On paper: better or worse now compared to 2016

Doogles said:

QB: TBD 2016 Bowning>2017 Browning 2018?

RB: Better: Gaskin is better and Salvon has higher ceiling, but 2016 Coleman was quietly our second most explosive player. If Salvon can put up the 2016 Coleman stat line we're in good shape.

TE: Better if Hunter is back at some point this year. Come championship game/playoff/bowl time it will be much better.

WR: Yikes it's time for the youngins to step up.

OL: You have to say it's better once Trey comes back at full speed. A physical freak like McGary is in his 5th year. Him and Trey are going to be awesome and Nick Harris is no longer out of position.

Return Game: No Ross or Pettis to take it to the house and bail out our over complicated offense is huge. Somebody needs to step up, we have the explosive guys to do it, but so far none of them have shown the innate ability all good returners have of finding the crease and housing it.

K: We fucked

Depth: Much Better

Coaching: Much better

I agree with this take. No way our OL is worse than 2018 unless Trey isn’t the same.

I would say the floor is slightly lower but the ceiling is significantly higher at positions like TE, WR and OL.

Other than ST, LB is the only position that really concerns me outside of ATBSJBS. I think we have receivers step up.

I think special teams is the difference between us and a perfect season this year.

Brownsox is still our qb

Disagree

Gladstone said:

QB. Same
RB. Better thanks to Saladin Ahmed
TE: Slightly worse Better. No way Daniel's is better then Kizer, Otton, Warren, a few games of bryant combined. And sample 2018 > sample 2016.
WR: Significantly worse end of 2016. SLIGHTLY BETTER beginning of 2016. Wide reciever was just as big a question mark as now going into the season. Is john ross going to be healthy enough to make up for our shitty recievers? Is Pettis and lenius going to step up or are they jags?
OL: Slightly worse (no Eldrenkamp + health concerns? eldenkramp and shelton are downgrades probably but the other three positions will be better.
DL: Worse
LB: Significantly worse
DB: Slightly worse
K: Same van winkle was 99% on pat and 80% on fg it we not that good.
P: Slightly better
KR: Worse
PR: Significantly worse
Depth: Better
Coaching; Slightly better with Smith out

Agree? Here's hoping the team surprises again.

.



Holder: worse. Word from camp is race porter is struggling in way jeff lindquist never did.

Edwin_Bambino said:

I think OL and TE this year could end up being better. Also, 2016 linebackers should be pre and post Azeem injury, pre injury 2016 better, post I think 2018 could be better. I also think 2018 Secondary could potentially challenge 2016 if they stay healthy.

LIPO!

I think related to the DB group that's part of what this group has more so than 2016, depth and the ability to absorb injuries. Also see the new redshirt rules.

Interesting exercise. I mostly agree, with these caveats and additional observations:

QB: You're forgetting the loss of the Lindcat formation. I also think Jake Browning will be less shitty in big games. Not great, but less shitty, to the point that 2018's better run game could get the Huskies over the top.

DL: I think it's going to have similar top-end play, although it will suffer from less depth. Vita Vea was inconsistent in 2016. Greg Gaines was terrific but only a sophomore. I think Onwuzurike will perform as well as Qualls did in 2016.

2016: So. Greg Gaines, So. Jaylen Johnson, Jr. Elijah Qualls, Sr. Damion Turpin, So. Vita Vea
2018: Sr. Greg Gaines, Sr. Jaylen Johnson, So. Levi Onwuzurike

LB: I'm bullish on the LBs if we're counting OLBs here. The OLBs should be better this year (RSJr. Benning Potoa'e, So. Ryan Bowman, So. Amandre Williams, Fr. Joe Tryon vs. RSFr. Benning, Sr. Psalm Wooching, and Jr. Connor O'Brien). The ILB first-string should be a small step below (Sr. Tevis-Sr. BBK v. Jr. Bierria and Jr. Victor/So. BBK) but the second-string, which plays a lot, should be better.

P: Much better, in my opinion. Tristan Vizcaino was really inconsistent. In the Peach Bowl, for example, he got off a couple long punts, but he shanked one badly, giving Alabama good field position at a critical moment.

