Thinking about 2019

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BulldogGopher

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After watching today's game it got me thinking about what this team will look like next year. Long way to go until then so a lot will change, but here's how I see things currently. Curious what others think as well.

QB - Morgan and Annexstad both returning as Sophs with experience. Both have proven capable of running our offense efficiently. If I had to pick a starter now I'd lean toward Morgan, but that might not be fair since Annexstad's struggles in his later games were largely due to injury, so it's hard to know how things will shake out next year. Clark and Kramer are also on the way and I've heard great things about both. It's possible one of them plays next year too. Still a lot of youth here but some returning experience and good potential. We may not be all the way 'there' yet at this position in 2019, but no reason to think we can't be improved.

RB - Hopefully Smith and Brooks are both back healthy, with Ibrahim and Williams backing up. If so, we'll be loaded at RB.

WR - Johnson, Bateman, CAB, Douglas. Manns comes back healthy and we've got some decent recruits coming in as well. We're good at WR now and should only be better next year.

TE - Kieft and Paulson have been solid. Fleck recently told everyone to go get a Spann-Ford jersey so he figures to be in the mix as well. We should be solid at TE.

OL - Guessing from left to right our starters will be Dickson, Dunlap, Olson, Andries, Faalele. We will miss Greene and Weyler but hopefully Dickson can hold down LT and with another year of development from the younger guys we can make up for it and be at least as good next year if not better. Curious if York and Beier will find their way into the 2 deeps next year, both were solid recruits.

I'm not concerned about our ability to score points next year. Ciarocca is an outstanding OC and and will continue to get the most out of this talented group.

Our success next year will hinge largely on the defense...

DL - Guessing starters will be Coughlin, Smith, Schad, Otomewo. After that, there are a TON of bodies here. At DE, Mafe has gotten more reps lately and should be in the mix. Winston D and Devers have played and are back as seniors. Reigelsperger, Ahanotu and Okonji were all good recruits who redshirted. Coming in are Bargy, who should play right away, Anderson, and Harris - all great recruits with impressive offer lists. At DT, Teague and Daniels should play, with Silver and Renner in the mix and Griffin redshirting. So many players, and I'm guessing some guys that don't make the depth chart will transfer, but I like that they're doubling down here because DL is so important. This position is brimming with potential. Could be really good in a couple years.

LB - Barber and Martin back, guessing Sori-Marin is the other starter. Rush and Oliver provide depth. The incoming recruits will redshirt or play special teams. We'll miss Cashman but with good DC/LB coaching for an entire season we should be better at LB.

DB - At CB, Smith and Williamson the starters, Durr and Thomas providing depth but playing regularly. I like what I saw from our CBs today against Purdue and I think the talent is there to be solid. At S, Winfield (hopefully healthy!) and Howden, with Sapp and I think Nubin both in the mix to start as well. If AWJr is healthy, we should be better at DB, but really need someone to seize the other S spot.

Overall, I think it's realistic that we could be better at every single position group next year. Injuries will inevitably strike so depth will come in to play for sure. The schedule is not terrible - At Fresno will be tough, but crossover games with the East are MD, Rutgers and we get PSU at home. Could be worse. 8+ wins should be within reach.

Sorry for the long post, but curious what others have to say as well!
 

I would compare this to Golf. (confession - I haven't played in years.) As any golfer will attest, you can go out there and just stink up the course, but on the 15th hole, you hit one really beautiful 5-iron and drop it 2 feet from the cup, and all the bad shots seem to fade away. And you walk away thinking, if I could just play every hole like that. And then, you go out there a couple of days later, and on the 1st tee, you duck-hook the ball into the rough.

Point being, after a win like Purdue, it's easy to imagine a really bright future for the program. As opposed to last week after the Illinois game, when it was hard to envision any kind of future for the program.

Yeah - there is potential there. But things happen. The perfect scenario almost never materializes. stuff happens. Are 8+ wins possible? Yes. But other outcomes are also possible. If you're convinced you're going to get a video game system for Christmas, and you get socks and underwear, well, you get the point.
 


short ornery norwegian said:
I would compare this to Golf. (confession - I haven't played in years.) As any golfer will attest, you can go out there and just stink up the course, but on the 15th hole, you hit one really beautiful 5-iron and drop it 2 feet from the cup, and all the bad shots seem to fade away. And you walk away thinking, if I could just play every hole like that. And then, you go out there a couple of days later, and on the 1st tee, you duck-hook the ball into the rough.

Point being, after a win like Purdue, it's easy to imagine a really bright future for the program. As opposed to last week after the Illinois game, when it was hard to envision any kind of future for the program.

Yeah - there is potential there. But things happen. The perfect scenario almost never materializes. stuff happens. Are 8+ wins possible? Yes. But other outcomes are also possible. If you're convinced you're going to get a video game system for Christmas, and you get socks and underwear, well, you get the point.
Click to expand...

