2019 Position by Position Trending

[Cuse12]

Lets go position by position in terms of trending from this year to next:

OFFENSE

QB: Same

I believe we will get similar production as this year in terms of passing the ball, maybe better. I think our receiving core is very talented which will allow TD to have a solid year. No we do not have a warrior drop kicking defenders anymore, but we have a better passing QB. Mobility is not as good, but good enough.

RB: Up

Our RB's are very talented. We have a 3 headed monster back there.

WR: UP!

Talent all over the field. Youth with great potential. This will be fun to see these guys catching bombs from TD.

TE: Same

Pierce did not have the season I was expecting. I was impressed by Hackett. I think production is the same or slightly better.

OL: Down

I hope these guys prove me wrong, but it will be hard to replicate what we had this year. I am hoping the drop off is not large. But, as of today I see this trending down in comparison to this year.

DEFENSE

DE: Up

We return absolute studs on the edge, as well as have young talent that will add amazing depth. Good luck to opposing QBs.

DL: Down

I do not think we are in trouble at all here, but when you lose Slayton... it has to be down a little, right?

LB: Same

Shy and Armstrong have plenty of in-game experience. They will do well. I expect similar play from this year. LBs were surprisingly decent this year seeing they were a large question mark coming into the season.

DB: UP!

Wow... talent on talent. With the Edge pressure we have - and these men locking down the WRs... Defense will be what carries us consistently through the year IMO. The offense at times might be not running at full throttle all year, but our D can make up for that.

S: UP

Returning an All-American and a hard hitting safety here. Adding youthful talent. We look great here.

ST: Same

We return an All-American Kicker and an excellent punter. We have good depth for KO and KR. I see another great years of STs!


When simply comparing position by position like this... I kind of breathe a sigh of relief. I mean I understand it will be very hard to top this year, but I think 8-4 should be the minimum. I see another 9-3 season. This is absolutely amazing what coach Babers has done here. He should have won COY in the ACC and in all of NCAAF IMO. Turning a program around in 3 years like he has done is nothing short of earning coach of the year. This isn't the "Who won the most games award". (Soap box moment I had to add into this post).

Future is bright. We are not trending down.

 

[rocklloyd]

special teams: hopefully at least the same

 

[Cuse12]

special teams: hopefully at least the same

I must edit the post! I forgot. Great catch.

 

[cusefan88]

Basically it's all about OT, DT, and LB. If those positions come together and the team stays healthy, good things will come.

I'm going on record to say Ruff has a monster year at DT. I thought he was fantastic the last 4 games of this season. Shame him and McKinley couldn't benefit from a RS year.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I think you'll more or less see Dungey's rushing yardage convert to passing yardage, and TD will add more on top of that.

 

[nzm136]

Lets go position by position in terms of trending from this year to next:

OFFENSE

QB: Same

I believe we will get similar production as this year in terms of passing the ball, maybe better. I think our receiving core is very talented which will allow TD to have a solid year. No we do not have a warrior drop kicking defenders anymore, but we have a better passing QB. Mobility is not as good, but good enough.

RB: Up

Our RB's are very talented. We have a 3 headed monster back there.

WR: UP!

Talent all over the field. Youth with great potential. This will be fun to see these guys catching bombs from TD.

TE: Same

Pierce did not have the season I was expecting. I was impressed by Hackett. I think production is the same or slightly better.

OL: Down

I hope these guys prove me wrong, but it will be hard to replicate what we had this year. I am hoping the drop off is not large. But, as of today I see this trending down in comparison to this year.

DEFENSE

DE: Up

We return absolute studs on the edge, as well as have young talent that will add amazing depth. Good luck to opposing QBs.

DL: Down

I do not think we are in trouble at all here, but when you lose Slayton... it has to be down a little, right?

LB: Same

Shy and Armstrong have plenty of in-game experience. They will do well. I expect similar play from this year. LBs were surprisingly decent this year seeing they were a large question mark coming into the season.

DB: UP!

Wow... talent on talent. With the Edge pressure we have - and these men locking down the WRs... Defense will be what carries us consistently through the year IMO. The offense at times might be not running at full throttle all year, but our D can make up for that.

