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Position group rankings…

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E1k said:
A former canes coach in the nfl is by far
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Stoutland was good here but Cristobal’s lines have been better.

Same thing at Alabama, Cristobal and Stoutland both coached there and Mario’s offensive lines were better.

Any team in the NFL would hire Cristobal to coach their offensive line if they could get him. Don’t get it twisted. He’s the best in the business when it comes to that
 
If Luka Gilbert reaches his potential, he'll be an upgrade over Bauman IMO. I think Lofton can be a weapon as H-Back, Fullback. He wasn't right most of the year, but showed improvement at the end of the season.
 
RightSaidFred said:
Stoutland was good here but Cristobal’s lines have been better.

Same thing at Alabama, Cristobal and Stoutland both coached there and Mario’s offensive lines were better.

Any team in the NFL would hire Cristobal to coach their offensive line if they could get him. Don’t get it twisted. He’s the best in the business when it comes to that
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Mario has a cheat code because he’s the better recruiter but stoutland is the better coach. And he doesn’t have mirabal who deserves alot of credit
 
90scane said:
Top 10 DB
Top 10 DL
Top 10 RB
Top 10 QB
Top 10 WR
LB, OL, TE, and ST - harder to commit to top 10.
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As it stands right now without Mensah.... the concerning positions and in flux are the positions coached by the OC, the DC, the HC and his protege, and the guy the HC has had follow him for a decade now in Woodiel.

They get the benefit of the doubt on the OL because they've earned it and at QB because this is what they do and it seems it's gonna be fine. Still a ****** position to be in. We've gotta have a better batting average on the OL on the guys that aren't Cici, Samson, etc. if we're gonna load up on 3 stars and trust our evals. Same can be said at QB... gotta hit one out of HS eventually.
 
E1k said:
Mario has a cheat code because he’s the better recruiter but stoutland is the better coach. And he doesn’t have mirabal who deserves alot of credit
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Think I’ll just agree to disagree since Stoutland was a great Cane coach also. But to me, Mario’s lines play with more attitude and more of an aggressive edge and to my eyes they set the tone of the whole team with their physical play. And yes, Mirabal deserves a lot of credit.

I admit it’s subjective but to me, Mario is the best o-line coach I’ve personally ever seen.
 
QB - More volatile but overall better
RB - Better...whole group is back and older
WR - Better...Toney is going to be the best player in America next year, added speed
TE - Wash,
OL - Worse
DL - Worse
LB - Worse...Toure with another year off the injury will be better, like Wiley's potential, losing 31 hurts
S - Worse...Love Fitzgerald but Thomas had a level of physicality we'll miss. Poyser will improve
CB - Better....All 4 are back, and will be improved, but I lump Scott in this group and losing him is massive. I might go *very* slightly better, simply because 0 was so **** good and until I see the BC kid play at a level even close to that, I'll reserve judgement.

Overall, I think the team takes a small step back on defense with the losses of 3, 4, 31, 8, and 11. But it'll still be a Top 10-15 unit because we have a ton of talent coming back, plus adding the best EDGE player in the portal. I still expect this to be a very, very good defense, but the DL is going to be just *slightly* less unblockable

The offense will tell the story. I think Mensah unlocks another gear for us, so in theory it can be better than this year's unit, but we're losing 4 starters on what I feel is the best line in America. I trust Mario and Mirabal implicitly, we're not going to be anywhere close to falling off a cliff, BUT until proven otherwise I think we go from a Top ~3 line to maybe a Top ~20 line. So upgrade at QB in terms of how dynamic he is, downgrade at OL. Where does that leave us? Good enough to be a Top 20 unit? That tells the story of the season, IMO. The offense has to be better than the 2025 version if we want to get back to where we just were.
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
QB - More volatile but overall better
RB - Better...whole group is back and older
WR - Better...Toney is going to be the best player in America next year, added speed
TE - Wash,
OL - Worse
DL - Worse
LB - Worse...Toure with another year off the injury will be better, like Wiley's potential, losing 31 hurts
S - Worse...Love Fitzgerald but Thomas had a level of physicality we'll miss. Poyser will improve
CB - Better....All 4 are back, and will be improved

Overall, I think the team takes a small step back on defense with the losses of 3, 4, 31, 8, and 11. But it'll still be a Top 10-15 unit because we have a ton of talent coming back, plus adding the best EDGE player in the portal. I still expect this to be a very, very good defense, but the DL is going to be just *slightly* less unblockable

The offense will tell the story. I think Mensah unlocks another gear for us, so in theory it can be better than this year's unit, but we're losing 4 starters on what I feel is the best line in America. I trust Mario and Mirabal implicitly, we're not going to be anywhere close to falling off a cliff, BUT until proven otherwise I think we go from a Top ~3 line to maybe a Top ~20 line. So upgrade at QB in terms of how dynamic he is, downgrade at OL. Where does that leave us? Good enough to be a Top 20 unit? That tells the story of the season, IMO. The offense has to be better than the 2025 version if we want to get back to where we just were.
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Mensah is more volatile than beck?
 
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E1k said:
Mensah is more volatile than beck?
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Maybe a poor choice of words. I think Beck was steadier. I don't think Mensah is going to complete 71% of his passes. I think when you hear volatile, you're thinking interceptions. I'm thinking more Mensah will have higher highs (big plays) but lower lows (stalled drives due to some missed throws).

