Spring is in the books and it's that time of year when we prognosticate how RayRay Jospeh and Jojo Trader are set to dominate while Akheem Mesidor should ride the pine. So here's my post-Spring outlook that's unlikely to completely hold up for the season, but here we go:
I've rated each room accrodingly:
MEGA LOADED - As good as we've seen at the program and elite among all of CFB
LOADED - Top or among top of conference, top 10-15 in nation
VERY GOOD - Good enough to dominate most opponents and hold their own among the best
GOOD - Good enough to not be a liability
OKAY - Good enough to be competitive but not great, may need to be covered up in scheming
MEH - Under par and needs active scheming to cover up deficiencies
QB - LOADED
Yea, it's top heavy because of Mensah, but so was 2000-2002 as there was no viable back up to Dorsey. Obviously we hope he stays healthy because Nickel and Judd would clearly reduce the offense's capability immensley, although one of them could become a decent backup by fall. Mensah *is* a top 10 QB, regardless of what ESPN says, and fits this offense better than Beck in a lot of ways. I fully expect him to be a Heisman finalist.
WR - MEGA LOADED
In 1987 you had Irvin/Blades/Perriman. In '97-'00 Wayne and Moss. In 2001-2002 you had Dre. But in the 42 years I've been religiously following this team, there has never been an overall deeper and more talented WR room. Zero other teams return 2 1000+ yard WRs. One of them already has chemistry with the QB and the other was among the best in the country as a freshman and can only get better. And that's just the start. Cam Vaughn and Dre Jacobs led their respective P4 teams in receptions and would be WR1 on many teams. Here they'll be battling for 3-5. Josh Moore by all accounts is ready to break out as a national star. Daylyn Upshaw would start on a lot of teams. Here he's looking at #7 on the depth chart. It's ridiculous. And we're not even talking about the 3 talented freshmen who would see the field most years. How does Dawson get all of them involved and motivated? No idea, but a great problem to have.
RB - LOADED
The only reason this room isn't "MEGA" loaded is because there isn't an Edgerrin James/Clinton Portis/McGahee type as of yet. But if Fletcher comes out of the gate the way he finished 2025, this offense will be insane. I only hedge a little because it's easy to forget Fletch was acutally benched in favor of a true freshman when he was struggling with leaving yards on the field and not maximizing plays. He figured it out in the playoffs vs the toughest comp, so there's no reason he can't pick up where he left off. But I would love to see it for a full season. They convinced Pringle to come back so they better get him involved. He's explosive. Marty Brown is a solid all-around if not explosive #2 or 3 option. Then there's Jordan Lyle, who we forget was the starter to open before tweaking an ankle and never looking right after. They are gonna want to see what he's got in the tank. And oh by the way, freshman Javian Mallory looks llike he could step right in and carry the load if needed. Hellcat is no slouch himself, but he's likely lost in the shuffle unless there are catastrophic injury issues.
TE - OKAY
Yea this is the one everyone is rightfully worried about. The good news? The production can only go up from last year and the lack from the position didn't hold us back from a few yards of winning it all. Even though Greentree legend Elijah Lofton looks like a classic fullback, he's likely to be the #1 TE target in the pasing game, and I believe he can still be a viable weapon there. He's also a solid blocker when healthy, which he finally seems to be. Everyone else is a big fat "?" Luka Gilbert would seem to be next in line by default, but had a non-descript Spring. Gavin Mueller was never cleared for full contact and the hands need work, but he has monster potential. Gonna need a year or 2 though likely. Izzy Briggs looks the part but needs bulk, and is also a freshman. Jackson Carver is still on the team, for what that's worth. A darkhorse for PT might be former walk-on Owen Ruskovich, a big kid who seems competent, but isn't gonna strike fear in the hearts of DCs. Cole McConathy has yet to move the needle after switching positions. There are bodies here and lots of potential but it would seem to me the abundance at WR and dearth of proven playmaklers here would mean more 4 wide sets, but Dawson and Mario seem loathe to do that too often. So we'll see.
