Who can we LEAST afford to lose?

G

gamecocks

All-Conference
After worring about Lucky and Murtha's injuries the past couple of days, it got me wondering, who are the players that we could LEAST afford to lose to injury this year? I know we don't want to lose anyone to injury but they do happen and teams that can overcome them seem to be the better teams.

I would say that Lucky and possibly Turner are the two that we most need. Lucky provides a total package in the backfield, and Turner is a great pass rusher that we need at DE. What does everyone else think?

 
Ya I would say that Lucky and Turner are pretty close to who I would pick as well. Lucky bc of his versatility and knowledge of the offense and being able to recognize blitzes. Turner if nothing else bc we dont have anyone behind him. I believe that Octavian and possibly Yancy will do a good job in taking a couple of blows for him next year, but the strong majority of the reps will go to Turner and after him there is a HUGE drop off, although I am waiting to see what Yancy can do. If not Turner, then someone like Suh bc he is a freakin FORCE in the middle that will demand a double team almost every time, I believe.

 
I think it has to be Lucky, we need him to be a playmaker as a runner and receiver... another guy would be Purify because he will demand so much attention from defenses because he is a big time receiver that teams know they have to guard with maybe 2 people and if we lost him we may have similar guys size wise and possibly talent wise but they would have Purifys presence.

 
Lucky appears to be the popular choice, and I don't disagree, but for conversation sake, I am going to throw 2 more names at you....

1. Suh.....he will be all-big 12... and we are already trying to replace all of the front four...the loss of him would be devestating to the d-line, until some of these juco guys prove something.

2. Bowman.... I know he is already probably lost, but with our cb play last year, I have no confidence that it will improve without ZB...... Grixby can be a great technician, but his size is the issue..... Murrillo needs to show something....

 
Anyone at corner. Anyone in the defensive backfield for that matter. I don't think the D-line has a lot of quality depth right now as well either.

If I had to choose one person or one position, I'd choose corner.

 
HANC said:
***SNIP***

1. Suh.....he will be all-big 12... and we are already trying to replace all of the front four...the loss of him would be devestating to the d-line, until some of these juco guys prove something.

***SNIP***
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Absolutely correct. Think of it this way - if Lucky goes down, there's some young talent to step in. It may not be as knowledgable as Lucky, but it's there. And a running back's ability is directly proportional to his line. If the line is doing a great job, even a "merely competent" back can look good.

We finally have some depth at corner, albeit inexperienced. But there's talent there.

But someone to hold down the middle of the defensive line? I'm not sure that we have anyone that even can come close to replacing Suh. And as Hanc noted, with losing the entire front four Suh becomes almost invaluable.

 
Suh, hands down. Lucky would be next, followed by either Jones or Murillo. Carl Nicks would suck to lose as well, although there is some depth there.

 
Lucky is definatly a big loss to the team but theres other guys. Now if we lose a d-back we will be seeing what we saw last year. I dont always look at the running back injury as a horrible thing, it will give younger players lots of game experience and later down the road it will definately pay off.

 
Suh by far. but i'm gonna choose a different scenerio.

Jones, wait just give me a chance to explain. With Bowman being injured...sigh...again, behind jones who do we have? We have talent/potential, but what they have in that they don't have in experience and height. just my .02 or just some food for thought.

 
HANC said:
Lucky appears to be the popular choice, and I don't disagree, but for conversation sake, I am going to throw 2 more names at you....

1. Suh.....he will be all-big 12... and we are already trying to replace all of the front four...the loss of him would be devestating to the d-line, until some of these juco guys prove something.

2. Bowman.... I know he is already probably lost, but with our cb play last year, I have no confidence that it will improve without ZB...... Grixby can be a great technician, but his size is the issue..... Murrillo needs to show something....
Click to expand...

AR Husker Fan said:
HANC said:
***SNIP***

1. Suh.....he will be all-big 12... and we are already trying to replace all of the front four...the loss of him would be devestating to the d-line, until some of these juco guys prove something.

***SNIP***
Click to expand...
Absolutely correct. Think of it this way - if Lucky goes down, there's some young talent to step in. It may not be as knowledgable as Lucky, but it's there. And a running back's ability is directly proportional to his line. If the line is doing a great job, even a "merely competent" back can look good.

We finally have some depth at corner, albeit inexperienced. But there's talent there.

But someone to hold down the middle of the defensive line? I'm not sure that we have anyone that even can come close to replacing Suh. And as Hanc noted, with losing the entire front four Suh becomes almost invaluable.
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more. We have a lot of depth at the offensive positions (the injuries at I-back will be in better shape by fall), whereas the D-line is short of proven performers. I think Suh is going to be the biggest key to our defense. Some might argue the secondary, but I still say the best pass defense is a good pass rush.

 
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