of course we will miss them all and it will dpend on the brains of their replacements more than the ability as Hunt, Lavalais, Clayton & Henderson, Reed and Peterman, Jones, Mauck if he leaves, etc. were all very smart football players who called out formations, coverages, blocking assignments, gap comtrol, etc. We had great leadership on this team by the seniors and Clayton and Mauck that's for sure. In Hunt's case we will probably be relying on a very young player and I'm not sure who. The wide receivers will also be talented but very young and recognizing coverages could be a problem, Who else had a punter that was one of the team leaders and gave incredible speeches to his team, Lavalais left big impressions on spears so I think Spears leads the DL next year, Mauck's knowledge cannot be replaced at QB unless Randall really steps up his game, Big Ben should call all of the OL blocking schemes so we should be allright there if he doesn't come out. We have very talented kids behind all of these guys but it will remain to be seen if they have the mind to be the best.
Overall, Clayton bc of his leadership and clutch play. Hunt bc of his leadership on the defensive side of the ball. He will make a great coach one day if he so chooses.
IMO, Clayton because of everything he brings to the table. I think Jesse Daniels steps in nicely for Hunt. He has more speed and size than Hunt, and with Saban teaching him he'll be real good. Lavalais is awesome, but I think replacing a dt is easier especially with Spears and Hill on the outside. We seem to have talent and depth at dt. I think Kyle Williams has a big year.
Definitely Jack Hunt will be a huge loss to our secondary. Think about it.... The one game Jack Hunt was out, LSU lost.
The one game Jack Hunt was out our offense did not show up. Florida still only managed 19 points against our defense. I think we will be fine on defense again this year but we must have some offensive leadership.
Tigrman, I’m in no way disputing Hunts leadership. I’m trying to understand how Jack missing that game reflects the loss. The game I watched, our offense didn’t score one point and didn’t control the ball. The defense was on the field for a long time. IMO – had the offense given the “D” some help, we would not have any reason to mention Jack missing the game.
My guess is Jess Daniels will take over as he had the most PT this year back there. In watching the Sugar Bowl I couldn't help but notice he was out of place in coverage a couple of times, the biggest one being the 4th and 11 OU completed in which he lost sight of Clayton and forced Jack Hunt to cover him one on one. He did however redeem himself with the tipped ball in the endzone possibly saving a touchdown.
You are right. I think a lot of our offensive troubles were due to Addai and Carey being out at the same time, and for the first time. That was really the first time the team ever had to depend on Justin Vincent. Though having said that, I think Hunt would have at least helped with some coverages. Florida's only two TDs came on passes to RBs out of the backfield. There have been times this year that the RB gets left open as a sacrifice to our blitz schemes, but this wasnt the case for both of the TDs UF scored on us. I know I clearly remember one being the responsibility of a LB, and he just blew the coverage. No one can say for sure, but had Hunt been on the field, he may have pointed out the assignment. Who knows, maybe if the score had been 12-7 at the end of the game rather than 19-7, Mauck could have engineered a game winning drive, a la UGA part I.
Lavalais with be the toughest to replace. We will replace him but it will take time....all player will eventually be replaced.
