CanesAreAble
All-ACC
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2011
- Messages
- 9,085
ON PAPER, the offense has everything. Now obviously everything has to come together and guys have to play up to their potential, but we have ridiculous versatility.
QB: Stephen Morris is a Senior with a lot of experience and an NFL arm. He's a film room junkie who's worked really hard on his mechanics. He needs to be more consistent, but when things are clicking, he can put up monster numbers; he had games of 369, 413, 436, and 566 yards passing.
RB: Duke is a phenom. As amazing as he was last year (he had NINE plays of 50+ yards as a true freshman), he can be better. He admittedly hit the rookie wall last year, and had some uncharacteristic drops. He's added weight, which should allow his touches to go up. I think he's going to make an even bigger impact in the passing game this year. Behind him we have Crawford and Clements, who both have nice burst. We also have two big backs in Edwards and Dillard who can run north-south. And then there's Hagens who's a bruiser at FB when we're in pro sets.
WR: We have a nice complement of guys here. Dorsett is the burner who can stretch a defense, Scott and Hurns are the bigger possession guys, Waters and Lewis are the ankle-breakers who can work the slot, and then there's Stacy Coley who has the tools to be the total package. I think it's going to be hard to keep him off the field.
TE: We have three big guys here who can all play. Cleveland played well as a true freshman, then disappeared, but he seems to be working his way back into the rotation. Warlord put up all-conference type numbers at TE, but got snubbed in favor of O'Leary on the pre-season ACC honors list. And there's Beau Sandland, who looks like an absolute monster. His JUCO film looks like an action movie trailer. He's just tossing guys around. I'm eager to see how Coach Coley utilizes this group.
OL: Unless something goes horribly wrong, this should be a top five unit in the country. They have experience (93 starts), size, depth, and production (4.7 ypc and only allowed 18 sacks with 447 pass attempts). There's also a lot of pro potential here (Flowers, Henderson, and Linder will be in the NFL for sure).
Now again, this is all on paper. They still have to go out there and produce, but you can't ask for much more flexibility than that. Senior QB, Heisman candidate in the backfiled, a combo of big and speedy WRs, big TEs with mobility, and a talented and experienced OL.
Aside from injury (which can derail any team), the question marks are:
1. Morris's inconsistency
2. Reliable backup RB
3. No alpha dog at WR
4. TE blocking ability matching receiving prowess
5. OL not opening running lanes against strong defenses
6. Coley's relative inexperience as a playcaller
That said, I'm not terribly worried about any of those things. We averaged 31 ppg last year, and I think we EASILY top that this year.
QB: Stephen Morris is a Senior with a lot of experience and an NFL arm. He's a film room junkie who's worked really hard on his mechanics. He needs to be more consistent, but when things are clicking, he can put up monster numbers; he had games of 369, 413, 436, and 566 yards passing.
RB: Duke is a phenom. As amazing as he was last year (he had NINE plays of 50+ yards as a true freshman), he can be better. He admittedly hit the rookie wall last year, and had some uncharacteristic drops. He's added weight, which should allow his touches to go up. I think he's going to make an even bigger impact in the passing game this year. Behind him we have Crawford and Clements, who both have nice burst. We also have two big backs in Edwards and Dillard who can run north-south. And then there's Hagens who's a bruiser at FB when we're in pro sets.
WR: We have a nice complement of guys here. Dorsett is the burner who can stretch a defense, Scott and Hurns are the bigger possession guys, Waters and Lewis are the ankle-breakers who can work the slot, and then there's Stacy Coley who has the tools to be the total package. I think it's going to be hard to keep him off the field.
TE: We have three big guys here who can all play. Cleveland played well as a true freshman, then disappeared, but he seems to be working his way back into the rotation. Warlord put up all-conference type numbers at TE, but got snubbed in favor of O'Leary on the pre-season ACC honors list. And there's Beau Sandland, who looks like an absolute monster. His JUCO film looks like an action movie trailer. He's just tossing guys around. I'm eager to see how Coach Coley utilizes this group.
OL: Unless something goes horribly wrong, this should be a top five unit in the country. They have experience (93 starts), size, depth, and production (4.7 ypc and only allowed 18 sacks with 447 pass attempts). There's also a lot of pro potential here (Flowers, Henderson, and Linder will be in the NFL for sure).
Now again, this is all on paper. They still have to go out there and produce, but you can't ask for much more flexibility than that. Senior QB, Heisman candidate in the backfiled, a combo of big and speedy WRs, big TEs with mobility, and a talented and experienced OL.
Aside from injury (which can derail any team), the question marks are:
1. Morris's inconsistency
2. Reliable backup RB
3. No alpha dog at WR
4. TE blocking ability matching receiving prowess
5. OL not opening running lanes against strong defenses
6. Coley's relative inexperience as a playcaller
That said, I'm not terribly worried about any of those things. We averaged 31 ppg last year, and I think we EASILY top that this year.
