PH'15: Meet Your 2016 Arkansas State Red Wolves

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Quarterbacks

Pos	Name	Year	OVR	Ht, Wt	Comp	Att	Yds	Comp%	TD	INT	Yards/Att.
QB	Kevin Pino	Xfer			69	98	1041	70.41%	4	3	10.62
QB	Drew Fernandez	So	81	6-2, 230	149	193	1976	77.20%	11	7	10.24
QB	DJ Pearson	JrRS	89	6-3, 196	9	17	99	52.94%	1	1	5.82
QB	Bob Lawson	SoRS	83	6-4, 222	3	3	54	100.00%	0	0	18.00
QB	Bryan Reed	Fr	75	6-1, 230

At Quarterback, Drew Fernandez returns as the starter after a very good first season. Despite his youth, he excelled last year both with his arm and his feet. Behind him will be veteran DJ Pearson who coaches wouldn't necessarily want to rely on as an every-down starter but is a solid and capable backup in a pinch. The clipboard holder of the bunch will be QB Bob Lawson who has a very strong arm but legs of a statue. Redshirting this year is incoming Freshman Bryan Reed. Reed looks to have a very high ceiling and will eventually become great learning under Fernandez's wing. Pino played in relief of Fernandez when he was injured for several weeks in 2015, however, seeing the writing on the wall, he chose to transfer to Baylor where he'll almost certainly be the starter after sitting for a year.

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Runningbacks

Pos	Name	Year	OVR	Ht, Wt	Car	Yds	TD	YPC	FUM	Long
HB	Johnston White	Grad			198	1385	17	6.99	1	99
HB	Alex Turner	Jr	86	6-2, 217	61	290	8	4.75	0	20
HB	Andrew Hunter	FrRS	73	6-0, 202	RS
HB	Terrance Hollingsworth	SrRS	87	5-9, 199	3	23	0	7.67	0	15
HB	Earl Harrison	JrRS	81	5-10, 179	2	5	0	2.50	0	4
HB	Kevin Simmons	Fr	71	5-11, 202
HB	Chris Ferwerda	Fr	68	6-1, 203
FB	Danny Harrison	SoRS	74	6-5, 265	0
FB	Pierre Hughes	SoRS	70	6-5, 278	1	1	0	1.00	0	1
QB	Drew Fernandez	So	81	6-2, 230	81	510	11	6.30	4	45

At Runningback, Arkansas State takes it's largest loss in losing two year starter Johnston White. Replacing him will be bruiser Alex Turner. To help offset the loss of White's speed, Freshman Andrew Hunter will be the change of pace back. Behind them will be Hollingsworth & Harrison who will likely only see mop-up duty unless Turner is hit with an injury. Coaches are very excited about the future of true Freshman burner Kevin Simmons but for now he'll redshirt unless Hunter is injured for a significant period of time. At Fullback, Pierre Hughes was an iceberg... he was slow moving, but if he hit you, he could bury you into the sea. Danny Harrison will move over from TE and join him to have the versatility of two FBs with different purposes.

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Receivers

Pos	Name	Year	OVR	Ht, Wt	Catches	Yards	TD	YPC	Drops	Long
WRZ	Dijon Pascal	Grad			38	588	3	15.47	3	77
HB	Johnston White	Grad			21	251	1	11.95	1	86
WRX	Omar Bayless	Cut			1	8	0	8.00	0	8
WRX	Blake Mack	SrRS	89	6-3, 201	45	529	1	11.76	4	27
WRZ	Trey Quinn	SrRS	89	6-0, 196	53	809	5	15.26	6	49
WRY	Jake Davis	Fr	70	6-3, 216
WRX	Allen Hendrix	JrRS	83	6-2, 206	RS
WRZ	Michael Dykes	FrRS	70	6-0, 188	RS
WRY	Michael Porter	Jr	78	6-0, 196	12	145	0	12.08	0	29
WRX	Brad Wright	Fr	79	6-7, 230
WRZ	Kyle Campbell	Fr	72	6-2, 233
WRY	Thurman Goins	Fr	75	6-1, 225
WRZ	Joe Hines	Fr	67	5-11, 186
HB	Alex Turner	Jr	86	6-2, 217	2	21	0	10.50	0	26
FB	Danny Harrison	SoRS	74	6-5, 265	3	54	2	18.00	0	41

Like RB, Receiver loses a significant player in Dijon Pascal. However, both Trey Quinn and Blake Mack return and had better or comparable seasons to Pascal. Added into the 3-WR mix will be true Freshman Jake Davis. Davis' speed is something that ASU has sorely lacked so his impact will be immediately felt. After those 3, likely only sure-handed Allen Hendrix will make a big impact this upcoming season but the Red Wolves have several nice prospects redshirting for the future in Wright, Goins, Campbell, & Hines, though one may be called upon in case of an injury.

