Next year in football

[mazda1]

How people can not be concerned losing talent like Josie, Josh?, Wadley, Welsh, Daniels?, and Bazata is beyond me. To me this is really disrespecting their hard work and their results as a Hawkeye.

Remember when Iowa was going to be so much better without Jok?

 

[millhawk]

I see the defense taking a MAJOR hit, the offense taking a big hit (Wadley is a rare talent, Brian just didn't utilize him very well, play calling pathetic), receivers have poor hands, only Hockenson is a reliable pass catcher, an offense that rated #107 out of 129 teams doesn't give me hope. The only area that I see improvement is special teams only because from the cellar, there is only one way to go.

Defense will still be good, the backers have some talent, just no starting experience. We do need a bounce back year from Rugamba, which is not a reach, he is talented. Safety play will be an upgrade. Wadley had the misfortune of injuries on the oline. Two new tackles and JD struggled with a knee problem. That will be better. Experienced qb, IKM and Young, what's not to like there? Easier schedule, we will do better than 7-5.

BTW, we will not lose to ISU.

 

[Millardhawk]

The TEs will be bigger next year. Fact is a matchup nightmare as shown early in the season as they tried to use him with some gimmick plays. His route running will be improved and will make more plays. They will stretch the field even more as he will be put wide with ISM OR Smith in the slot. Fant can't be covered by a safety so defenses will need to adjust, which means a WR will then get the safety. With Fant wide and Hockenson running underneath, the options are very high.

Don't underestimate the return of Snyder on defense as he will allow Hooker to play like Harrison Smith for the Vikings. I know Snyder is coming off suspension and injury, but don't think for a minute that fe won't be back on a mission for 2018. If will be a Sr and doesn't want to end 2018 anywhere like 2017 finished on or off the field. He will go out on a high note.

In the backfield, we will have Thunder and Lightning again with Young and Ivory-Martin as well as depth. If we go a little more pace, we will wear out the defense. Martin only has been with the program 4 months, so the future is really bright. Can't wait for Young; the NU game was just a brief flash of what he will do. I know NU was horrible, but they knew what was coming and he ran over and through them anyway.

Finally, KOK will be back with a full year with Stanley. My guess he had to do a lot of reteaching after GD left and teaching that it is allowable to throw the ball between the hashes. Stanley is going to be fun to watch.

 

[TheHawkeyeDudeAbides]

I see the defense taking a MAJOR hit, the offense taking a big hit (Wadley is a rare talent, Brian just didn't utilize him very well, play calling pathetic), receivers have poor hands, only Hockenson is a reliable pass catcher, an offense that rated #107 out of 129 teams doesn't give me hope. The only area that I see improvement is special teams only because from the cellar, there is only one way to go.

texas twister.... did the sun come up today in your world? Do the hawks have some problems to fix? YES! But so do most of the NCAA teams, especially our B1G rivals. I'd rather have Iowa's problems than Iowa State (post Lazard era with new QB) or Minnesota (youngsters playing against grown men/QB issues).

We are all looking forward to Nate Stanley having more reliable passing targets next season (IKM, ISM, Hockerson, Easley, B Smith, and Young all dropped a few passes that could have been made and improved Iowa's offensive game). I am hoping we will see the emergence of guys like Cooper, Quarrells, and Beyer. The receiving corps should improve quite a bit. Not really expecting any true freshman to play next year.

The RBs will be okay and may play better as the OL gets more sound, especially the interior play. Yes, we will miss Akrum but IKM has show some quickness and good hands. TYoung is seems like a better runner than LeShun or JR were. Right now following Young and IKM at RB is mostly Bryan followed by Toks until further notice of Toks health. A very capable unit, need a real hammer at FB (maybe Tommy Kujawa moves to FB).

