This is my personal breakdown for each position group for the upcoming season with a way too early depth chart prediction. Feel free to add your own thoughts and grades.

QB
1. Garrett Nussmeier
2. Michael Van Buren
* Nuss enters his 5th season. The season goes as far as Nuss’s decision making takes us imo.
* Michael Van Buren from Miss St is about as good of a backup as it gets in the event Nuss goes down. Played in 10 games (started 8) for the bulldogs.
GRADE = A

RB
1. Caden Durham
2. Kaleb Jackson
3. Harlem Berry
4. Trey Holly (has a court date set in July)
* Durham is one of the top backs in the SEC
* With the loss of Josh Williams, gotta have a guy like Kaleb Jackson step up to be the #2 and help split reps
* If Trey Holly returns to the team I think he sees a lot of action
GRADE = B+

TE
1. Trey’Dez Green
2. Bauer Sharp
3. Donovan Green
* Really solid group overall. Trey’Dez green will be really important in the red zone.
* You have to replace the production of Mason Taylor but you get 2 solid transfers in Bauer Sharp (Oklahoma) and Donovan Green (Texas A&M)
* B. Sharpe = 42 rec, 324 yds, 2 TDs
* D. Green is a run blocking specialist when we go into jumbo sets
GRADE = B

WR
1. Aaron Anderson
2. Barion Brown
3. Chris Hilton
4. Zavion Thomas
5. Nic Anderson
6. Kyle Parker
7. Destyn Hill
* Overall, you don’t have a true #1 such as a Malik Nabers, Kyren Lacy, etc. but this should be a really well rounded group by committee that gets better as the year goes on
* Aaron Anderson (61 rec, 884 yds, 5 TDs in 2024) will be in slot
* Barion Brown is regarded by some as the fastest player in CFB (122 rec, 1528 yds, 11 TDs at Kentucky over 3 seasons)
* Chris Hilton has size and speed to have a breakout year. Played really well in the bowl game vs Baylor
* Nic Anderson transfers in from Oklahoma where he was hurt for the whole season last year but amassed 38 rec, 798 yds, and 10 TDs in 2023
GRADE = B+

OL
1. LT - Tyree Adams
2. LG - Josh Thompson
3. C - Braelin Moore
4. RG - DJ Chester or Coen Echols
5. RT - Weston Davis
* Really important group here. Have to do a much better job this season at establishing the run game.
* Gotta replace 2 really good tackles in Will Campbell and Emery Jones. Adams and Davis are relatively inexperienced.
* Braelin Moore comes in from Virginia Tech as the top rated center in the portal, while Josh Thompson comes in as a top rated lineman from Northwestern. These 2 should be plug and play guys
* Overall, this is a group who has to find a way to get going early bc they face a really strong Clemson D-Line in Week 1
Grade = B-

DL
1. DE - Patrick Payton / Jack Pyburn
2. DT - Dom McKinley / Guillory / Mitchell
3. DT - Ahmad Breaux / Bernard Gooden
4. DE - Jimari Butler / Gabe Reliford
* This group should be a strength of the defense. You have a lot of options and depth here for Blake Baker to give different looks
* The addition of Gooden was HUGE. You can never have enough D-Linemen
* Payton and Butler are rush specialists, while Pyburn is known for his ability to stop the run
* Breaux and McKinley should be primed to make a strong second year jump
* Mitchell is a big space eater, while Guillory is returning from injury
GRADE = A

LB
1. Harold Perkins
2. Whit Weeks
3. Davhon Keys
4. West Weeks
5. Charles Ross II
6. Tylen Singleton
* Led by Perkins and Whit Weeks as 2 of the top Linebackers in the SEC
* Davhon Keys started to play well towards the end of the season vs Oklahoma with 10 tackles and a sack
* Hopefully Blake Baker allows Perkins to do what he does best… and that’s rushing the passer
GRADE = A

CB / NB
1. Monsoor Delane
2. DJ Pickett
3. Ashton Stamps
4. Ja’Keem Jackson
5. Tamarcus Cooley
6. PJ Woodland
7. Aiden Anding
* Delane from V Tech is arguably the biggest portal haul of 2025 and should be an instant CB1
* 5 star DJ Pickett has plenty of length and speed, we’ll see how fast he can adapt to the physicality of the SEC
* Stamps and Jackson will also battle it out with Pickett for that #2 corner spot
* Ideally, Cooley slides into the nickel spot. It has been said that Woodland has also had a strong spring and is primed to push for playing time in the nickel role
* This group is relatively unknown but their progress will be pivotal in the success of the defense to show they can cover
GRADE = B

S
1. Dashawn Spears
2. Jardin Gilbert
3. Tamarcus Cooley
4. Javien Toviano
5. Joel Rogers
* This group is a huge question mark
* The addition of AJ Haulcy could certainly provide a boost to this group with his ability to tackle and cover. He also has great size at 6’ 215 lbs. We should have an answer on Haulcy soon
* It has been said that Spears had a pretty good spring
* If Cooley doesn’t play nickel, he will certainly be called upon to bolster the safety group
GRADE = C+

Special Teams
1. PK - Ramos
2. KO - Burrell
3. P - Grant Chadwick / Peyton Todd
4. PR - Zavion Thomas
5. KR - Barion Brown
* Ramos went 23 for 29 in 2024 (79.3%)
* Burrell is one of the top kickoff specialists in CFB with 66 of 74 kicks being touchbacks in ‘24
* Punter is a position that needs to show improvement in ‘25 and the addition of Chadwick from Middle Tennessee should help to create competition with Todd. I predict that Chadwick will win the job as he averaged 43.1 yds per punt as a freshman compared to Todd’s 41 yds per punt
* Zavion Thomas is a dynamic punt returner while Barion Brown will handle Kickoff return duties. Brown is one of the nation’s most electric returners with 5 career TD returns
* With the hire of new special teams coach, Aman Anand, I expect this group to show improvement for a position group that has given Brian Kelly trouble in the past
GRADE = B+

This post was edited on 5/1/25 at 3:41 pm