tl:dr - there's a lot of fucking talent here and a really solid defensive staff. floor is really high. qb, left side of ol play along with jimbo's playcalling will be difference between 9 wins and a playoff run. my heart says 10 wins, my head says 9, so fuck it, we go 10-2, lose to arkansas and bama and everyone is relatively happy. fin.
for those that deal in specificity:
qb: haynes king has played like 5 quarters of college football. anyone saying he's great or sucks has no idea, and we'll see what happens this fall. supposedly there's a bit more rpo options and easier throws, but we've heard this from jimbo before. i think he can be competent, but a. can he stay healthy, b. what does competent get you? max johnson is a jag, although a far better backup situation than last year. staff is really excited about weigman, we'll see how much run he gets early, which could be interesting.
rb: achane is awesome. smooth, really good at avoiding big hits, great hands, he's going to have a monster year. lj johnson and daniels are ok, le'veon moss is the prize here - there's a reason bama was all over him. there's also a reason they backed off as he needs to get his head on straight. he's either going to turn into the backup at some point this year and breakout, or will be off the team by november never to be heard from again. coin flip.
wr: hope is a dangerous thing, but between having an actual position coach and a large influx of talent, there's a chance we can be close to league average here, which would be incredible. evan stewart is a fucking witch, he works his ass off and makes the room better. anias smith is overrated but will be competent in the slot, and chase lane is a nice guy that works hard at the z. guessing noah thomas and chris marshall get more snaps as the year goes on, they're just so much more talented than anyone else on the roster.
te: probably the largest delta between what the start of the year looks like and what could be happening in november. max wright and blake smith have been in the system a few years and know where to be, jake johnson and donovan green haven't, but they're just superior athletes. somehow, neither are on the level of theo ohrstrom who has a size / speed combo that really doesn't make sense, however i just have a hard time thinking he's going from essentially 8th grade football in sweden to competing this year. will be interesting to see how those guys are worked in.
ol: the degree to which you believe in steve addazio is probably related to the ceiling you think this team has. the guy can coach a run game and seems locked in with jimbo in a way josh henson never was, however we'll see what happens. right side of the line will be fine. fatheree is a first round guy, layden robinson needs some work as a pass protector but great run blocker. other 3 spots will be interesting. sounds like wykoff is going to start, bryce foster doesn't really love football and that pisses jimbo off. i would assume he'll be back starting by conference play, but it's not crazy that he's not on the team by that point either. wykoff isn't a huge dropoff here. i have doubts about zuhn's strength at left tackle, however he's miles better than jamir johnson (i still don't understand why he started all last year), and either aki or moko should be passable at guard. decent depth at guard, not a lot of options at tackle. pj williams and kam dewberry are going to be players.
defense: we're going to be more multiple, we're going to play more single high, we're going to press more, we're going to force more turnovers, and we're going to give up more big plays. elko loved to sit back and slowly dial in, durkin is going to bring the fight much earlier, both have their good and bad. still can't believe we didn't take a transfer linebacker.
dl: i can see 12 guys in this room spending time in an nfl camp. just an absurd collection of athletes that needs to translate to production on the field quickly. at dt mckinley jackson is healthy, in shape and in a contract year. raikes is really solid, but shemar turner is just too good to keep off the field. walter nolan and gabe dindy were both dinged up most of camp, they'll arrive by conference play. marcus burris and albert regis would have been our starters at dt for most of the past 20 years and been fine. tunmise adeleye and fadil diggs will start at de, but anthony lucas, overton and malick sylla really started to look good at end of camp. still not sure if there's a guy that can really bend the edge which will be the difference in extremely solid and elite. i have faith in terry price and elijah robinson to keep this group motivated, but that's a lot of guys to keep happy.
lb: easily weakest position on the team. helped by playing behind what should be a very good dl, but we're at least 1.5 guys short. edgerin cooper will make a bunch of highlights, but still runs himself out of plays, and can't weigh more than 215. andre white looks incredible in pads, and just doesn't process fast enough. there's a bunch of other guys, none are playmakers. the freshmen might be in time, but they're at least a year away. we'll only play 2 most of the time, but any injuries here and we're fucked.
cb: this is my biggest question mark - lot of injuries during camp and i don't think anyone knows what we have. chappell remains the best cover guy, but i'm worried about jaylon jones continuing to start on the other side. myles jones can't stay healthy. denver harris and smoke bouie are going to be good, but how soon? the kid out of georgia is a stud, but he may not see the field this year. gotta stay healthy and play up to talent.
s: went from a weakness to strength real quick the last few classes. durkin has demani richardson way more involved in the box, which is where he should be, and both jardin gilbert and jacoby matthews will be huge improvements over leon. the coaches think matthews is an all american at some point. antonio johnson might be an all american already and bryce anderson can play pretty much every safety postion. this will be a great group, and will need to be if the cb's don't hold up as anticipated.
st: punter and kicker are very good. how much do you risk achane returning kicks? no idea.
gonna be a fun year. copy and paste when we go 6-6.