Per Gina, these are the starters:

Barring health setbacks, it’s pretty safe to pencil in linemen Baker Pritchard, Sumner Houston and Kalani Vakameilalo, linebackers Bright Ugwoegbu, Caleb Saulo, Manase Hungalu and Titus Failauga and defensive backs Treson Decoud, Brandon Arnold, Devin Chappell and Dwayne Williams as the starters (with Irvine as the extra DB in nickel packages).

If that’s the case, the defense will stink.

Houston, Saulo, and Hungalu are all awful.

Pritchard is probably the only guy who would get playing time with any other Pac-12 team. Ugwoegbu is fast and intriguing. He could break out and become viable. Secondary is weak, but with that front 7 they’ll appear even weaker than they are.

Interestingly, the guys I thought had the most ability Napolean and the Payne Brothers, aren’t mentioned. Keep an eye on those guys. They’ll jump the garbage above by season end, and we’ll  all wonder why it took so long for the coaches to figure out.

Interesting bit is that I had Pierce as the #1 recruit in this class (ahead of Wallace and Thompson, unlike Rivals), and he appears to be the top freshman prospect at this point.

I’m optimistic about the odds of having a good ground game this year.

This is how I see it shaking out:

1a – Nall

1b – Pierce

2 a – Cook

2 b – Lucas (primarily at WR, but he’ll be back there some to give the pure speed threat).

So that’s a nice mix. Nall has speed and power. Pierce has speed, power, and some shiftiness, and Cook sounds like a solid all around back. I haven’t seen any Cook film, but at 6’1 and 233 he has size to be a goal line back. He used to play LB, so again, this cements the idea he could be a short yardage/goal line back to spell Nall.

I haven’t kept up with the movement/injuries on the line. Lauina is a dog and needs to be replaced, if he hasn’t already. I’m hoping Kearsley can get healthy and replace him, but so far no such talk. Blake Brandel is a young OL who I like a lot. I think he will replace Harlow. Give me some ideas who can replace Lauina as an upgrade? Are Clarkson and Delp healthy? I’d take a gamble on either over Lauina. He’s so bad.

Anyway, if the Beavs can assemble a decent line out of these guys, the run game could be surprisingly nice. With all the questions surrounding the QB situation, that will matter less if these guys produce up to their potential.

I’ve written about this extensively last year with regard to Seth Collins and gotten flack for it, and explanations that he’d grow into the position and become more accurate, which obviously I disagreed with. People also claimed I didn’t know what I was talking about since I wasn’t a coach, so here you go straight from a head coach.

Mike Leach on accuracy.

Nothing new to me, but maybe people will take the opinion more seriously since it’s coming from an authority.

There’s a reason I always check a new QB’s completion % first and note if it’s poor.

There was a comment in a recent thread that a QB like Aidan Willard isn’t going to get other recruits excited about signing.

So I looked at his stats and found he has a 44% completion. Why do the Beavs keep signing (Collins) or showing interest (The kid from Oregon last year) in QBs with low completion %? Is a position change in the offing?

However, the good news is on film he looks like Jake Locker light edition, right? Locker, too, had a pretty horrendous completion rate, yet turned into a nice college player.

Maxpreps is sometimes wrong, so I’m hoping his completion percentage isn’t actually that bad. If he’s more in the Locker range of 55%, then with those wheels and large frame, he could be pretty good. Looks like a project with good potential if he can become accurate. But I agree, he’s not going to get any other recruits excited, and from the sound of things, he doesn’t even get hardcore fans excited. I’d like to see a more refined QB taken in this class.

It’s still too early to call GA an absolute failure. I get that and agree.

BUT, he seems to have no plan. One reason we loved GA from the start is he initially seemed like a man with a plan. But his plan is to “aggressively recruit” guys who will flunk out? His plan is to change player positions constantly? His plan is to have a running back play above weight and risk injury just because he’s not sure where to play him and he can move him around? His plan is to hire coaches he knows he’ll lose immediately? Team chemistry seems bad with a lot of internal fighting. Many around the program say things are not what they seem and actually much worse.

It’s early, but I want to be first to dub this train wreck the “GA Express” — all aboard or all bored? Early on the former, but with each passing day’s negative news, it’s quickly moving toward the latter.

For the record: I still believe in GA for some dumb reason. I hope it’s not just that he’s the anti-Riley with coach speak, because so far that’s the major difference.