[stupac2]

I suppose it's probably to early to adopt the cliche "we don't rebuild, we reload", but to a very large extent it's true. We have holes, but who doesn't? Is there a single team that doesn't have some pretty large unanswered questions? A&M has line issues, Oregon has coach, defense, and RB questions, LSU is losing some absurd number of starters.

The question isn't "how much are you losing?" but "what are the prospects for replacing it?" Obviously we can't pencil in Hewitt or Kaumatule into Ertz/Toilolo roles, we can't assume that Sanders will emulate his father, and we can't say that Whitfield and Young will turn into stud receivers, but we can look at what we have coming back, look at what our coaches have done in the past in terms of filling these holes, and project based on that. So, obviously, I'm not overly concerned about RB or OL or the defensive holes, and am quite concerned about receivers.

Do I think it's overly optimistic to put us in the preseason top 5? It's certainly optimistic, I don't know about overly though. We'll probably be able to say a lot more after spring practices/games.

Personally, I think that expectations going into this year are much, much higher than they were last year. In July 2012 I would've told you that I'd be happy with an 8-win season with a win in Big Game and keeping the losses competitive. Right now, looking ahead to 2013, that would not be satisfactory.

[stupac2]

I suppose it's probably to early to adopt the cliche "we don't rebuild, we reload", but to a very large extent it's true. We have holes, but who doesn't? Is there a single team that doesn't have some pretty large unanswered questions? A&M has line issues, Oregon has coach, defense, and RB questions, LSU is losing some absurd number of starters.

The question isn't "how much are you losing?" but "what are the prospects for replacing it?" Obviously we can't pencil in Hewitt or Kaumatule into Ertz/Toilolo roles, we can't assume that Sanders will emulate his father, and we can't say that Whitfield and Young will turn into stud receivers, but we can look at what we have coming back, look at what our coaches have done in the past in terms of filling these holes, and project based on that. So, obviously, I'm not overly concerned about RB or OL or the defensive holes, and am quite concerned about receivers.

Do I think it's overly optimistic to put us in the preseason top 5? It's certainly optimistic, I don't know about overly though. We'll probably be able to say a lot more after spring practices/games.

Personally, I think that expectations going into this year are much, much higher than they were last year. In July 2012 I would've told you that I'd be happy with an 8-win season with a win in Big Game and keeping the losses competitive. Right now, looking ahead to 2013, that would not be satisfactory.