2018 Outlook - AKA Post-Allen Wyoming

[Asmodeanreborn]

Alright, this thread comes a bit early as our recruiting class isn't even finalized, but on the other hand, I also don't think much of our recruiting class will play next year in any larger capacity.

First, I reaaaaally hope Vander Waal is as talented as he looks on tape. Looking at yesterday, I do think he'll have the weapons to succeed as they're all (minus a very solid fullback) coming back with a year of experience and should be able to help him out. He doesn't need to be an all-star to replace Allen, if he can "just" be a higher percentage guy, he should be able to lead the offense to better results than this past season.

I believe Overstreet could put on another 10-15 lbs and become more of a punishing runner (5'11, 230 is about Rashaad Penny-sized). One of the reasons he started getting successful toward the end was that the initial hesitation in his running game disappeared. He didn't second-guess his decisions, and instead just committed 100% to hitting the lanes at full speed, and planting hard when making the cuts. That meant he'd almost always end up with positive yards, even when the blocking failed to keep holes open.

In comparison, a certain other running back is still slow to hit the holes, runs upright, and almost never makes the cut-back. It's so incredibly frustrating to watch. Almost the only time he's really successful is when utilized in a receiving capacity. I think it's fairly safe to say that we need somebody else to fill the role as the #2 runner. I would not be opposed to picking up a JuCo guy for this.

The o-line had a rough go at it in general this year, but in all honesty, the pass protection got a lot better down the line. The last two losses weren't because of them, it was because of weird play calling and a QB who often couldn't hit the sides of a barn from the inside. I hope they become better at run blocking as well, so that 3rd and 3 no longer becomes a guessing game as to whether we'll make it or not.

In the skill positions, the receivers finally learned to catch the ball - sometimes even when it was poorly thrown. That 1-handed catch yesterday was amazing, for example. I think we'll also see a couple of guys taking the next step. Jared Scott seems to have learned how to get open, but with his size, he doesn't need to be. If he can put on a bit more weight (he looks pretty skinny still), he'll be a wonderful mismatch because of his size and athleticism who won't care if he gets hit hard by a safety or corner.

I think the big difference maker will be the guy I criticized the first half of the season for being useless, though: CJ Johnson. He's found ways to get open, and I think a couple of his last touchdowns show that he's learned to catch even moderately difficult passes in stride.

I suppose the big question mark for our offense is the OC, though. Last year I wasn't sure, but now I'm pretty much 100% sure that he's at fault for our offense being as bad as it was. With a defense as strong as ours, we should have won more games, even with Allen out.


Which gets me to our defense. I'm not sure what there is to say here. I really hope Hazelton and Wingard both stick around another year. The unit's already special, and although we lose a couple of solid players, we also have VERY talented guys to fill the gap: Coldon is probably the number one example that stands out. With solid coaching, I think he'll be a ball hog. Another guy to keep your eyes on is DE Victor Jones, who was our highest rated recruit in 2017. Hopefully he'll be somebody who makes enough of an impact that we won't fear the drop-off when Granderson goes to the NFL.


Can we get to 10 wins next year, playing Washington State at home and Mizzou on the road? It's probably going to be tough, but if our offense can get even to top 75 and defense stays roughly the same, I'd say so.

[OrediggerPoke]

Granderson is more likely to leave early than Wingard. Just because we haven’t heard anything about him leaving, the scouts are all over him.

The key to success on the offensive side of the ball is to bring in a senior transfer QB to compete with Vander Waal. Having 2 decent quarterbacks is a necessity.

The team could be special next year if the defense (and Hazelton) returns in tact and if we find a solid QB. The talent is there for a MWC title.

[Asmodeanreborn]

The key to success on the offensive side of the ball is to bring in a senior transfer QB to compete with Vander Waal. Having 2 decent quarterbacks is a necessity.

I'd have to agree with this, but I don't think it'll happen. Somebody I have heard mentioned that maybe there's a TINY outside chance of is Stanford's Keller Chryst. His mom played both basketball and volleyball at Wyoming for four years.

[LanderPoke]

Sounds like CJ tore his ACL. We're going to need someone to step even more up next year at WR :/

I would predict something lofty next year, but we will still have our ball and chain (Vigen). I'm hoping for 8 wins

[poke_addict]

Sounds like CJ tore his ACL. We're going to need someone to step even more up next year at WR :/

I would predict something lofty next year, but we will still have our ball and chain (Vigen). I'm hoping for 8 wins

I haven't heard anything official about the knee but that was my initial thought watching the replay. Luckily he will have the guys that rehabbed Larry Nance and Carl's knee seem to do a great job. Needs to get in surgery asap.

