Alright I’m going to say it. I have some concerns.

[Memnon]

CB isn't worse, IF Dyoni Hill is starting at Boundary.

DPJ & DHill is better than DPJ & Jaden Davis.

The question becomes what they're going to do at Nickel.

Also, it has to be factored in that Chevis is a much better CB Coach & teacher than Addunce. So, we should see less mistakes & mishaps in technique.

But as of now, we have 2 solid Cover Corners, last year we had 1.

 

[arizonacane]

Have we gotten better across the board this off season or just at a couple of spots? I know Dmoney compared year. 1 vs today but just looking at last year to today.

QB - much much better
RB - if fletcher is out for the year this is a push but we will say slightly better (heavily relying on unproven players)
WR - experience and the transfer should make us better here
TE - push
OL - small step back. I doubt we would have still been sniffing around another portal C and IOL if this wasn’t the case

DE - much much better
DT - if we lose Barrow we are worse than last year and with him it’s a push
LB - better and have some depth
CB - worse
S - way worse. Depending on where Powell plays maybe the worst group of S in the ACC


Maybe it’s the 20 years of sucking and the refusing to fall for the hype again but I’m just not sure this team has the horses. Cam should make a huge difference but if we need talent to overcome Mario’s deficiencies I don’t see it yet. Granted there are a lot of true Soph that can step up but that’s nothing we can count on.

The schedule should help but we’re going to have to out coach some teams and that hasn’t happened yet. I think 10 win may be this teams ceiling. I hope I’m wrong. My #1 concern is we lose a game because of coaching or a crucial game and the mercenaries quit on the team and fracture the locker room. But that’s something 90% of the country has to worry about.

Not worried about DT. Unleash the freshman and let them grow up on the field. Every recruit should be ready to play day 1.

 

[ST26]

Have we gotten better across the board this off season or just at a couple of spots? I know Dmoney compared year. 1 vs today but just looking at last year to today.

QB - much much better
RB - if fletcher is out for the year this is a push but we will say slightly better (heavily relying on unproven players)
WR - experience and the transfer should make us better here
TE - push
OL - small step back. I doubt we would have still been sniffing around another portal C and IOL if this wasn’t the case

DE - much much better
DT - if we lose Barrow we are worse than last year and with him it’s a push
LB - better and have some depth
CB - worse
S - way worse. Depending on where Powell plays maybe the worst group of S in the ACC


Maybe it’s the 20 years of sucking and the refusing to fall for the hype again but I’m just not sure this team has the horses. Cam should make a huge difference but if we need talent to overcome Mario’s deficiencies I don’t see it yet. Granted there are a lot of true Soph that can step up but that’s nothing we can count on.

The schedule should help but we’re going to have to out coach some teams and that hasn’t happened yet. I think 10 win may be this teams ceiling. I hope I’m wrong. My #1 concern is we lose a game because of coaching or a crucial game and the mercenaries quit on the team and fracture the locker room. But that’s something 90% of the country has to worry about.

How can you say our CB room has gotten worse when we’ve replaced Davis with Powell and Hill lol. Also, we brought back our three best linemen and added a center that will be just as good if not better than Lee. Cohen is easily replaceable. This offensive line room is definitely better than last season. TE at push, really? We bring back Arroyo, Williams is one year older and Lofton will be one of the best freshman in the country. Try again

 

[genxcane]

I agree with everything you said. Only thing I question is the bowl game topic. It’s my understanding that after the 12 game regular season - you qualify for the playoffs OR a bowl game. Not where your Bowl game serves as an extra game to see if your ranking can improve to make the top 12. I could be wrong but thought I’d highlight that and see if anyone had clarity on how the process works

It is a mixed bag about the bowls. Rankings/seedings are set at the end of the year to qualify. The rest of the playoff games are elimination games. However, some of those games are in traditional bowls

The first round of playoff games is a match up of the 5-12 with the top 4 getting a bye. Those are just extra games. Seems like the play-in games for the NCAA Basketball or NBA tourney

That gets it down to 8 teams and those teams play in bowls that are now part of the playoffs.

Winners of that round go to another bowl on a path to the NC game.

So a path to the national championship now can be as long as 4 extra games. Play-in-->bowl for quarters-->bowl for semis--> NC game

It is laid out here https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/...ootball-playoff-will-work-teams-schedule-bids

 

[3FW]

On paper this team is favored in every game they will play. Let’s play the games and see what happens. Not an elite roster, but one good enough to make the playoffs.