OL - VERY GOOD
Saying we lost 4 starters is a bit misleading became Samson played about as much McCoy at LG who now moves to RT. Jackson Cantwell looks like he could verey well step right in and keep a lot of the consistency we had from Bell. Yes as a freshman he will get beat occasionally, but so did Bell. By next year Cantwell will likely be the best LT in America, so hopefully he can at least be **** good out of the gate. The rest of the line looks solid. People are a little worried about Rodriguez, but forget he was actually the starting C in '24 before getting hurt. Buchanon was a guy they were ready to roll with last year if necessary, so we can be pretty confident he can step in at RG. The depth is young but good with monster Ben Congdon will get in the mix. And then you have giants with tremendous potential like Wilkerson, Ervin, Campbell getting coached up by the best. Jamal Meriweather will provde depth, size, and good experience. We might take a samll step back but I still think this OL will be among the best in the land.
DL - LOADED
Yes we lose two first rounders at Edge but it's not like we're replacing them with scrubs. Lightfoot is a 5 star talent who was starting to flash it and Damon Wilson was arguably the top portal pass rusher in the land. Scroggins really flashed as a freshman and will only get better. Booker Pickett is a pass rushing specilaist and if Haden Lowe gets his sh*t together that's another huge weapon off the edge. You also have some mega talented freshmen like Asharri Charles who can get in the mix if needed. Keona Davis and Bount can also flex outside (Blount may start there). At DT things are looking **** good. Justin Scott and Moten are potentially the best DT tandem in the country and futute NFL starters IMO. Transfers Carter and Davis seem to be solid backups, and Bount can shift inside on passing downs. There's a wealth of young talent as well, and a guy like Logan Nagle could get in the mix as he impressed in camp.
LB - GOOD/VERY GOOD
I'm more bullish on this positon than others because of the 2 graybeards leading. Toure and Smith are as solid as they come and they couldn't have more epxerience. Getting them back was a coup. We typically only play with 2 (if there's a 3rd they're typically rushing) so if they can stay healthy I think we're in fine shape. Bonner seems ready to contribute and Marcelin had a strong Spring. Wiley figures to be one of the first off the bench and has sky high potential. Pruitt is still small but now has a lot of experience. The 2 freshmen have impressed. I'm fully confident Heatherman can coach this unit up to be very solid and actually pretty **** good, barring injuries to the top 2. Some posters have said Smith and Toure were liablities in coverage in the playofffs but I went back and watched and didn't really see that so maybe we're looking at different things.
DB - LOADED
I love this group. O'Connor gets flack for dropping easy INTs vs Ole Miss and getting picked on a few times vs. Indiana's big WRs but he was very good throughout the year. He'll be fine. Lucas and OJ are a top outside corner tandem. Thronton and Bryce should nicely fill in for Scott's loss at nickel, with Thornton being a similar physical presence. Ryan Mack is out of the deep freeze and can help at nickel in a pinch as well. If Damari Brown could ever get healthy that's quality depth and Slime will be in the mix to spell the outside guys when needed. Poyser and Fitz should be among the top safety duos in the country. Poyser got much better as the season went on and I think his best days are ahead of him. People forget he was just a sophomore last year. Fitz and Thornton it seems will rorate between safety and nickel. Hussey provides solid experienced safety depth and Day is coming on. The freshmen are turning heads already, with JJ Dunnigan seemingly demnading playing time looking like a future star. This unit should be rock solid despite the losses of Scott and Thomas.
SPECIALS - GOOD??
There was a blackout on progress of kickers in the Srping so who knows but Jack Olsen was good at Northwestern and Weinberg will be a kickoff specilaist with a very good percentage of touchbacks. Coverage should be good. There's enough depth that young scholarship guys can be on STs and not a bucnh of walk ons. It makes a difference. Dylan Joyce is back and is plenty solid as a punter. Mali is gonna bust one of those PRs eventually. KOR isn't terribly relevant with the percentage of touchbacks these days but I'd love to see Dre Jacobs and Spafford get their hands on some kicks. With a premium on ball security I'd expect to see Mali handle all PRs unless we're comfortably ahead.
Overall, this team is stacked. There is no posiiton I'd consider a liability barring severe injury issues, and even that that would only apply to a few positions. Having a reliable TE target would be a nice to have, but not essential, as last year showed. Between Lofton and the other guys there should be enough to keep teams honest to where they can't ignore the position like with Bauman. I trust Mirabal, Dawson, and Heatherman to get the most of what they have to work with, and they have plenty to work with. As long as Mario allows this team to play to its personnel strengths we should be favored in every game except maybe ND, and I think we have more talent than them. There's really no reason this team shouldn't be back in the playoffs and challenging for the big prize.
