Nobody knew Cedric Tillman in July 2021 but

#26
#26
Agreed. And don't forget that on paper this is Josh Huepel's most talented team since he got here. Which is why I find it funny that so many on here are pessimistic about our chances this year. History says that this will be Huepel's best team. Which is why I think we can be even better than we were last year.

Its playoffs or bust based on our talent profile and Huepel's history.
I think a return trip to the playoffs will be pretty difficult unfortunately. Beating 2/3 UGA @ home, Bama @ away, or Florida @ away is going to be a significant challenge.

Outside of that, the rest of the schedule is fairly winnable. It will come down to the big 3.

I do agree that this team is fairly talented though. Once the final talent composite comes out right before the season this year, we will be a top 10-15 team talent wise, which theoretically is good enough to be playoff calibre.
 
  • Like
Reactions: orangebloodgmc
#27
#27
You talk about the McCoy injury like it’s just a given, when in reality it is a huge question mark. We already need a safety to breakout. If McCoy isn’t the same guy he was, we need another corner to breakout. McCoy was great last year and any drop off in play could have a very bad impact on the secondary, which was already mediocre in the biggest spots last year.

The dirty little secret last year was that our linebackers were below average after Pili went out. The defense was also markedly worse. We definitely need better play there.

The DL definitely needs guys to breakout. I think we will be fine there, but the defense the last couple years has required the DL to be more than fine. A dropoff there could really expose the back 7.

The OL definitely needs some breakout guys. Heard has to improve A LOT. Sanders could be everything we hope he is in 2 or 3 years but not be a good player right now, a la Darnell Wright. Pendleton has only gotten action due to injury so far. Is he gonna be good enough to run with the job? Center as you acknowledge is a huge question mark. I think Moe will be an upgrade, but the other 4 are huge question marks. We need at least two guys to breakout at those positions.

Tight end, I think we will be fine there if Kitselman’s injury didn’t derail him. Otherwise, it’s a bunch of unproven guys and we will need one to breakout.

Running back, I view about the same as the DL. I’d say we will be fine there. Problem is, based on last year, we need to be better than fine. Sampson was great and we still struggled on offense. He was the whole offense. Replacing that is asking a lot, and someone will have to breakout.

Receiver is not overly talented. It’s not like we have a Jeremiah Smith or Ryan Williams out there. We definitely need someone to breakout. Last year I would argue Thornton broke out, and even with that, receiver play was not good enough. Sure, we made the playoff, but it was 100% in spite of the passing game.

QB, I don’t think anyone will argue Shute fact that we need someone to breakout.

All in all, we have question marks at every single position. There’s not one that we should feel great about. That’s asking a lot if we are expected to tread water compared to last year, and it’s asking even more if we are to actually be competitive for championships. I don’t see how anyone with any objectivity could look at the roster and say “oh we don’t need a bunch of guys to breakout.” Most of the team has never done what they are going to be asked to do.
Well, the optimist side is that there is going to be a lot of positional competition this year, at almost every level. The best competitors will have a chance to get better.

This is probably the biggest question mark year we have seen for Heupel since he first got here. So many good players but not a lot of proven guys. Should be a fun fall camp.
 
  • Like
Reactions: orangebloodgmc
#28
#28
The JG-Nico comparison isn’t far off. Both had to see the WR come open before they’d throw the ball. Nico got alittle better later at anticipating the WR coming open but he was still too slow often.
 
#29
#29
You talk about the McCoy injury like it’s just a given, when in reality it is a huge question mark. We already need a safety to breakout. If McCoy isn’t the same guy he was, we need another corner to breakout. McCoy was great last year and any drop off in play could have a very bad impact on the secondary, which was already mediocre in the biggest spots last year.

The dirty little secret last year was that our linebackers were below average after Pili went out. The defense was also markedly worse. We definitely need better play there.

The DL definitely needs guys to breakout. I think we will be fine there, but the defense the last couple years has required the DL to be more than fine. A dropoff there could really expose the back 7.

The OL definitely needs some breakout guys. Heard has to improve A LOT. Sanders could be everything we hope he is in 2 or 3 years but not be a good player right now, a la Darnell Wright. Pendleton has only gotten action due to injury so far. Is he gonna be good enough to run with the job? Center as you acknowledge is a huge question mark. I think Moe will be an upgrade, but the other 4 are huge question marks. We need at least two guys to breakout at those positions.

Tight end, I think we will be fine there if Kitselman’s injury didn’t derail him. Otherwise, it’s a bunch of unproven guys and we will need one to breakout.

Running back, I view about the same as the DL. I’d say we will be fine there. Problem is, based on last year, we need to be better than fine. Sampson was great and we still struggled on offense. He was the whole offense. Replacing that is asking a lot, and someone will have to breakout.

