Need and opportunity, I guess. There wasn’t a young center on the roster and there’s plenty of young OGs, so Kearney’s it at OC. If Eguakun was back with Slaughter, I'm sure Kearney would have gotten an opportunity OG. With Eguaken gone and Slaughter likely gone after this year, Kearney now has a clear path for PT at a position of need.
I totally agree with your comments on Williams. I think he may be being over looked by us fans. He did play pretty well last year. Plus, I think he may be the only o linemen recruited out of high school who will now be in his third season in the system (Kearney, Jones, Lovett, Harris going into second seasons). he has extra time in the system so could be a wild card to help improve the o line.
According to Jake Slaughter's presser, he claimed Manuel amd Dickson were impressive and solid contributers!
Slaughter said Jone's will be a beast. I would have liked someone to ask a F/U question to clarify if we will see that beast emerge in 2024.
To hear Jake praise Knijeah Harris was encouraging. The most intriguing OL is Noel Portnjagin. 6'5", 330 lbs, and quick feet for his size. Sounds like a tackle, but when he was being recruited, some projected him as a guard. Sale said Portnjagin reminded him of Torrance, and I suspect the comparison may have been his size at the guard position.
He looked special as a recruit, like he could play OL or DT. Now he looks really chiseled. I hope he can put it all together, as he could be special, especially in a system with good run schemes.
He might be the highest rated recruit on the OL for Napier, but he came in underweight for an SEC O-lineman (I think 275 if I recall). He needed to put on at least 25 lbs in the off-season programs, and after his redshirt year, I believe he has done just that. I'm looking forward to seeing him play.
Waites out is kinda a big deal. If he was going to get snaps, if, it’s a big deal. If Manuel and Barber were to take those snaps over a healthy Waites, then it’s just depth. It sucks for Waites as he seems to be always hurt and can’t be counted on even in the event of injury to Barber or Manuel.
I’m hoping he makes a big leap forcing them to start him somewhere. We would have him as an experienced upperclassman when Lagway starts his first year.
Not only opportunity but necessity. If Slaughter goes down, somebody has to do it and it’s really the most important player on the field when the snap becomes a problem .
Yes, that’s how I see it as well. He’s the only OL left from CBN’s transition class in 2022. It appears the best one survived.We’ll see how he does. There’s pressure for him to step up. He needs to play this year at least as OG3, where he’s at now. If he doesn’t earn PT this year, he’s looking at a Riley Simonds type path or a transfer. With that said, and as we’ve stated, I see him playing. When he did play last year as a RFr, he played well. He wasn’t physically mature enough to do more the first two years. Now as a 3rd year RSo, it’s go time.
I need to watch that. From what I understand, Jake was jacked about a lot of stuff- very encouraging!
He’a 4th year player, all with CBN, and a 3rd year Gator. Missing the last 2/3s of spring will be OK. I don’t think he was competing for LT1or LT2 for that matter, so that’s not an issue for me. If he’s really looking for PT, he can earn it in fall camp, where he’ll need to stay healthy. This calf thing is only the 2nd injury I’m aware of, and it’s nothing like his achilles injury. No long term rehab, just a soft tissue strain.
Players, who are in their 3rd to 5th year are the ones that help win football games as a team. Napier oldest players are only in their third year and it looks like that. A big problem for Napier is he has a very small class that is in their third year at this point.
