Downs - not going to be able to just plug and play replace him, he was a special talent. However, a good safety is easier to find than other defensive positions.
Niblack - easily replaceable. He was a complete sieve in the run game, could've got knocked over by a stiff breeze. He wasn't even allowed in on most running downs/situations which I'm sure tipped our hand at times. Terrible at pass pro on our full protection schemes for deep balls. His one trait was catching the ball, pretty sure Odom can be our pass catching TE just fine.
Bonds - replaced already, Law, Bernard (Likely committing soon), Prentice, Hale, and Henderson will be just fine. Bond made some important grabs for us, but he was by no means a breakout receiver in CFB I expect he will regret his decision come draft time.
Amos - head scratcher and definitely sucks to replace him as well. I think outside of Downs he's the only one where there's some unknown commodities. If we get Muhammad then have Domani Jackson we should be just fine here though. Amos would've likely been better because his years of experience but it's likely talent for Jackson and Muhammad is higher.
Sayin - replaced by Mack immediately likely replaced by a talented QB in 2025 recruiting class. Sucks that we all got attached and he left but that's the nature of the game sometimes. Also weird that he was one of our big recruiters for the class and then bounced when things got rough. Hard to question competitive spirit, but it did seem he was scared of Mack's arrival.
Roydell Williams - very easily replaceable. We've already got better options. Williams never should've been the 2nd back all year. Saban was doing the "experience over talent" depth chart with that one and while Williams wasn't bad, he isn't nearly as good as Haynes and Miller IMO. Also, keep an eye on Richard Young here also he may be a dark horse.
Proctor - If you're following what
@Brandon Van de Graaff and
@TerryP and I have been saying over the last week or so, he was gone already, and he wouldn't fit the O-line of next year anyways. His weight is a factor, he would've had to shed about 30 lbs in this system.
McGlaughlin - Brailsford is a massive upgrade, if you're a metric measurer like me. The numbers are vastly different. Don't remember who said it but someone said he's essentially Ryan Kelly levels of good and maybe better. He'll help with protections, snap consistently, and his run blocking is miles better than Seth. Seth's biggest issue was not his pass blocking it was his run blocking where he was ranked almost dead last amongst centers in all of FBS D1 not just P5 schools.
Basically only two that are tough to replace are Amos and Downs, outside of that we've already got replacements on the roster or will bring them in the portal.
rolltidewire.usatoday.com
gridironheroics.com