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Tight Ends

Pos	Name	Year	OVR	Ht, Wt	REC	YDS	TD	YPC	Drops	Long
TE	Jerry Morehead	Grad			54	764	4	14.15	1	62
TE	Jeff Rutledge	FrRS	72	6-5, 252	RS
TE	Christian Scott	Fr	68	6-5, 257

With the emergence of Jerry Morehead, coaches were hopeful that they had found his replacement in big-bodied WR Brad Wright but when he couldn't block his way out of a paper bag, they went to Plan B. Rutledge and Scott are both adequate but likely won't make the same impact that Morehead did. However, Morehead's success was a surprise so they may very well match it.

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Offensive Lineman

Pos	Name	Year	OVR	Ht, Wt	2015 Starts	PCake	Sacks
RT	Devin Mondie	Grad			13	2	5
LG	Joseph Bacchus	Grad			13	5	2
RT	Adam Whalen	Grad			0
RG	Dalton Ford	Cut			0
LT	Keith Glover	Sr	81	6-0, 278	13	4	2
LG	Quintin Vincent	Fr	79	6-3, 294
C	Jhamal Bell	SrRS	83	6-3, 298	13	3	2
RG	Jared McCoy	SoRS	80	6-2, 301	RS
RT	James Moore	Fr	79	6-4, 296
LT	Brad Sharpe	SoRS	80	6-5, 293	RS
RG	Cameron Davis	JrRS	78	6-4, 264	13	3	3
RG	John Landry	SoRS	77	6-1, 282	0
RT	Justin Hoffman	SoRS	76	6-3, 254	Xfer
LG	Mike Thompson	FrRS	77	6-5, 278	RS
C	Chris Anderson	FrRS	77	6-7, 320	RS
LT	Marcus Fisher	FrRS	74	6-6, 309	RS

Along the Offensive Line, two starters graduated leaving two openings and another, the backup outperformed the stater. At LT, Keith Glover returns to his starting role as the backside protection. At LG, true Freshman Quintin Vincent looks to be a considerable upgrade from Bacchus with great strength, athleticism, and blocking skills. At C, Jhamal Bell proved very solid and should only improve with the offseason. At RG, Jared McCoy comes back after a redshirt season saw him put in hard work and improve to become a starter. At RT, just like Vincent, Moore is a true Freshman sensation and has big shoes to fill in replacing Mondie. Behind the starters, only Brad Sharpe stands out as a very capable replacement... he may end up rotating at all five spots depending upon the need.

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Defensive Lineman

Pos	Name	Year	OVR	Ht, Wt	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	INT	FF	FR
DT	Chuks Ota	Grad			24	4.24%	5	2	0	0	0
RE	Clifford Thomas	Grad			16	2.83%	9	6	0	0	0
RE	Jarvis Burrell	Xfer			RS
LE	Erik Franklin	FrRS	79	6-4, 257	RS
DT	Courtney Garnett	SrRS	87	6-2, 289	0	0.00%	0	0	0	0	0
DT	Eugene Sutton	SrRS	82	6-3, 278	1	0.18%	1	0	0	0	0
RE	Nick Jones	SoRS	68	6-3, 213	14	2.47%	8	3	0	1	0
LE	Caleb Caston	SrRS	85	6-2, 213	11	1.94%	4	2	0	0	0
DT	Manny Drew	SoRS	78	6-3, 285	6	1.06%	1	0	0	0	0
DT	Andrew Wright	JrRS	76	6-3, 264	RS
DT	Eddie Nobles	SoRS	70	6-2, 269	RS
RE	Kevin Jackson	Fr	74	6-1, 257
DT	Joey Marshall	Fr	72	6-4, 270

On the Defensive Line, a complete overhaul has taken place to give the Red Wolves a new look. At LE, Caston was the starter a year ago but didn't perform as well as coaches wanted him to. As a result, redshirt Freshman Erik Franklin will get his shot to see what he can do in the early part of the season. At DT, with Ota graduating and Drew performing below expectations, Courtney Garnett and Eugene Sutton will be called upon to start; both are fifth-year seniors and should be more than capable of pulling the load. At RE, Thomas graduates after leading all DL in sacks. Replacing him will be Nick Jones who saw action as a role player in 2015; his strength, speed, and finesse moves allowed him to make an impact even in his limited role.

