Who's Back, Who's Gone, and Who's New | Part 2
Last year things were set up quite a bit differently for Notre Dame in the first half of the season compared to the second half. The first six games were a gauntlet. The second six were set up much better for the Irish.
It’s going to be a little different in 2022.
There are some games that look like they should be blowouts on paper, but Clemson and USC in November is a lot different than the cake walk the Irish experienced last year. At least they get to ease into it with a game against a Group of 5 opponent.
(Check out Part 1 of Who’s back, Who’s gone, and Who’s new here)
UNLV
76% returning production 18th
Who’s back:
We can start with the Mountain West freshman of the year, QB Cameron Friel. It must have been slim pickings for the award because although he emerged as the starter for the Rebels, he threw six touchdowns against 11 interceptions.
They have a pair of pretty good receivers in Steve Jenkins and Kyle Williams who will be critically important to their offense.
LB Austin Ajiake is the only standout returning on defense. The only player who was on the first or second team for All-MWC has transferred. That’s not great for a team that finished 105th in F+.
Who’s gone:
The program hasn’t had anyone taken in the NFL Draft since 2010. That should give a pretty good indication of where the talent level has been for the Rebels.
They lost their leading rusher, Charles Williams, who put up over 1,200 yards last season. He was first team All-MWC.
The toughest loss for them was LB Jacoby Windmon. He was their leading tackler and the best player on defense. He’s at Michigan State now.
UNLV had several other players enter the portal, but none were significant contributors in 2021.
Who’s new:
UNLV signed only 10 high school or junior college recruits and it’s unclear how many transfers they are bringing in this year. I know of at least seven.
QB Harrison Bailey was a 4-star recruit before signing with Tennessee and he’s one of them. Maybe he’ll be their answer at quarterback, but the rest of the group doesn’t appear to have any difference-makers. Most of them didn’t start at their previous programs.
The only who did was DB Cam Lampkin who started every game for Utah State.
They really needed an injection of talent and didn’t seem to get it through the portal.
Name to know:
Bailey is intriguing because he played as a freshman in 2020 and showed promise. A couple of transfers beat him out in ‘21 so he was looking for a fresh start. He may be the starter by the time they get to Notre Dame.
Syracuse
80% returning production 9th
Who’s back:
The man on offense for them is RB Sean Tucker. He had nine games last season with over 100-yards rushing and he’ll be one of the top backs in the ACC.
Starting QB Garrett Shrader is also back and he’s a dual-threat who is much more accomplished as a runner than a passer (only 6.2 yards per attempt in 2021). Their top-three receivers were very young last season and they return even though it's unclear how good the group can be as a whole. Damion Alford did average 19.2 yards per reception last season so he is one to watch.
The defense has some rising stars and that includes LB Mikel Jones, an All-ACC pick. CB Duce Chestnut racked up 14.5 Havoc plays as a freshman and CB Garrett Williams had 15.
Who’s gone:
They are losing their best defensive lineman, Cody Roscoe, and their best offensive lineman, C Airon Servais. Those two will be difficult to replace.
WR Taj Harris is a significant loss, but he was already out the door near the start of last season.
They didn’t get hit too hard in the portal. It’s more depth pieces than anyone who would have been projected to start for them.
Who’s new:
Syracuse added eight transfers in the portal and it’s unclear if any of them will make a significant impact, but the defenders in particular are intriguing.
They needed to find some competition at quarterback and landed Carlos Del Rio-Wilson from Florida and Dan Villari from Michigan. They will likely compete for the backup job.
RB Juwaun Price, over 5.0 yards per carry at New Mexico State, should be a nice compliment to Tucker in the backfield.
The secondary should be the strength of the defense and CB Isaiah Johnson (Dartmouth) and CB Alijah Clark (Rutgers) could end up playing a fair amount for the Orange.
They could have really benefited from landing a receiver who they could slot in to make an instant impact, but had to settle for taking a chance on some players who haven’t done much in their careers at previous Power 5 stops.
