With the unfortunate loss of Baxter, and the ensuing back and forth debate about how we can replace his production and intangibles, I was thinking about how you would really rank how truly "irreplaceable" a player is on the 2024 team. This is what I came up with:
1) Quinn. Yes, Arch is the heir apparent and may possibly be the superior player long term, but the importance of a 3rd year Quinn with advanced knowledge of the Sark offense can not be downplayed.
2) Ant Hill. Losing a tremendous LB in Ford, we are left with the super explosive Ford and the experienced career backup Gbenda. Beyond those 2 guys there is a huge drop off, with the smaller Blackwell, the inexperienced Lefau.
3) Manny Muhammad. Only true lock down corner. Enough said.
4) Banks. Franchise LT. We have good depth in Goosby, but he is completely inexperienced. I could see Conner filling in if Banks is out, but again, just a massive drop off.
5) Collins. Our best and most athletic DT. Lole may be close to that level, but you can't trust that injury history.
6/7) Mukuba/Williams tie. We've upgraded the safety position considerably, but without either of these guys, we have the heady but physically limited Taafe and the completely inexperienced McDonald.
8.) CJ Baxter. I was particularly afraid of a Baxter injury this year, given the lack of an experienced blocker/big back behind him. I won't rehash the arguments that have been made on numerous threads in the last few days.
9) Trey Moore. This is a projection, as I feel that he will be very productive this year. The only other twitchy EDGE we have like this is Simmons, but hard to compare a guy with so much tangible success in pass rush with a true freshman just ye.
10) Jake Majors. So much experience, so smart. Robertson could fill in admirably, but I feel that he is the 2nd most important OL.
As for the rest of the roster, clearly the WRs are the most deep, even if they have completely different skill sets. Outside of Collins, we have a lot of experienced depth at DT, even if it is not as high end as last year. DE and TE depth are very good as well. You could argue Burt Auburn on the top 10 list. Second CB and WLB also concerns. Star seems fine with either Barron or Guilbeau almost interchangable.
Thoughts?