YJMD
Helluva Engineer
- Messages
- 1,600
1. QB:
- Lucas Johnson will be the starter, and he could become a high NFL draft prospect, but probably not. I expect a lot of inconsistency followed by a light coming on moment mid-way through the ACC slate where hopefully he'll carry into next season with huge expectations.
- Graham will run a wildcat+ package, and Tobias will transfer. But honestly more likely the other way around if Tobias is healthy through the summer. Graham's got the athleticism, but Tobias is special at hitting the crease at the right moment, getting north-south, and avoiding hard contact on tackles. Tobias' has the passing tools to exploit an RPO scheme and hit slants and seams regularly. It's not a fully versatile playbook, but it can be deadly in the right game situation.
- Lantz will be the #2 QB. A walk-on, yes. He throws some pretty balls, and he was the QB whose potential was most limited by the faux sack rule in the spring game. He's got good enough feet to move the chains, enough height, and enough beef to be resilient.
- That leaves Yates and Knight redshirting. I think Yates would be good enough to play but will end up needing to wait til an upper classman to get a shot. Fans will want him to play at times when the starter struggles. Knight will probably see the field earlier but at a different position.
- Jamious Griffin is going to be special right out the gate. He'll be the starter and the guy with the ball in his hands when we need to make something happen, but will ultimately get <50% of the total RB carries with a lot of rotating bodies.
- Kirvonte Benson will transfer. To be clear, this is all purely speculative and intentionally bold. I have no inside info. The injury recovery limits his reps too much to rise to the top, and ultimately he'll just be a guy in the mix, and I think he'll want to be a feature back somewhere and can find that spot elsewhere.
- Jerry Howard will be under-appreciated. He's got a complete skill set, and if he works his way to consistency he'll find his role in 2-back sets and 3rd downs where he can be a threat running, blocking, and receiving. He's not going to stuff the stat sheet, but he'll be a guy a whole lot more involved in the O than we realize.
- The OL will surprise a lot of folks. We'll be better than expected, but mostly utilizing our athleticism and quick release in the run game.
- The first danger is depth. If we lose bodies, we'll be in trouble.
- The second danger is 3rd downs. We have to hold up against rushers, and we need TEs and RBs to pick up free rushers, force wide rushers out of their lane to allow the QB to step up or scramble, and to catch the ball reliably on outlet passes.
- Ultimately, this group standing out will depend on all the other positions above doing their job.
- Route running will need to be a focus. The cross-training with DBs and our aggressive coverage should help develop those skills, or at least the sense of urgency in needing to.
- Ahmarean Brown will give defenses fits. He's more than a burner you run verticals with. Think Rondale Moore. Patenaude is going to love finding ways to get him the ball.
- If the QBs have time and deliver the ball accurately, I'd hate to have to go up against Camp, Dolphus, Sanders, Ezzard, and an athletic TE on 3rd and medium.
- We are going to blitz a lot. We will rotate bodies like mad and try to generate chaos up front and rely on the DBs to force QBs into needing money throws and hesitating long enough for the rush to affect them.
- We'll struggle on 1st and 2nd down containing the run. It will be frustrating.
- Thacker preaches leverage. We'll need it. If we actually do a good job on keeping folks from picking up extra yards after initial contact or busting long ones from the backfield, the defense can be mighty.
- I think this is where we'll be most frustrated with inconsistency.
- Safety play will be better than the corners.
- We are keeping this area hush hush because it's going to be special in a big way.
- We'll return at least 4 kicks/punts for TDs this season.
- We'll get >50% TB rate. Leg strength gains and health will be apparent, and the difference here will stick out tremendously.
- Percy Harvin will be nationally recognized. He'll be a great punter of course, but he'll get a lot more attempts and spotlight nationally.
- We'll run at least 5 fake kicks this season. CGC has a different kind of moxie, but he has it.
