JasonB wrote:I think if that happened June would be gone. Everyone expected a little rebuilding this season.
Looking at next year's team, I think our young o-linemen are actually good. I think we will see a bump in the offensive line performance next season.
At WR, DJ will step in for DJ and do fine, and I think Dieter and Stewart will be ready to win the outside receiver spots and give us a step up in talent there.
At RB we will miss Zach, but between the UT transfer, his brother, Wembley and Nlemchi we will be OK.
Defensively, we will be significantly improved in the secondary. The backup linebackers are really good and will step in and play well. Biggest concern is d-line. I like what we have at NT, but at end, Barnes, Wood, Smith, etc are supposed to be really good but I haven't seen them really make plays yet. Wood got knocked around a bit yesterday.
I think we are a lot more consistent on offense next season, and the defense all depends on how ready our linemen are.
I would expect us to be improved next season and compete well in the Big East.
I agree with some of this:
I seriously doubt Coach J is going anywhere. I also don't think he should. He might, he might not. But I'd bet he's back.
The offensive line worries me a lot for next year. We'll be bigger, but we'll be younger ... a lot younger. This year's line is a patchwork group, in the sense that they hadn't played together (or almost at all) before, but we do have three seniors in there. Take a guess at next year's line: surely Gottschalk and Lasecki start, but after that? Maybe more talent, but a lot younger. The job Bob Palcic has done this year teaching these guys has been exceptional, and he's going to need to do so again next year.
I hope you're right about the running game next year. I hope the transfer pans out, but I hope Wimbley, Prescott Line and Nlemchi are good enough to really make it crowded. I also hope Jared Williams makes it all the way back so we can cheer for him again.
The WRs need to be significantly improved next year. Jeremy Johnson has been the best of the bunch this year, and I'd like to see Darius Joseph get a lot more playing time. At the start of the year, I balked at the idea of moving Ty Law to WR when he returns from his greyshirt, but after the year the receivers have had this year, if he's the best of the group, put him on offense. But we have a million WRs on the roster, and some of those guys had to play defense in high school, so some of them should move to the secondary to shore things up over there and provide better depth. I also am one of those who expected big things, maybe even this year, from Colin Lagasse, so I'll be interested to see what he can do in the spring.
The strength of the defense still will be in the front seven, but it will be even more in the linebackers next year, and that's after we lose JG, Reed, Rogers and Worthen. The defensive line will take serious hits with the loss of Margus, Grenier, Pitt and Spike, and needs to be re-loaded.
