]

You are free to say it. And you may be right. But there is no evidence that our roster was better than anyone’s.

Certainly puzzling to say we had a better roster than a team that went bowling.

 

[Guru13]

Certainly puzzling to say we had a better roster than a team that went bowling.

We can agree to disagree but if you look at the recruiting rankings from 2017 with the exception of 2019 we’ve had a better recruiting class. I am going just off the rankings by 247. Nothing spectacular, but we brought in quality players and this past season showed we can keep up with certain schools but had too many missed opportunities and leaving points off the board and questionable play calling, especially with having an underwhelming coaching staff. Yea I get it as a fan base we’re tired of losing and underachieving but, we’ve had couple guys hit the transfer portal go FBS to better schools with better coaching. The talent on the roster is definitely here, but with better coaching I think this team can win at least 5-7 games against the schools we play against. I may be optimistic and putting a lot of faith on the roster we have, but it’s all due to coaching and you can’t tell me last year coaching staff was as experienced as the coaching staff we have right now. As bad as we’re, I’m surprised that we at least have sent some players to the league.

 

[Bongo Fury]

We can agree to disagree but if you look at the recruiting rankings from 2017 with the exception of 2019 we’ve had a better recruiting class. I am going just off the rankings by 247. Nothing spectacular, but we brought in quality players and this past season showed we can keep up with certain schools but had too many missed opportunities and leaving points off the board and questionable play calling, especially with having an underwhelming coaching staff. Yea I get it as a fan base we’re tired of losing and underachieving but, we’ve had couple guys hit the transfer portal go FBS to better schools with better coaching. The talent on the roster is definitely here, but with better coaching I think this team can win at least 5-7 games against the schools we play against. I may be optimistic and putting a lot of faith on the roster we have, but it’s all due to coaching and you can’t tell me last year coaching staff was as experienced as the coaching staff we have right now. As bad as we’re, I’m surprised that we at least have sent some players to the league.

There is talent but is it better than the opponents? Last year’s team was maybe more talented than 3 of their opponents. ( New England)

 

[Husky68]

There is talent but is it better than the opponents? Last year’s team was maybe more talented than 3 of their opponents. ( New England)

To some degree that supports his point of the coaching issue hiding any talent UConn had. Win one of three games where have more talented and none of nine games where are not highlights under achievement/coaching issues.

UTEP's best win was over Massey #103 Fl Atlantic. Interesting that a team can win 7 games and not a single one against a team rated better than #100. They did play Fresno State a lot better than UConn.

Still bit of a stretch to say UConn had more talent than UTEP.

 

[Guru13]

To some degree that supports his point of the coaching issue hiding any talent UConn had. Win one of three games where have more talented and none of nine games where are not highlights under achievement/coaching issues.

UTEP's best win was over Massey #103 Fl Atlantic. Interesting that a team can win 7 games and not a single one against a team rated better than #100. They did play Fresno State a lot better than UConn.

Still bit of a stretch to say UConn had more talent than UTEP.

It is a stretch but I am just basing it off of recruiting rankings from the previous years we have recruited players. I guess for example I could use is a team like Texas they now and then pull in a top 6 recruiting class. In the Big 12, it is usually Texas and OU dominating in the recruiting trail, most Texas fans are disappointed in their teams shortcomings because they believe they should be winning the Big 12 or at least have a chance in the playoffs just because they pull in better recruits than a lot of teams so why are the players they recruited not playing as they were advertised.

Ultimately it pours down to coaching and scheme, and I believe a good coach can turn around a roster that is talented into a competitor with the right pieces in place. No one in the state of Texas recruits better than UT, but UT lost to Kansas…. Does that mean Kansas has a talented roster than UT? Now I’m not trying to say UConn is like Texas in any regards but all i am saying is we should at least be competitive with the right coaching staff to win games.

 

[businesslawyer]

We can agree to disagree but if you look at the recruiting rankings from 2017 with the exception of 2019 we’ve had a better recruiting class. I am going just off the rankings by 247. Nothing spectacular, but we brought in quality players and this past season showed we can keep up with certain schools but had too many missed opportunities and leaving points off the board and questionable play calling, especially with having an underwhelming coaching staff. Yea I get it as a fan base we’re tired of losing and underachieving but, we’ve had couple guys hit the transfer portal go FBS to better schools with better coaching. The talent on the roster is definitely here, but with better coaching I think this team can win at least 5-7 games against the schools we play against. I may be optimistic and putting a lot of faith on the roster we have, but it’s all due to coaching and you can’t tell me last year coaching staff was as experienced as the coaching staff we have right now. As bad as we’re, I’m surprised that we at least have sent some players to the league.

Perfectly rational response. But you put more faith in the rankings than I do. Are they useful to separate Alabama's class from ours? Sure. But once you get down below the level of 3 and 4 star players, I view them as utterly useless.