 

[Reyrey]

 

[Brooklyndee]

How are we worse on CBs, it's the same personnel?

And the S part is a stretch, one guy was a box safety who refused to play LB and the other was a gambler busting coverages reading the ball... The worst group in the ACC, some in here need to touch grass.

I know this is somewhat sarcasm. At least I'm hoping so. While I agree with him at safety RIGHT NOW we are technically worse off, it's not by much. Kam had an issue or two but was **** good all things considered with how much he was asked to do. James, I think your assessment probably gave him a lil too much credit. Now this year's team meesh should be exactly what we need so long as we can keep him at safety and he stays healthy. The other spot is where we'll have to see. But how was that different from last year? We knew what we had with Kam. James and this year's unknown are essentially a push. But we've got some pieces that by the end of the year the unit can be significantly better if they step up with snaps.

 

[BigDikDaddyFromCincinnati]

Have we gotten better across the board this off season or just at a couple of spots? I know Dmoney compared year. 1 vs today but just looking at last year to today.

QB - much much better
RB - if fletcher is out for the year this is a push but we will say slightly better (heavily relying on unproven players)
WR - experience and the transfer should make us better here
TE - push
OL - small step back. I doubt we would have still been sniffing around another portal C and IOL if this wasn’t the case

DE - much much better
DT - if we lose Barrow we are worse than last year and with him it’s a push
LB - better and have some depth
CB - worse
S - way worse. Depending on where Powell plays maybe the worst group of S in the ACC


Maybe it’s the 20 years of sucking and the refusing to fall for the hype again but I’m just not sure this team has the horses. Cam should make a huge difference but if we need talent to overcome Mario’s deficiencies I don’t see it yet. Granted there are a lot of true Soph that can step up but that’s nothing we can count on.

The schedule should help but we’re going to have to out coach some teams and that hasn’t happened yet. I think 10 win may be this teams ceiling. I hope I’m wrong. My #1 concern is we lose a game because of coaching or a crucial game and the mercenaries quit on the team and fracture the locker room. But that’s something 90% of the country has to worry about.

Here the one truth in what you wrote:

“it’s the 20 years of sucking and the refusing to fall for the hype again”

The position evals were pretty fair on the positive side, but the other direction left a lot of head scratchers. Examples:

RB. Who are we really missing? Injured Don Chaney? Never break a long run Parrish? Sure Fletcher’s hurt, but we also added a guy who rushed for about 1200 yards last year.

TE. Push? Dude what TE last year did anything at all of note? The TEs were non-existent. There’s a 0% chance we aren’t better here.

OL. We lost a 7th round center and an undrafted guard. Relax.

DT. What did we lose? Casper the friendly Ghost, LT56? Jared Harrison-Hunte?? We did not get worse.

S and CB. There may be some small truths in there, but I also think you’re putting way too much credit on KK and JW.

I don’t know what’s gonna happen this season. I think we are going to win 10+ games. I think our schedule looks to be weak asf. I also think we have a lot to prove.

I am excited and I am also cautiously optimistic. This is the best roster we’ve had in a looooong time.

 

[#1cane]

Have we gotten better across the board this off season or just at a couple of spots? I know Dmoney compared year. 1 vs today but just looking at last year to today.

QB - much much better
RB - if fletcher is out for the year this is a push but we will say slightly better (heavily relying on unproven players)
WR - experience and the transfer should make us better here
TE - push
OL - small step back. I doubt we would have still been sniffing around another portal C and IOL if this wasn’t the case

DE - much much better
DT - if we lose Barrow we are worse than last year and with him it’s a push
LB - better and have some depth
CB - worse
S - way worse. Depending on where Powell plays maybe the worst group of S in the ACC


Maybe it’s the 20 years of sucking and the refusing to fall for the hype again but I’m just not sure this team has the horses. Cam should make a huge difference but if we need talent to overcome Mario’s deficiencies I don’t see it yet. Granted there are a lot of true Soph that can step up but that’s nothing we can count on.

The schedule should help but we’re going to have to out coach some teams and that hasn’t happened yet. I think 10 win may be this teams ceiling. I hope I’m wrong. My #1 concern is we lose a game because of coaching or a crucial game and the mercenaries quit on the team and fracture the locker room. But that’s something 90% of the country has to worry about.

My concern is Dawson/Mario. If they open up the offense for 4 quarters and not just when they get behind this team can win. Schedule is easy and the talent is better. Now lets see the results.

