astabooty
Redshirt Freshman
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2013
- Messages
- 370
Tell me why we shouldn't be a top 10 team at the end of the year. I've only got two reasons for you:
- A history of let downs, turning us into mopes
- Losing 4 very good players (JP, Borregales, Brevin and Roche). Personally I think Borregales will be this biggest loss here until his brother shows us otherwise.
But fck that, I'm fired up and I think we got enough going in our favor to warrant a top 10 season:
1) We are one of the most experienced teams in the nation.
Let's not understate how important this factor is. An extra year of strength, speed, maturity and experience means a lot at the college level and we're going to see that play out in our favor.
2) A much improved offense
We should see another big jump this year.
You can't tell me that the o-line shouldn't be noticeably better this year with the added strength, experience, competition and with big ole Navaugh thrown in there. Will we be Wisconsin-esque or something? Probably not, but we shouldn't have to in order to excel offensively.
Next, we are only losing one starter from last year. And while I'm a huge fan of Brevin Jordan, it's not like we relied on him, unfortunately due to his injuries and seemingly from being under-utilized. We'll go to Mallory once again, but unlike last year we got a stud true freshman and future standout in Arroyo. So I see no drop-off there.
WR should hopefully be a night and day difference from last year. I think we can all trust Harley to be solid as fck. If Rambo at worst is a Wiggins who can actually catch the ball, we're fckin. Redding and/or Keyshawn may end being that dude, you know? Restrepo looks like he's going to be big, reliable chain mover on this team. If Pope is unfortunately getting a lot of reps this year, at leasttruth is he is way more serviceable in the slot than outside. And then we still got the 3 true freshmen who all could be in the mix - look out for my boy Breshard turning into a play marker.
At QB we got King. That's enough said for me if he's healthy. And unlike any other year in decades, it sounds like we have legit backups who could come in and not miss a beat.
At RB we are in a much better position than last year. The three backs are all 1 year older. Cam is in his money year. Knighton is no longer a true freshman going out there for the first time. Neither is Chaney of course, although he may need an extra month or so into the season to get things rolling after his surgery.
And last but not least, I hope Lashlee shows out with lots of improvement after coming during a covid season.
3) Our defense is going to be better this year and you can't tell me otherwise
Manny Diaz is back in charge. Love him or hate him, he's miles better as a DC than fckin Blake Baker, no matter that he has to split responsibilities as a DC and head coach. He's a lot better than Baker. And let us not forget how quickly he turned our D around before.
The obvious hindrance against our defense this year is missing the contributions from Jalean and Quincy. They will be missed, no doubt. But one thing is for sure, Manny's defense produces pressure. We should have no doubt that we'll be get TFLs and sacks this year. But the question will be how improved will our interior D-line be? Will their improvements be enough to offset the loss of our starting d-ends? I think it's possible. Then you got Jess Simpson coming back and hopefully improving our run D.
Our defensive backs should be so so so much better this year. T-mother-fckin Robinson is here acting as a savior. I expect Ivey to have a really good year. I don't care how much we deservedly dogged him, T-Rob loves him. T-Rob is going to coaching all these cornerbacks up, which is only going to improve our passing efficiency, turnovers and pass rush. Add to that our new portal star, Stevenson. On top of that, Gilbert's got some talented youngins breathing down his neck, so the striker position should be better as well. And one last thing, let us not forget for the first 4 games of last year Bolden was clearly the best player on defense and looking like an all-American. Here's hoping he can replicate that form for the entire season.
And then there's the elephant in the room, the LB unit. I could talk about Keontra and I should. But all I really gotta say is this. Manny is Mr. Adapt to survive and Mr. Portal, yet he chose not to bring in a transfer. Whether that was a mistake remains to be seen, but that alone shows his confidence in his group.
- A history of let downs, turning us into mopes
- Losing 4 very good players (JP, Borregales, Brevin and Roche). Personally I think Borregales will be this biggest loss here until his brother shows us otherwise.
But fck that, I'm fired up and I think we got enough going in our favor to warrant a top 10 season:
1) We are one of the most experienced teams in the nation.
Let's not understate how important this factor is. An extra year of strength, speed, maturity and experience means a lot at the college level and we're going to see that play out in our favor.
2) A much improved offense
We should see another big jump this year.
You can't tell me that the o-line shouldn't be noticeably better this year with the added strength, experience, competition and with big ole Navaugh thrown in there. Will we be Wisconsin-esque or something? Probably not, but we shouldn't have to in order to excel offensively.
Next, we are only losing one starter from last year. And while I'm a huge fan of Brevin Jordan, it's not like we relied on him, unfortunately due to his injuries and seemingly from being under-utilized. We'll go to Mallory once again, but unlike last year we got a stud true freshman and future standout in Arroyo. So I see no drop-off there.
WR should hopefully be a night and day difference from last year. I think we can all trust Harley to be solid as fck. If Rambo at worst is a Wiggins who can actually catch the ball, we're fckin. Redding and/or Keyshawn may end being that dude, you know? Restrepo looks like he's going to be big, reliable chain mover on this team. If Pope is unfortunately getting a lot of reps this year, at leasttruth is he is way more serviceable in the slot than outside. And then we still got the 3 true freshmen who all could be in the mix - look out for my boy Breshard turning into a play marker.
At QB we got King. That's enough said for me if he's healthy. And unlike any other year in decades, it sounds like we have legit backups who could come in and not miss a beat.
At RB we are in a much better position than last year. The three backs are all 1 year older. Cam is in his money year. Knighton is no longer a true freshman going out there for the first time. Neither is Chaney of course, although he may need an extra month or so into the season to get things rolling after his surgery.
And last but not least, I hope Lashlee shows out with lots of improvement after coming during a covid season.
3) Our defense is going to be better this year and you can't tell me otherwise
Manny Diaz is back in charge. Love him or hate him, he's miles better as a DC than fckin Blake Baker, no matter that he has to split responsibilities as a DC and head coach. He's a lot better than Baker. And let us not forget how quickly he turned our D around before.
The obvious hindrance against our defense this year is missing the contributions from Jalean and Quincy. They will be missed, no doubt. But one thing is for sure, Manny's defense produces pressure. We should have no doubt that we'll be get TFLs and sacks this year. But the question will be how improved will our interior D-line be? Will their improvements be enough to offset the loss of our starting d-ends? I think it's possible. Then you got Jess Simpson coming back and hopefully improving our run D.
Our defensive backs should be so so so much better this year. T-mother-fckin Robinson is here acting as a savior. I expect Ivey to have a really good year. I don't care how much we deservedly dogged him, T-Rob loves him. T-Rob is going to coaching all these cornerbacks up, which is only going to improve our passing efficiency, turnovers and pass rush. Add to that our new portal star, Stevenson. On top of that, Gilbert's got some talented youngins breathing down his neck, so the striker position should be better as well. And one last thing, let us not forget for the first 4 games of last year Bolden was clearly the best player on defense and looking like an all-American. Here's hoping he can replicate that form for the entire season.
And then there's the elephant in the room, the LB unit. I could talk about Keontra and I should. But all I really gotta say is this. Manny is Mr. Adapt to survive and Mr. Portal, yet he chose not to bring in a transfer. Whether that was a mistake remains to be seen, but that alone shows his confidence in his group.