G5 Preseason Top 25

[AppSt94]

If we get good offensive line play Chase won’t have to play out of his mind. With the running backs we can shuffle in and out I believe Chase could theoretically throw 20 passes a game, mostly short to mid range and those studs will do the rest of the work. Unless he’s a dud I simply don’t see much to worry about

I really do think this is the key to our season. Our o-line underperformed last year in my opinion and we need much improved play from them this season to have the season we all want to have. I've always liked Cardwell, but bottom line he is a new offensive line coach with a TE background. If you look at our past o-lines that have been really good, they were all coached by a seasoned o-line coach and/or a coach who WAS an offensive lineman. If our line plays well, I think Chase will have an amazing year with our WR corps and our RB's will have a chance to shine.

To me, OL is the biggest question mark. We have two returning starters, but one is playing a different position so we will see. I think that we will be fine. It can’t be understated that last years OL play suffered due to injuries at TE. We require so much from that position, in terms of blocking, that it had a negative impact on the entire OL when Pearson, Crosby, and Evans missed time.

[Yosef10]

If we get good offensive line play Chase won’t have to play out of his mind. With the running backs we can shuffle in and out I believe Chase could theoretically throw 20 passes a game, mostly short to mid range and those studs will do the rest of the work. Unless he’s a dud I simply don’t see much to worry about

I really do think this is the key to our season. Our o-line underperformed last year in my opinion and we need much improved play from them this season to have the season we all want to have. I've always liked Cardwell, but bottom line he is a new offensive line coach with a TE background. If you look at our past o-lines that have been really good, they were all coached by a seasoned o-line coach and/or a coach who WAS an offensive lineman. If our line plays well, I think Chase will have an amazing year with our WR corps and our RB's will have a chance to shine.

According to PFFs numbers, your opinion is correct. 16 sacks given up last year, 8 in 2019, and 8 in 2018. Need that pass protection to step it up going into ‘21.

[AppStFan1]

I would like to see sets where we use TEs heavily to block and then others where we don't. I don't mind hearing our blocking is effected when 2-3 injuries on the OL but would hate for us to lose depth at TE and it be detrimental to our blocking scheme again.

With all this debate I have to ask two questions.

Say we lose 3-4 games and are clearly a step behind CCU and Louisiana with a blowout loss to Miami and loss to ECU or Marshall, why would that be? What would derail our season and put us behind CCU and Louisiana firmly in the minds of people heading into 2022?

Then, if we are 11-1 and go to the SBC title game then what would be the improvements from last year that you all believe are the cause?

[SpeedkingATL]

I'm hoping the change at OC will make a huge difference in the offense this season. Zac never appeared comfortable last season and my belief was that the offense had become much too predictable. We could line up and just run the ball against the lesser programs on our schedule but that didn't work as well against Marshall, CCU and UL. Hopefully Ponce will bring some creativity to the offense and the WR/TE and RB can stay healthy enough to reach full potential.

[AppStFan1]

I'm hoping the change at OC will make a huge difference in the offense this season. Zac never appeared comfortable last season and my belief was that the offense had become much too predictable. We could line up and just run the ball against the lesser programs on our schedule but that didn't work as well against Marshall, CCU and UL. Hopefully Ponce will bring some creativity to the offense and the WR/TE and RB can stay healthy enough to reach full potential.

I agree. I know some defend Tony Petersen but my belief is that he made it tougher on Zac and we were too predictable at times. Injuries do effect things but that is where Tony is paid to make adjustments and mask those deficiencies. Instead of masking them they were front and center. The TE injuries seemed to highlight and seem like we depended on them so much and could not adjust. I feel like (hope) Ponce will do a better job of adjusting if similar things happen again.

[AppSt94]

Injuries to key guys is and will be the main driver of overall success and failure of a season. It’s not the only thing, but it affects so much. Starters are starters for a reason. Back ups are backups for reasons. We all would like to think that it’s because the starter is just way ahead of the baseline for performance, but it is not always the case. Backups do have an adverse affect on what is available in the playbook. They also have different factors such as physical stature that has to be adjusted too. An example, play calling has to be different with Peoples as RB1 versus Noel as RB1. If we run the ball 45 times, it’s reasonable to assume a breakdown of 20 carries for Peoples, 10-15 for Noel, and 10-15 to be spread among Smith and the others. Now, suppose Peoples goes down, can you insert Noel as a bell cow RB1 and feed him 20 times? Maybe, but it has to be done a different way. Would Smith know enough of the playbook and been given enough reps as a 3 to step in as a reliable RB2? We would like to assume so, but the coaches know for sure what they can and can’t do.

I’m not getting sucked into the old OC again. That horse is dead. But this is going to be the fourth straight year of a different voice, calling plays for these kids. Yes, he is a familiar voice, but they have to unlearn everything that Drink and TP said. That’s difficult for some.

[hapapp]

It doesn't matter how good Brice is or how deep we are at running back, if our OL doesn't perform then we can expect similar results to last season. Having to replace 3 long time starters will be a huge task. The read some have on Brice is that he's not good under pressure, which he certainly had to deal with at Duke. If our OL is once again in the neighborhood of 20 sacks allowed, Brice will likely struggle here as well.

I think the talent is there on the OL, its just a matter of how quickly it jells.

[AppSt94]

It doesn't matter how good Brice is or how deep we are at running back, if our OL doesn't perform then we can expect similar results to last season. Having to replace 3 long time starters will be a huge task. The read some have on Brice is that he's not good under pressure, which he certainly had to deal with at Duke. If our OL is once again in the neighborhood of 20 sacks allowed, Brice will likely struggle here as well.

