John Galt
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- Joined
- Aug 28, 2011
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This season was ugly, there is no sugar coating it. We took a step back in PJ's 1st season. Many issues contributed to it - coaching, transfers, players kicked out of school, new system, injuries, etc etc. Did we have the talent to be a 8-9 win team? No. Did we underperform given what we had? My answer is yes. I believe PJ will get this figured out, and here is what I'm watching on offense going into next year:
1. QB play has to be better. In fairness to DC, I didn't see him miss a lot of wide open WRs this year. His receivers got very little separation and he often put the ball on the money. His reaction time in the pocket will need to improve significantly. Fleck was smart to give Morgan an entire redshirt year. Assuming we land Viramontes, I am excited about a spring/fall QB competitions between DC, Morgan and Viramontes. It will be the best group we've had in a while.
2. Running game. We lose McCrary, but Smith and Brooks will be back for their senior seasons. Femi-Cole has looked good in spring. We red-shirted London and Ibrahim, and have 2 really good recruits that will be here next year - Nolan Edmonds and Bryce Williams. That's a pretty nice set-up at RB.
3. Wide Receiver play will be significantly better. We simply ran out of bodies at this position. We saw what TJ could do this year and next year he's a junior. We add playmakers in Douglass, Bell and Bateman. We also need Howard, Van Dyne or one of the other freshmen to emerge.
4. O-line is the biggest question mark for me. We lose Wright and Calhoun. Weyler will be back. Olson and Schleuter played a lot as redshirt freshmen. Greene will be back. Losing Connelly for good really hurt the o-line. We need a couple of the redshirt freshmen - Andries, Sassack and/or Schmitz to emerge quickly. We also need some JUCO help here. Unfortunately, it looks like the o-line is a couple year work in progress.
5. Tight End. I keep thinking that Lingen had to be banged up this year - he just wasn't a factor and didn't play that much. I won't miss Wozniak's hands of stone. We also didn't really see Beebe this year which was surprising. I'm excited to see what Jake Paulson can do and wouldn't be surprised if we see Spann-Ford next year as a true freshman receiving threat.
1. QB play has to be better. In fairness to DC, I didn't see him miss a lot of wide open WRs this year. His receivers got very little separation and he often put the ball on the money. His reaction time in the pocket will need to improve significantly. Fleck was smart to give Morgan an entire redshirt year. Assuming we land Viramontes, I am excited about a spring/fall QB competitions between DC, Morgan and Viramontes. It will be the best group we've had in a while.
2. Running game. We lose McCrary, but Smith and Brooks will be back for their senior seasons. Femi-Cole has looked good in spring. We red-shirted London and Ibrahim, and have 2 really good recruits that will be here next year - Nolan Edmonds and Bryce Williams. That's a pretty nice set-up at RB.
3. Wide Receiver play will be significantly better. We simply ran out of bodies at this position. We saw what TJ could do this year and next year he's a junior. We add playmakers in Douglass, Bell and Bateman. We also need Howard, Van Dyne or one of the other freshmen to emerge.
4. O-line is the biggest question mark for me. We lose Wright and Calhoun. Weyler will be back. Olson and Schleuter played a lot as redshirt freshmen. Greene will be back. Losing Connelly for good really hurt the o-line. We need a couple of the redshirt freshmen - Andries, Sassack and/or Schmitz to emerge quickly. We also need some JUCO help here. Unfortunately, it looks like the o-line is a couple year work in progress.
5. Tight End. I keep thinking that Lingen had to be banged up this year - he just wasn't a factor and didn't play that much. I won't miss Wozniak's hands of stone. We also didn't really see Beebe this year which was surprising. I'm excited to see what Jake Paulson can do and wouldn't be surprised if we see Spann-Ford next year as a true freshman receiving threat.