Peyton is #1 for that reason, he was essentially the first wave into the new era where the talent wasn't quite there yet but by the time he left the team was overall better. (which should be where we are as Hooker leaves as well)
Clausen and Dobbs though you could probably debate talent around them, I do think Clausen overall had more talent for his career...but Dobbs did play with Malone, Kamara, Jennings, Barnett, AJ Johnson, Maggitt, & Reeves-Maybin
You know everyone said "feels like '98" all season...it actually feels more like '97, had the senior QB and a lot of returning talent on offense, lost by 2 scores to an East rival on the road that was ranked 3rd....then got blown out (happened in the bowl game that season though) and finished 11-2.
If Milton is the guy next year and we see the defense make big strides ('97 they ranked 42nd in Points Against at 22.0 and '98 they were 8th at 14.5) maybe next year will feel like '98.
'97 with Peyton we had balance, but were more of a passing offense.
'98 with Tee we shifted to more of a running offense but still scored.
'22 defense is currently 47th in PA at 23.5.
1997 Offense: 331.8 passing yds per game with 3.1 TDs, 151.1 rushing yards per game with 1.1 TDs
2022 Offense: 332.3 passing yds per game with 2.9 TDs, 205.8 rushing yards per game with 3.3 TDs
From 97 to 98 we went in with an established RB (Jamal Lewis) then ended up needing to rely on two sophomores (Henry/Stephens) that were two different types of RBs
We head into 23 with an established RB (Small/Wright) and could end up needing to rely on two sophomores (Sampson/JWT) that are different types of RBs
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