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With the talent Lashlee has brought in, I can't wait for the season. But we still have more than 6 weeks to go until the opener. Here's what I see as unanswered questions:

1. Can the offensive line improve? Adding White and Johnson at tackle and Clark at center is a good start. Maybe Logan Parr at guard, too. How many of them start? Don't know. I also worry about Justin Osborne, who missed some time down the stretch last year.
2. Stone and Jennings both looked good in the spring game, but we all know it's very different when you go live and face defenses that are trying to take a QB's head off. We have every reason to believe one or both will be really good. But we need to see it in a much larger sample size.
3. How soon can the "everybody's welcome!" secondary gel?

Pony4Life wrote:With the talent Lashlee has brought in, I can't wait for the season. But we still have more than 6 weeks to go until the opener. Here's what I see as unanswered questions:

1. Can the offensive line improve? Adding White and Johnson at tackle and Clark at center is a good start. Maybe Logan Parr at guard, too. How many of them start? Don't know. I also worry about Justin Osborne, who missed some time down the stretch last year.
2. Stone and Jennings both looked good in the spring game, but we all know it's very different when you go live and face defenses that are trying to take a QB's head off. We have every reason to believe one or both will be really good. But we need to see it in a much larger sample size.
3. How soon can the "everybody's welcome!" secondary gel?

Clark will probably be a guard.

As a slightly jaded but always optimistic SMU fan, I am hoping for the best but still fall into the I'll believe it when I see it camp.

On paper it appears that we upgraded (or at least did not backslide) at most all positions with the exception of WR. Rice is tough to replace as far as single player production goes, but with the WR room being as deep as it is and with everything we're hearing about the emergence of a fully healthy Kerley, I bet as a receiving group we're actually going to be fine, maybe even improved.

So for me the biggest questions are the 1) defense as a whole, 2) the QB position, and 3) can Lashlee and staff actually coach.

We just HAVE to show some improvement on defense, even if only marginally so, to have a chance at a conference championship.

Stone looks/sounds great, but until he performs well under live fire it remains to be seen where he is on the learning curve as a first year stater. Jennings certainly seems like a more than capable QB2 and may emerge into something more. My hope is that Stone does the same/similar things well that Tanner did, but also improves a bit on his deficiencies like zeroing in on one side of the field or one receiver, holding the ball too long, etc. If we have the ability to run a true power spread with an effective run game as Lashlee said he wants to do, the passing game should/could be much more effective. I am REALLY looking forward to seeing Chatman at FB.

I'll be at most of the home games and at least one road game, and am really looking forward to the upcoming season.

Since we only have 6 scholarship LBs, with two being true freshman, one being a converted safety, and 2 of the other three being new transfers - how do the LBs look, and how bad would it be if we have 1-2 injuries there?

Which of our 8 TEs will emerge outside of Maryland and probably Matthews?

With Matthews-Harris, it's a matter of health. It's important for everyone, of course, but he played in 3 games last year and 8 the year before. At 6'6", 250 (he looks even bigger) and with some speed and hands, I'd love to see what he can do in 12 games.

Didn't realize we were so thin at LB -- Adimora is still listed at safety, but they way it's listed, there are 6 on the roster, and one (Sean Kane) is listed at a burly 6'0", 193.

Surely they'll drill some of the quicker defensive ends or bigger safeties in LB drills, right? Isaiah Smith, Nelson Paul, etc. What about Je'lin Samuels? He's huge but can really run. From the other end, I could see Nwokobia filling in there as needed.

Stone.

GHammond wrote:Stone.

That's the answer. Or "quarterback" is the answer, if he gets hurt. Without good QB play, the rest is immaterial. I think Stone will be good, maybe really good, and it seems like most people on here agree. If he is, we have a chance at a damned good season.

I would just like to point out the Kevin Jennings is pretty darn good too. We are in good shape!

1) Guard. Can Osborne stay healthy? I've been told Hickman would have to really take a step back from spring to lose his starting center job, so who is RG between Sparks, Parr, and Clark? Sparks would be solid, but if Parr or Clark are good enough to beat him out and Osborne is healthy, we will have the best OL in the conference.
2) NG. Can Miller stay healthy? Is Kori Roberson good enough to back him up? If those are true, then we have the best DL in the league.
3)K. Rogers had a great year last year, but struggled in spring after injury recovery. Is he back to his freshman self?
4) Standup DE/OLB - Paul, Smith, Samuels, and Cam Robertson have talent. Can one of them become the pass rushing freak that is completely disruptive? The defense upgraded at all three levels. But this is the difference between having an improved defense versus a dominant defense.

Everywhere else, we have a ton of depth. If the four items above play out, we are going to wipe out everyone in conference.

That's the most positive, I've seen JasonB in a long time. This could be a fun year.

DITTO

Planning for a good year.
Praying for a WOW year.

ponywhupp9202 wrote:As a slightly jaded but always optimistic SMU fan, I am hoping for the best but still fall into the I'll believe it when I see it camp.

So for me the biggest questions are the 1) defense as a whole, 2) the QB position, and 3) can Lashlee and staff actually coach.

That's the biggest question for me. On paper we have the most talent in the conference with a couple of questions. If the coaching can get us there, we are conference champions.