This seasons biggest questions????

[Cosmic Cowboy]

So looking into things a tad it seems there are 2 major questions that Poke's football will hinge on to me. How good (even if still bad) can the Poke's D become this year? Followed by....Can the team avoid injuries?

Is it true that the Pokes D ranked statically higher then the O last year :shock: Goddamn...I can't really fathom that but I quit paying attention very early on. Well no matter the D needs to elevate another level this year somehow to get in the top 80ish, or dare I say top 75 defenses in the country. That means the occasional stop, turnover, or BEND but not break in the red zone. Can team leaders such as Wingard help make this happen? We still look awfully small on paper. Will there be any improvement in the DL or LB positions? Hope they don't get worse....oh man oh man please don't get worse :?

I have the feeling that the offense can really click this year under Allen if they stay healthy. That O line looked pretty solid last year and returns with experience. Hill is nasty. They seem shootout ready on paper to me. You know they'll lose some of those just because we haven't even been in those go win a game situations for a bit. However any injuries to just about any of our starters on both sides of the ball would be devastating. We're a smaller program right now and in college that means depth can be non existent in some positions. The Pokes cannot afford drop-off due to injury. Season success will be on razor thin margins of health or maybe this team has more to it then I credit it for.

So where are we with these questions right now? What questions do you feel need to be answered? People seem concerned about our passing game but I think that's gonna be there. Oh yeah what the hell is happening on special teams?? I have no clue being an extremely causal football observer. Please tell me we have a kicker........I mean hasn't it been like a decade or so since we've had a fucking kicker in Laramie :help:

 

[J-Rod]

My concerns are the following...

QB. I know Josh Allen has potential, but we've fallen victim to over hyping QBs before. It was this time last year some fans were talking NFL Draft for Coffman.

WR. I love the young talent at WR, but they need to make an impact now. Hard for Allen to spin it if the WRs are just average.

DL. It's hard to look at that group and not be concerned. IMO, this is the position where if injuries begin to incur, the run defense could turn into a DC-era type nightmare quickly.

I don't know if it's a concern, but I want the kicking game to be above average. Bohl's offense is about making the most out of every possession. That means if we're not coming away with 7 points, 3 should be the minimum.

But ultimately, you touched on it Cosmic Cowboy. This team is razor thin on depth nearly everywhere but RB. An injury here and there (hopefully not during camp) could result in things getting tougher.

 

[Cosmic Cowboy]

My concerns are the following...

QB. I know Josh Allen has potential, but we've fallen victim to over hyping QBs before. It was this time last year some fans were talking NFL Draft for Coffman.

WR. I love the young talent at WR, but they need to make an impact now. Hard for Allen to spin it if the WRs are just average.

DL. It's hard to look at that group and not be concerned. IMO, this is the position where if injuries begin to incur, the run defense could turn into a DC-era type nightmare quickly.

I don't know if it's a concern, but I want the kicking game to be above average. Bohl's offense is about making the most out of every possession. That means if we're not coming away with 7 points, 3 should be the minimum.

But ultimately, you touched on it Cosmic Cowboy. This team is razor thin on depth nearly everywhere but RB. An injury here and there (hopefully not during camp) could result in things getting tougher.

That bold part made me chuckle real good ahahah :rofl: I forgot how fun it was to post in the football forum. You bring up even more legit questions which kind of scares me. We don't like having more questions do we? I didn't even bring up coaching but play calling/formations/development are all def questions too. Nice rundown J-Rod. Tend to agree with your logical posts and opinions.

 

[Wyovanian]

It all boils down to 3rd down production on both sides of the ball. Our defense has to flip the production chart on 3rd down and quit giving up more conversions than stops, especially on 3rd and longs. On offense, we need to be better at avoiding 3rd and long situations and converting the short ones.

If the numbers on 3rd downs on both production charts move into positive territory, it's a far different season.

A respectable kicking game, insofar as scoring, would take a lot of pressure off of the young QB as well...

 

[joshvanklomp]

It all boils down to 3rd down production on both sides of the ball. Our defense has to flip the production chart on 3rd down and quit giving up more conversions than stops, especially on 3rd and longs. On offense, we need to be better at avoiding 3rd and long situations and converting the short ones.

If the numbers on 3rd downs on both production charts move into positive territory, it's a far different season.

Bingo!

3rd down offense: 113th of 127 (70th in 2014)
3rd down defense: 112th of 127 (98th in 2014)

 

[GoPokes86]

It all boils down to 3rd down production on both sides of the ball. Our defense has to flip the production chart on 3rd down and quit giving up more conversions than stops, especially on 3rd and longs. On offense, we need to be better at avoiding 3rd and long situations and converting the short ones.

If the numbers on 3rd downs on both production charts move into positive territory, it's a far different season.

A respectable kicking game, insofar as scoring, would take a lot of pressure off of the young QB as well...

Exactly.

We have to be better on 3rd down on both sides of the ball. Way too many games last season where we'd get just a hint of momentum going and up in a 3rd and 8+ and not be able to convert. That killed us in nearly every game. Same with the defense, when we're letting teams have 3rd and less than 4 nearly every series, we're going to get killed.

Outside of winning 3rd down, we've got to be better on the defensive line. Last year we were 126th in team sacks with 10 for the season. Just one stat, but it is incredibly telling of how little pressure we were able to get on opposing QBs, that has to change.

 

[laxwyo]

It all boils down to 3rd down production on both sides of the ball. Our defense has to flip the production chart on 3rd down and quit giving up more conversions than stops, especially on 3rd and longs. On offense, we need to be better at avoiding 3rd and long situations and converting the short ones.

If the numbers on 3rd downs on both production charts move into positive territory, it's a far different season.

A respectable kicking game, insofar as scoring, would take a lot of pressure off of the young QB as well...

Exactly.

We have to be better on 3rd down on both sides of the ball. Way too many games last season where we'd get just a hint of momentum going and up in a 3rd and 8+ and not be able to convert. That killed us in nearly every game. Same with the defense, when we're letting teams have 3rd and less than 4 nearly every series, we're going to get killed.

Outside of winning 3rd down, we've got to be better on the defensive line. Last year we were 126th in team sacks with 10 for the season. Just one stat, but it is incredibly telling of how little pressure we were able to get on opposing QBs, that has to change.

I think out 1st and 2nd down D was too horrible. The 3rd and Long that we gave up was truly terrible. How many times does it look like we might get off the field and boom the team converts. 3rd and short was just a given that they'd convert. A good team can get off the field on 3rd and 3 etc


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[laxwyo]

This is the single most badass pic ever


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[WYCowboy]

This is the single most badass pic ever


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I agree!

 

[Cosmic Cowboy]

This is the single most badass pic ever


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Haha dope art for sure. Nice to see the art department improve on some athletic poster stuff. I remember so many be very forgettable in my years (with very forgettable teams ahahah). No question at RB with this team. I only caught a few games and Hill was always doing crazy shit. I don't even like football that much, but I like college way more then NFL. That guy just jumps out on the screen.