S: UP

Returning an All-American and a hard hitting safety here. Adding youthful talent. We look great here.

ST: Same

We return an All-American Kicker and an excellent punter. We have good depth for KO and KR. I see another great years of STs!


When simply comparing position by position like this... I kind of breathe a sigh of relief. I mean I understand it will be very hard to top this year, but I think 8-4 should be the minimum. I see another 9-3 season. This is absolutely amazing what coach Babers has done here. He should have won COY in the ACC and in all of NCAAF IMO. Turning a program around in 3 years like he has done is nothing short of earning coach of the year. This isn't the "Who won the most games award". (Soap box moment I had to add into this post).

Future is bright. We are not trending down.

You lost me when you said the QB situation trend was neutral. We’ll have a negative trend. Another year of experience for TD doesn’t make up for losing Dungey.

But I’ll buy 8-4 with a killer recruiting year and a decent chance at 9-3.

 

[timkay99]

You lost me when you said the QB situation trend was neutral. We’ll have a negative trend. Another year of experience for TD doesn’t make up for losing Dungey.

But I’ll buy 8-4 with a killer recruiting year and a decent chance at 9-3.

I am shocked at how easy people think it is to slot in for the lifeblood of the program and who played in 39 games over 4 years.

Devito is a special talent. I think expecting him to match Dungey's output sets him up to fail. Dungey was an experienced senior. Devito will be a RS-SO who has never been the sole focus of a game-plan with 3/5 of a new offensive line.

Devito's production will be tied to just how good the OL is. If the OP projects the OL to take a step back, I struggle to understand how a pass first QB outdoes our do-everything QB.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I am shocked at how easy people think it is to slot in for the lifeblood of the program and who played in 39 games over 4 years.

Devito is a special talent. I think expecting him to match Dungey's output sets him up to fail. Dungey was an experienced senior. Devito will be a RS-SO who has never been the sole focus of a game-plan with 3/5 of a new offensive line.

Devito's production will be tied to just how good the OL is. If the OP projects the OL to take a step back, I struggle to understand how a pass first QB outdoes our do-everything QB.

You don't think DeVito will pass for more yards than Dungey did this season?

It wouldn't surprise me at all.

 

[timkay99]

You don't think DeVito will pass for more yards than Dungey did this season?

It wouldn't surprise me at all.

As of December 31st, I don't think Devito will account for as many total yards as Dungey. I would expect leaning on the traditional run game with Neal and Adams generating more yardage than we've seen in years past will be what replaces Dungey's rushing numbers and slowing a pass rush. I think it will need to be a more well-rounded attack by necessity.

I think Devito will pass for more yards (would need to average 230 in 13 games to do so), but don't think his total yards will surpass Dungey (he would need to average 280 in 13 games to do so). Obviously, all these observations will and should change based on OL development. Garoppolo's first year as a starter, he threw for 2,644 yards (11 games) before seeing it grow to 3,823 and 5,050. Think that is a better expectation for Devito.

I just think it's hard to say the OL will be down while the QB will stay the same. We had issues with WR separation and OL creating consistent clean pockets to throw this season. If OP assumes WR goes up while OL goes down, I struggle to see how Devito gets the time to throw consistently..

 

[OttoinGrotto]

As of December 31st, I don't think Devito will account for as many total yards as Dungey. I would expect leaning on the traditional run game with Neal and Adams generating more yardage than we've seen in years past will be what replaces Dungey's rushing numbers and slowing a pass rush. I think it will need to be a more well-rounded attack by necessity.

I think Devito will pass for more yards (would need to average 230 in 13 games to do so), but don't think his total yards will surpass Dungey (he would need to average 280 in 13 games to do so). Obviously, all these observations will and should change based on OL development. Garoppolo's first year as a starter, he threw for 2,644 yards (11 games) before seeing it grow to 3,823 and 5,050. Think that is a better expectation for Devito.

I just think it's hard to say the OL will be down while the QB will stay the same. We had issues with WR separation and OL creating consistent clean pockets to throw this season. If OP assumes WR goes up while OL goes down, I struggle to see how Devito gets the time to throw consistently..