I've rated each room accrodingly:
MEGA LOADED - As good as we've seen at the program and elite among all of CFB
LOADED - Top or among top of conference, top 10-15 in nation
VERY GOOD - Good enough to dominate most opponents and hold their own among the best
GOOD - Good enough to not be a liability
OKAY - Good enough to be competitive but not great, may need to be covered up in scheming
MEH - Under par and needs active scheming to cover up deficiencies
QB - LOADED
Yea, it's top heavy because of Mensah, but so was 2000-2002 as there was no viable back up to Dorsey. Obviously we hope he stays healthy because Nickel and Judd would clearly reduce the offense's capability immensley, although one of them could become a decent backup by fall. Mensah *is* a top 10 QB, regardless of what ESPN says, and fits this offense better than Beck in a lot of ways. I fully expect him to be a Heisman finalist.
WR - MEGA LOADED
In 1987 you had Irvin/Blades/Perriman. In '97-'00 Wayne and Moss. In 2001-2002 you had Dre. But in the 42 years I've been religiously following this team, there has never been an overall deeper and more talented WR room. Zero other teams return 2 1000+ yard WRs. One of them already has chemistry with the QB and the other was among the best in the country as a freshman and can only get better. And that's just the start. Cam Vaughn and Dre Jacobs led their respective P4 teams in receptions and would be WR1 on many teams. Here they'll be battling for 3-5. Josh Moore by all accounts is ready to break out as a national star. Daylyn Upshaw would start on a lot of teams. Here he's looking at #7 on the depth chart. It's ridiculous. And we're not even talking about the 3 talented freshmen who would see the field most years. How does Dawson get all of them involved and motivated? No idea, but a great problem to have.
RB - LOADED
The only reason this room isn't "MEGA" loaded is because there isn't an Edgerrin James/Clinton Portis/McGahee type as of yet. But if Fletcher comes out of the gate the way he finished 2025, this offense will be insane. I only hedge a little because it's easy to forget Fletch was acutally benched in favor of a true freshman when he was struggling with leaving yards on the field and not maximizing plays. He figured it out in the playoffs vs the toughest comp, so there's no reason he can't pick up where he left off. But I would love to see it for a full season. They convinced Pringle to come back so they better get him involved. He's explosive. Marty Brown is a solid all-around if not explosive #2 or 3 option. Then there's Jordan Lyle, who we forget was the starter to open before tweaking an ankle and never looking right after. They are gonna want to see what he's got in the tank. And oh by the way, freshman Javian Mallory looks llike he could step right in and carry the load if needed. Hellcat is no slouch himself, but he's likely lost in the shuffle unless there are catastrophic injury issues.
TE - OKAY
Yea this is the one everyone is rightfully worried about. The good news? The production can only go up from last year and the lack from the position didn't hold us back from a few yards of winning it all. Even though Greentree legend Elijah Lofton looks like a classic fullback, he's likely to be the #1 TE target in the pasing game, and I believe he can still be a viable weapon there. He's also a solid blocker when healthy, which he finally seems to be. Everyone else is a big fat "?" Luka Gilbert would seem to be next in line by default, but had a non-descript Spring. Gavin Mueller was never cleared for full contact and the hands need work, but he has monster potential. Gonna need a year or 2 though likely. Izzy Briggs looks the part but needs bulk, and is also a freshman. Jackson Carver is still on the team, for what that's worth. A darkhorse for PT might be former walk-on Owen Ruskovich, a big kid who seems competent, but isn't gonna strike fear in the hearts of DCs. Cole McConathy has yet to move the needle after switching positions. There are bodies here and lots of potential but it would seem to me the abundance at WR and dearth of proven playmaklers here would mean more 4 wide sets, but Dawson and Mario seem loathe to do that too often. So we'll see.