I hear you. A team is never as bad as their last loss or as good as their last win, and I kept that in mind while writing my post. Our offense has been scoring points pretty much all season. Our defense has struggled a lot, but I think today showed that the struggles were more of a coaching issue than a personnel issue. Do we / will we have personnel / depth issues in 2019? Of course. Some teams that we play will simply have more talent than us. But is it reasonable to expect our offense, with 9 returning starters, to be at least as good if not better in 2019? Absolutely. And, while I don't expect our defense to play every game next year like they played today, is it reasonable to expect them to perform consistently better next year than they have this year, to give up fewer big plays and have fewer games of surrendering 40+ points? Absolutely. Making the right DC hire will be key this offseason, whether it's Rossi or someone else.

With that said, the B1G West is getting more competitive. PU and NE are trending upward. IL got better. I'm sure WI will bounce back too. NW and IA will continue to be tough. So the division is getting tougher, but we're improving too. Assuming defensive improvement, I think we can be in the mix for a B1G West title in the next few years.
 

Agree with most of the points made by the OP. If we are able to stay relatively healthy on offense next year the sky is the limit for that unit.

Defense is obviously the massive question mark. My big hope is that we can somehow get enough out of the D-Line to put us in a position to move Coughlin back to LB where he could be a monster. I think there is reason to believe we will get better personnel wise on that side of the ball and hopefully what we saw today is a sign of things to come and not a flash in the pan.
 


MNVCGUY said:
Agree with most of the points made by the OP. If we are able to stay relatively healthy on offense next year the sky is the limit for that unit.

Defense is obviously the massive question mark. My big hope is that we can somehow get enough out of the D-Line to put us in a position to move Coughlin back to LB where he could be a monster. I think there is reason to believe we will get better personnel wise on that side of the ball and hopefully what we saw today is a sign of things to come and not a flash in the pan.
Click to expand...

I actually typed this idea in my post initially but then deleted it. While it would be ideal, I don't see it happening because 1) we just don't have any other consistent, proven pass rushers at this point. I think we will eventually with all of the talent there but we're not there yet. And 2) Coughlin has been so good at DE this year.
 

We have scored 196 points in 7 Big Ten games. That's exactly 28 ppg. 7 of our current offensive starters are freshman. Our RB is third string, and is averaging 102.67 ypg in Big Ten play. Our top WR is returning and is currently leading the Big Ten in yards. Our #2 WR is a freshman who is already being talked about in all-time records discussions. We will score points.

Defensively, we have been solid stopping the run. In Big Ten November, that's a must. When we travel to Madison in two weeks, we'll have a better idea of how good we are there. Without knowing who our DC will be next year, the defense is otherwise a wildcard. The DL has only one pass rusher, but he currently leads the Big Ten in sacks. The LB's should be decent. Winfield is great, but he's small. If we can get some DB's to step up, we might just have a good team.

Now, all of that said, the schedule is not as forgiving as it was this year. We can improve greatly and still be on the bowl bubble. This is Minnesota. We need to earn a bowl game, upset a ranked team, and/or reclaim a trophy next year. This is not optional.
 

Future is bright.

Never as bad as your worst game.
Not as good as your best game.
 

I wouldn't count on OJ Smith playing.

We will also have Erik Gibson at WR.

I have no idea who will be starting on the d-line, but think it will be entirely different. Jamal Teague played a lot yesterday.

I believe Nubin is a corner. Safety is the position that appears to have the least depth on the entire team.
 



Clearly the offense is fine. I think the sky is the limit there. Defense will still be the big question mark. If they can even be average in the big ten we could be pretty good overall next year.
 

BulldogGopher said:
I actually typed this idea in my post initially but then deleted it. While it would be ideal, I don't see it happening because 1) we just don't have any other consistent, proven pass rushers at this point. I think we will eventually with all of the talent there but we're not there yet. And 2) Coughlin has been so good at DE this year.
Click to expand...

Clearly the only way it can happen is if guys step up/develop along the D-Line to make it possible. I just think it would be awesome to see Coughlin be able to move back to LB where he could be a nightmare for teams on LB blitzes, similar to the way Cashman was in 2016. He has shown a great ability to get to the QB from the D-Line where he has to fight past an offensive lineman every play. Imagine what he could do if he had more ability to move around and pick his spot....man that would be fun to watch. But of course it is all a pipe dream until we find other guys that can get the job done at DE and that has not been an easy thing to do around here for a long time.

Maybe Bargy will be good enough to start right away or some of the redshirt guys will take a big step in the off-season and be ready to go.
 

Nice write-up. Tough to think ahead to next year as there are so many unknowns, but that's what message boards are for!

