I am nothing but confused. Go SU!
I don't think you're cofused. You just see the glass as half empty.
"the same QB" will be either be a year older and presumably improved or he'll be replaced by a better player.
"1/2 the line gone" turnover is part of college football. It's not improbable or uncommon for a new starter to equal or surpass the performance level of the previous one. That's the whole objective of recruiting; fortifying and ultimately raising a team's talent level. Next year we'll see if Marrone's young O-line prospects, several of whom he is reportedly high on, are as good as advertised.
"both TEs gone" I believe only Provo is gone. Stevens has a redshirt year.
"a RB commit that many are high on though other schools saw as a safety, and potentially other RB recruits that other schools see as safeties or line backers but apparently would be great RB signees for SU." Talented HS kids who play multiple positions or who possess certain body-types are offered scholarships at different positions all the time. Most teams recruited McNabb as an athlete, not a QB. Just b/c a school offers a kid at one position he plays, it doesn't mean that the kid isn't good at his other positions or the position he projects at. That just speaks to the kid's versatility as an athlete. And as far as I know, most schools are offering Lynch at RB w/ some offering him at S. Morris is being recruited strictly as a RB. Perkins projects better at LB but w/ his talent level, size-speed ratio, he also projects well at RB ala Doug Hogue. Hogue didn't "suck" at RB, he just made a better LB. With Perkins we'll have to see.
This is purely hypothetical, of course, but I submit that if Hogue was a redshirt senior starting at RB this year, his numbers would be similar to or even better than Ant Bailey's numbers this season. If nothing else, he'd probably be much more effective running up the middle and I'm pretty sure DH is actually faster than AB.
"And our WR hope is a player that sat out 1/2 of last year though healthy and all of this year for off field reasons." You could dwell on those negatives in regards to Sales or you could focus on his performance when he finally got to play last year, as well as the reports that he was beast last spring and was the clear-cut #1 WR heading into fall camp.
You can see it how you choose. To me that appears to be pessimistically, and rightfully so I suppose. I'm just more of an optimist and while I'm not happy w/ where the team is right now, I still believe we're moving in the right direction and I expect significant improvement next year. Hey, I'm a half full guy.