OL would solidify if Jackson, Wirfs, and Daniels lock down the left side of the line. Finding a RT should not be to hard with Iowa's program (Paulsen , Kallenberger, ?) and RG will probably go to Sir (Keegan) Render . The interior OLs (Render, Reynolds, Myers) was bad last year and a lot of defenders broke thru quickly against this unit. Wirfs learned under heavy fire. Must improve here and develop backups. Hoping to see development in guys like Kirkpatrick, Williams, Kallenberger, maybe Duwa. Heck, Jeff Jenkins may be a surprise develop as he was the first commit in class of 2018.

DT replace of Bazata should be a concern but DL should be improved. AJ could become a beast after spring football at Iowa. DB should be replenished and could be better, even if JJ go pro ( I think JJ goes pro). Kicker Miguel Recinos works towards an NFL tryout (strong leg, accuracy improving). Punting gets better as Ryan Gersonde takes over from Rastetter.

LB corps may not have Josey anymore but the young corp may be better over the long haul as I never saw Bower as an equal to Jewell and Neimann. Wallace will shape this group up.

 

[wcbtee]

In college guys graduate every year, for every school. The key is how we replace those “special”players or the very good player whose backup is inexperienced or not at the same potential.

On D, I would say both Josie & Jackson are special, extra heart beat guys, while Niemann & Bazata are both very good. I agree we have corners and linemen that will be solid replacements. The question I have is @ lb, Josie lifts the whole defense up, the lack of experience next year at all lb positions will be noticeable. The good news is we have 3-4 guys with several years in the program. If they stay healthy, this will improve as the year progresses, but this is an area that frustrates me, not playing backups more. If you look at Wisconsin they regularly play their backups, then seemingly plug and play another lb when an injury occurs.

On O, we played without Boone and Ike (hence the struggles we saw this year). We have 6 linemen returning with starting experience, I think this will lead to improvement over this years line. If Daniel’s goes pro, I am much more concerned, he has the most returning experience and I do not see a player ready to step in for him day one. MVB had a great career, but he was not the same after his injury. Easley, Fant, ISM, Hockenson should all take steps up, I see the passing game as our biggest improvement next year. I agree Wadley has the wiggle and elusiveness that we don’t see too often here. No doubt that will be missed, Young and Kelly-Martin got their feet wet, I hope they can continue to improve. I think an improved passing game will be the biggest key to our run game next year.

 

[HawkTex]

Iowa should have a good season next year. Most of the building blocks are in place. Schedule is favorable. Barring significant injuries this looks like a 9 or 10 win schedule.

The passing game will be better next season.

The Passing Game must evolve to the point to where it can win games when the Running Game is shut down. Every year we have 2-4 games where the Running Game is shut down under 100 yards and our Offense is Dead in the Water.

 

[ScoutRefugee]

The key areas of concern are OL and LB. I think the OL will be better if Daniels comes back. If he doesn't, all bets are off. We struggled with blitz pick-ups all year, with Daniels. I don't want to think about it without him.
LB is such an important part of how Iowa plays defense. The last time we had 3 starting LBs graduate, was 2013. We were 9th in the nation in PPG allowed with 18.9. We basically returned our entire DL and most of our DBs in 2014. Yet we slipped to 51st in PPG allowed with 25.6.
The 2013 to 2014 transition looks eerily similar to this up coming transition. We returned most of the rest of our defense, minus the LBs. We returned a young OL and a young QB in Rudock. We went 8-5 in 2013 and we went 7-6 in 2014.

 

[TKingpin]

There is no question that the defense sorely missed Kirksey, Morris and Hitchens the year after they graduated. Some of that is to be expected this next year as well.

These performances aren’t done in a vaccuum, however, and I can’t recall very well if our offense - or lack thereof - was a huge part of the problem in 2014. I think we to rush Daniels out there on the OLine way before he was ready because we were either thin or injured upfront ( or both). IIRC it seemed like our lack of offense was the bigger problem that year. Not to mention Rudock missing guys downfield that we’re wide open, because he either under threw, overthrew or just plain didn’t look their way. Remember his nickname? Check-down Jakey. We had great TEs that never saw the ball on crucial 3rd down plays.

Lots of variables go into winning or losing football games. I think LB play was down the list. Was Canzeri hurt most of the season? I would have to go back and look at some games, I guess.

