So far, 10 of Vanderbilt’s true freshmen have played this season. Let’s take a closer look at the freshman class’s playing time. What are the chances the remaining 14 will get on the field?
BURNED THEIR REDSHIRTS
1. Jonathan Krause, WR: Has started two games and appears to be our best receiver; coaches need to get the ball in his hands.
2. Kenny Ladler, S: Started at free safety for the injured Jay Fullam against Ole Miss and looked impressive; too good to keep off the field.
3. Carey Spear, PK: Handling kickoff duties and is starting to loosen up and get some touchbacks.
4. Jordan Matthews, WR: Primarily playing special teams but is second team receiver and is slowly getting more time with offense; has struggled with tendonitis; expect him to get significantly more playing time and be a starter by season’s end.
5. Andre Simmons, S: Primarily playing special teams but has seen some snaps at safety and will get more action as season progresses.
6. Chase Garnham, LB: Playing special teams; listed as John Stokes’ backup ahead of projected starters Dexter Daniels and DeAndre Jones; will see more time on defense later in season.
7. Andre Hal, CB: Playing special teams; a skilled cover man who’ll get worked into the defense sometime during the remainder of the season.
8. Steven Clarke, CB: Playing special teams; an impressive athlete who’ll get some snaps at cornerback and who’s also an emergency running back.
9. Karl Butler, S: Playing special teams; with Fullam and Richardson gimpy, coaches wouldn’t hesitate to put him in big-game situations.
10. Fitz Lassing, TE: Playing special teams; with Austin Monahan gone for the season and Brandon Barden battling injury, he’ll likely see some action on offense.
STILL ELIGIBLE FOR REDSHIRT
1. James Kittredge, OL: Second-team center whom coaches won’t hesitate to play if Joey Bailey or another lineman gets injured or performs poorly; they’d prefer to redshirt him so he can start for four years, but with only two veteran backups ahead of him, that may be unlikely
2. Logan Stewart, OL: Second-team guard; another guy coaches like and could play in a pinch but would prefer to redshirt.
3. Chris Boyd, WR: Still developing; fans have been screaming for him to play, but he’s waiting in line for Krause and Matthews to get their shot first; if Matthews steps up, junior Tray Herndon keeps improving and senior Turner Wimberly keeps catching the ball, then Boyd could redshirt.
4. Chase White, OL: The 10th lineman on the team, he’s traveling with the team and is ready to play if needed, but he’ll likely redshirt.
5. Jared Morse, DT: With redshirt sophomores Colt Nichter, Josh Jelesky and Taylor Loftley stepping up and with Adam Smotherman poised to return, expect Morse to redshirt.
6. Vince Taylor, DT: An impressive, game-ready player who broke his hand in preseason and hasn’t been traveling with the team. If the D-line continues to play well, coaches would love to see Taylor redshirt and start for four years.
7. Kyle Woestmann, DE: With five ends in the playing rotation, it’s unlikely that Woestmann will play this year; coaches would love to see him compete for a starting position next year as a redshirt freshman.
8. Jordan Rodgers, QB (JUCO transfer): Struggling with a shoulder injury and may have surgery. Will likely redshirt unless Larry Smith and Jared Funk get injured. Remember, Vandy needs somebody to play quarterback in 2012.
9. Andrew East, LB/SN: A definite redshirt as a linebacker, but he’d get a long look if anything happened to longsnappers David Giller and John Stokes
10. Trent Pruitt, WR: Considered the fourth option among freshmen Krause, Matthews and Boyd. Expect him to redshirt.
11. Thomas Ryan, DT: Recruited as an end, he’s now listed as a defensive tackle but is still awfully light in the britches. He’ll redshirt and take a year to put on some weight.
12. Andrew Bridges, OL: A 240-pound kid with a huge frame, he’ll take a redshirt and pack on the pounds.
13. Blake Gowder, HB: An athlete with potential to play several positions, he’ll take a redshirt to recover from a shoulder injury and find a place to compete in the spring.
14. Grant Ramsay, OL: Once considered the most likely freshman lineman to play this season, Ramsay has injured his knee and is a definite redshirt.
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3 comments:
Our defensive recruiting class appears to be really making an impact and providing solid depth. Unfortunately, the pattern has been that our defense will play well and keep us competitive for 2-3 quarters and then wear down because of lack of support by the offense. After recruiting 4 wr's to help a really suspect wr core from last season and a wr group that was generally considered the worse group in the SEC by far; we are staking our passing game in upcoming SEC games on Wimberly, Cole, and Herndon ? Don't mean to sound really negative, but we either have very poor position coaching at wr to coach them up and get them ready or we are not recruiting SEC type WR's. While the running game remains solid; Krause has 5 catches; Mathews has no catches or balls even thrown his way but is playing on special teams, and Boyd is "growing into his body"? My view is that at present, Mathews and Krause are being underutilized. Krause has track speed yet we can't get him the ball.....at 6'5",whatever happened to Brady Brown in the rotation ? Go Dores ! Let's take Uconn !
Re: QB in 2012, has something happened with Goro?
I just wanted to see if the Goro Guy was out there. Right now, because of Nash Nance, we're low on QBs. If Rodgers burns his shirt this year, in 2012 we'll have (1) R-JR Charlie Goro, the likely starter, (2) R-FR Damien Fleming and maybe (3) a true freshman. Would be nice to have a senior in the mix considering we'd redshirt the frosh unless he was the kind of game-ready QB prospect that we've never had before. No disrespect to Charlie. No other media source or blog has dedicated more words to Charlie Goro since he came to Vandy than MV! has. We love Charlie Goro.
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