Receiver is not overly talented. It’s not like we have a Jeremiah Smith or Ryan Williams out there. We definitely need someone to breakout. Last year I would argue Thornton broke out, and even with that, receiver play was not good enough. Sure, we made the playoff, but it was 100% in spite of the passing game.

QB, I don’t think anyone will argue Shute fact that we need someone to breakout.

All in all, we have question marks at every single position. There’s not one that we should feel great about. That’s asking a lot if we are expected to tread water compared to last year, and it’s asking even more if we are to actually be competitive for championships. I don’t see how anyone with any objectivity could look at the roster and say “oh we don’t need a bunch of guys to breakout.” Most of the team has never done what they are going to be asked to do.
I'm not sure how you interpreted my statement as assuming the McCoy injury is a given. I literally said the success is more dependent on how he returns from injury than anyone having a breakout season. At Safety, I loved how Will Brooks competed but he is the biggest loss from that group and was a walk on.
At LB, we did see a drop off when Pili went down but we also faced a step up in competition(i.e. Georgia and Ohio State). I think it is a bit dramatic to call them below average, though. I tend to think that players improve from one season to the next and we return everyone but Pili basically.
At DL, we have a good bit of returning production and depth. Guys like Josephs, West, Eason, Moi, Herring etc. don't need a breakout season, they just need to continue to develop.
OL is probably the closest unit we have to meeting your stated need of multiple guys breaking out. In regards to Heard, people tend to forget that he was playing hurt a good bit last year. That group wasn't great as pass protection and we still made the playoffs. Same with QB and WR. I'd say we didn't have a breakout performance from anyone among those three units last year and, again, still made the playoffs.
At RB, Heupel has proven on a yearly basis that we don't have to have a star at that position to be very effective. Whether we replace Sampson's productivity with one guy or three doesn't make that much difference. Until I see otherwise, I will assume we will be around that 2,500 yard mark as a team.
At WR, didn't you just dismiss the notion that Hyatt came out of nowhere because he was a four star recruit? Chris Brazzell was a four start as a transfer, Mike Matthews was a five start on the composite, Braylon Staley and Amari Jefferson were both four stars. Are they inexperienced? Yes, except for Brazzell. Do we have a Jeremiah Smith or Ryan Williams? Not that we have seen. Who else in the country has one of those guys?

I'm starting to wonder if my definition of breakout season and yours differ. I don't disagree that we have several question marks coming into the season. We absolutely need players to be productive at those positions but needing to "have multiple guys break out in every unit in order to compete for anything of consequence" is just going way overboard with hyperbole. Keep in mind also that we play the same conference schedule as last year. Winning at least one of UGA, Bama and Florida and not dropping a game against an inferior opponent are the keys to making the playoff again.
 
#33
#33
I'm not sure how you interpreted my statement as assuming the McCoy injury is a given. I literally said the success is more dependent on how he returns from injury than anyone having a breakout season. At Safety, I loved how Will Brooks competed but he is the biggest loss from that group and was a walk on.
At LB, we did see a drop off when Pili went down but we also faced a step up in competition(i.e. Georgia and Ohio State). I think it is a bit dramatic to call them below average, though. I tend to think that players improve from one season to the next and we return everyone but Pili basically.
At DL, we have a good bit of returning production and depth. Guys like Josephs, West, Eason, Moi, Herring etc. don't need a breakout season, they just need to continue to develop.
OL is probably the closest unit we have to meeting your stated need of multiple guys breaking out. In regards to Heard, people tend to forget that he was playing hurt a good bit last year. That group wasn't great as pass protection and we still made the playoffs. Same with QB and WR. I'd say we didn't have a breakout performance from anyone among those three units last year and, again, still made the playoffs.
At RB, Heupel has proven on a yearly basis that we don't have to have a star at that position to be very effective. Whether we replace Sampson's productivity with one guy or three doesn't make that much difference. Until I see otherwise, I will assume we will be around that 2,500 yard mark as a team.
At WR, didn't you just dismiss the notion that Hyatt came out of nowhere because he was a four star recruit? Chris Brazzell was a four start as a transfer, Mike Matthews was a five start on the composite, Braylon Staley and Amari Jefferson were both four stars. Are they inexperienced? Yes, except for Brazzell. Do we have a Jeremiah Smith or Ryan Williams? Not that we have seen. Who else in the country has one of those guys?