 

[ScoutRefugee]

There is no question that the defense sorely missed Kirksey, Morris and Hitchens the year after they graduated. Some of that is to be expected this next year as well.

These performances aren’t done in a vaccuum, however, and I can’t recall very well if our offense - or lack thereof - was a huge part of the problem in 2014. I think we to rush Daniels out there on the OLine way before he was ready because we were either thin or injured upfront ( or both). IIRC it seemed like our lack of offense was the bigger problem that year. Not to mention Rudock missing guys downfield that we’re wide open, because he either under threw, overthrew or just plain didn’t look their way. Remember his nickname? Check-down Jakey. We had great TEs that never saw the ball on crucial 3rd down plays.

Lots of variables go into winning or losing football games. I think LB play was down the list. Was Canzeri hurt most of the season? I would have to go back and look at some games, I guess.

And you think our offense will be a strength next year? You serious, Clark?

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

How people can not be concerned losing talent like Josie, Josh?, Wadley, Welsh, Daniels?, and Bazata is beyond me. To me this is really disrespecting their hard work and their results as a Hawkeye.

Remember when Iowa was going to be so much better without Jok?

Not as disrespectful as not even spelling Josey correct. Look I get it Josey and Josh will be missed, however, wasn’t Manny supposed to be Kosh this year? Where did Josh come from??? Same place King and Micah came from, Phil Parker. Nixon will fill in nicely for Bazata, Ced has a year experience and Matt as well in the inside. DL will be much better which will help our LBs. Daniels will be back, welsh is a stud-but easier to replace interior than edge players-whom both will be Soph next year. Wadley is big play waiting to happen, but lacked consistency in things like pass pro. Vandy will be missed also, they all will be! I loved all the seniors. However, I see an 8 win season as being a low and think 10+ win season as my prediction

 

[TKingpin]

I am hoping so. 2 big, powerful freshman OTs become sophomores, With 3 seniors inside assuming JD comes back. Beyer is making waves at TE during Bowl prep which gives us a terrific and deep TE unit. All 3 of those freshmen WR become sophomores too! We lose MVB, but let’s face it: not quite the same Uber-reliable WR this year he had been.

IKM and Young both were given reps in important games so they should be ready. Stanley has 1 full year as a starter under his belt. BF has a full year experience as an OC which he didn’t have this year.

Hopefully, our PR has a much better year of keeping us out of bad field position, too. The punt team CANNOT possibly be worse, agreed?

So, yes. I expect a better offensive team. Assuming we stay away from the injury bug, and Daniels returns.

Who is Clark?

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

And you think our offense will be a strength next year? You serious, Clark?

I think our offense will be much improved and could very well be considered a strength. Grant and Hock will be matchup nightmares

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

The positions there won't be an upgrade at:
RB (Wadley's big play ability is not easily replaced)
WR (there were times when Vandeberg was the only WR that could catch a ball)
2 of the 3 LB spots (Maybe even Bower)
CB (I doubt there is a Jackson on the roster)
Center (if Daniels leaves)
Guard (possibly. Welsh had a lot of starts)

I doubted there was a king on the roster this year and then josh came along! WR will be upgraded

 

[DewHawk]

Unfortunately, IMO sameo sameo 6-6 or 7-5..................................

 

[texas twister]

I doubted there was a king on the roster this year and then josh came along! WR will be upgraded

No basis for your "belief". We saw how they all got torched against Purdue. Finally, Jackson was placed there. You believing it will happen does nothing to make it happen. Your optimism has no substance.

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

texas twister.... did the sun come up today in your world? Do the hawks have some problems to fix? YES! But so do most of the NCAA teams, especially our B1G rivals. I'd rather have Iowa's problems than Iowa State (post Lazard era with new QB) or Minnesota (youngsters playing against grown men/QB issues).