If you want to argue that you can't have lower lows than the Louisville game, I get that. But I think for 99% of the season, we knew what we were getting from Beck. The ball was going to come out on time, it was going to be accurate, it was going to be caught and it was going to go for a moderate gain. I think with Mensah, we'll see more 40+ yard plays, we'll see more of a Cam Ward style of play where he's buying time, more scramble drill, more sandlot type stuff, but we'll also see more volatility in terms of completion percentage and staying on schedule.
 
JayCane20 said:
As it stands right now without Mensah.... the concerning positions and in flux are the positions coached by the OC, the DC, the HC and his protege, and the guy the HC has had follow him for a decade now in Woodiel.

They get the benefit of the doubt on the OL because they've earned it and at QB because this is what they do and it seems it's gonna be fine. Still a ****** position to be in. We've gotta have a better batting average on the OL on the guys that aren't Cici, Samson, etc. if we're gonna load up on 3 stars and trust our evals. Same can be said at QB... gotta hit one out of HS eventually.
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Last year 3 of starters were 3 start Olineman. One was a lower 4star juco guy in Bell.

This yr it's projected for what another two 3-Stars, a 4star, and 2 5stars to be our starting lineman assuming Rodriguez starts at center? And if Minaya starts over like Buchanan it's be three 3stars...

The risk is really entirely at LT imo. We'll see. Really need McCoy or Samson to actually be very good there.


TE is looking very bad. Lb there is at least a tiny bit of hope, and QB is already solved.
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
Maybe a poor choice of words. I think Beck was steadier. I don't think Mensah is going to complete 71% of his passes. I think when you hear volatile, you're thinking interceptions. I'm thinking more Mensah will have higher highs (big plays) but lower lows (stalled drives due to some missed throws).

If you want to argue that you can't have lower lows than the Louisville game, I get that. But I think for 99% of the season, we knew what we were getting from Beck. The ball was going to come out on time, it was going to be accurate, it was going to be caught and it was going to go for a moderate gain. I think with Mensah, we'll see more 40+ yard plays, we'll see more of a Cam Ward style of play where he's buying time, more scramble drill, more sandlot type stuff, but we'll also see more volatility in terms of completion percentage and staying on schedule.
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Fair points but i think there was alot of times the ball didn’t come out on time with beck and wasn’t accurate.

Hence we had plenty of stalled drives and missed throws with beck, i think mensah raises the floor and ceiling of the offense. His lows are much higher than beck’s imo because he can create plays when its not there

It might sound crazy but completing 71% of your passes doesn’t automatically mean you made the best decisions
 
OrangeBowlMagic said:
QB - More volatile but overall better
RB - Better...whole group is back and older
WR - Better...Toney is going to be the best player in America next year, added speed
TE - Wash,
OL - Worse
DL - Worse
LB - Worse...Toure with another year off the injury will be better, like Wiley's potential, losing 31 hurts
S - Worse...Love Fitzgerald but Thomas had a level of physicality we'll miss. Poyser will improve
CB - Better....All 4 are back, and will be improved, but I lump Scott in this group and losing him is massive. I might go *very* slightly better, simply because 0 was so **** good and until I see the BC kid play at a level even close to that, I'll reserve judgement.

Overall, I think the team takes a small step back on defense with the losses of 3, 4, 31, 8, and 11. But it'll still be a Top 10-15 unit because we have a ton of talent coming back, plus adding the best EDGE player in the portal. I still expect this to be a very, very good defense, but the DL is going to be just *slightly* less unblockable

The offense will tell the story. I think Mensah unlocks another gear for us, so in theory it can be better than this year's unit, but we're losing 4 starters on what I feel is the best line in America. I trust Mario and Mirabal implicitly, we're not going to be anywhere close to falling off a cliff, BUT until proven otherwise I think we go from a Top ~3 line to maybe a Top ~20 line. So upgrade at QB in terms of how dynamic he is, downgrade at OL. Where does that leave us? Good enough to be a Top 20 unit? That tells the story of the season, IMO. The offense has to be better than the 2025 version if we want to get back to where we just were.
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11? We not missing Mr. Offsides lmao he been more than replaced DTs taking a huge step forward as long as they don’t transfer mid-season
 
Biggest concern on defense rn is strong safety (run supporting safety) assuming they move Thornton to nickel. I’d assume that gets taken by Pruitt/Day/Dunnigan

Then LB, I wouldn’t count on Toure being healthy all year, so who tf leads that room with Popo gone. That room is looking real rough unless someone steps up and takes the next step. Maybe they keep Pruitt/Day as a nickel but more like Romeo Finley and let Thornton play strong safety. Koi Perich would’ve been huge
 
JHallCanes said:
Roster looks good for now

OL is a concern no matter how I try and spin it. I’m sure it will get worked out and perform well, but it’s kinda ugly at the moment
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If we’re being honest though, if O-Line is our “biggest concern” then we’re in very good shape because a concern regarding the O-Line under Mario/Mirabal is still above average and top 25-ish. May not be as dominant as last year’s line but we also will have a more mobile QB to balance some of that out.
 
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