Part of it is I think DeVito will be much, much better at the sideline throws than Dungey. We'll run better quick action with DeVito where the rush doesn't even have time to get to him. Dungey was great, but he lobbed a lot of those passes. Those are darts from T-shirt Time.

 

[timkay99]

Part of it is I think DeVito will be much, much better at the sideline throws than Dungey. We'll run better quick action with DeVito where the rush doesn't even have time to get to him. Dungey was great, but he lobbed a lot of those passes. Those are darts from T-shirt Time.

I can see that, as those throws for the WR screens, for lack of a better term, got on receivers quicker.

I will be fascinated to see how much emphasis they put on trusting what he sees and making that quick decision (sub 2 seconds) and how defenses try and confuse him. I think teams can get more exotic with their pass coverages planning for Devito as opposed to Dungey.

To be clear, I am super excited to see Devito at the reins.

 

[shu 49]

I am shocked at how easy people think it is to slot in for the lifeblood of the program and who played in 39 games over 4 years.

Devito is a special talent. I think expecting him to match Dungey's output sets him up to fail. Dungey was an experienced senior. Devito will be a RS-SO who has never been the sole focus of a game-plan with 3/5 of a new offensive line.

Devito's production will be tied to just how good the OL is. If the OP projects the OL to take a step back, I struggle to understand how a pass first QB outdoes our do-everything QB.

Because we have better backs and better receivers if they improve as normal teams do. Takes pressure off Td and opens the field for him. Also we only replace 2 starters as Heckel plays 3/4 of the game anyways. I also feel with Davis at guard we become a better run blocking team cause he is pretty physical I heard from friends and on here. I see 9-3 or better as Bnoro has said. The one thing I see is we suck at throwing screens and it sure seems to slow some teams down with their pressure and we could have thrown 3-4 against WVU’s and maybe scored on the em. My most basic complaint with our offense plus we don’t run hashes enough but anyways screens would help Td tremendously but not that middle screen we run where everyone is lol. I’m loving our team right now.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I can see that, as those throws for the WR screens, for lack of a better term, got on receivers quicker.

I will be fascinated to see how much emphasis they put on trusting what he sees and making that quick decision (sub 2 seconds) and how defenses try and confuse him. I think teams can get more exotic with their pass coverages planning for Devito as opposed to Dungey.

To be clear, I am super excited to see Devito at the reins.

We already saw a defense bait DeVito into an interception with a confusing coverage.

That's why I think his pt this season was so valuable. He's seen that now.

 

[Cuse12]

In terms of QB, I am not talking about anything but passing. I believe TD will have just as many passing yards, maybe more. I’m not downgrading Dungey. He is irreplaceable. I’m only talking stats there. And I think TD has much more help around him then Dungey.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

You don't think DeVito will pass for more yards than Dungey did this season?

It wouldn't surprise me at all.

How many "pull a play Out Of His A**" plays will Divito have that keep drives alive and lead to scores. It's not just about yards, but about when and how.

 

[sufandu]

I find it interesting that people sound more concerned about Devitos lack of experience next year than they did about Dungey's his first year under Dino. TD will have more practice and game experience in the system next yeat than Dungey had that first year and all we said about Dungey back then was how excited we were to see him in a qb friendly system. TD will have more help around him at RB and WR than ED had and I don't expect the oline to regress like some do. The game plans were also always centered around ED's skill set this year whereas next year game planning and practice should be oriented to what TD does well. I'm confident that will make a difference. Will TD get baited and throw a few picks? Yup. Is that any different than the what-was-that pick ED threw in the bowl game? I don't think so. ED had 18 tds to 9 ints this year and never had better than that 2-1 ratio in his career, so it's not like we're losing an ultra efficient passer. Of course the big difference will be the running, but with the improved surrounding personnel mentioned earlier, I think that will be much less of an issue than people are stating. We're just so used to seeing all of our most successful qbs as running threats that it's hard to imagine us having a really good qb that isn't a dual threat guy.

 

[BlueShaq]

Part of it is I think DeVito will be much, much better at the sideline throws than Dungey. We'll run better quick action with DeVito where the rush doesn't even have time to get to him. Dungey was great, but he lobbed a lot of those passes. Those are darts from T-shirt Time.