 

[AUcane]

Where did you get that Carpenter was average? Dmoney and everyone close to the program has said otherwise lo. lHe’s bigger and stronger than Lee. He still made all big-10 hm playing next to two terible guards at Indiana. Worst case is that he’ll be the same level as Lee. Whoever ends up playing LG will have a higher ceiling than Cohen. It also helps that we bring back our three best offensive lineman

By all accounts, Carpenter really struggled the first half of spring, and then improved the ladder half. He remains still, a question mark. Let’s see how he plays when the bullets are flying.

 

[No_Fly_Zone]

How are we worse on CBs, it's the same personnel?

And the S part is a stretch, one guy was a box safety who refused to play LB and the other was a gambler busting coverages reading the ball... The worst group in the ACC, some in here need to touch grass.

Agree with you on CB. We are at worse a push there, likely a little better with the addition of Hill.

But at safety, we went from bad to worse until proven otherwise. You want to downplay Kam, but he's a 3rd round pick playing in the NFL.

I'd also say with Barrow we are improved at DF compared to last year, but that situation appears to be in flux so who knows.

 

[DTP]

What no one ever talks about is....our opponents. Are they better or worse than last year? And I get it , few of us have the time to dig that deep.
FSU is absolutely not better but still a force and VT by all accounts is a better team as a result of all the returning starters.

Our schedule is possibly the easiest schedule in the P4. Honestly, unless Ward gets injured, every coach should be fired if they can’t win 10. This isn’t a case of “maybe D’Onofrio will get fired and we’ll finally be good enough to win 10 games” logic.

 

[No_Fly_Zone]

Here the one truth in what you wrote:

“it’s the 20 years of sucking and the refusing to fall for the hype again”

The position evals were pretty fair on the positive side, but the other direction left a lot of head scratchers. Examples:

RB. Who are we really missing? Injured Don Chaney? Never break a long run Parrish? Sure Fletcher’s hurt, but we also added a guy who rushed for about 1200 yards last year.

TE. Push? Dude what TE last year did anything at all of note? The TEs were non-existent. There’s a 0% chance we aren’t better here.

OL. We lost a 7th round center and an undrafted guard. Relax.

DT. What did we lose? Casper the friendly Ghost, LT56? Jared Harrison-Hunte?? We did not get worse.

S and CB. There may be some small truths in there, but I also think you’re putting way too much credit on KK and JW.

I don’t know what’s gonna happen this season. I think we are going to win 10+ games. I think our schedule looks to be weak asf. I also think we have a lot to prove.

I am excited and I am also cautiously optimistic. This is the best roster we’ve had in a looooong time.

This is where I shake my head...

Our stud center who had a great season is dismissed for being a mere 7th round pick, then two paragraphs later our 3rd round pick safety is being given too much credit and isn't a big loss.

Lee and Kam are real losses to this team and neither was replaced with a player at their level. It's OK to admit that and still believe we are an overall better roster and should win 10 games.

 

[dk72]

Have we gotten better across the board this off season or just at a couple of spots? I know Dmoney compared year. 1 vs today but just looking at last year to today.

QB - much much better
RB - if fletcher is out for the year this is a push but we will say slightly better (heavily relying on unproven players)
WR - experience and the transfer should make us better here
TE - push
OL - small step back. I doubt we would have still been sniffing around another portal C and IOL if this wasn’t the case

DE - much much better
DT - if we lose Barrow we are worse than last year and with him it’s a push
LB - better and have some depth
CB - worse
S - way worse. Depending on where Powell plays maybe the worst group of S in the ACC


Maybe it’s the 20 years of sucking and the refusing to fall for the hype again but I’m just not sure this team has the horses. Cam should make a huge difference but if we need talent to overcome Mario’s deficiencies I don’t see it yet. Granted there are a lot of true Soph that can step up but that’s nothing we can count on.

The schedule should help but we’re going to have to out coach some teams and that hasn’t happened yet. I think 10 win may be this teams ceiling. I hope I’m wrong. My #1 concern is we lose a game because of coaching or a crucial game and the mercenaries quit on the team and fracture the locker room. But that’s something 90% of the country has to worry about.