Name to know:
Jones will be set up to have a monster season and the linebackers in general should create quite a bit of havoc. He’s on the list of the best LBs the Irish will play in ‘22.
Clemson
72% returning production 30th
Who’s back:
It’s all about the defense, which is loaded with top tier talent. I don’t think another program in the country can match them on the defensive line. The projected starting group of Myles Murphy, Bryan Bresee, Tyler Davis, and Xavier Thomas is scary enough, but they should have a strong rotation as well.
They are very fast at linebacker with Trenton Simpson leading the way and the secondary has a plethora of studs with S Andrew Mukuba on the verge of becoming a star and more who could join him.
The offense was bad last season. There is no way around it, but they get to run it back with QB DJ Uiagalelei throwing to Joseph Ngata (19 yards per reception) and Beaux Collins.
RB Will Shipley showed why Notre Dame had him as their number one target. He should be back healthy and poised for a bigger season as a sophomore.
Depth and top talent is a question across the board on the O-line, but they are bringing back their starting LT in Jordan McFadden and plenty of experience from last season.
Who’s gone:
They don’t lose a lot in terms of players.
Both starting corners, including second round pick Andrew Booth, are gone. They should be more than okay there with how they’ve recruited the position.
WR Justyn Ross isn’t around anymore, but the player he was earlier in his career before his neck injury wasn’t coming back either way.
LB James Skalski is finally out of eligibility and LB Baylon Spector was drafted in the seventh round, but Clemson might be better at linebacker this season. S Nolan Turner is also gone and he was a solid player on the back end.
All of the players they lost in the portal were depth and not projected starters. The bigger turnover is with the coaching staff. Perennial best defensive coordinator in college football Brent Venables is now the head coach at Oklahoma. He also brought DL coach Todd Bates with him.
Tony Elliott is no longer the offensive coordinator after taking the head job at Virginia, so they are replacing both coordinators.
Who’s new:
Two new coordinators are question marks until they prove they are not. OC Brandon Streeter has coordinator experience, but at the FCS level. Wes Goodwin does not have coordinator experience on the defensive side of the ball, but he certainly has earned praise for his work within their program prior to the promotion.
Dabo Swinney has talked about adding an OL in the portal, but they have had no luck doing so. The only player they have brought in is former Clemson QB Hunter Johnson and he’s expected to be third on the depth chart.
They signed the 14th ranked class with QB Cade Klubnik as the headliner. If Uiagalelei struggles, Klubnik could be the guy for them when they visit the Irish in November.
CB Jeadyn Lukus was in the ISD Fab 50 and S Sherrod Covil just missed out on being included in there. Both players impressed during the spring as early enrollees and could make an impact this season.
Name to know:
Klubnik is the one to watch. He might not be physically ready to roll as a freshman, but if they look anything close to the offense they were last year, they may not have a choice but to go to him.
Navy
53% returning production 109th
Who’s back:
When Navy doesn’t have a ton of production returning, it’s typically not a great sign of success for that season. They do bring back QB Tai Lavatai, but he had the lowest yards per carry by any Navy QB the last decade.
NG Clay Cromwell (9 Havoc plays) and Striker John Marshall are building blocks on defense.
And that about sums it up.
Who’s gone:
This looks like a rebuilding situation across the board.
Four of the top five rushers were seniors. The top two receivers, 11 catches each for both, were seniors.
LB Diego Fagot is a massive loss for them. He was maybe the best defensive player they’ve had in the last dozen years. They also lost both starting corners and LB Johnny Hodges should have been a key player for them, but he transferred to TCU.
Who’s new:
They probably won’t get much immediate help from their recruiting class, which has two 3-star signees, and they aren’t picking up anyone in the portal.
Name to know:
LB Tyler Fletcher is going to be a very important player for them this fall. He made some plays as a freshman and with no Fagot or Hodges, he’s suddenly going to be one of the most important players on their team in 2022.
Boston College
60% returning production 81st
Who’s back:
It begins with QB Phil Jurkovec, who decided to stick around after dealing with injuries in 2021. The combination of him throwing to big play threat Zay Flowers and slot receiver Jaelen Gill should make for one of the better passing games in the ACC.