We are all looking forward to Nate Stanley having more reliable passing targets next season (IKM, ISM, Hockerson, Easley, B Smith, and Young all dropped a few passes that could have been made and improved Iowa's offensive game). I am hoping we will see the emergence of guys like Cooper, Quarrells, and Beyer. The receiving corps should improve quite a bit. Not really expecting any true freshman to play next year.

The RBs will be okay and may play better as the OL gets more sound, especially the interior play. Yes, we will miss Akrum but IKM has show some quickness and good hands. TYoung is seems like a better runner than LeShun or JR were. Right now following Young and IKM at RB is mostly Bryan followed by Toks until further notice of Toks health. A very capable unit, need a real hammer at FB (maybe Tommy Kujawa moves to FB).

OL would solidify if Jackson, Wirfs, and Daniels lock down the left side of the line. Finding a RT should not be to hard with Iowa's program (Paulsen , Kallenberger, ?) and RG will probably go to Sir (Keegan) Render . The interior OLs (Render, Reynolds, Myers) was bad last year and a lot of defenders broke thru quickly against this unit. Wirfs learned under heavy fire. Must improve here and develop backups. Hoping to see development in guys like Kirkpatrick, Williams, Kallenberger, maybe Duwa. Heck, Jeff Jenkins may be a surprise develop as he was the first commit in class of 2018.

DT replace of Bazata should be a concern but DL should be improved. AJ could become a beast after spring football at Iowa. DB should be replenished and could be better, even if JJ go pro ( I think JJ goes pro). Kicker Miguel Recinos works towards an NFL tryout (strong leg, accuracy improving). Punting gets better as Ryan Gersonde takes over from Rastetter.

LB corps may not have Josey anymore but the young corp may be better over the long haul as I never saw Bower as an equal to Jewell and Neimann. Wallace will shape this group up.

2 issues I have with this:
1) not sure Wirfs will move to guard-assuming it will be render and Paulsen
2) do not think any group of LB’s will be better in long haul. Josey is GOAT, Nieman was so solid and under rated in coverage and bower was always under appreciated and for some reason people can’t shake his play from 2-3 years ago.
Other than that I agree

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

No basis for your "belief". We saw how they all got torched against Purdue. Finally, Jackson was placed there. You believing it will happen does nothing to make it happen. Your optimism has no substance.

No more substance than your negativity- it’s not just optimistic thinking-it is historical perspective with corners. I’m not saying we will have another JJ or king season but the unit will be helped by two significant position upgrades due to new players or experience. DL and safety will help the corners a ton. I thought DL was great this year but will be deeper and better next

 

[texas twister]

No more substance than your negativity- it’s not just optimistic thinking-it is historical perspective with corners.

Nothing historical about the corners. Sometimes we have great corners and sometimes we don't. The group returning struggled this year. When the offense ranked 107 out of 129 teams and you lose Wadley, pessimism is deserved. On defense, losing Jackson and all LB - pessimism is deserved. That is simply being a realist on my part.

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

Nothing historical about the corners. Sometimes we have great corners and sometimes we don't. The group returning struggled this year. When the offense ranked 107 out of 129 teams and you lose Wadley, pessimism is deserved. On defense, losing Jackson and all LB - pessimism is deserved. That is simply being a realist on my part.

Look at 1st team corners in the big ten since 2010 not to mention 3 award winners- not often we don’t have terrific corner play. I would be more concerned if this was abnormal in college football to lose good players-other teams lose talent too-not as many return as much as we do. Look at all the teams we play next year and what they have returning compared to us...it’s more of a big picture thing

 

[ScoutRefugee]

I doubted there was a king on the roster this year and then josh came along! WR will be upgraded

We have believed that "WRs will be upgraded" for the past 19 seasons. History tells me that I'm right and you're wrong on that one. You cannot make that claim with anything less than pie in the sky homerism.

