i think @CarlP is the best addition of the Albin era 
. thank you for your diligence!
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CarlP is a king among men.
on the QB front letās think positively. Maybe someone just pops and grabs the gold ring with an undeniable display of talent and growth from previous years. Maybe White is so damn good heās undeniable even as a freshman. Maybe McNulty is freaking awesome and is just waiting for his coming out party
This can happen!
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Thanks for all you do Carl! I am nervous we arenāt going to see a lot of improvement this season but your analysis gives me some hope.
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Cāmon, guys. All I really did here was to sort all the players who are gone, and add the players who are new, with whatever information I could find about each of them, and then break them out by position. I donāt claim to know how they will actually look in green and white (and gold), nor how the pieces will all fit together. In fact, that wasnāt my goal. I just wanted to put the information out there in a form so people could take a look, sit back and think, and say things like āyikes, there was definitely a huge turnover at DB!ā, and then look at who was brought in, and decide if it looks like it will be OK, or be a disaster. Or, so they could say āwho is it that could be the next RB?ā, and then find the answer in one place. What I tried to not do, was to pick some player and say āPlayer X will be the starting QBā, or anything of the like.
I donāt even claim that my information is exactly accurate as to who is gone and who is back. There might be returning players I am unaware of, such as players who got an extra year that havenāt been reported, or players who left the portal quietly and returned to the team. There might be players I listed who are returning, but who in fact arenāt returning, for example players who have decided to give up football due to injuries. There might be players where I have their class wrong. There might be late additions, in the form of preferred walkons who havenāt been announced.
We all agree that this is a team that was not good last year, and they need to get a lot better in order to win. What makes it even worse, is that this is a team that never gave up, and which played hard every game, and which, even then, was getting soundly defeated. They have a long, long way to go to be competitive. Can they make up all that ground in one year? I donā t know, and wonāt know until they start playing the actual games this fall, but Iām hoping they do look better.
Sadly, in a portal world, the turnover of players from one year to the next will probably end up being in the ~35-50 range every year, rather than the old 20-25 range, so sorting out the losses and new faces is something that will have to be done every year. Itās a lot of work, but does help to get an idea of what is happening. I was going to do it anyway for my own use, but thought others might like to see it, and youāre welcome to use it in any way you wish.
Yes it is, and youāve been kind enough to do all that work. I think thatās what we appreciate Carl. Thanks again.
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After Spring camp, Iāll add the following comments:
OFFENSE
WR - Pretty much as I expected. Lots of good comments about depth
OL - Shirley is gone. WIlliams, Cruji, and Sandy from the portal look like starters, as does Pierre-Nau from JUCO. Fernandez looks to be the other starter.
TE - I learned nothing new about this. I heard no one comment on it. I still think it will be fine.
RB - I heard positive comments on Alexander and Rutledge, but it sounds like others will play, too, and it will be running back-by-committee, which is fine.
QB - It sounds like it is going as expected. The starter will probably be Gonzales, Loftis, or Harrell, with White looking very good.
Overall - the Offense will be very much what I expected
DEFENSE
DL - Taz Williams is apparently gone for the season again. Also, the coaches donāt appear satisfied with what they have, and added Aliu-Otokiti, who will presumably replace Williams.
DE - The coaches donāt appear satisfied with what they have, and 3 more Edge types (Bower, Spencer, Alexander) are expected in the fall.
LB - Starters will be Schmitz and WIllis, with Bowman as the backup. The coaches donāt appear satisfied with what they have, and continue to bring in players.
DB - Starters will likely include Clinkscales, Womack, and McIntosh. As for the other two starters, who knows, but Gill and Allen will also play roles. The coaches donāt appear satisfied with what they have, and continue to bring in players, and up to 5 more DBs are expected in the Fall (Turner, Blakely, Patterson, Smith III, Beckham Jr.) [Edited-original post erroneously said āConleyā instead of āClinkscalesā, and I added more commentary on the specific players arriving in the Fall.]
Overall - with no one saying anything about the defense, and the coaches bringing in a lot more defensive players for the Fall, I am very concerned. I consider the defense to be the most important key to winning, and without a good defense, a winning season is out of the question.
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Good write up, carl. Only edit Iād make is conley, since he graduated. Fernandez as a starter worries me but depth apears to be better
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Not good when the coaches donāt feel good about front 7 on defense.
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Oops, I meant Clinkscales, not Conley. Conley is in the NFL, at least for now. Thanks, and I corrected it.
Exactly. I would have felt much, much more confident if they had been bringing in PWOs than JUCO players.
Good point. I think a lot will depend on how the younger players develop this yearāthereās definitely potential, but still some question marks at a few key positions.
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