OL - VERY GOOD
Saying we lost 4 starters is a bit misleading became Samson played about as much McCoy at LG who now moves to RT. Jackson Cantwell looks like he could verey well step right in and keep a lot of the consistency we had from Bell. Yes as a freshman he will get beat occasionally, but so did Bell. By next year Cantwell will likely be the best LT in America, so hopefully he can at least be **** good out of the gate. The rest of the line looks solid. People are a little worried about Rodriguez, but forget he was actually the starting C in '24 before getting hurt. Buchanon was a guy they were ready to roll with last year if necessary, so we can be pretty confident he can step in at RG. The depth is young but good with monster Ben Congdon will get in the mix. And then you have giants with tremendous potential like Wilkerson, Ervin, Campbell getting coached up by the best. Jamal Meriweather will provde depth, size, and good experience. We might take a samll step back but I still think this OL will be among the best in the land.
DL - LOADED
Yes we lose two first rounders at Edge but it's not like we're replacing them with scrubs. Lightfoot is a 5 star talent who was starting to flash it and Damon Wilson was arguably the top portal pass rusher in the land. Scroggins really flashed as a freshman and will only get better. Booker Pickett is a pass rushing specilaist and if Haden Lowe gets his sh*t together that's another huge weapon off the edge. You also have some mega talented freshmen like Asharri Charles who can get in the mix if needed. Keona Davis and Bount can also flex outside (Blount may start there). At DT things are looking **** good. Justin Scott and Moten are potentially the best DT tandem in the country and futute NFL starters IMO. Transfers Carter and Davis seem to be solid backups, and Bount can shift inside on passing downs. There's a wealth of young talent as well, and a guy like Logan Nagle could get in the mix as he impressed in camp.
LB - GOOD/VERY GOOD
I'm more bullish on this positon than others because of the 2 graybeards leading. Toure and Smith are as solid as they come and they couldn't have more epxerience. Getting them back was a coup. We typically only play with 2 (if there's a 3rd they're typically rushing) so if they can stay healthy I think we're in fine shape. Bonner seems ready to contribute and Marcelin had a strong Spring. Wiley figures to be one of the first off the bench and has sky high potential. Pruitt is still small but now has a lot of experience. The 2 freshmen have impressed. I'm fully confident Heatherman can coach this unit up to be very solid and actually pretty **** good, barring injuries to the top 2. Some posters have said Smith and Toure were liablities in coverage in the playofffs but I went back and watched and didn't really see that so maybe we're looking at different things.
DB - LOADED
I love this group. O'Connor gets flack for dropping easy INTs vs Ole Miss and getting picked on a few times vs. Indiana's big WRs but he was very good throughout the year. He'll be fine. Lucas and OJ are a top outside corner tandem. Thronton and Bryce should nicely fill in for Scott's loss at nickel, with Thornton being a similar physical presence. Ryan Mack is out of the deep freeze and can help at nickel in a pinch as well. If Damari Brown could ever get healthy that's quality depth and Slime will be in the mix to spell the outside guys when needed. Poyser and Fitz should be among the top safety duos in the country. Poyser got much better as the season went on and I think his best days are ahead of him. People forget he was just a sophomore last year. Fitz and Thornton it seems will rorate between safety and nickel. Hussey provides solid experienced safety depth and Day is coming on. The freshmen are turning heads already, with JJ Dunnigan seemingly demnading playing time looking like a future star. This unit should be rock solid despite the losses of Scott and Thomas.
SPECIALS - GOOD??
There was a blackout on progress of kickers in the Srping so who knows but Jack Olsen was good at Northwestern and Weinberg will be a kickoff specilaist with a very good percentage of touchbacks. Coverage should be good. There's enough depth that young scholarship guys can be on STs and not a bucnh of walk ons. It makes a difference. Dylan Joyce is back and is plenty solid as a punter. Mali is gonna bust one of those PRs eventually. KOR isn't terribly relevant with the percentage of touchbacks these days but I'd love to see Dre Jacobs and Spafford get their hands on some kicks. With a premium on ball security I'd expect to see Mali handle all PRs unless we're comfortably ahead.
Overall, this team is stacked. There is no posiiton I'd consider a liability barring severe injury issues, and even that that would only apply to a few positions. Having a reliable TE target would be a nice to have, but not essential, as last year showed. Between Lofton and the other guys there should be enough to keep teams honest to where they can't ignore the position like with Bauman. I trust Mirabal, Dawson, and Heatherman to get the most of what they have to work with, and they have plenty to work with. As long as Mario allows this team to play to its personnel strengths we should be favored in every game except maybe ND, and I think we have more talent than them. There's really no reason this team shouldn't be back in the playoffs and challenging for the big prize.
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