This year from last year, and potential 10 win regular season. The entire team is stronger faster and in much better shape than last year.
The Trenches.
Starting with the competition of the defense versus the offense in the trenches. Everyone has raved about the returning talent we have on out defensive line which is the best way to prepare an offensive line that couldn't protect Kaaya or open up running lanes. This years defensive line appears to be a strength for our team which has not been the case for many years simply because the weight training and nutrition have not been there.
I know most of us have split feelings on Swasey, but the truth is he was not the reason we won a championship in 2001, he was a leftover just like Coker was a leftover. The real engineer of the fastest strongest and biggest team ever assembled in college football left in 1999 and went to LSU and the results are evident from whose stock went up and whose stock went down. Last year was an all time low as our strength and conditioning coach was not even able to train our players which is a big reason why we didn't finish games in the fourth quarter. Factor in now a quality SEC strength and conditioning coach in Gus Felder along with a nutritionalist and the results will be a bigger stronger and faster team especially in the trenches.
Expect tremendous improvement from both the defensive line and the offensive line. Why? Because they were both terrible last year so by default they can only get better. Plus, Coach Kuligowski is the best in the business and will have the defensive line playing fast and aggressive and we have the talent there for this to be the most improved unit on the team. Every year Coach Kool lines have been too 10 or better in producing the most tackles for loss and sacks and that is going up against some of the best SEC offensive line such as Alabama, Florida, LSU, and Tennessee just to name a few. Expect big things from our defensive line this year.
As for the offensive line competition against our defensive line, nutrition, flexability, and better conditioning will prove to be key in both protecting Kaaya and opening up massive holes for the running backs. They are still a question mark of the team, but nowhere near the big concern as they were heading into spring.
Running Backs.
Next is our Running Backs. A running back by committee approach will prove to be helpful especially when we start feeding the hot hand. Factor in a full back who absolutely loves to block and is bigger than most defensive ends a lot of defenses are going to get JACKED UP this season. Unfortunately for opposing defenses, I expect a lot hard collisions and potential injuries especially for safeties and defensive backs when they come into contact with our 6'1, 280lb full back.
Our most complete back is Walton, but don't forget about Yearby or Gus. They each bring something unique to the table that depending on the defenses we face any given back can catch fire and be the go to man all game long. Expect Richt to wear down defenses this year with the run heading into the fourt quarter much like SEC teams do each year.
Passing Game.
This will not be the year of the freshman which is a really good thing for our future, but that does not mean freshmen will not play. Expect seniors wide receivers such as Coley, Berrios, Lewis, and incoming transfer Harris to play a major role. Why? Because their bodies are able to absorb the punishment much better than an 18 year old straight out of high school. Eventually there will be a freshman or possibly two who will earn more playing time as the season progresses, but early on the game will be too fast for them and too physical for them to endure an entire season.
With that being said expect Berrios to compliment Coley and possibly get more touches than him in certain games as defenses key in mostly on Coley especially on 3rd downs. I also expect for defenses to key in on Berrios during 3rd downs which will leave Coley on man to man coverages that should result in monster gains or touchdowns. The other receivers will be more service receivers rather than go to receivers.
The tight ends will be where the most mismatches will be created as Njoku will be our best red zone threat in the passing game. With Njoku and Herndon both as blocking and catching threats expect our red zone passing attack to be neaely automatic once you factor in Berrios and potentially Bruce into that equation. This combination of Njoku, Herndon, Berrios, and Bruce will also be highly effective in moving the chains in the passing game.
Finally, the running backs will also catch the ball out of the backfield which will prove very effective as a safety valve and most importantly when we are running screens.
If only our offensive line improves drastically from last year then our offense with Kaaya leading can be nearly unstoppable. Kaaya knows what play to put our team in much like Payton Manning, and he is very accurate in putting the ball only where his receiver can catch the ball or away from the receiver to protect their body from a defender.
Line Backer.
