My take is that Riley has more talent top to bottom now then Pelini did when he took over. When Pelini took over, however, there were a few more true difference makers on the roster.
When Bo took over, he had guys like Suh, Prince, Helu, ect... but the roster was super thin in a couple of areas. Suh, Prince, and Helu had never done anything prior to 2008 really so they were unknowns. Linebackers were so thin, we had running back Cody Glenn starting for most of the season. Quarterback was terribly thin as well with an average Joe Ganz and really nothing else. No WRs beyond Swift and Peterson either. Offensive line was a mess too.
Now, though we don't have a Suh... we are top-to-bottom a more talented team. Guys like Collins and Valentine are up there... the WRs are much better.. QBs are better in my opinion (some will disagree)... DBs are much better... everything is "filled out" a little bit more. So although we don't have a Suh on the roster... we have a lot of good players and it looks like Bo left the program more talented then he inherited it overall...
One question... how is the LB situation so similar to when Callahan left? Bo had seven years to get some Linebackers and we never got enough guys.
EDIT: Easy way to answer this question: If we would line up the 2008 team that opened the year against the 2015 team that is opening the year... .who do you see winning? I don't see the 2008 team being able to hang.
This post was edited on 4/16 12:48 PM by canthesniffgetthekick