With our defense coming back next year we will have a fighting chance in the majority of our games. I feel CMUs o line is going to have nightmares for quite some time. I was terrified for them a couple times in that game. Their qb is one tough dude. Honestly words can't describe how ferocious our entire defense is. I LOVE IT.

[PokeTransplant]

Sounds like CJ tore his ACL. We're going to need someone to step even more up next year at WR :/

I would predict something lofty next year, but we will still have our ball and chain (Vigen). I'm hoping for 8 wins

I haven't heard anything official about the knee but that was my initial thought watching the replay. Luckily he will have the guys that rehabbed Larry Nance and Carl's knee seem to do a great job. Needs to get in surgery asap.

With our defense coming back next year we will have a fighting chance in the majority of our games. I feel CMUs o line is going to have nightmares for quite some time. I was terrified for them a couple times in that game. Their qb is one tough dude. Honestly words can't describe how ferocious our entire defense is. I LOVE IT.

Watching our D linemen literally shove CMU O linemen into their QB was something I haven't seen from Wyoming in a LOOOOOONGG time. Amazing to see...

[J-Rod]

This team found a way to lose SJSU minus Allen, a mind-blowing loss. This will be a high upside, rock bottom downside team on any given week. Could beat or lose to anybody on the schedule.

7-5/8-4 is probably where most neutral predictions will land.

[Brown and Gold]

Breaking in a new QB will be tough and will make it a real challenge to beat Washington State or Missouri. I hope that somehow our offense is better than this year. We don't really have any solid running backs to be honest. They are ok but not good enough to keep teams off our QB. Brian Hill gone was really the Xfactor to our offense being down this year. Teams didn't fear our backs and dropped guys in coverage making it tough for Josh to fit balls in. Hopefully in the future, we find another gem like Hill. Obviously, Bohl sees something in Woods..... he's obviously athletic but maybe he dominates in practice? Hard to say.

[joshvanklomp]

It's important to remember that we won 8 games this season without great offensive production due to our amazing defense, roughly 99% of which should be coming back.

It's cool to have a great offense to win games, but not necessary.

[fromolwyoming]

It's important to remember that we won 8 games this season without great offensive production due to our amazing defense, roughly 99% of which should be coming back.

It's cool to have a great offense to win games, but not necessary.

And without Josh Allen, we lost to basically the worst team in the country in SJSU. Because our offense couldn't move the ball on them.

[ragtimejoe1]

Nobody and I mean nobody predicted the improvement on D no matter the personnel assessment. I think D will be better and I think we see a drastic turnaround on O. I wonder about Vigen, BUT Bohl has clearly demonstrated that he can identify a problem and fix it. I give him the benefit of doubt and he will fix the O to be at least acceptable.
BUS is tough. Tedford looks to have FSU on track. Could be an interesting year. 1 through 5 in MWC is my prediction and the MWC looks to be the best its been since Utah and TCU left.

[poke_addict]

It's important to remember that we won 8 games this season without great offensive production due to our amazing defense, roughly 99% of which should be coming back.

It's cool to have a great offense to win games, but not necessary.

And without Josh Allen, we lost to basically the worst team in the country in SJSU. Because our offense couldn't move the ball on them.

You guys have to realize that game meant absolutely nothing in every way. We were flat from the get go. Nothing on the line and it was San Joses only chance to have anything positive. Honestly our offensive production was actually well above the average in that game. About 100 yds more than we had against CMU. The difference the defense came to play against CMU. Josh isn't responsible for the defense production this year. We didn't lose cause Josh didn't play we lost because our entire team didn't come to play.

[JimmyDimes]

It's important to remember that we won 8 games this season without great offensive production due to our amazing defense, roughly 99% of which should be coming back.

It's cool to have a great offense to win games, but not necessary.

And without Josh Allen, we lost to basically the worst team in the country in SJSU. Because our offense couldn't move the ball on them.

True, but if Wyoming had a legitimate QB, they win that game. It was a terrible game for Smith, who a week earlier played better is a close loss to Fresno. Regardless, Smith was a first year recruit who has only played due to injury. If either Van Der Waal or Chambers have any ability, they will be the likely starter. Or, it could be Smith with a solid off season and a chance to work with the first team for more than a couple week.