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

We have believed that "WRs will be upgraded" for the past 19 seasons. History tells me that I'm right and you're wrong on that one. You cannot make that claim with anything less than pie in the sky homerism.

if You consider we only lose one WR from the room and the extreme focus going toward TE next year not to mention it will be year 2 for WR coach, QB coach, OL coach and OC I can say they will be upgraded without hesitation. Now saying upgraded and good are two completely different things. I never said they were going to be good

 

[ScoutRefugee]

I am hoping so. 2 big, powerful freshman OTs become sophomores, With 3 seniors inside assuming JD comes back. Beyer is making waves at TE during Bowl prep which gives us a terrific and deep TE unit. All 3 of those freshmen WR become sophomores too! We lose MVB, but let’s face it: not quite the same Uber-reliable WR this year he had been.

IKM and Young both were given reps in important games so they should be ready. Stanley has 1 full year as a starter under his belt. BF has a full year experience as an OC which he didn’t have this year.

Hopefully, our PR has a much better year of keeping us out of bad field position, too. The punt team CANNOT possibly be worse, agreed?

So, yes. I expect a better offensive team. Assuming we stay away from the injury bug, and Daniels returns.

Who is Clark?

Every summer, I'm hoping for a National Championship. Hope doesn't often = reality.
I hope the OL will be better next year but there's never any guarantees. Injuries along that unit often happen. We could lose 2 starters to injury again and be right back in the same boat, next season. Or if Daniels leaves and we have one injury.
I'm not holding out hope for the returning improvement of any WR unit, while KF is the head coach. They often find themselves in his dog house/transferring/flunking out/legal troubles. If they all manage to return, improve and make it through the season, I'll breath a sigh of relief.
There is no positive to having to replace Wadley. He's too dynamic of a RB to make this claim. Imagine the numbers he could have put up with an average OL and a good OC? You theory that the return of a less than average OL and the same OC, minus Wadley = improvement is really laughable. laughable in the sense that we all understand your desire to be optimistic in spite of the situation at hand. I'm certainly not saying that we can't plug in a RB and have a good rushing attack, next season. We can. That's not the same thing as saying we can suit up a better RB than Wadley. We can't. Not IMO.
How often have we made these leaps of offensive grandeur since KF has been here? I remember in 2004, we were 70th in PPG and 10-2. In 2005 we were 37th in PPG and 7-5.

 

[ScoutRefugee]

if You consider we only lose one WR from the room and the extreme focus going toward TE next year not to mention it will be year 2 for WR coach, QB coach, OL coach and OC I can say they will be upgraded without hesitation. Now saying upgraded and good are two completely different things. I never said they were going to be good

That sounds like every year. And it sounds good to say these things, every year. And here we are, 19 years in, asking the question "how can it get any worse?"

 

[TKingpin]

That’s the thing about being a fan of any particular team, scout... there are no guarantees.

In 2015 we were one play away from the college football playoff.

This year we were 1 play and :04 away from beating PSU which may have changed the trajectory of the whole season. I truly believe the 1st quarter of MSU the very next week was a hangover from that loss. We completely outplay them the rest of the way. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late and an inexplicable dropped pass attempt from Stanley that kept us from winning that game.

You need to decide if you are a fan or a bandwagon jumper ... or possibly just a bitter, negative person.

Tell me, scout, what is it about the state of Iowa or the University of Iowa that makes you believe we should regularly compete for a national championship?

Demographics? Abundance of local talent? Harder working people? Better weather? Beautiful scenery?

I think Iowa overachieves by being a Top 25 football school, historically.

Negativity is a choice. You CAN choose not to be...

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

That sounds like every year. And it sounds good to say these things, every year. And here we are, 19 years in, asking the question "how can it get any worse?"

Oh it can get worse-much worse.

 

[kceasthawk]

Assuming TB stands for tailback.....haven’t heard that in ages. Dilly dilly

LOL, Dilly, Dilly! I hope you brought the Bud Light, or you'll get a private tour with Sir Brad of the "Pit of Misery"! LOL!

 

[ScoutRefugee]

Oh it can get worse-much worse.

Not much worse than 107 out of 129 programs.

 

[ScoutRefugee]

That’s the thing about being a fan of any particular team, scout... there are no guarantees.

In 2015 we were one play away from the college football playoff.

