Don’t think this is a crazy take and honestly you should be better from year 2 to year 3 when you only lost 2 kids.
Let’s go position by position:
LT - Holdover in Jalen Rivers. Was excellent last year and odds are he’s going to be even better. 2nd year at the position and starting, another year removed from his serious knee injury, another year older/stronger, another year learning from a great OL coach.
Verdict: Even better than 2023
LG - We don’t know who will play this spot, but they’ll have some decent sized shoes to fill. Cohen was very good, although he wasn’t drafted. Is it impossible to think a future NFL player takes this spot and we don’t have much of a downgrade? No. I would say smart money is on us taking a step down here, but we didn’t lose a Day 1/2 pick.
Verdict: Small step down from 2023
C - Lee was excellent as well, as we know. But Carpenter is no slouch and is experienced and tough. I saw someone earlier make this comment and it’s so true. We don’t know what exactly this kid will be, but it’s safe to assume he’ll be at least pretty good. This isn’t Tommy Kennedy, this kid has a proven body of work against equivalent skill he’ll see in the ACC. Honorable mention all B1G.
Verdict: Even, possibly a small step down
RG - Basically the same story as Rivers, except imo the NFL potential of Cooper is even greater. Odds are at least a small step up here but there is potential for a 3rd year explosion where this kid blossoms into a first-team All-ACC player
Verdict: definite step up from 2023, possible we get a truly elite player here
RT - This is the one. The jump from Year 1 to Year 2 is often where pros begin to separate. Mauigoa was a freshman all-America last year and played extensively. Was very good, albeit had some lumps as a true freshman. If this kid is a Day 1 talent like we expect him to be, we will see a massive jump here and he and Cooper could be the best RG/RT combo in the conference.
Verdict: Very good chance there’s a massive jump here
So we got:
LT - Better
LG - likely worse
C - likely very slightly worse
RG - better, good chance for much better
RT - much better, good chance for superstardom
No ******* reason in the world this OL shouldn’t be even better than last year. Throw in the TE’s, who you know will be blocking in a Mario program, and this should be AT WORST a really good OL with legit potential for more.