Expectations for the 2021 season

Jacketman99

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I understand what you are saying about Gibbs. Just get him on the field. Doesn’t matter where like Percy Harvin when he was at UF or Desmond Howard who took handoffs as well in college. Mason is a great college player so he needs to see the field. But the key to it all is having an OLine that can do its job. We have no clue if Sims is legit because he was running for his life so how do we know if he can read progressions or not. If the OLine can be just average and if Sims takes a step forward we should put up a lot of points. But those are two huge “ifs” that every team in America is worried about as well. Even UGA with 5 and 4 stars on offense are asking themselves if their OLine is legit and if their QB can be consistent. Every team is in the same boat.

Defense is an entire different topic. Many of you are way more optimistic than I am. Primarily because I see a lot of the same players will be on the field. I won’t mention names but put it this way, I’m hoping to see a lot of different faces in the secondary this year. I like Thomas and Walton back there but that’s about it. Hopefully the transfers are ready because based on film every offense coordinator has to be salivating to play against our scheme. Last year we made hurry up teams like UCF and Syracuse look like world beaters and we made slow tempo teams look like world beaters (ND, BC, Pitt). Basically, our defense had no clue. Looking back we now realize how pathetic FSU was in game 1.
Although we did not play as well as I would have liked, I'm gonna cut the defense a little slack because we played soooo many young guys. There were a ton of players getting their first real snaps. There were times when our entire dline were freshmen. I have high hopes for the development of those guys. We also get TK back. We will miss Curry's leadership at linebacker but we will be more athletic. I am hoping our returning starters in the secondary stay healthy and elevate their level of play. I am also hoping the experience gained by the backups will prevent a drop off in level of play when their number is called. I believe we got some high level transfers, especially at DE. Hopefully, this is the year it all comes together for the defense.
 

4shotB

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. Hopefully, this is the year it all comes together for the defense.
I wish it would come together as you say. But after over 10+ years of ineeffectiveness and downright awful at times, I would be happy with significant and noticeable improvement, both in eyeball test and in the metrics.
 

MWBATL

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This thread reminds me an awful lot of the basketball threads. There was a lot of chatter about how our coaches hadn't proven themselves yet, how we inevitably lost to teams we shouldn't lose to, etc etc

A solid winning streak solved those problems. (For now...we'll see what next year brings...LOL)

That's all Collins needs as well....
 

Jmonty71

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So far, everything I mentioned was player based. Let's talk coaches. Things I expect to see. CGC needs to improve his game management skills. The coaches need to be able to determine changes, in mid-game. Not this go into half-time and fix it routine. You know what I think, when I hear we have to make halftime adjustments? The staff failed to plan for the game properly. I want to see better use of the time clock. I want to see an aggressive, attacking defense. I want to see an offense that uses short pass routes better.
 

SOWEGA Jacket

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Disagree. While we all enjoyed the end run of the season there were a lot of factors at play that helped GT. Duke and UNC both being down were huge. And being to skip the UVA game was huge. Everyone talks about how we lost Moses, but would we have won the ACC tourney if we had played UVA? And even if we beat UVA would we have had the legs to win the title game. Events fell in our favor this year.
 

Sheboygan

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So far, everything I mentioned was player based. Let's talk coaches. Things I expect to see. CGC needs to improve his game management skills. The coaches need to be able to determine changes, in mid-game. Not this go into half-time and fix it routine. You know what I think, when I hear we have to make halftime adjustments? The staff failed to plan for the game properly. I want to see better use of the time clock. I want to see an aggressive, attacking defense. I want to see an offense that uses short pass routes better.
 

Sheboygan

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So far, everything I mentioned was player based. Let's talk coaches. Things I expect to see. CGC needs to improve his game management skills. The coaches need to be able to determine changes, in mid-game. Not this go into half-time and fix it routine. You know what I think, when I hear we have to make halftime adjustments? The staff failed to plan for the game properly. I want to see better use of the time clock. I want to see an aggressive, attacking defense. I want to see an offense that uses short pass routes better.
I posted this about 5 pages back so you might have missed it- I agree 100%
To elaborate further : My expectations for this year are that we will play EVERY game as if we are well prepared !
1) Knowing 99% of the time where to line up in the scheme or play called.
2) We will know the snap count on offense and be focused on that to reduce penalties.
3) We will be as well prepared for back to back games as well as the one's after a bye- or at least reasonably close.
4) We will have better clock management.
5) We will execute plays , such as fielding punts and kickoffs as if we understand the rules and our postion on the field.
6) We can block to placekick the ball past the line of scrimmage 99% of the time.
7) We can play our postions on defense with better eye discipline
8) We are better at playing smart and under control to reduce the number of "over aggressive" penalties
9) We seem as if we have planned something for contingencies if our opponent surprises us with wrinkles on offense or defense.
10) We will act like good plays and wins are expected , not surprises that we should celebrate like they seldom occur.

