Looking towards 2018

[JoeB]

Agree with ET on most of this stuff.  The weakness of this years team was OL, and I think that only gets worse heading into next year.  Can it be better?  Possibly, but its definitely one of the units I'm most concerned with.  LBs are also a concern.  Auggie is gone and Sawtelle has been inconsistent at best for much of the year, and saw his playing time cut over the last few games in favor of McGee.  So we have an unproven bunch of guys there.  Polk, Johnson, Thomas, etc. will all need to step up in my opinion.

DBs should be in good shape with Hoggins, Wilkens, and Culpepper.  I could see Hoggins moving into the nickle to replace Deatric.  Like what I see with Hampton.  Heard a rumor about midway thru the season that Travon Sands will be moved to Safety next year.  I guess we'll see only if CCS stays.  Also heard that McCants will be moved to RB.  After seeing that play at UCF I can understand that move, although he looks good at WR too.

As for the Defensive Line, we lose some great talent there, but I'm told the 2 guys that transferred and sat out this year were the best DL on the team in practice.  Add in Pinkney, Bronson and Kegler and we should be just fine.  Hopefully we find a guy that can rush the passer as good as Love, but Reaves will only get better.  Livingstone, Black, and Brown are serviceable for depth concerns, but maybe a youngster will step up and become a dominant pass rusher.

WRs and TE we should be fine with depth and talent.

RBs we should be in good shape with Cronkrite, Mack, and Sands/McCants (if positions change in the offseason)

QBs-  Should be a fun offseason with Kean and Oladokun.  Hopefully they both get a ton of reps and take in as much as they can.  Its been 4 years since we had any QB competition, so hopefully it will be a very productive offseason.  Also appears Octavious Battle will be good to go after a RS year in 2018. 

[Triple B]

1 minute ago, JoeB said:

QBs-  Should be a fun offseason with Kean and Oladokun.  Hopefully they both get a ton of reps and take in as much as they can.  Its been 4 years since we had any QB competition, so hopefully it will be a very productive offseason.  Also appears Octavious Battle will be good to go after a RS year in 2018. 

Don't forget Ray Ray's lil bro ...

[Gatorbull325]

Hey, does anybody know what the deal is with Marlon Gonzales? He was a stud recruit, but haven't really played. 

[NewEnglandBull]

2 hours ago, BucsandBulls said:

Do you have any source for the move then? The only thing I ever heard about it leaving Solider field was from TDS guys and I'm pretty sure Collin came out and said his source was at least premature if not wrong. 

I don’t but if this was a done deal I would think the home school’s web site would have the correct venue...especially if it was at the Bears stadium. Will see what happens.  

[Buller64]

3 hours ago, Triple B said:

 

Well that sucks. How far is their campus from Chicago?

Its 147 miles from the Loop to UI in Champaign. Call it 2 to 2.5 hours.

[MMW]

5 hours ago, usfgrad84 said:

What do we expect from the QB position?  I hear that Oladokun is a more accurate passer and maybe faster than Q. Kean may be a better passer. 

I have not seen much in Kean that impresses me but what the hell do I know?  I will say that it is tough to measure how accurate a passer someone is without live game action.

Some players throw nice and look good in practice but not good under fire.  So good in practice that the coach has to break his foot to get rid of him.

[Buller64]

3 hours ago, NewEnglandBull said:

I get wanting to see Chi Town (and it is great) but I am glad the game is back on campus. I would like to see another university's campus and I really don't want to see another boring NFL stadium.

If it is on campus and you want to walk around, take walking shoes, it's a really big campus about 2 miles by 1.5 miles. 

[Apis Bull]

2 minutes ago, MMW said:

I have not seen much in Kean that impresses me but what the hell do I know?  I will say that it is tough to measure how accurate a passer someone is without live game action.

Some players throw nice and look good in practice but not good under fire.  So good in practice that the coach has to break his foot to get rid of him.

On both of them, all we really have is their HS film.  Both (add Battles in there too) look good, but it depends on how well they adapt to the speed and the schemes of college defenses.

[Triple B]

4 hours ago, BucsandBulls said:

Do you have any source for the move then? The only thing I ever heard about it leaving Solider field was from TDS guys and I'm pretty sure Collin came out and said his source was at least premature if not wrong. 

1 hour ago, NewEnglandBull said:

I don’t but if this was a done deal I would think the home school’s web site would have the correct venue...especially if it was at the Bears stadium. Will see what happens.  

 

2 hours ago, Triple B said:

FWIW, Illinois website still has game at Soldier Field

 

[Gatorbull325]

57 minutes ago, MMW said:

I have not seen much in Kean that impresses me but what the hell do I know?  I will say that it is tough to measure how accurate a passer someone is without live game action.

Some players throw nice and look good in practice but not good under fire.  So good in practice that the coach has to break his foot to get rid of him.

I remember when Kean committed to USF, he did it early b/c he stated that he wanted to focus on winning a state championship and you know what? He backed up his words and won a state championship. I like his heart and feel that he will win the starting job. But to be honest this is like deciding b/w a BMW and a  Mercedes. You win either way.