 

[WhereYouAt]

We have brought in 28 new players with a maximum limit of 32. By accounts on this board we have 1 slot open after Rochester departed but I expect we fill those 4 spots after the spring with natural turnover.

We are down to only 14 OL and any FBS program should have 16-18, so that is our greatest need.

Here are some portal names to keep any eye on based on Twitter stalking...

OL
Jacob Brammer UNT - Mora/Sammis
Raiquon O'Neil Rutgers - Mora/Sammis
Kanan Ray Colo - Mora/Sammis
Chance Lytle Colo - Sammis
Anthony Whigan Penn St - Sammis/Barthel
Lance Robinson MTSU - Sammis/Barthel
Jacob Isaia Mich St - Sammis/Hill

Non OL
Kaulana Makayla USC - Mora
Chris Conti Rutgers - Barthel

 

[Stinger92860]

If we pick up additonal OL recruits after spring practice, I would expect our targets to be P5 OL behind better OL on a stacked roster. I’ll be curious to see what happens at a school like Texas, where I believe they have an NIL setup for all of the OL. Would a player leave for paying time, giving up the income? It will be interesting.

 

[gioff2323]

It is a stretch but I am just basing it off of recruiting rankings from the previous years we have recruited players. I guess for example I could use is a team like Texas they now and then pull in a top 6 recruiting class. In the Big 12, it is usually Texas and OU dominating in the recruiting trail, most Texas fans are disappointed in their teams shortcomings because they believe they should be winning the Big 12 or at least have a chance in the playoffs just because they pull in better recruits than a lot of teams so why are the players they recruited not playing as they were advertised.

Ultimately it pours down to coaching and scheme, and I believe a good coach can turn around a roster that is talented into a competitor with the right pieces in place. No one in the state of Texas recruits better than UT, but UT lost to Kansas…. Does that mean Kansas has a talented roster than UT? Now I’m not trying to say UConn is like Texas in any regards but all i am saying is we should at least be competitive with the right coaching staff to win games.

Did you factor in roster attrition? How many recruits left either school?

I’m confident this staff will get better results, but comparing last years team to a bowl team seems a stretch, regardless of metric. And I don’t care if they beat Texas community college, look who beat us and look who we beat. At some point, you are what your record says.

Let’s agree that this program is better today than it was 4 months ago and that for the first time in sooooo lon, we can have pride in our program.

 

[Exit 4]

Gang, I have now completed the update of the roster tracker to include a simple eligibility estimate next to each name. The first number is the total span of remaining of eligibility years and the second number is the number of years of on field eligibility. By example 5-4 would mean 5 years to play 4 or 2-2 would mean two years to play two (which means said player has already used their redshirt).

Things to keep in mind:
1) The entire 2020 season does not count towards any athlete's eligibility regardless if they played or not.
2) I have not factored in medical redshirts which are often not made public until the moment it is relevant (ie a player is in their final year, then they might apply regarding a prior season for the exemption). Seems like Myles Bell might be a future medical redshirt candidate.
3) I haven't perfected what to do about kids that simply graduate or exit the program but not enter the portal. So, rather than crowd up the charts with more designations I decided to just tag anyone that exits UConn who doesn't entire the portal as "NFL Draft" because surely that is a simple way to state that they are done with college athletics and now are draft candidates (like all us old people!).
4) I haven't bothered to get too accurate with the remaining eligibility of kids that are transferring out, particularly the kids the left prior to this fall. If I have mistakes, its probably with this info which I consider no longer relevant for our purposes anyway.
5) On the first tab I continue to have kids in academic class standings, generally I would ignore that as the academic standing is irrelevant to the essential questions which is # of years of remaining eligibility!
6) I welcome corrections as I am sure I have a few mistakes. But I ask that if you have a correction/question could you please take the time to detail your eligibility assertion rather than merely challenge it w/o doing any homework? Please briefly outline their prior years - Thanks.

Observations:
Congrats to Nyadu and Swenson as the players with the most seasons with the program going back to 2018!
Congrats to Jacob Guidone - he's 22! A 22 year old center ought to be beneficial.

List of 2021 redshirt freshman scholarship players (played 4 or less games):

Joshua Tracy
Yakiri Walker
Maxwell Modeste
Malcolm Bell
Deon McLean
Pryce Yates
Langston Hardy
Deondrick Speight
Danny Antolovich
Chris Johnson
Tyler Phommachanh

And class of 2020 players that still have four years of eligibility (2020 didn't count and they appeared in less than 4 games in 2021):
Darious Bush
Carter Hooper
Brendan Heatherman Jr

 

[metsfan2323]

Gang, I have now completed the update of the roster tracker to include a simple eligibility estimate next to each name. The first number is the total span of remaining of eligibility years and the second number is the number of years of on field eligibility. By example 5-4 would mean 5 years to play 4 or 2-2 would mean two years to play two (which means said player has already used their redshirt).