Gladstone said:

QB. Same
RB. Better thanks to Saladin Ahmed
TE: Slightly worse
WR: Significantly worse
OL: Slightly worse (no Eldrenkamp + health concerns)
DL: Worse
LB: Significantly worse
DB: Slightly worse
K: Same
P: Slightly better
KR: Worse
PR: Significantly worse
Depth: Better
Coaching; Slightly better with Smith out

Agree? Here's hoping the team surprises again.

QB: Probably a push

Will likely depend on what Bush does as a play caller … if we prioritize the run then possibly better … we know what Browning's floor is and I don't think he's going to regress … it's likely we know what he is at this point but there is a (small) chance that he saves his legacy and grows as a senior

RB: Better

Sr Gaskin should be better than Soph Gaskin … Ahmed has by far more game breaking ability than Coleman

WR: Slight drop

On the high end, we don't have a Ross or Pettis on the roster .. but the problem with the 2016 team was that there really wasn't a great option once you got past those 2 as I don't consider Chico as anything more than a JAG at the elite level … I think we have a chance with this team to have better depth albeit likely not the same elite level … I'm slightly optimistic here

TE: Even to slightly better

Sample is better with age; Daniels was good but I think we'll have Otton surprise us big time ... Dissly hadn't really come into his own at that point and I do think Kizer will also flash this year. The wild card obviously is Bryant. In '16 the TE position was heavy blocking and not much of an option in the passing game ... I suspect the '18 group will deliver more in the passing game and largely be on the same level blocking.

OL: Better

Sr Adams/McGary >>> Soph Adams/McGary … Watty has more raw ability than Eldrenkamp … Harris is better suited for C and should be within range to Jr. level Coleman Shelton … RG is a massive question mark but hard to imagine that we will have a worse option than true frosh Nick Harris

DL: Even to slightly worse

Vita wasn't completely Vita in '16 … still raw and inconsistent … we're probably better pass rushing in '18 with Jaylen/Levi but probably a little worse in the run game … where '16 is ahead for sure is better depth whereas '18 is a little more raw and young albeit talented

LB: Slightly Worse

I'm putting this on as of the end of the year when we had no Azeem and no Joe Mathis. PSALM sucked ass. Our OLBs were so bad that we put Qualls on the outside against Bama. While I love Bierria he was an upper tier P12 guy and not an elite guy. I'm intrigued by Tevis inside as I think he could be better than anything we have had the last few years on the inside. BBK is a try hard so we'll see. We have a lot of options on the outside so the question is who steps up. Getting some step up here could move this group to being better overall.

DB: Same to slightly better

Yes, the '16 team had Budda, Kevo, and Sidney with a Frosh Rapp. Really good group. This year's group has a Jr Rapp a ton of CBs that will also be Top 2 round selections, and depth just like the '16 team. Both groups were elite and likely going to be in the Top 3-5 groups in the country. Only way this gets to be worse is if Myles Bryant plays material snaps.

K: Worse

We have nobody proven at the position. The '16 team had Van Winkle who was an upper level P12 kicker. If you want to see a reason why we may lose a game we shouldn't this year, look right at this position.

P: Better

Whitford is better than Vizcaino by far … should we have struggles offensively this year we'll see the value in Whitford this year.

PR/KR: Worse

'16 had Dante … '18 doesn't. Enough said.

Overall, this team compares reasonably well to the '18 team. There's absolutely no reason to expect that this team to not be in a position to win the P12 and be a candidate for the CFP. Yes, we know the warts on the team … but most teams have some warts on them as well. We're far better positioned to be successful than all but a handful of teams in the nation.

We won’t have peak levels at WR this year to compare to Ross/Pettis. But if Ty Jones, Terrell Bynum, and at least one of Spiker/Osborne can step up this year, then we may have the kind of depth necessary to be able to pick on mismatches on the field. The problem in ‘16 was that nobody else on our roster warrented any kind of special attention.

I love KB and AZ. Peak AZ is what we want for a MLB at the elite level. You are a pretty good team if KB is your 2nd MLB. You are a really good team if he is your 3rd MLB.