Top 10 'Noles

Don't want to lose anyone, but for the sake of argument, I'd rather lose games from James Wilder than Xavier Rhodes.

Amazing that the corners got no consideration.

They will likely be on the list down the road, but it was tough to put them on there right now after just one game against an opponent greatly inferior to Florida State. This list is more preliminary and tentative than anything...expect it to change a good amount as the season goes on.

I was under the assumption that the list was comprised of players we could ill afford to lose.

Am I mistaken? If I'm not mistaken, at this point losing another corner or DE would be devastating. You got the DE's right, but you must think we're deeper at corner than I do.

With an improved OL I think we could still win almost all of our games with Trickett at QB. IMO Werner should be #1 due to the Jenkins injury and since he's arguably our best defensive player. I would still have EJ top 10 though. People complain about EJ but he's starting for a reason.

You see the staff's top ten. What would be your top ten?

I like it. It's worth note that Sean and I worked on the list together, meaning that it's not really representative of either of our complete opinions.

I probably would've gone ...
1 - Werner
2 - Carradine
3 - Manuel

...and so on.

1) DE Bjoern Werner

2) DE Tank Carradine

3) LT Cameron Erving

4) SS Lamarcus Joyner

5) LB Christian Jones

6) CB Xavier Rhodes

7) QB EJ Manuel

8) K Dustin Hopkins

9) OG Josue Matias

10) OG Tre Jackson

1. Bjoern Werner
2. Tank Carradine
3. EJ Manuel
4 -7. Starting OL minus the C
8. X. Rhodes
9. L. Joyner
10. C. Jones

Edit: My Logic...

2 elite DE's is what makes our D so great this year. The drop off from those 2 to Newberry is big IMO.

EJ may not be super impressive in a game like Murray St, but he will show fans why he is so invaluable when we play a tough team and we are in a close game and he uses his legs and leadership to get us a win.

4-7 is the OL outside of C. IMO OL and DL need to stay as in-tact as possible as they are really the heart of the team. If our OL can hold together and get a strong push and our DL kicks ass then most of the other positions are, to an extent, irrelivant. I'll take a mediocre RB behind a great OL vs a great RB behind a mediocre OL any day.

Rhodes, Joyner, and Jones are the playmakers (I hope...ahem...Rhodes...ahem...prove me wrong plz) behind our DL.

My top 10 based on how pissed I would be if I saw that they were out for the year when I logged on today (how much I think their loss would hurt the team)

1. Bjoern Werner - especially after Jenkins injury
2. EJ Manuel - I like Trickett, but look at our record last year in games EJ missed
3. Tank Carradine - too many unproven DE, again Jenkins injury bumped him up the list
4. Xavier Rhodes - a lot of talent at CB, but almost all unproven behind him. Wouldnt like two new starters
5. Lamarcus Joyner - I think Los could start in his spot and play fine, but he is such a beast I had to include him
6. Cam Erving - LT is such an important position, so far so good from him, but I want to see him block against a descent team before I overvalue him
7. Dustin Hopkins - Any replacement would be a massive dropoff
8. Christian Jones - Lack of depth at LB plus he is a great player
9. Josue Matias - OL looked solid last game, looks like a promising G
10. Tre Jackson - See above, same logic as Matias

Before Jenkins got hurt I thought there were 5 indispensable players (in no particular order):

Rhodes
Joyner
Jones
EJ
DHop

And then of course the entire OL. Now, Werner is a clear #1, Tank a clear #2.

I don't understand all the EJ doubters. He is a 5th year senior who displays terrific leadership. He does what they ask him to do exceptionally well. He rarely makes mistakes. He can run. He's smart. I don't get. I think people want that "wow" factor that made RG3 and Cam Newton so fun to watch. Sorry, that's not EJ. Forget the "wow," we need him to win.