This is my biggest concern, because there is a potential that two freshman can start and depending on how long Grace is suspended for there could be three freshman starting. As Emac puts don't count on freshmen... Unfortunately,we have to. Good thing for our defense is that they were all enrolled in spring so they are more like sophomores. The good thing is everywhere else on the defense we have seniors and juniors so potentially starting three freshmen may not hurt us as bad, but expect there to be growing pains. The only freshman linebacker that does deserve to start is Quarterman. The others are a result of poor recruiting over the years with the exception of Grace. Hopefully, we will not lose Grace more than two games, because we will need him in a hostile environment up in Appalachian State. By mid October these freshmen will all be ready to start, and come October 8th if we have a freshman other than Quarterman starting at linebacker against FSU look for Fisher to exploit. If they pass that test then we will have our Bermuda Triangle for years to come in Quarterman, McCloud and Pickney.
Defensive Backs.
The Addition of Colbert is almost like Burns never left. They are both built the same and have similar speed. Colbert will be able to hang with the much lager receivers as Elder will be able to hang with the smaller shiftier receivers. The challenge will come when a team only has big tall receivers as Elder will be physically outmatched, but mainly in the short passing game as the receiver will be able to shield himself away from Elder with his larger frame. On the deep ball however, Elder has enough speed to blanket any receiver and it will take an accurate passer to place the ball high enough that Elder cannot reach without putting too much hang time for a safety to pick it off. If the opposing QB throws it anywhere near Elder expect a pick or a batted ball.
Safeties will be what makes or breaks this team especially in the passing game. The amount of pressure coming from the defensive line and blitzes will cause major problems for the QB and will result in errant throws. This is where I expect Jenkins to have a monster year in picking the ball off from opposing QBs under pressure. As far as run support I also expect very big things from Carter who has bulked up in size to deliver bone jarring blows to running backs like he did in the Georgia Tech game last year.
Overall, I still expect at the very least 9 wins and possibly more this regular season if we can stay healthy. Depending more so on our Linebackers than our Corner backs due to the transfer of Colbert I expect drastic improvements from our defense. However, the strength of our team rests on our offense and our offensive line improvement. If the offensive line improves drastically then we can easily be as good as North Carolina was last year and win as many as 11 games.
The only team I concede that we will lose a regular season game to is Notre Dame because they are stacked at the most important position QB. FSU on the other hand will be starting a QB that has never thrown a pass in college football and is no Jameis Winston. As good as their defense is i expect them to go 9-4 this year with losses to Louisville, Miami, Clemson, and Boston College due to how well they defend the run.
The Trenches.
Starting with the competition of the defense versus the offense in the trenches. Everyone has raved about the returning talent we have on out defensive line which is the best way to prepare an offensive line that couldn't protect Kaaya or open up running lanes. This years defensive line appears to be a strength for our team which has not been the case for many years simply because the weight training and nutrition have not been there.
I know most of us have split feelings on Swasey, but the truth is he was not the reason we won a championship in 2001, he was a leftover just like Coker was a leftover. The real engineer of the fastest strongest and biggest team ever assembled in college football left in 1999 and went to LSU and the results are evident from whose stock went up and whose stock went down. Last year was an all time low as our strength and conditioning coach was not even able to train our players which is a big reason why we didn't finish games in the fourth quarter. Factor in now a quality SEC strength and conditioning coach in Gus Felder along with a nutritionalist and the results will be a bigger stronger and faster team especially in the trenches.
Expect tremendous improvement from both the defensive line and the offensive line. Why? Because they were both terrible last year so by default they can only get better. Plus, Coach Kuligowski is the best in the business and will have the defensive line playing fast and aggressive and we have the talent there for this to be the most improved unit on the team. Every year Coach Kool lines have been too 10 or better in producing the most tackles for loss and sacks and that is going up against some of the best SEC offensive line such as Alabama, Florida, LSU, and Tennessee just to name a few. Expect big things from our defensive line this year.
As for the offensive line competition against our defensive line, nutrition, flexability, and better conditioning will prove to be key in both protecting Kaaya and opening up massive holes for the running backs. They are still a question mark of the team, but nowhere near the big concern as they were heading into spring.
Running Backs.
Next is our Running Backs. A running back by committee approach will prove to be helpful especially when we start feeding the hot hand. Factor in a full back who absolutely loves to block and is bigger than most defensive ends a lot of defenses are going to get JACKED UP this season. Unfortunately for opposing defenses, I expect a lot hard collisions and potential injuries especially for safeties and defensive backs when they come into contact with our 6'1, 280lb full back.
