The comment was made that there will probably only be 12 Seniors on the roster next year, so if they can show tangible improvement this year then we might have a chance at an upward trend the following year as well.
Our new OC made a comment along the lines of stating that our offensive talent should have produced more than it did last year. That basically summarizes all of our concerns regarding Dimel running the offense. As mentioned above, will the new coordinator change have any impact on production with Dimel still running the offense?, or will it continue to underperform?
I understand the love for Praise, and he is one of best players, but I actually feel like Stewart is our best d-lineman. With Stewart, Praise, and Moss I honestly think we have one of our better d-lines in a long time and they are our best defensive unit. Our new DC stated that we are going to play 4 down lineman(which I like), but we need to find that high quality DE who can become our 4th d-lineman. I believe that JT has the best chance to become that player, but he was a bit underwhelming last year. I guess the hope is that last year was his transition year from JC, so maybe he can produce more now that he has that year already under his belt
Our LB's last year were nothing special, but with that being said I actually think that Dimel has possibly built a decent group here. The size and athleticism on both our D-line and LB's are both upgrades from when Dimel first got here. Forester won't be back, but the hope is that we can upgrade his spot at least based on size and speed. I think Hayward, Knight, and Theard have the potential to form decent LB group after they all had their first year adjustment last season. They will all need to take a step forward though.
At RB, I have not heard or read Fields name, when projecting next seasons RB group. Respectfully, that would be welcome news, as Hankins, Awatt, Eldridge and possibly Wadley(if healthy) have enough quality to obsorb all of the carries.
At the end of the day, Dimel's first game is an absolute must win, so he is now in a position where there is no other acceptable metric that he can be graded on. Beat NMSU and he can then work towards accomplishing some other signs of improvement. Lose to NMSU and his show is over, unless he is held through the end of the season and puts up some type of magical season ending run.
