With this team still being a young group overall and lacking quality depth at several positions, we all know we'll have to rely on some guys that do not possess a ton of experience to play meaningful snaps throughout the course of the season. So, who do you think will display the most improvement this season and take their game to another level?
On offense, I'm going with Cory Helms. Helms entered last season with high expectations, but struggled quite a bit because he seemed to be battling various injuries and could never get healthy enough to put it all together. He showed flashes of being a mauler at guard, but the consistency was never there. From the outside looking in, it seemed like Coach Elliott failed to utilize Helms' strengths and put him in a position where he became a liability. With Helms healthy and Coach Wolford now in charge, I believe we'll see a big improvement in Helms' play this season. Right guard could be a position to track throughout fall camp if Camper emerges at right tackle and Bailey is moved back to left guard. That could create a fun battle to follow between Helms and Stanley.
On defense, my vote is for Keir Thomas. As with a lot of guys that were apart of Coach Muschamp's first recruiting class, Thomas turned out to be a great evaluation. Thomas quietly put together a solid freshman season where he finished with 24 total tackles, 4 tfl and 2 sacks. After a full offseason in Coach Dillman's strength and conditioning program, Thomas shed a lot of bad weight and reshaped his body. With the weight loss, Thomas will now compete with Dante Sawyer for the starting defensive end position. While Sawyer has Thomas beat on experience, I think Thomas is the more talented player and will eventually surpass Sawyer for the starting role. As everyone knows, pass rush is a huge concern for this team and to me, that's where Thomas will wreak havoc. He can slide inside on long downs if need be and create mismatches against guards with his quickness, motor and pass rush moves, but also seems strong enough to set the edge when necessary. As I mentioned earlier, my expectations are for him to eventually become the starter. Also, I predict that he will double his total tackles, register at least 8 tfl and 7 sacks.
On offense, I'm going with Cory Helms. Helms entered last season with high expectations, but struggled quite a bit because he seemed to be battling various injuries and could never get healthy enough to put it all together. He showed flashes of being a mauler at guard, but the consistency was never there. From the outside looking in, it seemed like Coach Elliott failed to utilize Helms' strengths and put him in a position where he became a liability. With Helms healthy and Coach Wolford now in charge, I believe we'll see a big improvement in Helms' play this season. Right guard could be a position to track throughout fall camp if Camper emerges at right tackle and Bailey is moved back to left guard. That could create a fun battle to follow between Helms and Stanley.
On defense, my vote is for Keir Thomas. As with a lot of guys that were apart of Coach Muschamp's first recruiting class, Thomas turned out to be a great evaluation. Thomas quietly put together a solid freshman season where he finished with 24 total tackles, 4 tfl and 2 sacks. After a full offseason in Coach Dillman's strength and conditioning program, Thomas shed a lot of bad weight and reshaped his body. With the weight loss, Thomas will now compete with Dante Sawyer for the starting defensive end position. While Sawyer has Thomas beat on experience, I think Thomas is the more talented player and will eventually surpass Sawyer for the starting role. As everyone knows, pass rush is a huge concern for this team and to me, that's where Thomas will wreak havoc. He can slide inside on long downs if need be and create mismatches against guards with his quickness, motor and pass rush moves, but also seems strong enough to set the edge when necessary. As I mentioned earlier, my expectations are for him to eventually become the starter. Also, I predict that he will double his total tackles, register at least 8 tfl and 7 sacks.