Safety is a HUGE concern. We have lots of bodies at CB, and while all of them have flashed at times this year, I'm still not sold on any of them being difference makers. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see 2 or 3 JUCO DB's brought in to go along with the DL. Sapp is either not completely healed or is just not very good, as our secondary has been a disaster this year and he hasn't touched the field other than on ST.

Speaking of ST, don't forget about K. Will the true Frosh win the job...if so, can he hold it down?

QB play has been better this year, but it's still not championship level -- especially on routes down the field. I really hope Clark is the real deal and competes for the job. If he wins it, you know things are really trending in the right direction as both Annexstad and Morgan have flashed more potential throwing the ball than we've seen in a while.

Injuries. Will Smith and Brooks be completely healed -- and will they be back to their old selves? Can Winfield play an entire season? With so little depth at LB and DB, which guy will go down early in the season and totally demoralize us (because you just KNOW it will happen!)?
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I would compare this to Golf. (confession - I haven't played in years.) As any golfer will attest, you can go out there and just stink up the course, but on the 15th hole, you hit one really beautiful 5-iron and drop it 2 feet from the cup, and all the bad shots seem to fade away. And you walk away thinking, if I could just play every hole like that. And then, you go out there a couple of days later, and on the 1st tee, you duck-hook the ball into the rough.

Point being, after a win like Purdue, it's easy to imagine a really bright future for the program. As opposed to last week after the Illinois game, when it was hard to envision any kind of future for the program.

Yeah - there is potential there. But things happen. The perfect scenario almost never materializes. stuff happens. Are 8+ wins possible? Yes. But other outcomes are also possible. If you're convinced you're going to get a video game system for Christmas, and you get socks and underwear, well, you get the point.
Click to expand...

My mother is a short ornery Swede and was absolutely brutal about packaging socks and underwear in elaborate packages under the tree every year. Cackles ensued.

I think in football when we see enough games and seasons most fans understand there will be ups and downs and unexplainable losses and thrilling underdog victories (yes few and far between). Losses of key players can completely change the complexion of a team. Losing Cashman, for example, may be a bigger deal than we know right now. OTOH, the next Cashman could show up out of left field, or the young talent could come in and blow us away. College football is never predictable, as Wisconsin is finding out. A team can be historically bad on defense most of the year, then shut down the hottest offense in the Big Ten. We hope it signifies turning a corner and sometimes it does.
 



short ornery norwegian said:
I would compare this to Golf. (confession - I haven't played in years.) As any golfer will attest, you can go out there and just stink up the course, but on the 15th hole, you hit one really beautiful 5-iron and drop it 2 feet from the cup, and all the bad shots seem to fade away. And you walk away thinking, if I could just play every hole like that. And then, you go out there a couple of days later, and on the 1st tee, you duck-hook the ball into the rough.

Point being, after a win like Purdue, it's easy to imagine a really bright future for the program. As opposed to last week after the Illinois game, when it was hard to envision any kind of future for the program.

I agree - this season has really been a roller coaster ride. This game reminded me more of the Fresno St. game where the defense looked fast and were in the right position. For some reason, this team has played MUCH better at home than away and has also looked much better against a drop back QB than an athletic running QB which has given us trouble all year.

I am cautiously optimistic about the defense going forward and hope we can continue to build on this. I would hope that if we get gashed by a big play that we make adjustments immediately and not let it happen over and over again all game long like Illinois. Both Northwestern and Wisconsin will be tough but they are both winnable with an all out effort like yesterday.
Click to expand...
 

BulldogGopher said:
After watching today's game it got me thinking about what this team will look like next year. Long way to go until then so a lot will change, but here's how I see things currently. Curious what others think as well.

QB - Morgan and Annexstad both returning as Sophs with experience. Both have proven capable of running our offense efficiently. If I had to pick a starter now I'd lean toward Morgan, but that might not be fair since Annexstad's struggles in his later games were largely due to injury, so it's hard to know how things will shake out next year. Clark and Kramer are also on the way and I've heard great things about both. It's possible one of them plays next year too. Still a lot of youth here but some returning experience and good potential. We may not be all the way 'there' yet at this position in 2019, but no reason to think we can't be improved.

RB - Hopefully Smith and Brooks are both back healthy, with Ibrahim and Williams backing up. If so, we'll be loaded at RB.

WR - Johnson, Bateman, CAB, Douglas. Manns comes back healthy and we've got some decent recruits coming in as well. We're good at WR now and should only be better next year.

TE - Kieft and Paulson have been solid. Fleck recently told everyone to go get a Spann-Ford jersey so he figures to be in the mix as well. We should be solid at TE.

OL - Guessing from left to right our starters will be Dickson, Dunlap, Olson, Andries, Faalele. We will miss Greene and Weyler but hopefully Dickson can hold down LT and with another year of development from the younger guys we can make up for it and be at least as good next year if not better. Curious if York and Beier will find their way into the 2 deeps next year, both were solid recruits.

