Not overlooking the games yet to be played in 2016, but curious what the team will look like next year. Clearly the offensive game plan will change but look at the personnel that will be there to support that transition.
OFFENSE
WR - Wow we lose Westerkamp, Moore and Reilly - Stepping up will be DPL, Stanley, Rahn and Reimers. My do I wish Grim would have stayed around and what happened to Lavan Alston. This is why it is so critical to get at least one more WR in this years class and I anticipate that at least two of them are major contributors at the start of the season. Who/what am I missing? Concerned? Yes.
TE - Carter, Cotton graduate. Foster returns. Snyder, I believe has been injured so hopefully he's back and can start playing well. Stoll, well I've not heard much as he must be on the squad. Concerned? Somewhat.
OL - I'm just going to summarize the OL, not by position but in total. We lose Hahn, Utter and Whitaker. Other than finding a solid center, the pipeline looks fairly solid with only 2 starters and one solid back up graduating. Depth looks solid and recruiting looks to be quite strong as well. Concerned? Nope, likely an area of strength.
QB - Armstrong and Fyfe graduate. However, Tanner Lee and Patrick O'Brien ready to go. Add Gebia and well....I'm excited. Clearly a change in scheme will be forthcoming, but I think we have the QB to make it work. Reference WR and TE as areas of concern with executing to new scheme. Concerned about QB? Nope
RB & FB - We lose Newby. Cupboard not bare. Concerned? Nope
DEFENSE:
DE - No one due to graduate. Talent not exceptional but Parella has them playing above their station. Where is Daishon Neal? Alexander and Stille RS this year, and will add some depth. Concerned? somewhat. Would ideally like to have one absolute monster, but have to be impressed with what Parella has done with the squad he has.
DT - Maurice and Logan graduate. Davis twins, Stolenberg, Newell could be quite good. No DTs signed Feb 2016 was a huge void that led to the firing of whats-his-knuckle and the hiring of Parella. Long-term big positive, short-term depth concern. Concerned? Yes, somewhat. Depth will be an issue, but if we use this year as a proxy for next year, then you have to say we could be pretty good baring injury.
LB - Only Bandares and Rose-Ivey graduate. I really like Bando, and he's played well this year. However, he doesn't represent a huge loss. Rose-Ivey is probably a bigger loss this year as he is finally playing healthy. However, depth looks pretty good at all three spots when you throw out names like, Young, Newby, Weber, Gifford, Mohammad and Ferguson on the depth chart. Add Simmons, Miller and Jefferson in this year's class and it has to be a strength. Concerned? Nope.
DB - Only Nathan Gerry graduates. He's a big loss, but you have to be excited for the future of our
DBs. CBs I don't have time to list all of the depth here, and that is making no mention of recruits. Safeties also look in good shape with Williams, Williams, Reed and Anderson. Again, no mention of the recruits coming up the ranks and the class of 2016.
After having pulled this together, you have to feel pretty good about next year, assuming all of the buzz about Lee and O'Brien are accurate. However, the notable concern I have is at WR and TE. QB can be made to look great or poor based on the ability of his surrounding cast. We look great at RB, but WR will have some big voids to fill. There is some good talent there for sure, but not the depth we've been accustomed to for the last few years. TE, well, that is the big unknown.
Overall, I think we look pretty darn good next year. I think the coaching staff are able to maximize the output of the talent we have. Top to bottom, I think next year we will have one of the more talented teams we will have put on the field in several years. I guess, things are looking up.
OFFENSE
WR - Wow we lose Westerkamp, Moore and Reilly - Stepping up will be DPL, Stanley, Rahn and Reimers. My do I wish Grim would have stayed around and what happened to Lavan Alston. This is why it is so critical to get at least one more WR in this years class and I anticipate that at least two of them are major contributors at the start of the season. Who/what am I missing? Concerned? Yes.
TE - Carter, Cotton graduate. Foster returns. Snyder, I believe has been injured so hopefully he's back and can start playing well. Stoll, well I've not heard much as he must be on the squad. Concerned? Somewhat.
OL - I'm just going to summarize the OL, not by position but in total. We lose Hahn, Utter and Whitaker. Other than finding a solid center, the pipeline looks fairly solid with only 2 starters and one solid back up graduating. Depth looks solid and recruiting looks to be quite strong as well. Concerned? Nope, likely an area of strength.
QB - Armstrong and Fyfe graduate. However, Tanner Lee and Patrick O'Brien ready to go. Add Gebia and well....I'm excited. Clearly a change in scheme will be forthcoming, but I think we have the QB to make it work. Reference WR and TE as areas of concern with executing to new scheme. Concerned about QB? Nope
RB & FB - We lose Newby. Cupboard not bare. Concerned? Nope
DEFENSE:
DE - No one due to graduate. Talent not exceptional but Parella has them playing above their station. Where is Daishon Neal? Alexander and Stille RS this year, and will add some depth. Concerned? somewhat. Would ideally like to have one absolute monster, but have to be impressed with what Parella has done with the squad he has.
DT - Maurice and Logan graduate. Davis twins, Stolenberg, Newell could be quite good. No DTs signed Feb 2016 was a huge void that led to the firing of whats-his-knuckle and the hiring of Parella. Long-term big positive, short-term depth concern. Concerned? Yes, somewhat. Depth will be an issue, but if we use this year as a proxy for next year, then you have to say we could be pretty good baring injury.
LB - Only Bandares and Rose-Ivey graduate. I really like Bando, and he's played well this year. However, he doesn't represent a huge loss. Rose-Ivey is probably a bigger loss this year as he is finally playing healthy. However, depth looks pretty good at all three spots when you throw out names like, Young, Newby, Weber, Gifford, Mohammad and Ferguson on the depth chart. Add Simmons, Miller and Jefferson in this year's class and it has to be a strength. Concerned? Nope.
DB - Only Nathan Gerry graduates. He's a big loss, but you have to be excited for the future of our
DBs. CBs I don't have time to list all of the depth here, and that is making no mention of recruits. Safeties also look in good shape with Williams, Williams, Reed and Anderson. Again, no mention of the recruits coming up the ranks and the class of 2016.
After having pulled this together, you have to feel pretty good about next year, assuming all of the buzz about Lee and O'Brien are accurate. However, the notable concern I have is at WR and TE. QB can be made to look great or poor based on the ability of his surrounding cast. We look great at RB, but WR will have some big voids to fill. There is some good talent there for sure, but not the depth we've been accustomed to for the last few years. TE, well, that is the big unknown.
Overall, I think we look pretty darn good next year. I think the coaching staff are able to maximize the output of the talent we have. Top to bottom, I think next year we will have one of the more talented teams we will have put on the field in several years. I guess, things are looking up.
