UC Football Starting 11 Predictions: Offense

Cincinnati has plenty of transfer vying for starting spots this coming season.

Author:
Russ Heltman
Jul 7, 2023 8:00 AM EDT

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CINCINNATI — UC football is getting the pads clacking at Camp Higher Ground very soon as the summer carries on. It's time to predict the Bearcats lineup on both sides of the starting ledger with the lesser-known unit: Offense.

Emory Jones is the leader of a turned-over passing crew with plenty of transfer names likely to lead the reception tally. Let's dive in.

Quarterback

Emory Jones

Brady Drogosh

Evan Prater

Jones is the presumptive starter heading into his final season of college eligibility. He put on a nice performance in the spring game, proving enough to force Ben Bryant to transfer out of the program for a second time.

Jones is arguably the best athlete in a room full of good ones and brings the needed Power Five experience for a team transitioning to the Big 12. Drogosh gets the second-string nod from me here because he was able to do more and grow more in the spring compared to Evan Prater. Drogosh is already a more accurate passer than Prater and is a comparable, if not better athlete.

Experience may swing things towards Prater in the end, but Drogosh is the best backup plan, in my opinion, if Jones goes down.

Offensive Line

LT: Phillip Wilder

LG: Trevor Radosevich

C: Gavin Gerhardt

RG: Luke Kandra

RT: Deondre Buford

A transfer-heavy offensive line is on-deck this coming season. I have four of the five spots taken by new, experienced faces. Wilder should be in a coin-flip battle with John Williams and Buford for those two tackle spots.

Buford has the leg up on the right side with his SEC experience and the simple fact that he's played 130 career RT snaps. Williams and Wilder have played a combined one whole snap on the right side.

Radosevich is a guy that could hold that RT spot if things go downhill (226 snaps there in 2022), but I see him jockeying with Gerhardt for the C/LG roles. Neither has played that LG spot in their careers but have to for UC to get its best five-man combination on the field. Gerhardt's FBS center experience (859 C snaps in 2022) gives him the slight edge for the middle spot in my eyes.

Kandra should be the best option at right guard after playing 231 2022 snaps there en route to a strong 71.9 PFF grade this past season.

Wide Receiver

X Receiver: Xzavier Henderson

Z Receiver: Donovan Ollie

Slot Receiver: Aaron Turner

Henderson should step in and re-spark his Florida chemistry with Jones and cement himself as the best outside receiving option on the Bearcats roster. He was a top-25 wideout in the SEC last season, has played over 400 snaps in consecutive seasons, and enters as the best run-blocking receiver among the veteran talents.

He has strong experience playing in the slot or outside if Cincinnati wants to get creative with his alignments.

Ollie gets the slight nod for me over Dee Wiggins because of his durability and run blocking. He grades out slightly better on PFF in the latter and is coming off a 555 snap season on the outside to Wiggins' 71 snap mark.

Turner feels like the heavy favorite to continue his role in the slot after transferring from Connecticut. The 5-foot-7 talent is a solid run blocker and earned a 71.4 overall PFF grade last season. Putting his frame outside a lot doesn't make much sense after posting a 418-79 slot-out wide snap ratio last season.

Running Back

Myles Montgomery

Corey Kiner

Ethan Wright

The first-string moniker doesn't matter as much for running back as other positions because UC will need at least two players from this room to step up and perform well game-to-game. Cincinnati is going to run the football and build off that success this season, requiring a carry split and multiple competent backs.

I listed these three based on how they ran in spring ball. Montgomery thrived in the more-downhill scheme and could be primed for a big year. Kiner was solid throughout many red-zone periods and has the overall talent to keep the train rolling behind Montgomery.

Wright could've helped Cincinnati's rough rushing attack in 2022 if he didn't get switched to safety. He ran very hard throughout the spring and has the natural feel to carve a role in UC's backfield.

Tight End

Chamon Metayer

Payten Singletary

Barak Faulk

It's Metayer Time in Clifton.

The talented redshirt sophomore has only played 90 career offensive snaps but oozes athleticism and has a greenlight to full playing time after Joey Beljan went down with a serious injury in spring ball.

Metayer has the talent to really bring this passing game together over the middle of the field. Behind Metayer, there isn't a great option if he goes down. Singletary was a mess in pass protection last season and not great as a run blocker on his way to a 40.7 overall PFF grade.

Faulk or Caleb Schmitz could each battle for that second-string role at Camp Higher Ground.

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