Our most complete back is Walton, but don't forget about Yearby or Gus. They each bring something unique to the table that depending on the defenses we face any given back can catch fire and be the go to man all game long. Expect Richt to wear down defenses this year with the run heading into the fourt quarter much like SEC teams do each year.
Passing Game.
This will not be the year of the freshman which is a really good thing for our future, but that does not mean freshmen will not play. Expect seniors wide receivers such as Coley, Berrios, Lewis, and incoming transfer Harris to play a major role. Why? Because their bodies are able to absorb the punishment much better than an 18 year old straight out of high school. Eventually there will be a freshman or possibly two who will earn more playing time as the season progresses, but early on the game will be too fast for them and too physical for them to endure an entire season.
With that being said expect Berrios to compliment Coley and possibly get more touches than him in certain games as defenses key in mostly on Coley especially on 3rd downs. I also expect for defenses to key in on Berrios during 3rd downs which will leave Coley on man to man coverages that should result in monster gains or touchdowns. The other receivers will be more service receivers rather than go to receivers.
The tight ends will be where the most mismatches will be created as Njoku will be our best red zone threat in the passing game. With Njoku and Herndon both as blocking and catching threats expect our red zone passing attack to be neaely automatic once you factor in Berrios and potentially Bruce into that equation. This combination of Njoku, Herndon, Berrios, and Bruce will also be highly effective in moving the chains in the passing game.
Finally, the running backs will also catch the ball out of the backfield which will prove very effective as a safety valve and most importantly when we are running screens.
If only our offensive line improves drastically from last year then our offense with Kaaya leading can be nearly unstoppable. Kaaya knows what play to put our team in much like Payton Manning, and he is very accurate in putting the ball only where his receiver can catch the ball or away from the receiver to protect their body from a defender.
Line Backer.
This is my biggest concern, because there is a potential that two freshman can start and depending on how long Grace is suspended for there could be three freshman starting. As Emac puts don't count on freshmen... Unfortunately,we have to. Good thing for our defense is that they were all enrolled in spring so they are more like sophomores. The good thing is everywhere else on the defense we have seniors and juniors so potentially starting three freshmen may not hurt us as bad, but expect there to be growing pains. The only freshman linebacker that does deserve to start is Quarterman. The others are a result of poor recruiting over the years with the exception of Grace. Hopefully, we will not lose Grace more than two games, because we will need him in a hostile environment up in Appalachian State. By mid October these freshmen will all be ready to start, and come October 8th if we have a freshman other than Quarterman starting at linebacker against FSU look for Fisher to exploit. If they pass that test then we will have our Bermuda Triangle for years to come in Quarterman, McCloud and Pickney.
Defensive Backs.
The Addition of Colbert is almost like Burns never left. They are both built the same and have similar speed. Colbert will be able to hang with the much lager receivers as Elder will be able to hang with the smaller shiftier receivers. The challenge will come when a team only has big tall receivers as Elder will be physically outmatched, but mainly in the short passing game as the receiver will be able to shield himself away from Elder with his larger frame. On the deep ball however, Elder has enough speed to blanket any receiver and it will take an accurate passer to place the ball high enough that Elder cannot reach without putting too much hang time for a safety to pick it off. If the opposing QB throws it anywhere near Elder expect a pick or a batted ball.
Safeties will be what makes or breaks this team especially in the passing game. The amount of pressure coming from the defensive line and blitzes will cause major problems for the QB and will result in errant throws. This is where I expect Jenkins to have a monster year in picking the ball off from opposing QBs under pressure. As far as run support I also expect very big things from Carter who has bulked up in size to deliver bone jarring blows to running backs like he did in the Georgia Tech game last year.
Overall, I still expect at the very least 9 wins and possibly more this regular season if we can stay healthy. Depending more so on our Linebackers than our Corner backs due to the transfer of Colbert I expect drastic improvements from our defense. However, the strength of our team rests on our offense and our offensive line improvement. If the offensive line improves drastically then we can easily be as good as North Carolina was last year and win as many as 11 games.
The only team I concede that we will lose a regular season game to is Notre Dame because they are stacked at the most important position QB. FSU on the other hand will be starting a QB that has never thrown a pass in college football and is no Jameis Winston. As good as their defense is i expect them to go 9-4 this year with losses to Louisville, Miami, Clemson, and Boston College due to how well they defend the run.
