Originally Posted by
Redbird 4th & short
Per my post 2 pages back, our defense will be very solid, but in no way will be dominant like 2019 or like we expected heading into fall 2020. We lost 3 stud starters due to pandemic : all conference DE McKnight (transfer, FBS starter), Safety Uphoff (preparing for NFL, Reese's top Safety) and CB Taylor (transfer, FBS starter), plus 1 due to normal graduation (Kirk). And our 7 deep at LB in 2019, lost 4, though have 3 starters back and picked up FBS LB from Tennessee who should be good.
So defense will be good, but took big hits to depth from 2019. We'll be good but not dominant .. need to stay healthy on defense, and need offense to figure out how to move chains and clock. Or the lack of depth on defense will become a problem this spring.
Real problem is on offense ..
Offensively .. we didn't just lose RB James Robinson who was 90% of our offense in playoff run after our QB Davis went down and our 2nd string stud RB Proctor (500 rush yards) both went down with injuries late in season .. so no starting QB and no serious back up RB is why Robinson suddenly carried 40 times a game the first 2 rounds. Note, we threw just 26 passes in 3 playoff games combined.
Well Mrs Lincoln, we have some more bad news .. we've since lost QB Davis (decided to prepare for post college football - perplexing I know !) and we just learned our 2nd string stud RB Proctor left the program. Now our 2 deep at all the skill positions is filled with a lot of FR & SO, mostly unproven and undeveloped.
Bottom line, there will likely be no seniors and just 1 junior (stud WR Edgar) in our skill positions 2 deep on offense this spring (excl TE) .. maybe even our 3 deep as well.
Returning starter stats are very low at QB and RB.
RB: returning 100 of 2700 rush yards returning (2,000 Robinson, 500 Proctor).Note, we love our crop of 3 RS FR RBs, plus a true FR ... but they are completely unproven. You will see a lot more speed and agility, and depth that could pan out sooner than I think. Most RB reps will be the 3 RS FR and 1 SO.
QB: returning 46 of 268 pass attempts - we like dual threat SO QB Bryce Jefferson. Keeps his cool in pocket, can run, and seems to see the field. He might develop as passer, but he threw just 26 passes in 3 playoff games .. needs a lot of work, but proved he could handle big stage in playoffs .. except Robinson is gone. And now our #2 this spring is a true FR from a small HS ... yikes.
WR: returning 100 of 130 receptions returning - given how many starts we lost to injury at WR, and how much we love our depth and youth at WR, this position group is very strong and has much more upside. Problem is, we don't know if we have a QB who can even throw for sure yet.
TE: were pretty good here, but TE is not really a skill position at ISU .. they are mostly offensive lineman who go in motion a lot and block down field.
So, I'm just not optimistic about spring 2021. 4th is highest I would put us - this will mean, our youngs guys on offense are developing, and we didn't have a lot of injuries on defense. More likely, going to be lower ... 5th is much more realistic top side.
I'll probably be much more optimistic on offense in fall 2021 and beyond .. we are very deep with young skill guys we like a lot on offense. And I never worry about defense with Spack ... his defenses are always good to very good .. almost always top 3 in MVFC, by far the toughest defenses in FCS.
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