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Linebackers

Pos	Name	Year	OVR	Ht, Wt	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	INT	FF	FR
MLB	Kyle Wallace	Grad			73	12.90%	17	4	2	0	0
ROLB	Ja'Von Rolland Jones	Grad			47	8.30%	13	6	3	1	0
MLB	Jacob Robbins	Fr	80	6-1, 220
ROLB	Justin Holmes	FrRS	78	6-1, 227	RS
ROLB	Khari Lain	SrRS	83	5-10, 188	17	3.00%	5	3	0	0	0
MLB	Brian Horner	FrRS	74	6-0, 213	RS
MLB	Kirk Louis Jr	JrRS	75	6-2, 238	14	2.47%	3	1	0	0	0
LOLB	Daniel Wheeler	FrRS	70	6-1, 222	RS
LOLB	Xavier Reed	Sr	71	6-2, 225	34	6.01%	12	6	0	0	0
MLB	Ryan Denman	Fr	74	5-9, 229

At Linebacker, the loss of MLB Kyle Wallace will surely be felt. His 69 tackles were second on the team and he allowed coaches to call an attacking style of defense. Replacing him will be true Freshman Jacob Robbins who looks to be the second coming of former Red Wolf MLB Demario Davis. His speed, strength, and ability to attack the football will likely allow ASU coaches to leave things up to him to clean up plays. At ROLB, losing Rolland-Jones will also be felt, but Justin Holmes was taking notes during his redshirt year. Coaches feel confident the duo will terrorize offenses for the next four years together. ASU will also see packages that have 3 & 4 LBs on the field at the same time. In cases like that, speedsters Brian Horner and Daniel Wheeler will likely be brought in to cause chaos. Wheeler will be replacing Reed who had an exceptional year but will take a redshirt to allow him to get his graduate degree. The two are almost identical in their skillset so there should be no drop-off.

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Secondary

Pos	Name	Year	OVR	Ht, Wt	Tackles	% of Team	TFL	Sacks	INT	FF	FR
CB	Blaise Taylor	Grad			32	5.65%	0	0	3	0	0
SS	Sterling Wright	Grad			40	7.07%	3	0	1	0	1
CB	Jamaris Hart	Grad			20	3.53%	3	1	0	0	0
CB	Nehemiah Wagner	Cut			2	0.35%	0	0	0	0	0
FS	Mike Brown	Cut			1	0.18%	1	0	0	0	0
SS	Jason Brown	Cut			1	0.18%	0	0	0	0	0
CB	Donte Jackson	JrRS	94	5-11, 176	44	7.77%	5	1	1	0	0
CB	Jacob Gray	Fr	80	6-0, 191
FS	Brandon Young	Jr	82	6-0, 179	77	13.60%	14	0	3	0	0
SS1	Charles Grant	SrRS	91	5-11, 181	63	11.13%	7	0	4	0	0
SS2	Justin Clifton	JrRS	81	6-0, 209	17	3.00%	5	3	0	0	0
CB	Terrance White	FrRS	77	6-0, 178	RS
SS2	Bubba Martin	SoRS	78	6-2, 194	RS
CB	Paul Stephens	JrRS	76	5-10, 174	12	2.12%	1	1	0	0	0
FS	Marques Whitehead	JrRS	78	5-10, 160	RS
CB	Caleb Roberson	Jr	79	6-1, 181
SS1	Samson Cox	So	78	6-0, 197
CB	Ron Vaughn	Fr	72	6-0, 173
FS	Brandon Scroeder	Jr	69	6-2, 177

At Cornerback, blue chipper Donte Jackson returns after having a versatile role in the secondary. He'll continue to play CB and Nickel in various scenarios. Opposite him will be true Freshman Jacob Gray. Gray is a highly ranked track star and his speed translates easily to the football field. At FS, Brandon Young returns after leading the team in tackles and second in TFL. He mostly plays the middle of the field in and is excellent in coming up to help stop the run as evidenced by his team-leading tackles. At SS in the 425-base defense returns Charles Grant after a very good year at NB/SS. Opposite him is Justin Clifton who moves over from OLB to his more natural position at SS. Behind them, Bubba Martin looks primed to compete for playing time as well.

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Kickers

Pos	Name	Year	OVR	Ht, Wt	FGM	FGA	FG%	LONG	XPM	PTS
K	James Davis	Sr	89	6-3, 212	13	15	86.67%	52	56	95

Punters

Pos	Name	Year	OVR	Ht, Wt	Punts	Yards	AVG	Net	Inside 20	Long
P	Michael Lott	So	82	6-0, 200	18	842	46.78	780	8	59

Davis and Lott both return to their respective positions. Davis' strong leg proved not quite strong enough as he missed two field goal attempts when coaches over-estimated his distance. Lott returns having had a good Freshman year but will need to improve his ratio for kicks inside the 20.

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Returners

Pos	Name	Year	OVR	Ht, Wt	KR	YDS	AVG	TD	PR	YDS	AVG
WRY	Jake Davis	Fr	70	6-3, 216
HB	Andrew Hunter	FrRS	73	6-0, 202	RS
HB	Terrance Hollingsworth	SrRS	87	5-9, 199	34	1052	30.94	1	14	140	10.00