08-21-2024, 11:23 AM
I don't think it's easy to rationalize our team's improvement based on roster talent and composition on paper.
You have to discount the freshmen (mostly) for 2024, and we lost considerably more in the transfer portal than we gained. On defense, Keneley (35 tackles), Moi (15 tackles and a 300-pound physique), and Gilman (physical against the run) are gone. On offense, Yurosek went to Georgia which says a lot about his value. In the battle between TT's Love and Other Schools' Money, it appears that Money is usually going to win.
In fairness, it takes time to establish a new culture. It's great that we retained Elic, but I'm assuming it took some $$$. I like that Manley, Sinclair, and Phillips are back - especially Manley - but we've likely seen their ceilings after four years as part of really bad defenses.
I think the only hope is that our OL has matured significantly (as mentioned above) and that our players in all position groups have made significant physical and mental gains in their second year in the system. That's hard to quantify but there's always hope.
I will say this - TCU, like Colorado, might be a team that we can beat to get off on the right foot. I read that they have a weak, patchwork OL this year. This suggests to me that they might not be able or willing (Dykes?) to exploit our Achilles' heel since ~2017, our abysmal run defense.
You have to discount the freshmen (mostly) for 2024, and we lost considerably more in the transfer portal than we gained. On defense, Keneley (35 tackles), Moi (15 tackles and a 300-pound physique), and Gilman (physical against the run) are gone. On offense, Yurosek went to Georgia which says a lot about his value. In the battle between TT's Love and Other Schools' Money, it appears that Money is usually going to win.
In fairness, it takes time to establish a new culture. It's great that we retained Elic, but I'm assuming it took some $$$. I like that Manley, Sinclair, and Phillips are back - especially Manley - but we've likely seen their ceilings after four years as part of really bad defenses.
I think the only hope is that our OL has matured significantly (as mentioned above) and that our players in all position groups have made significant physical and mental gains in their second year in the system. That's hard to quantify but there's always hope.
I will say this - TCU, like Colorado, might be a team that we can beat to get off on the right foot. I read that they have a weak, patchwork OL this year. This suggests to me that they might not be able or willing (Dykes?) to exploit our Achilles' heel since ~2017, our abysmal run defense.