RB Pat Garwo rushed for over 1,000 yards last season and OG Christian Mahogany should be one of the best interior OL in the ACC.
They have some veterans in the secondary back this season led by Josh DeBerry (14 Havoc plays) and former Florida State S Jaiden Woodbey. Leading tackler Kam Arnold is back at linebacker along with starting Mike Vinny Depalma. They have plenty of experience on the defensive front returning as well.
They really need at least one or two of those front seven returners to step up, but at the very least they should hold as an average defense with these players coming back.
Who’s gone:
The big problem on offense is that four offensive line starters are gone. One of them was first round pick Zion Johnson. There isn’t a lot of great OL play in the ACC and BC was one of the better groups in the conference. It’s going to be a bit of a rebuild for them in 2022.
The only significant player that isn’t returning for them is CB Brandon Sebastian. He was third team All-ACC.
WR Kobay White left during last season and outside of him, there were no crippling losses in the transfer portal.
Who’s new:
Former Notre Dame tight end George Takacs is new and he immediately upgrades that position for them. His former ND position coach, John McNulty, also takes over as OC and should be an upgrade for them there as well.
BC signed the 53rd ranked class in the country, which included two 4-star prospects. One of them was Notre Dame WR target Joseph Griffin.
Name to know:
Griffin jumps out as someone who can help them immediately as a big body opposite of Flowers for Jurkovec to throw to. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him play a big role early on for the Eagles.
USC
63% returning production 75th
Who’s back:
Even though USC added what seems like their entire starting receiver group through the portal, they are bringing back Tahj Washington and Garry Bryant (combined 98 catches) at receiver as well as TE Malcolm Epps.
The OL, which was better than expectations last season, returns several guys who played a lot of snaps led by C Brett Neilon and OT Andrew Voorhees.
The defense does have All Pac-12 DT Tuli Tuipolotu returning and there are young players like DL Korey Foreman and S Xavion Alford who are expected to make big leaps in 2022.
Who’s gone:
They are trying to rebuild on the fly and that would have been a lot easier if Drake London was back at receiver. He’s off to the NFL as well as edge rusher Drake Jackson and RB Keonty Ingram. Both starting corners, Chris Steele and Isaac Taylor-Stuart, went undrafted, and I’m sure the new USC staff would have loved it if both had stuck around for another season.
Now we get to the portal where both QBs, Kedon Slovis and Jaxson Dart, are going to be starting for other teams in 2022. They also lost TE Michael Trigg, who has star potential.
Who’s new:
Lincoln Riley steps in and is implementing his version of the Air Raid on offense and he brought along Alex Grinch, his defensive coordinator at Oklahoma, to run the defense.
They’re bringing in 20 transfers (and counting) with the biggest one being QB Caleb Williams from Oklahoma. WR Mario Williams is also coming from OU and the combination of him, Pitt WR Jordan Addison, Colorado WR Brenden Rice, and Washington WR Tyrell Bynum already should elevate them to one of the better passing games in the country.
Travis Dye rushed for over 1,200 yards at Oregon and Austin Jones led Stanford in rushing in 2020. That will likely be the new 1-2 punch in the backfield.
OT Bobby Haskisn (Virginia) could become a starter for them up front.
There are several defenders who could start who arrived via the transfer portal including edge rushers Romello Height (Auburn) and Solomon Byrd (Wyoming), linebackers Eric Gentry (Arizona State) and Shane Lee (Alabama), safety Bryson Shaw (Ohio State), and cornerback Mekhi Blackmon (Colorado).
They actively chose not to sign many high school prospects, but CB Domani Jackson and WR CJ Williams might be good enough to play immediately. Williams should have a tougher time seeing the field considering the transfers they brought in.
It’s basically a team of mercenaries where most of the key pieces are going to be new players.
Name to know:
Foreman was one of the top defensive line prospects in the country in 2021 and flashed in limited snaps last fall. They need a game wrecker up front to go with Tuipolotu and if Foreman can become that guy, it immediately changes the ceiling for their defense.
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