This year we were 1 play and :04 away from beating PSU which may have changed the trajectory of the whole season. I truly believe the 1st quarter of MSU the very next week was a hangover from that loss. We completely outplay them the rest of the way. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late and an inexplicable dropped pass attempt from Stanley that kept us from winning that game.

You need to decide if you are a fan or a bandwagon jumper ... or possibly just a bitter, negative person.

Tell me, scout, what is it about the state of Iowa or the University of Iowa that makes you believe we should regularly compete for a national championship?

Demographics? Abundance of local talent? Harder working people? Better weather? Beautiful scenery?

I think Iowa overachieves by being a Top 25 football school, historically.

Negativity is a choice. You CAN choose not to be...

Nothing. I was being sarcastic.
I'm a person that's ruled by logic and reason, I suppose. I thoroughly enjoyed 2015 season. Just as I hated the 2010 and the 2012 season. I was disgusted by this season, except for the ISU and OSU games. The offense was inept. Just as I really enjoyed the '08 and 09 seasons. As well as the 01-04 seasons. The 05 season was a let down. The 06-07 seasons were not much fun.
I can go down the list, if you like. And you can see my positive side, as well as my negative side.

 

[TheHawkeyeDudeAbides]

We have believed that "WRs will be upgraded" for the past 19 seasons. History tells me that I'm right and you're wrong on that one. You cannot make that claim with anything less than pie in the sky homerism.

The development and recruiting of quality WR for Iowa has been a problem for a long time. Iowa does not produce enough skilled athletes per year instate nor has a plethora of QB talent to develop great passing teams to faciliate the development of instate WRs. Iowa has been recruiting its outside the state WRs in Illinois, Ohio, and Texas in the third tier layers of talent in the odd hope of finding a rare unpolished diamond that would be great after a year or two of being in the program. Some of these kids had issues (grade, environmental adjustment, or thug life backgrounds). Iowa also has had some bad selections at WR coach that never were good recruiters (lazy, incompetent, unskilled motivators). Campbell, Erb, Kennedy were only ever going to be a position coach and all of them had been at several other stops during their coaching careers. It might work for some programs, but to me, seeing a guy push to become a leader who can go to the next level means a guy will pay his dues and do the little extras to get there. Copeland and Polasek seem like guys who want to be OCs ( maybe even a HC) in the next decade and are pushing to add more responsibilities to their job titles and improve their charges' developments.

Copeland and Polasek appear to be good young recruiters as well. Iowa does not sell well to non-midwesterners who are often told that Iowa City is in the middle of a corn field. I would take Iowa City over LIncoln, NE or (Fill in the blank ) any day of the week for a college town to live and work in. I really believe the recruiting nucleus of Woods, Bell, Copeland and Polasek with the tech support coordination of Tyler Barnes will improve Iowa's ability to land better talent in the near future( hitting more centralized cities, like Chicago, Dallas , Indy, St. Louis,and Kansas City) with larger football programs with D-1 level athletes and more passing dynamics . And please keep Reese Morgan as a special consultant after he retires.

But the Catch-22 is, Iowa has to develop its own WRs that can make the NFL before Iowa starts landing more of those 4 star type WRs in other place (5 stars receivers don't fall into Iowa's general recruiting areas so I won't daydream on that fantasy).

 

[BirdistheWord]

QB: Stanley was really a Redshirt Freshman as he only played a few snaps last year. He showed a lot of promise and should continue to improve, especially on deep ball accuracy. He does need some more weapons and more consistent protection. Neutral/Slight Improvement

OL: We do lose some solid players, though we also gained a lot experience and depth this past year and played better in second half. I have some concerns around both depth and ceiling of our Tackles. Assuming Daniels is back. Neutral/Slight Downgrade (went back and forth on this one - leaning towards Neutral)

RB: This will be interesting. While we do lose some game breaking ability, I believe Toren Young is better suited as a B1G every down back as he has an excellent mix of size, quickness and speed. IKM will challenge for carries and brings more quickness and speed to the table. Neutral/Slight Improvement