Things to keep in mind:
1) The entire 2020 season does not count towards any athlete's eligibility regardless if they played or not.
2) I have not factored in medical redshirts which are often not made public until the moment it is relevant (ie a player is in their final year, then they might apply regarding a prior season for the exemption). Seems like Myles Bell might be a future medical redshirt candidate.
3) I haven't perfected what to do about kids that simply graduate or exit the program but not enter the portal. So, rather than crowd up the charts with more designations I decided to just tag anyone that exits UConn who doesn't entire the portal as "NFL Draft" because surely that is a simple way to state that they are done with college athletics and now are draft candidates (like all us old people!).
4) I haven't bothered to get too accurate with the remaining eligibility of kids that are transferring out, particularly the kids the left prior to this fall. If I have mistakes, its probably with this info which I consider no longer relevant for our purposes anyway.
5) On the first tab I continue to have kids in academic class standings, generally I would ignore that as the academic standing is irrelevant to the essential questions which is # of years of remaining eligibility!
6) I welcome corrections as I am sure I have a few mistakes. But I ask that if you have a correction/question could you please take the time to detail your eligibility assertion rather than merely challenge it w/o doing any homework? Please briefly outline their prior years - Thanks.

Observations:
Congrats to Nyadu and Swenson as the players with the most seasons with the program going back to 2018!
Congrats to Jacob Guidone - he's 22! A 22 year old center ought to be beneficial.

List of 2021 redshirt freshman scholarship players (played 4 or less games):

Joshua Tracy
Yakiri Walker
Maxwell Modeste
Malcolm Bell
Deon McLean
Pryce Yates
Langston Hardy
Deondrick Speight
Danny Antolovich
Chris Johnson
Tyler Phommachanh

And class of 2020 players that still have four years of eligibility (2020 didn't count and they appeared in less than 4 games in 2021):
Darious Bush
Carter Hooper
Brendan Heatherman Jr

Nice job with the projected starting line-up.

One thing that stands out is how young the team is. Only three projected starters have 1 year of eligibility remaining.

 

[Exit 4]

Nice job with the projected starting line-up.

One thing that stands out is how young the team is. Only three projected starters have 1 year of eligibility remaining.

Thanks- just a crude guess. At the college level most of the players on the 2 deep end up with significant playing time - unless they are beyond an nfl caliber OL or QB, in that case the rotation can be very limited. So my point is, I expect the names in the 1s and 2s to get most of the snaps this season. Surprises welcome.

 

[Coach J]

Seems like LG will be a battle between Nyadu and Barboza.

I do like the idea of
LT: Senn
LG: Nyadu and Barboza to battle it out, probably both get starts this year
C: Guidone backed up by Fortin, Y Walker with Barboza as your emergency 4th option
RG: Haynes
RT: Nikko/Lundt/Brown battling it out, give a small edge to Nikko, but could see multiple starters over the season

O-Line may be better just from the new coaches - see highlights in bold below:

Ryan Van Demark, OT, UConn​

UConn players who get selected for all-star games certainly must have had some skill before getting here. In Ryan Van Demark’s case, that was apparent all throughout his career with the Huskies. And he showcased that at will during the week of practices.

Not only did Van Demark have a great week with his natural ability, but you could also watch the coaching he was receiving sink in. He got better with every rep, set, and practice.

 

[Coach J]

Also it is nice to see Robert Burns sticking around for an extra year. I'd like to see how the new staff utilizes him. This kid was no slouch coming out of HS - he had offers from Alabama, Georgia, and Clemson and went to the University of Miami. I mean he played and averaged 4.0 yards per carry at Miami, but a 1-11 team can only get him 12 carries?

 

[History Geek]

Also it is nice to see Robert Burns sticking around for an extra year. I'd like to see how the new staff utilizes him. This kid was no slouch coming out of HS - he had offers from Alabama, Georgia, and Clemson and went to the University of Miami. I mean he played and averaged 4.0 yards per carry at Miami, but a 1-11 team can only get him 12 carries?

View attachment 73050

Yes. I'm still puzzled why he did not see the field more. Maybe we will never know.

 

[businesslawyer]

Also it is nice to see Robert Burns sticking around for an extra year. I'd like to see how the new staff utilizes him. This kid was no slouch coming out of HS - he had offers from Alabama, Georgia, and Clemson and went to the University of Miami. I mean he played and averaged 4.0 yards per carry at Miami, but a 1-11 team can only get him 12 carries?

View attachment 73050

Whatever weight anyone wants to give to a recruiting ranking, you think a ranking from 7 years ago is important? Really?