I think the talent is there on the OL, its just a matter of how quickly it jells.

Agree on OL play. I’m confident that CSC will step in if need be.

[AppStFan1]

Injuries to key guys is and will be the main driver of overall success and failure of a season. It’s not the only thing, but it affects so much. Starters are starters for a reason. Back ups are backups for reasons. We all would like to think that it’s because the starter is just way ahead of the baseline for performance, but it is not always the case. Backups do have an adverse affect on what is available in the playbook. They also have different factors such as physical stature that has to be adjusted too. An example, play calling has to be different with Peoples as RB1 versus Noel as RB1. If we run the ball 45 times, it’s reasonable to assume a breakdown of 20 carries for Peoples, 10-15 for Noel, and 10-15 to be spread among Smith and the others. Now, suppose Peoples goes down, can you insert Noel as a bell cow RB1 and feed him 20 times? Maybe, but it has to be done a different way. Would Smith know enough of the playbook and been given enough reps as a 3 to step in as a reliable RB2? We would like to assume so, but the coaches know for sure what they can and can’t do.

I’m not getting sucked into the old OC again. That horse is dead. But this is going to be the fourth straight year of a different voice, calling plays for these kids. Yes, he is a familiar voice, but they have to unlearn everything that Drink and TP said. That’s difficult for some.

Totally right about those. Injuries happen but I think we also need to admit we made a lot of mistakes in tight end evaluations to even need a D2 walk-on to be an important part of the offense. The fact nobody brought up the lack of depth last year was interesting because clearly we were one injury away from being limited and 2 away from being super thin.

We have Henry Pearson, Mike Evans, Miller Gibbs, Eli Wilson, Trey Ross, August Drews, Hennigan and Larkins. We have enough names and should have developed enough of these guys that the drop off should not be too much.

I am glad you brought up the new OC. Combined with new QB and 3 new OL starters and I feel like we need to slow our roll and be patient. It may take them a while to get going. If we play Miami close and beat ECU by double digits then we should be pleasantly surprised. I fully expect a close game with ECU and a blowout down in Miami because of all the new parts to this offense/OC.

[AppSt94]

Hindsight being 20/20, I’m not sure that I would have categorized us as thin at TE at the beginning of the season. We had Pearson and Crosby, both FBS experienced. Evans came from a DII school, but I don’t see the relevance there. If he couldn’t play, he wouldn’t have got the spot, and I think that he is a scholly player. Could be wrong there. You also had Gibbs, Ross and Wilson, plus Drew’s. All could play, but there would be a noticeable drop off if injuries happened. Pearson goes down which elevated the new guy to #1. Still probably learning the playbook. Pearson comes back, less than 100% and new guy goes down and is out for the season. Evans is elevated to #2 and doesn’t play badly. He goes down and now you go from thin to REALLY thin. You have plenty of bodies, but none really ready for quality minutes. Much like the Christians at wide out.

We made it through 2019 with Reed and Pearson.

[WASU 93]

If we get good offensive line play Chase won’t have to play out of his mind. With the running backs we can shuffle in and out I believe Chase could theoretically throw 20 passes a game, mostly short to mid range and those studs will do the rest of the work. Unless he’s a dud I simply don’t see much to worry about

I really do think this is the key to our season. Our o-line underperformed last year in my opinion and we need much improved play from them this season to have the season we all want to have. I've always liked Cardwell, but bottom line he is a new offensive line coach with a TE background. If you look at our past o-lines that have been really good, they were all coached by a seasoned o-line coach and/or a coach who WAS an offensive lineman. If our line plays well, I think Chase will have an amazing year with our WR corps and our RB's will have a chance to shine.

My opinion was that our offensive performance (which still produced a 9 win season) was a combination of things. At times, it may have been poor offensive line execution, coupled with predictable play calling, which may have been aided by the rotating door at skill positions due to COVID, injuries, etc.

[AppStFan1]

Hindsight being 20/20, I’m not sure that I would have categorized us as thin at TE at the beginning of the season. We had Pearson and Crosby, both FBS experienced. Evans came from a DII school, but I don’t see the relevance there. If he couldn’t play, he wouldn’t have got the spot, and I think that he is a scholly player. Could be wrong there. You also had Gibbs, Ross and Wilson, plus Drew’s. All could play, but there would be a noticeable drop off if injuries happened. Pearson goes down which elevated the new guy to #1. Still probably learning the playbook. Pearson comes back, less than 100% and new guy goes down and is out for the season. Evans is elevated to #2 and doesn’t play badly. He goes down and now you go from thin to REALLY thin. You have plenty of bodies, but none really ready for quality minutes. Much like the Christians at wide out.

We made it through 2019 with Reed and Pearson.

We had bodies but not sure how anyone looked like a safe bet beyond Pearson. Evans was a walk-on from D2 and Crosby a backup from South Alabama. I always felt if Pearson gets hurt that we are in trouble because he was far and away the best of the bunch. Reed and Pearson were healthy in 2019 but we now see that if you have any injuries you better have 4 TEs who can play.

I feel better that Gibbs started coming on and I hope that we see Wilson take that next step. If both of them look good and it appears Drews or Larkins is going to be a hit then we should be fine for sure in 2022. I do feel better about TE this year than last year but that is dependent upon continued improvement from Gibbs/Wilson and either Drews or Larkins is a big hit for us. If neither happens then I fear we hit the portal hard in 2022.