I'm not concerned about our ability to score points next year. Ciarocca is an outstanding OC and and will continue to get the most out of this talented group.

Our success next year will hinge largely on the defense...

DL - Guessing starters will be Coughlin, Smith, Schad, Otomewo. After that, there are a TON of bodies here. At DE, Mafe has gotten more reps lately and should be in the mix. Winston D and Devers have played and are back as seniors. Reigelsperger, Ahanotu and Okonji were all good recruits who redshirted. Coming in are Bargy, who should play right away, Anderson, and Harris - all great recruits with impressive offer lists. At DT, Teague and Daniels should play, with Silver and Renner in the mix and Griffin redshirting. So many players, and I'm guessing some guys that don't make the depth chart will transfer, but I like that they're doubling down here because DL is so important. This position is brimming with potential. Could be really good in a couple years.

LB - Barber and Martin back, guessing Sori-Marin is the other starter. Rush and Oliver provide depth. The incoming recruits will redshirt or play special teams. We'll miss Cashman but with good DC/LB coaching for an entire season we should be better at LB.

DB - At CB, Smith and Williamson the starters, Durr and Thomas providing depth but playing regularly. I like what I saw from our CBs today against Purdue and I think the talent is there to be solid. At S, Winfield (hopefully healthy!) and Howden, with Sapp and I think Nubin both in the mix to start as well. If AWJr is healthy, we should be better at DB, but really need someone to seize the other S spot.

Overall, I think it's realistic that we could be better at every single position group next year. Injuries will inevitably strike so depth will come in to play for sure. The schedule is not terrible - At Fresno will be tough, but crossover games with the East are MD, Rutgers and we get PSU at home. Could be worse. 8+ wins should be within reach.

Sorry for the long post, but curious what others have to say as well!
Click to expand...

Love the look ahead, Bulldog.

Like most everyone, the defense still gives me cause for concern. We need improvement across the spectrum there. Performances like yesterday gives one hope.

Sure hope next year's new talent has as much impact as this year's.

JTG
 


John Galt said:
I wouldn't count on OJ Smith playing.

We will also have Erik Gibson at WR.

I have no idea who will be starting on the d-line, but think it will be entirely different. Jamal Teague played a lot yesterday.

I believe Nubin is a corner. Safety is the position that appears to have the least depth on the entire team.
Click to expand...

Eligibility or depth chart?

I thought it was settled that he had a sixth year.

If he's on the team, I think he is a definite starter.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
Eligibility or depth chart?

I thought it was settled that he had a sixth year.

If he's on the team, I think he is a definite starter.
Click to expand...

He’s missed 5 games due to a concussion. Whether he ever plays football again is questionable.
 

John Galt said:
He’s missed 5 games due to a concussion. Whether he ever plays football again is questionable.
Click to expand...

Ahh, gotcha.

Yeah, he could certainly hang it up.

I thought he was impressive this season, I hope for him he is medically able to play. He might have an outside shot at the NFL.
 

magpie said:
the schedule is not as forgiving as it was this year
Click to expand...

Huh? The 2019 schedule is markedly easier than the 2018 schedule. For the crossover games, we swap out OSU and Indiana for PSU and Rutgers while keeping Maryland. We have 5 home Big Ten games instead of 4. We have an FCS school in the nonconference. It is almost as easy as a Big Ten schedule can possibly be. If Fleck is going to have a future here, it would be advisable for him to win 8 games minimum.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Huh? The 2019 schedule is markedly easier than the 2018 schedule. For the crossover games, we swap out OSU and Indiana for PSU and Rutgers while keeping Maryland. We have 5 home Big Ten games instead of 4. We have an FCS school in the nonconference. It is almost as easy as a Big Ten schedule can possibly be. If Fleck is going to have a future here, it would be advisable for him to win 8 games minimum.
Click to expand...

no more maryland! they keep ruining winfield.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Huh? The 2019 schedule is markedly easier than the 2018 schedule. For the crossover games, we swap out OSU and Indiana for PSU and Rutgers while keeping Maryland. We have 5 home Big Ten games instead of 4. We have an FCS school in the nonconference. It is almost as easy as a Big Ten schedule can possibly be. If Fleck is going to have a future here, it would be advisable for him to win 8 games minimum.
Click to expand...

It's easier next year.
Not sure how tough at Fresno St will be. I think their QB is a senior so maybe they take a small step back.

Penn St for OSU is about equal.
Rutgers for Indiana should be better.

Biggest difference is the 5 home games in the Big Ten vs 4.
 




Because we've had more success against them percentage wise. I think we've won a total of 7 games against the Buckeyes in like 60 years.
 



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