TE: One of our strongest One-Two punches I can recall with Fant and Hockensen. I expect big things going into next year, though we are coming off a very strong year for the position. Slight Improvement

WR: We lacked big play ability and depth, really a tough year for this group. Losing MVB hurts, but he was not quite the same after injury. Looking ahead, ISM really is the key and needs to add strength and overall moxie to his game. Nick Easley was solid though needs to catch higher pecentage or targets. Need freshman and others like Brandon Smith to emerge. Neutral

DLine: A very solid unit for us, with decent depth. AJ should really start to emerge and look for Nixon and Waggoner to breakk the 2-Deeps. The Nelsons and Hesse provide a great nucleus and also look for Lattimore to increase snaps. Improvement.

LB's: Not much to say here as we have a full reload and did not get the JC Transfer. Depth is a question mark and really not sure who will emerge as starters. Welch and Mends are only ones back from Two-Deeps. Barrington Wade and Jack Hockaday should be in the mix. Outside opportunity for incoming freshman if they have the strength, but all will likely redshirt. Downgrade

DB's: Solid depth across this group. Assuming JJ is gone. Hard to replace but given our scheme and recent recruiting, should not fall off too much. Will be difficult to match INT's. Brents and Craedeth are top notch incoming frosh. OJ, Hankins and Manny provide good nucleus at corner. Gervase, Hooker and Stone at safety. Neutral/Slight Downgrade

Specialists: Recinos is solid and Punter is an area of opportunity. I see some upside here. Neutral/Slight Improvement

 

[ScoutRefugee]

QB: Stanley was really a Redshirt Freshman as he only played a few snaps last year. He showed a lot of promise and should continue to improve, especially on deep ball accuracy. He does need some more weapons and more consistent protection. Neutral/Slight Improvement

OL: We do lose some solid players, though we also gained a lot experience and depth this past year and played better in second half. I have some concerns around both depth and ceiling of our Tackles. Assuming Daniels is back. Neutral/Slight Downgrade (went back and forth on this one - leaning towards Neutral)

RB: This will be interesting. While we do lose some game breaking ability, I believe Toren Young is better suited as a B1G every down back as he has an excellent mix of size, quickness and speed. IKM will challenge for carries and brings more quickness and speed to the table. Neutral/Slight Improvement

TE: One of our strongest One-Two punches I can recall with Fant and Hockensen. I expect big things going into next year, though we are coming off a very strong year for the position. Slight Improvement

WR: We lacked big play ability and depth, really a tough year for this group. Losing MVB hurts, but he was not quite the same after injury. Looking ahead, ISM really is the key and needs to add strength and overall moxie to his game. Nick Easley was solid though needs to catch higher pecentage or targets. Need freshman and others like Brandon Smith to emerge. Neutral

DLine: A very solid unit for us, with decent depth. AJ should really start to emerge and look for Nixon and Waggoner to breakk the 2-Deeps. The Nelsons and Hesse provide a great nucleus and also look for Lattimore to increase snaps. Improvement.

LB's: Not much to say here as we have a full reload and did not get the JC Transfer. Depth is a question mark and really not sure who will emerge as starters. Welch and Mends are only ones back from Two-Deeps. Barrington Wade and Jack Hockaday should be in the mix. Outside opportunity for incoming freshman if they have the strength, but all will likely redshirt. Downgrade

DB's: Solid depth across this group. Assuming JJ is gone. Hard to replace but given our scheme and recent recruiting, should not fall off too much. Will be difficult to match INT's. Brents and Craedeth are top notch incoming frosh. OJ, Hankins and Manny provide good nucleus at corner. Gervase, Hooker and Stone at safety. Neutral/Slight Downgrade

Specialists: Recinos is solid and Punter is an area of opportunity. I see some upside here. Neutral/Slight Improvement

I think this is a reasonable take. Except for the RB part. We are going to miss Wadley's open field abilities.

 

[milehighhawkeye24]

Not much worse than 107 out of 129 programs.

I have just learned over the years to never think that way because I have said boy this can't get much worse....I was wrong.