I'm starting to wonder if my definition of breakout season and yours differ. I don't disagree that we have several question marks coming into the season. We absolutely need players to be productive at those positions but needing to "have multiple guys break out in every unit in order to compete for anything of consequence" is just going way overboard with hyperbole. Keep in mind also that we play the same conference schedule as last year. Winning at least one of UGA, Bama and Florida and not dropping a game against an inferior opponent are the keys to making the playoff again.
My definition of breakout would be if, say, Josephs has 10 sacks. He has been a solid player, but that would be a breakout. Or if Moi became a game wrecker up the middle. Or if a receiver has a thousand yards. To me a breakout doesn’t mean a nothing player becomes a superstar. It just means that a guy who hasn’t been a big producer has a big year
 
#34
#34
My definition of breakout would be if, say, Josephs has 10 sacks. He has been a solid player, but that would be a breakout. Or if Moi became a game wrecker up the middle. Or if a receiver has a thousand yards. To me a breakout doesn’t mean a nothing player becomes a superstar. It just means that a guy who hasn’t been a big producer has a big year
Josephs having a 10 sack season would be great. Only 7 players in the history of our program have had more than that in a single season. James Pearce led the team with 7.5 last season.
We have had 10 1,000 receiving seasons in our history, with two of them being Joey Kent. It would be fantastic if that were to happen. Last year's leading receiver had 661 yards and nobody else hit 500 yards.
My point is that having those types of seasons are great but not necessary for us to make a return trip to the playoffs. We certainly don't have to see those type seasons from multiple players in every unit in order to do so. We literally just did so last year with basically the same schedule. I would agree that we need multiple players to step up across the roster to get where we want to be, particularly at QB, WR and OL.
 
#35
#35
Agreed. And don't forget that on paper this is Josh Huepel's most talented team since he got here. Which is why I find it funny that so many on here are pessimistic about our chances this year. History says that this will be Huepel's best team. Which is why I think we can be even better than we were last year.

Its playoffs or bust based on our talent profile and Huepel's history.
Well….. that does it…. We’re going 6-6 now 🙄
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigOrangeTrain
#36
#36
He emerged as one of the top WRs in the SEC that season

Nobody knew Jalin Hyatt was in July 2022 but he won the award for top WR in CFB

Nobody knew Jaylen Wright was in July 2023 but he led the SEC in rushing.

Nobody knew Dylan Sampson was in July 2024 but he won the SEC offensive player of the year.

The thing about history is it repeats itself. Somebody will have a breakout season in 2025.
He/they put a 2* recruit at UCF into the pros too along with numerous 3*. So, indeed history repeats itself. I do wonder if that’s common across the landscape of CFB for coaches to find diamonds in the rough and develop them to pro status fairly consistently, however. I would be interested in knowing if that is the case, or we have a special developer of talent or HC who is good at finding coaches who consistently are good developers of lower rated talent.
 
#42
#42
JG did the best he could and loved this place. It was on Pruitt for trotting him out there week after week. At least he didn’t run out of bounds on the last play of the game. Unbelievable.
I think at that time with Nico many started to say “uh oh” after that game.
 
#45
#45
No he wasn’t. Had he stayed at USC he wouldn’t have gotten drafted in the third round or maybe at all.
He was drafted for running a 4.3*. He was taken early, as he was projected as a 4th-5th round pick at best. Speed gets drafted early.

From NFL.com

Weaknesses​

  • Will be a 25-year-old rookie.
  • Below-average wingspan and catch radius.
  • Doesn't drive hard into his routes off the snap.
  • Unnatural stride length gives away route stems.
  • Inefficient footwork at the top of his routes.
  • Only asked to run extremely basic routes.
He might be a 'make it' guy with his special teams work alone." -- Scout for NFC team

He's now a RB for NO (if he actually makes the roster this year).

*his 4.31 was the 2nd fastest 40 as a "WR"
 
#46
#46
But you would’ve never seen him run out of bounds when the clock expired and the game was on the line
I’ll give you that. I’ve never seen a beating like what JG took and he kept trying. Under a different HC he might’ve been great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: orangebloodgmc
#47
#47
I’ll give you that. I’ve never seen a beating like what JG took and he kept trying. Under a different HC he might’ve been great.
I mean, he did make the NFL, or at least got paid in the league.

I do agree about coaching. Although, I never really understood why he was a 4. His HS numbers were trash.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hUTch2002
#50
#50
Agreed. And don't forget that on paper this is Josh Huepel's most talented team since he got here. Which is why I find it funny that so many on here are pessimistic about our chances this year. History says that this will be Huepel's best team. Which is why I think we can be even better than we were last year.

It’s playoffs or bust based on our talent profile and Huepel's history.
Talent on paper is important. But experience is as well. Replacing a significant portion on the OL, if not everyone. QB whose only experience is at Appy state. New wideouts. Offense could gel together, but I’m not expecting them to come out and look like world beaters immediately.
 

VN Store



Back
Top