On the eve of Liberty’s 2015 football training camp opening, here are 3 positions to watch:
1. Safety
Anytime you lose a player that ends up in camp with an NFL team, that spot will be a question mark. After the offseason dismissal of Gary Sampson, the Flames now must replace both starting safeties from a season ago. If a younger player does not step up during camp, perhaps A.J. James will move back to safety after switching to linebacker prior to the spring.
2. Linebacker
The Flames must replace 75 career starts at linebacker after the graduation of Nick Sigmon, Dylan Lewellyn, Andrew Jauch, and Bobby Partilla. The trio projected to be the opening day starters combine for 8 career starts.
3. Center
Depth at offensive line will be an issue, but the bigger question mark up front is who will be center. Lucas Holder enters camp atop the depth chart, but he has saw limited playing time in 12 games as a reserve in 2014.
Stay tuned to LibertyFlamesNation.com throughout camp as we bring you continual updates!
AJ James is still listed as a safety on the roster and I´ll be really surprised if he is not back there this Fall after they basically experimented with him at LB in the Spring. Yes, LB is also a position of need, but at least there we have 3 experienced guys who can start. I see James and Alpha Jollah starting at S with R-Fr Cameron Jackson as the most likely backup candidate.
I think Fr Jaylen McKinney will play a lot from day 1 at LB and R-Fr Lucas Irons will see a lot of snaps as well. We lost a lot of size and experience in the LB corps, but I think we definately upgraded our speed, and hopefully Wimbo can scheme to take advantage of that.
I know it´s rare for a true Fr OL, but don´t be surprised if Dontae Duff also sees time at C. He was recruited specifically to play the position, and I even heard Woodrum mention his name when talking about our OL which tells me he must have impressed in summer workouts. At 320 he would give us a lot more size than either Holder or Queen.