TE is a push?! Last season we had an injured Arroyo who could only play a few snaps before having to sit .. when he could play at all. This year he's healthy. We had TF Riley Williams who was still growing and learning the offense. He now has a year of growth and experience. We had Skinner, a super skinny TE who couldn't block and dropped half the passes that came his way, so his leaving is no loss. We picked up Elijah Arroyo who appears to be a versatile player who will get some valuable snaps. We have Jackson Carver who didn't play last year and may not this year, but at the very least he's gotten a year of development. Then of course we have the old man from last year, who is still here this year ..but last year he had to play extensive minutes due to unavailability of others.

I'd say TE is a substantial increase this season

 

[DTP]

Where did you get that Carpenter was average? Dmoney and everyone close to the program has said otherwise lo. lHe’s bigger and stronger than Lee. He still made all big-10 hm playing next to two terible guards at Indiana. Worst case is that he’ll be the same level as Lee. Whoever ends up playing LG will have a higher ceiling than Cohen. It also helps that we bring back our three best offensive lineman

Someone on CIS claimed to have seen 10 minutes of a spring practice and he said Carpenter was having a hard time. So naturally, that turned into “Zach Carpenter can’t play and they’re trying to get a portal guy to replace him”. Meanwhile nothing of the sort was ever reported by anyone with any knowledge of the team and they made no effort to sign another center.

 

[AlexCane]

Maybe I'm playing semantics but "concern" isn't the word. To me, there's valid criticism and limitations of this roster. But you can likely say that about every team.

If I had to offer limitations of this roster:
1. No big game experience. No "been-there-done-that" guys. That's always a worry.
2. Where are the game changers at? Do we have a guy on either side that opposing coordinators will lose sleep over? I think you can put Bain in that category. On offense? I can't put Ward or Martinez into that category yet (because I haven't seen them play, other than a single game of Martinez's). I wish we had a guy on offense that was a threat for a house call each time he touches it. There are no Waddle, Jeudy, Ridley, Cook, etc. on the roster.

 

[Manfred_Cane]

What no one ever talks about is....our opponents. Are they better or worse than last year? And I get it , few of us have the time to dig that deep.
FSU is absolutely not better but still a force and VT by all accounts is a better team as a result of all the returning starters.

Another factor is "The best Team does not always win" You run into a super hot QB, you get 1 or 2 bad calls and a fluke turnover and you lose 27-24 to a team you beat 9 outta 10 times.

Football seasons rarely go as forecasted but having the talent edge gives your team the ability to overcome the "luck' factors that determine a game.

Last year, people were saying that FSU were sleeper CFP team. And it turned out that they were right (essentially. Miss me with the semantics.)

In most, if not all, games they had the overall talent advantage. Until they played Georgia.

We have the most talented team every week. Overall. And the deciding factor with teams that may be close in talent with us, is that our QB is better than theirs. And quite frankly, it's not even close.

Play to our ability. Cut the turnovers. And we're talking about pregame tailgate in Charolette. Just don't invite X or Caneville.

 

[FuriousStyles]

Talent last year and this year wasn’t / isn’t our biggest concern.

That team last year had more talent imo across the board than Louisville who made it to the ACCCG. Had more talent than GT and NCSt. We didn’t play Duke last year but from what I saw they probably would’ve beat our ***.

I’m still pulling for Mario and think he can turn it around… but our talent level isn’t as much of the issue. Are we talented enough to compete with the top 5…? Probably not. But did our coaching staff maximize the talent we had… coach them up? I’d say no to that.

And I understand there are plenty of other variables at play with injuries and attitudes and whatever else but I feel that’s why we top dollar for the coaching staff we have. To manage through that just like other coaches across the country have to.

 

[ST26]

By all accounts, Carpenter really struggled the first half of spring, and then improved the ladder half. He remains still, a question mark. Let’s see how he plays when the bullets are flying.

All reports coming out of spring ball said otherwise. People on here have been sticking their nose up at him because he came from Indiana.

 

[ST26]

This is where I shake my head...

Our stud center who had a great season is dismissed for being a mere 7th round pick, then two paragraphs later our 3rd round pick safety is being given too much credit and isn't a big loss.

Lee and Kam are real losses to this team and neither was replaced with a player at their level. It's OK to admit that and still believe we are an overall better roster and should win 10 games.

Carpenter is bigger and stronger than Lee. He’s a good leader and well respected in that locker room. Like Dmoney has said multiple times, worst case Carpenter will have the same level of production as Lee. With these guards and tackles, are we really this concerned about our center lol. Although we did lose Kitchens and Williams, it’s pretty evident that the staff likes the saftey room. We didn’t really push hard for any safeties In the second portal window.