He will be a RS Soph. CT was never himself. He had 15 TDs but 14 INTs. I have to think HJ will be at least at that level. Maybe not the level CT was at before the injury but at least at the level CT was at for much of this year.
Who will be the hardest to replace next year?
- Thread starter DaCat
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Hunter may or may not be a "plug-and-play" replacement for Thorson immediately as many fans are hoping, but he is probably our best QB prospect ever. I'll take that.
I agree. I think he will be fine. But the question is which player will be the hardest to replace? If not CT, then maybe Hartage. But with Hartage, we have seen his replacement already (God knows I'm not talking about Mayo), i.e., Ruiz, and although he isn't any Hartage, he has been proven to be reliable. Newsome, although burned on multiple occasion by biting on the double moves against OSU, also appears to be salvageable. What we really don't know is Hunter Johnson and how he will fit. I'm assuming he will actually be an improvement since the QB rating this year was below par. Bar isn't set that high, but nonetheless, fingers crossed.
Hartage was not the Hartage we know now when he started getting on the field 4 years ago.
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Remember CT at the start of the year? Akron anyone? As a new starter, in the first couple games next year, the bar was not set high. By then HJ should be starting to take over. Overall, I think he will do just fine as a replacement. He might not be CT in 2016 or 2017 but I have to think he will be at the level of 2018 CT.
My understanding is he throws a much better ball than Thorson and he is much more accurate. Those passes behind the receivers, I hope/expect to go away. I expect to see something closer to the days of elite CJ Bacher (of the back to back Minnesota and Michigan State games).
My question is how will he take his tools and perform in terms of poise (particularly with a shaky OL) and overall decision making. Looks like he did ok in his limited time at Clemson (some of which was not just garbage time), and the Clemson people seemed to think he should have been ahead of Bryant but not Lawrence. I'll take it if he's better than Kelly Bryant was. Which likely means he's better than Thorson already.
I am more confident in Johnson’s ability to match or exceed Thorson’s contributions this year than I am in any returning CB’s ability to match or exceed Hartage’s contributions for this season.
^ At the very least, HJ next season should be ahead of where CT was in his 1st year of starting.
Coming out of high school, HJ was already a more polished passer than CT (who was pretty raw) and he should be even more polished heading into his 3rd year in a college program.
According to PFF -
Thompson led all Big Ten defensive linemen with a run-defense grade of 91.0 in 2018.
And aside from his punting, where would the 'Cats have been if Collins hadn't been able to take-over PAT kicking duties?
Coming out of high school, HJ was already a more polished passer than CT (who was pretty raw) and he should be even more polished heading into his 3rd year in a college program.
According to PFF -
Thompson led all Big Ten defensive linemen with a run-defense grade of 91.0 in 2018.
And aside from his punting, where would the 'Cats have been if Collins hadn't been able to take-over PAT kicking duties?
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What's the plan for replacing Collins at P and (while we're on the topic of kickers) is there any plan to add some quality depth at PK?
We just signed a PWO kicker, Trey Finison of Tuscaloosa, AL, for 2019. This year was a fluke year with BOTH kickers injured at the same time. I hope both guys can be back healthy next year, with Finison providing quality backup.
I think punter is a more desperate need. Walk-ons Cody Gronewald and Jake Genyk will return next year, don't know if we'll add any more.
Agreed. For those concerned about Hunter’s leadership, go watch the documentary of the Elite 11 camp in 2016. When the coaches asked the top QB prospects in the nation “If you could pick one QB to lead your program, excluding yourself, who would it be?” they were near-unanimous in selecting Hunter. Tua Tagovailoa was among them, I believe. He has a quiet confidence about him. Sure you can say his health and durability is no guarantee, but the same could be said for anyone.
Wasn't he practice player of the year?
5 Star recruit, good limited playing time, practice warrior. He'll be fine
He received rave reports at Clemson. Those close to the program still were like "Ah Shit" despite Trevor Lawrence because of the caliber of kid that Hunter is.
So you're saying that, even when we don't score TDs, we'll still be Finison drives w FGs?
