04-08-2022, 08:16 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-08-2022, 08:43 PM by BostonCard.)
Awesome post Jacketree. Glad the Navy grad is doing well.
BC
Really appreciate the analysis.
On offense, I can see the case that optimistic Matt makes. We do have a veteran OL, receiving threats and a QB with a season under his belt. I’d feel better about the offense if at least one of our veteran running backs were coming back. There is potential in the younger guys who will have to step up (and maybe more potential there than in the departed veterans), but injuries. The case for optimistic Matt’s assessment on the Shawfence largely rests on its ability to stay healthy. Depending on how much of a causal association you assign to the relationship between injuries and the presence of Shannon Turley (fun fact, one of the VP’s at my company is named Shannon Turley, which is weird, because she is female), you either believe that it is a fool’s errand to expect that there should be any reason to improve on the injury front, or feel that maybe this year we will finally be a bit luckier.
On defense, I find it hard to see optimistic Matt’s case. Our backfield should be in decent shape, as optimistic Matt maintained. However, i have a hard time believing that the front seven will approach last year’s putrid output and I genuinely worry that we may give up double digit yards per carry. Miezan and Magnum-Farrar were in their fourth years in the program last year, and though they were oft injured and didn’t have a ton of game experience, if it hadn’t clicked by last year, it probably never will. The d-line is a disaster, and we bring back exactly one interior defensive lineman. Add to that the fact that we are making over our system and it will probably be 2024 (when our incoming freshmen are juniors) when we will finally have depth and experience on that d-line, assuming we don’t take a couple of years off from recruiting again. And of course, the same coaches who failed to develop our last batch of front seven players will be coaching these guys. The future is not bright. I’m hopelessly optimistic, but I don’t see how you can be good with a decent offense and defensive backfield but a front seven that can be charitably spoken of as being in disarray. I think we are in the “assume the worst until proven otherwise” part of the cycle.
BC
BC
Really appreciate the analysis.
On offense, I can see the case that optimistic Matt makes. We do have a veteran OL, receiving threats and a QB with a season under his belt. I’d feel better about the offense if at least one of our veteran running backs were coming back. There is potential in the younger guys who will have to step up (and maybe more potential there than in the departed veterans), but injuries. The case for optimistic Matt’s assessment on the Shawfence largely rests on its ability to stay healthy. Depending on how much of a causal association you assign to the relationship between injuries and the presence of Shannon Turley (fun fact, one of the VP’s at my company is named Shannon Turley, which is weird, because she is female), you either believe that it is a fool’s errand to expect that there should be any reason to improve on the injury front, or feel that maybe this year we will finally be a bit luckier.
On defense, I find it hard to see optimistic Matt’s case. Our backfield should be in decent shape, as optimistic Matt maintained. However, i have a hard time believing that the front seven will approach last year’s putrid output and I genuinely worry that we may give up double digit yards per carry. Miezan and Magnum-Farrar were in their fourth years in the program last year, and though they were oft injured and didn’t have a ton of game experience, if it hadn’t clicked by last year, it probably never will. The d-line is a disaster, and we bring back exactly one interior defensive lineman. Add to that the fact that we are making over our system and it will probably be 2024 (when our incoming freshmen are juniors) when we will finally have depth and experience on that d-line, assuming we don’t take a couple of years off from recruiting again. And of course, the same coaches who failed to develop our last batch of front seven players will be coaching these guys. The future is not bright. I’m hopelessly optimistic, but I don’t see how you can be good with a decent offense and defensive backfield but a front seven that can be charitably spoken of as being in disarray. I think we are in the “assume the worst until proven otherwise” part of the cycle.
BC