The D should be very good. A bigger, deeper, and stronger version of this year. The running game should be improved and our wide receivers should be improved. Just need a QB who can manage the game and the Pokes can win up to 9 or even 10 games IMO.

[calpoke25]

I think we’re looking at a 6-6 season, best case scenario. I can’t sweep SJSU under the rug. It exposed too many deep flaws in this program. Even if our defense is elite you still have to score points. We don’t have a favorable OOC schedule. Tough to see Nick Smith or some freshman come in and play lights out. We’ve seen successful freshman QBs at Wyoming but it’s not something you can count on.

[LanderPoke]

I think we’re looking at a 6-6 season, best case scenario. I can’t sweep SJSU under the rug. It exposed too many deep flaws in this program. Even if our defense is elite you still have to score points. We don’t have a favorable OOC schedule. Tough to see Nick Smith or some freshman come in and play lights out. We’ve seen successful freshman QBs at Wyoming but it’s not something you can count on.

Our offense couldn't have scored many fewer points this year and we won 8 games. The way Vigen hamstrings our offense if we can find a QB that has a pulse it won't be that much different from this year. Vigen totally negated any advantage we had by having a first round QB. Here's to hoping that a new QB can, against all odds, beat out Smith and be the opening game starter

[calpoke25]

I think we’re looking at a 6-6 season, best case scenario. I can’t sweep SJSU under the rug. It exposed too many deep flaws in this program. Even if our defense is elite you still have to score points. We don’t have a favorable OOC schedule. Tough to see Nick Smith or some freshman come in and play lights out. We’ve seen successful freshman QBs at Wyoming but it’s not something you can count on.

Our offense couldn't have scored many fewer points this year and we won 8 games. The way Vigen hamstrings our offense if we can find a QB that has a pulse it won't be that much different from this year. Vigen totally negated any advantage we had by having a first round QB. Here's to hoping that a new QB can, against all odds, beat out Smith and be the opening game starter

Regardless of what Vigen does or did he couldn’t negate the generational talent of Allen. That won’t be there next year. Without Allen this year we likely lose the CSU, Hawaii, maybe USU games. He still carried us to wins regardless of Vigen.

[SDPokeFan]

All comes down to quarterback. If Smith is the starter next season this team is in a world of trouble. Unless the defense can pitch a shutout every week.

[fromolwyoming]

If Vigen would shift Woods over to receiver and bump Overstreet to starter, that right there would be a big shot in the arm going forward. Overstreet has good hands, and at 6'3 210lbs, that's a good size for a wideout.

QB though, well, if Van Der Waal is anything like advertised, he may be alright. I doubt Bohl and Vigen start a true Freshmen over someone who has been in the system for at least a year.

If Smith, whom seems to have regressed, even as a runner, it will be a LONG season. And I hate piling on players.

[Brown&GoldGreenie]

Unless there's a regression in some phase of the defense, they should be able to stay in most games. Keep them low scoring games with some short fields where the offense doesn't have to do too much.

Allen was able to establish himself with a good running game to support him. This year, that big play potential was always a threat, even if it didn't happen as often. Vander Waal looks to have the tools to step into the system if he's ready, but he won't have that reputation. Smith with the proper preparation as a starter could turn out to be a decent game manager, but that road game at SJSU was just flat out bad. Until proven otherwise, defenses can just stack up against the run.

The two games without Allen I thought they'd get more creative with the offense, but it was just more of the same. Just saying you're a run first offense and calling power run plays all the time, does not in fact make you a power run team if you don't move the ball.

While I would like some more variation in the offense regardless, they have to find a real ground game to help the new QB if they stick to this philosophy. That or they build a new offense around what they actually have and torch everyone because who would see that coming?

[wyoair]

If Vigen would shift Woods over to receiver and bump Overstreet to starter, that right there would be a big shot in the arm going forward. Overstreet has good hands, and at 6'3 210lbs, that's a good size for a wideout.

QB though, well, if Van Der Waal is anything like advertised, he may be alright. I doubt Bohl and Vigen start a true Freshmen over someone who has been in the system for at least a year.

If Smith, whom seems to have regressed, even as a runner, it will be a LONG season. And I hate piling on players.

Its just calling a spade a spade. Smith by all accounts is a great teammate and Cowboy. But he's not a starter plain and simple. When I see him play I see a deer in the headlights look at all times. Granted that's limited playing time but he does have 2 starts under his belt and is an upperclassman that's been in the system for 4 years. Smith may start game 1 but that's it. If he starts more or all year then my liver is in for a world of hurt in 2018.