If we can show noticeable/measurable improvement in the things I listed ( notice at this point I didn't mention more 4/5 star players) I think we can go to a bowl this year with at least 6 wins.
 

boger2337

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NIU: W
KSU, JR: W
Clemson: L
UNC: L
Pitt: W
Duke: W
UVA: W

VPISU:
Miami:
Boston college:
Notre Dame:
uga:

We get 2 wins out of the last five in bold. Pick as you will I think VT, and BC. But could possibly be Miami or ND. Only one we are just too far behind on is
uga. If we win 3 of the 5 you'll see the recruiting class move from top 30 to top 15.
 

slugboy

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Disagree. While we all enjoyed the end run of the season there were a lot of factors at play that helped GT. Duke and UNC both being down were huge. And being to skip the UVA game was huge. Everyone talks about how we lost Moses, but would we have won the ACC tourney if we had played UVA? And even if we beat UVA would we have had the legs to win the title game. Events fell in our favor this year.
???
Did you mean this for the football expectations thread?
 

Milwaukee

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I'm going to risk a big flameout with this.

When you look at Gibbs, who does he remind you of? I've heard a lot of answers to this one, but mine is … wait for it … Calvin Ridley. He's as talented as any of the recent crop of Bama WRs, arguably the best in the country in the last decade. Given that we already have an RB who delivers 100 ypg every time you give him 20 - 25 carries - Mason, of course - I think we should move Gibbs to WR. He's already the best WR on the team; he's actually more effective in terms of yards produced when he catches the ball (you can check). If he's out there and targeted for 10 - 15 touches a game, I'm guessing he: a) draws double coverage on almost every down and beats it most of the time; he can outrun any DB I saw last year b) delivers over 120 ypg and at least 2 TDs and c) makes the rest of the passing game work like a charm due largely to a above and making it a lot easier for Sims to run through his progressions ("Gibbs open? Here you go."). We lose explosiveness at RB, but Smith can provide some of that in relief.

Admittedly, he's working on being a great RB as well. But I think he's potentially much more dangerous outside. Problem = I'm sure he wouldn't like position change, even if it made him a better NFL prospect. (And, imho, it would.)
No.
 

Milwaukee

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So far, everything I mentioned was player based. Let's talk coaches. Things I expect to see. CGC needs to improve his game management skills. The coaches need to be able to determine changes, in mid-game. Not this go into half-time and fix it routine. You know what I think, when I hear we have to make halftime adjustments? The staff failed to plan for the game properly. I want to see better use of the time clock. I want to see an aggressive, attacking defense. I want to see an offense that uses short pass routes better.
Every staff in the nation makes adjustments at the half. Saban, Dabo, Kelly, etc. It’s part of the sport dude. Game plans often need tweaked at the half, ya know, the other team has a staff too and their job is to throw curveballs and catch their opponent off guard. This is football 101.

But I am hoping Collins gets better at in game managing though, I wish he’d let Key take the helm on game days personally. Collins is the CEO but I think Key should run the show on game days.
 

CrackerJacket

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What do I expect? That CGC will be on the hotseat going into the 2022 season.
Why? Because my fellow posters expect at least 5 wins but really think we can win 7+.
I think 5 wins is a 50/50 shot. It's a tough schedule. We killed ourselves with penalties and turnovers last season. I see those faults as more coaching-based than talent-based. We need reps more than fun and pep rallies.
 

AlabamaBuzz

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What do I expect? Well, I still believe our talent AND depth on the O-line and front 7 of D (especially in the middle) is not there for a big turnaround. But, like other posters, if there is more discipline instilled into the team to go along with the rah,rah stuff (less penalties and game management issues), I do believe we can get to 5 wins, with 6 being a stretch. I am not really sure what to expect, but I do think the result I described is reasonable.
 

Milwaukee

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What do I expect? That CGC will be on the hotseat going into the 2022 season.
Why? Because my fellow posters expect at least 5 wins but really think we can win 7+.
I think 5 wins is a 50/50 shot. It's a tough schedule. We killed ourselves with penalties and turnovers last season. I see those faults as more coaching-based than talent-based. We need reps more than fun and pep rallies.
Thanks for coming out.
 

takethepoints

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A little confused by the last statement about Gibbs not being the model rb for the NFL. There are plenty of rbs around Gibbs size in the NFL. He will probably gain another 15 lbs at least by the time he is eligible for the NFL. Guys like Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara, LeSean Mccoy, Sony Michel are all within about 10 lbs of where Gibbs is today.
You're right and if Gibbs puts on that extra 10 (or, I'd advise, 15) lbs and learns to block, he'll get his chance. But … I think he's a shoe-in as a WR at the next level.

But all these speculations are based on last year. I look forward to seeing how a year in the training program has helped him.
 
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