I just read the Athlon prediction thread and it got me thinking some. I've been semi-vocal about my displeasure with Butch, but I'm gonna put that aside for this post and try and view our squad in a very positive outlook for next season. It's definitely not as bleak as some make it out to be. For this thread to have possibilities I had to view the 2017 season with the same optimism I did for 2016. That's the key here, and some won't be able to forget that misery from last season, but I'm going to attempt it......
Key Losses:
JRM
Dobbs
Kamara
Barnett
Malone
Possible big steps forward:
John Kelley
Guarantano
Jennings/Smith/Byrd take your pick there
Wolf (no way he can drop nearly as many passes and should have more volume his way)
Drew Richmond (Think he greatly improved the latter part of the season)
Darrell Taylor
Phillips
Bituli
Warrior
Def some others I'm leaving off that can make strides. These guys just didn't get tons of PT. Some did, but not much their way in terms of volume.
If you want to truly believe in stars, then you need to accept JG's skill set is special. We've all heard hits of how good he is, so I'm going to give him the nod at the starting QB spot. But we all know Butch has shown he can be stubborn, but I don't think he can be stubborn this year with his job on the line (I know some refuse to believe this). If JG can at least be a little bit more than just serviceable, then this offense could be really special. Hopefully he opens it up vertically for Jennings to use his uncanny skill set, and I'd love to see us use Byrd in the slot and just put him in space. I don't think that spot is best served for Josh Smith. Just my humble opinion. Our O-Line is gonna be as experienced as it gets. They played great down the stretch, so I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and say this unit will be the strength of this team. And if you ask most coaches they'll take a good O-Line over pretty much any other unit on the field. Gonna hurt losing Alvin, but JK looked more than the part when he filled in. No reason to think he can't do it again next season. The big question is who is going to be our backup RB? Chandler or Fill-Aime? Could be a sleeper out there.
Onto the defense. The simple and easy thing to say here is it literally cannot get any worse than last season. I think I'm going to take that mindset. Hopefully that was the worst defense I have to witness in my lifetime. The big one here is Barnett going pro and replacing him. Lewis is gone as well, so there will be many battles for ample playing time available. We have the star power up there, and maybe a coaching change can do us a little good up there. I think our DT's are our key. We need K-Mac to do his thing this season. LB was just atrocious this past season. No other way to describe it. Kirkland was hurt all last season, so hopefully he can get fully healthy this offseason, bc we need him badly. Your guess is as good as mine on who will play beside him. We need someone to step up big time for us in this spot. Same can be said for defensive backfield. Losing Sutton is going to sting, but he was out for a lot of the season last season. I think Warrior takes a huge step forward and forces the coaches to put him on the field somewhere.
I'm just hoping for the most part that another offseason with Shoop is the key to this defense getting better (and getting healthy/able bodies). Maybe the new coaches can bring some things to the table that improve us as well.
Our 2016 schedule couldn't have set up any better in terms of winning the East, but that's ancient history now. I know our schedule is much more tricky this season, and we go to Florida. Georgia comes here, but should be a year more experienced. After all it did take a 55 yard hail mary to beat them in Athens last season, so who knows with that game. Bama is Bama. We swap A'M for LSU at home. Anything is possible, and since we lost two games (maybe more) this season we shouldn't have, then I think the law average comes into play this season and we win 2 or 3 games maybe we weren't favored. This team has the talent to do it. We honestly won't be underdogs to often next season. Maybe this season was a harsh dose of reality for this team. I mean they were pretty much anointed East champions without really having accomplished anything in 2016. Now the roles are reversed. Let's just see how it all unfolds.
Key Losses:
JRM
Dobbs
Kamara
Barnett
Malone
Possible big steps forward:
John Kelley
Guarantano
Jennings/Smith/Byrd take your pick there
Wolf (no way he can drop nearly as many passes and should have more volume his way)
Drew Richmond (Think he greatly improved the latter part of the season)
Darrell Taylor
Phillips
Bituli
Warrior
Def some others I'm leaving off that can make strides. These guys just didn't get tons of PT. Some did, but not much their way in terms of volume.
If you want to truly believe in stars, then you need to accept JG's skill set is special. We've all heard hits of how good he is, so I'm going to give him the nod at the starting QB spot. But we all know Butch has shown he can be stubborn, but I don't think he can be stubborn this year with his job on the line (I know some refuse to believe this). If JG can at least be a little bit more than just serviceable, then this offense could be really special. Hopefully he opens it up vertically for Jennings to use his uncanny skill set, and I'd love to see us use Byrd in the slot and just put him in space. I don't think that spot is best served for Josh Smith. Just my humble opinion. Our O-Line is gonna be as experienced as it gets. They played great down the stretch, so I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and say this unit will be the strength of this team. And if you ask most coaches they'll take a good O-Line over pretty much any other unit on the field. Gonna hurt losing Alvin, but JK looked more than the part when he filled in. No reason to think he can't do it again next season. The big question is who is going to be our backup RB? Chandler or Fill-Aime? Could be a sleeper out there.
Onto the defense. The simple and easy thing to say here is it literally cannot get any worse than last season. I think I'm going to take that mindset. Hopefully that was the worst defense I have to witness in my lifetime. The big one here is Barnett going pro and replacing him. Lewis is gone as well, so there will be many battles for ample playing time available. We have the star power up there, and maybe a coaching change can do us a little good up there. I think our DT's are our key. We need K-Mac to do his thing this season. LB was just atrocious this past season. No other way to describe it. Kirkland was hurt all last season, so hopefully he can get fully healthy this offseason, bc we need him badly. Your guess is as good as mine on who will play beside him. We need someone to step up big time for us in this spot. Same can be said for defensive backfield. Losing Sutton is going to sting, but he was out for a lot of the season last season. I think Warrior takes a huge step forward and forces the coaches to put him on the field somewhere.
I'm just hoping for the most part that another offseason with Shoop is the key to this defense getting better (and getting healthy/able bodies). Maybe the new coaches can bring some things to the table that improve us as well.
Our 2016 schedule couldn't have set up any better in terms of winning the East, but that's ancient history now. I know our schedule is much more tricky this season, and we go to Florida. Georgia comes here, but should be a year more experienced. After all it did take a 55 yard hail mary to beat them in Athens last season, so who knows with that game. Bama is Bama. We swap A'M for LSU at home. Anything is possible, and since we lost two games (maybe more) this season we shouldn't have, then I think the law average comes into play this season and we win 2 or 3 games maybe we weren't favored. This team has the talent to do it. We honestly won't be underdogs to often next season. Maybe this season was a harsh dose of reality for this team. I mean they were pretty much anointed East champions without really having accomplished anything in 2016. Now the roles are reversed. Let's just see how it all unfolds.
