Preseason All-SoCon Teams AND Rankings

To add to this topic.

Grant Radakovich, a Day 1 Bear, also was an outstanding blocker in that role for the Bears over the past 3 seasons. Grant will be wearing a slightly different shade of Orange this season though ( GRANT RADAKOVICH ), having graduated from Mercer and now pursuing a graduate degree in a field that was, surprisingly, not available at Mercer, as I understand. He kind of has an 'in' with his new program ( DAN RADAKOVICH - Director of Athletics ), but I wouldn't be one bit surprised to see him making a solid contribution and road-grading some ACC DE's and LB's this year. Losing him will hurt, but this is one of those very rare situations where a Graduate 5th Year Transfer is not a negative situation in any way.

By the way, Grant was a Center in HS and I suspect his TE blocking contribution will be ably picked up by another former HS Offensive Lineman. In fact, he was also Mercer's starting Left Tackle for every game of the 2013 Season. Sam Arrington moved to TE last season, took a few weeks to adjust to his new role and then came on like a CHAMP when Brown, Radakovich, and Owings were all unavailable. I'm not sure how many balls Sam will catch, but I know he will catch a lot of SoCon DE's and LB's on their heels (or backs) after he engages them with great technique and leverage (he was a champion wrestler in HS), quick feet, and his relentless style of play.

The Bears also lost another TE, who would have been a major contributor over the past 2 seasons, but injuries limited him throughout his tenure in Macon. Derek Owings transferred to Mercer from Eastern Michigan and did a great job in there, when he was able to be in there and playing at 100%, but, after graduating, he has moved on as well ( Derek Owings - Utah State - Strength & Conditioning ) to a new program and a graduate degree.

On the Plus side, Mercer redshirted 2 TE's last season that I understand have made a lot of noise both blocking and receiving since they arrived in Maconga. Chase Westfall and Trey Peppers seem to be cut from the same mold as Robert Brown and Sam Walker.

So that's 5 TE's that should all be able to make those key blocks at the point of attack AND, in most cases, be a mismatch (via their various combinations of assets - speed, route-running ability, hands, height, strength) for opposing LB's.

Oh...1 more...Incoming FR Chris Ellington, a 6-4, 230 LB 3 Star prospect ( 247 Sports Profile - Chris Ellington ) who had 8 FBS offers, including 2 P5's. I'm thinking he won't redshirt this year.

What does a 6 TE Offense look like?  Nah...guess not....wouldn't be surprised to see all 5 of them in the game at the same time though, perhaps with Johnny McCrary in a single-back BearCat formation in short-yardage formations. Stack the line and Walker, Brown, et al. will run by you for an easy TD pass. Don't, and with the Bear's excellent O-Line, they'll run QB PowerLoad and mash out 5 or 6 yards...or more. Ooooh, so much to work with. Can't wait to see what they do with it!