Lets talk football some keys

[sutomcat]

Thing that worries me about More is that on a team at a lower level he was 4th among the starting OL in run blocking and 5th in pass blocking. No bueno. He should fit right in though since he led the offense in penalties.

Awesome. Sigh.

The portal was loaded with talent at most positions but word is there was little in the way of talent at OT. Indeed.

 

[cusefan88]

Awesome. Sigh.

The portal was loaded with talent at most positions but word is there was little in the way of talent at OT. Indeed.

It wouldn't surprise me if Wohlabaugh ends up starting at RT and More becomes a swing OL. Feels like this roster is capable of having 8 good OL to use.

 

[All4SU]

Last season, both Anae and Beck were down on the field. I’m going to assume Beck will be on the field again this year, but moving into the OC spot, perhaps not.

 

[Chris02M]

keys are banned in the dome

 

[IthacaMatt]

3 Keys to the Season:

1. Offensive line being a consistently solid and cohesive group this year. If we can do that, we likely keep Shrader healthy all season and we haven't had a quarterback start every regular season game in a while.
2. Cornerbacks on the outside stepping up. I'm concerned about the potential drop-off in play from last year. We lost a lot of talent to the draft and transfers. We've heard good things about Jeremiah Wilson but he isn't very big (will he stay healthy all season?) and largely inexperienced. We've brought in talented but essentially unproven transfers. We will need some inexperienced players to step into their role and play well. This could be the weak spot on our defense that gets exploited.
3. A second receiving option emerging. Gadsden is a real talent but we need someone to keep the defense honest, whether that is a traditional tight end or a wide receiver. Isiah Jones was getting rave reviews last offseason before his season ending injury, but will he be that guy this year? Can Alford capitalize on his physical abilities and be a consistent threat, instead of just the occasional exceptional highlight? Is Hatcher, Adams, or Pena that guy? Will our traditional tight end role be an actual threat to catch the ball this year (Mang, Mahar, Villari, Clement) and will there be one who can actually block?

The honorable mention is LeQuint Allen's status but I do think we have some capable back-ups that will be serviceable. I'd much prefer LeQuint as the starter though.

Really good post. Nice analysis. Largely agree with all of that.

 

[Dmcnabbrules]

With Allen cleared and Branham being added running back seems to be solid. Appears to me there are two huge question marks left.
Tackle and corner. I feel like we fans might have taken the play of Berg, Garrett Williams and Deuce for granted. Those guys are pros. Replacing them is not going to be easy.
Rocky Long has been around a the block, hopefully he can support the new corners.
The season comes down to Shrader staying healthy and being protected. Need tackles to establish themselves early in camp so the line can work together.

 

[upperdeck]

the hope this year that we play well enough to have the board complain about the kids pulling the keys out at the end of the game.. thats the keys we need to see.

Of course in this day and age who has keys when FOBS open everything

 

[Goin' Deep]

the hope this year that we play well enough to have the board complain about the kids pulling the keys out at the end of the game.. thats the keys we need to see.

Of course in this day and age who has keys when FOBS open everything

"Dad, give me keys to the Buick. I'm going to a Cuse football game!!"

 

[SoBristol]

With Allen cleared and Branham being added running back seems to be solid. Appears to me there are two huge question marks left.
Tackle and corner. I feel like we fans might have taken the play of Berg, Garrett Williams and Deuce for granted. Those guys are pros. Replacing them is not going to be easy.
Rocky Long has been around a the block, hopefully he can support the new corners.
The season comes down to Shrader staying healthy and being protected. Need tackles to establish themselves early in camp so the line can work together.

Agree about Shrader and the tackles - Bergeron was one the best tackles we have had in many seasons.

I don’t think anyone took Williams and Chestnut for granted, but they missed parts of the season. We saw Johnson and Wilson get opportunities. The staff brought in several transfers who were highly recruited. So there are candidates to push Johnson and Wilson and overall we should have better depth.

Possibly the big key on defense is getting pressures and sacks. Need a couple of the DEs to emerge and help in rotation.

 

[upperdeck]

we need to get an dline that can generate pressure without always need to send 2-3 others on occasion.. tougher to do with a 3-3-5 but at some point the ends need to get it done.

 

[sufandu]

With Allen cleared and Branham being added running back seems to be solid. Appears to me there are two huge question marks left.
Tackle and corner. I feel like we fans might have taken the play of Berg, Garrett Williams and Deuce for granted. Those guys are pros. Replacing them is not going to be easy.
Rocky Long has been around a the block, hopefully he can support the new corners.
The season comes down to Shrader staying healthy and being protected. Need tackles to establish themselves early in camp so the line can work together.

I certainly didn't take their play for granted. At corner some have felt confident we'll plug in the new transfers and not skip a beat. I'm not in that camp. I think there's a reason the factories were willing to pay for those guys and at least a small step down wouldn't be surprising. Hopefully our front 6 can be healthy and create havoc to make their jobs easier.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Possibly the big key on defense is getting pressures and sacks. Need a couple of the DEs to emerge and help in rotation.

Losing Geer obviously hurt, but we've got about 8 or 9 guys on the DL who have seen significant playing time. I think if we rotate a lot of guys, we are going to be surprisingly good up front.