No program is immune to attrition.   It’s time to take a look at how the new contributors stack up at the mid-way point because in reality, they’re the future of our program.

QB(s) Taylor Potts/Steven Sheffield (Jrs.) - The news on Styx sucks and you hate to hear that about an underdog.  I’ve seen enough to know how hard it must be to prepare for the guy and it’s not like he died or something.  He’ll be back and we’ll be even better when he is.  We’ve just been flat-out lucky in the QB health department to date.  Potts has also shown that without his eggs scrambled, he’s better than the majority of Big 12 starters right now, so I don’t consider him a weakness.  What he does have are some tendencies, like hanging onto the ball too long and not avoiding pressure, which are indeed exploitable qualities.  A guy holding onto the ball too long is typically guilty of not processing reads/coverages fast enough in a game setting.  He maybe fine in practice, but once the hits are live, it all changes suddenly.  I frankly don’t know how guys like Sheffield do it, but you shouldn’t knock Potts for not.  He’s a quality player in his own right and we’re 2-deep at the position when everyone is healthy.  Bear in mind, that Texas, OSU and possibly OU will all be breaking in new QBs in 2010.

WR Alexander Torres (Fr.) - Well, you don’t just really go out and replace a Michael Crabtree, so let’s avoid that fork in the road.  We’ll just take a look at Torres for who he is and keep in mind that he’s only a freshman.  I really like what I’ve seen from this kid as he brings a somewhat TE element to our outside receiver position.  To most, it may seem odd to line a TE split wide on every play, but that’s more or less how Leach is using him.  We’ve talked at length around here about his blocking ability against DBs in the screen game and the big plays he has sprung.  Torres may not be the guy with the ball in his hands, but you can damn sure bet he’s doing something else to make things possible.  Very unselfish player and I don’t think we’ve ever had one around here quite like him.  He’s got a big frame and will fill out to around 215 or 220.  Glue hands, shows up for every game, and a quality red zone option for us on slants and skinny posts matched against smaller corners, which most are in this league.  After the Carlos Francis and Joel Filani eras, I began to appreciate the hands quality the most and I now understand why no one could keep him off the top of the depth chart. 

 WR Tramain Swindall (So.) - I’m not really sure if you would consider Swindall a new starter, but he’s basically taking Eric Morris snaps this season, so we’re including him.  I’ll again reference the screen game as to why size at WR has an impact on the effectiveness of our offense.  He’s added a big play element to the left side of our offense not ever really found with any consistency in Ed Britton.  Sure hands seem to be the emphasis in our top three receiving options.  I wonder what the conversation between he and Gerald Jones sounds like on the phone, “Yeah, I’ve got over twice that many yards and a Mexican from El Paso playing your position has even more catches than I do.  It’s awesome!!!”

RB Harrison Jeffers (Fr.) - I mention Jeffers not necessarily due to playing time, but more the role he has played subsequent to Shannon Woods’ graduation.  My assessment is that he’s basically a new breed of RB in the Leach era.  Anytime a player in your backfield can force a team to include a preventative maintenance section in the gameplan manual, then he’s had an impact whether or not you can find it on the stat sheet.  You’ve already seen Bo Pelini do that.  Jeffers is a legit homerun threat when he gets to the corner and you’ve now seen a possible re-emergence of the Welker end around as our short yardage policy.  People are paying attention when he goes in motion and it affects other things the naked eye doesn’t catch.

LT Terry McDaniel (Fr.) - I’m not going to lie.  This gave me the heebie-jeebies initially, but I hung tough and McDaniel has done nothing but stay gold.  It’s unfortunate news regarding some injury concerns from the Nebraska game, but let’s not be short-sighted here.  This young man has a bright, bright future ahead of him.  I didn’t realize how lucky we were until I saw a few other teams’ LT replacements in action.  I was pleasantly surprised to see on film he has the potential to be the best run blocking tackle under Leach. 

He’s just a 7th grader folks.

LG Lonnie Edwards (So.) - Watching a guy like Edwards improve over the course of the season is just one of the many sub-plots I enjoy about the sport.  I had seen flashes of talent justifying his four stars in mop up duty last season, but you never really know until it matters against someone else’s #1s.  By the Texas game, he had secured the starting gig.  By halftime, I was afraid Matt Moore would bench him for the next two seasons.  Edwards played like a deer in the headlights with numerous inexcuseable mental errors.  To the extent, that our offense wasn’t functional.   A short four weeks later, he’s forcing Bo Pelini to try Suh on the other side.  It’s a mental game in the trenches and those with the most talent and focus succeed.  Edwards has more talent than Brandon Carter and he’s starting to put it together mentally.  We’ll have an option besides the QB sneak on 1st and goal from the 1 by next season.  He’ll start paying more dividends in the screen game as well.

C Justin Keown (Jr.)  – Forced into duty for injury reasons, I feel he’s performed admirably.  Center is the hardest position outside of QB to play effectively, so you don’t see a whole lot of great ones.  Only serviceable, which is beyond acceptable when considering the consequences of sucking at this position.  Keown doesn’t stonewall guys like Byrnes can, but he’s a nice blend of footwork and power that falls somewhere between his colleague and predecessor, Stephen Hamby.  That’s enough for us and banging heads on the road with Ndamukong Suh will only benefit him down the line.  With the departure of Matt Goetz, this would be the only position I don’t see Matt Moore having a plan for past 2010.  My guess is Blake Emert will be given a shot in the spring, and then possibly try to get Joel Gray or Kyle Clark on the field quicker if that plan isn’t working.  

RG Mickey Okafor (So.) - Okafor has proved to be a solid pass blocker in the same mold as Brandon Carter.  Leach has won a lot of games with guys like Mickey, but you’re always going to be limited with what you can do in the run game.  He’s our best option right now to replace Carter, but look for the more athletic Deveric Gallington to make a push in the spring for this position.  It wouldn’t surprise me to see Chris Olson end up here with Joe King at RT.

LT/LG Chris Olson (Jr.) - Olson will be starting somewhere next season and I would imagine it comes down to whoever is the least developed between Okafor and King.  He’s serving as our swiss army knife right now and you’ve got to like what you see with his footwork.  Olson has managed to stay between the QB and defender in every game Tech has played, and given his athleticism, we’ve been able to run the ball a little bit behind him.  Not an overwhelming drive blocker and doesn’t have the natural strength to stonewall a bull rush, but good enough feet to be functional at everything.  Joe King has a boatload of talent athletically, but simply needs more work with Bennie Wylie right now.  He’ll be fine after Olson leaves and it would be really sweet, if we stumble upon another McDaniel out of the Clark/Gray/Waddle group.