This point is so important. Not only will we get those sideline throws for more yardage and completed more often, but it will force the defense to spread out more to the outside, opening up our run game down the middle.

 

[RF2044]

Personally, I think that QB / OL are going to be the biggest question marks.

I like the raw materials we have at LB. I think that positional unit will be a lot like what we saw from WR this year -- question marks heading in, but a unit that exceeds expectations. Shy and Richards were the key to our second half of the season defensive adjustments that enabled us to play better against the run, and will benefit from the game experience that they got last year. Armstrong also played a ton. And we have some intriguing returning players [Wallace, Allison] and incoming frosh, two of who will be here in January. Future is bright at LB.

I'm a lot more worried about how we're going to replace Koda Martin. Need the Davis boys to both ascend. Will be interesting to see if Heckel works his way back into the starting lineup, and whether Carlos V. stays at LT.

And at QB -- it remains to be seen whether DeVito / Amie can get the job done. I believe that they can -- with an offseason of preparation, plus the game experience that TD gained, I'd expect a big jump in performance. Having a guy enter his third year in the system is a perfect time for them to ascend into a more prominent role. And I'm cognizant of what Dungey had to say about Chance in the preseason.

If those two question marks -- QB and OL -- get answered positively, I think we make another strong challenge to Clemson in our division, and easily get to the 8 win mark. And if a couple of things go better than expected, getting back to 9 or 10 wins is a distinct possibility.

Babers is a machine, and we're going to begin seeing the results of good recruiting pay dividends.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

The leadership and warrior mentality of Dungey cannot be replaced by one person. To pin that on Devito is not fair to him. This team followed Dungey's lead in everything. He may not be the best quarterback we've ever had, but I think he is a top three best leader of all time. That is something that you can't account for in statistics. The entire team will have to step up and set a standard for themselves, which I think they will.

I think another thing we'll miss about Dungey that isn't seen in stats but is seen with your own eyes on the field is his escapability and making something out of nothing. He had that unique quality of feeling where rushes were coming from, and being able to move away from it, to catch the defense napping. McNabb had that quality, and so did Eric. I don't think that can be taught. It's something innate that Eric had. Having watched Tommy Gun in limited action this year, I didn't see that same type of innate feel.

With all of that said, Tommy has better backs and wide receivers next year than Eric ever did. I think he will be the benefactor of explosive skill position players. And he will thrive. He won't write the same book Eric did, but I believe it will be just as sweet when all is said and done.

 

[upperdeck]

i think we have established that if we get just avg oline play we can move the ball enough to score. the line was mostly consistent but hardly dominate in the run game, but really solid much of the year in pass protection. the quick read throws helped mask some of that and forcing the run game made teams play the passing more honest.. We still need to get a more consistent deep threat to force teams to honor that with safety help and thats were TD being a better deep ball thrower can help. look at the WV game where Custis
probably had 3 deep TD passes under thrown. I think we have 3-4 guys who will be able to get there next yr and really changes the dynamic and helps the slot guys with more space.

 

[cuse62]

I think the Lb group will be trending up just because of scheme change. Hopefully, we won’t go back to the beginning of last year; but stay with the change of the second half. That position group ended well; but the beginning was bad.

 

[Toga]

Does Dino have any more daughters?

 

[Entropic]

How many "pull a play Out Of His A**" plays will Divito have that keep drives alive and lead to scores. It's not just about yards, but about when and how.

I think Devito will do more traditional style things when a play breaks down. He will throw the ball away or pick up a couple yards and slide. He will be super pocket passery.

 

[Entropic]

Does Dino have any more daughters?

I think 3 more that aren't married to football players.

 

[longislandcuse]

How many "pull a play Out Of His A**" plays will Divito have that keep drives alive and lead to scores. It's not just about yards, but about when and how.

The thing is, you don’t need as many of those if the ball is out quicker, accurate and with more velocity.

A lot of those free rushers that Dungey made miss, will sack Devito (although he can move - he’s not a statue), but a quicker, more accurate, higher velocity passing attack will look way different than 2018 and help to negate the need for Dungey’s escapability.