I know it's basketball season, and I've been as much of a peacock as anyone else the last three months, but tomorrow AU starts spring football and despite the magnificent mayhem that was Harsin's first offseason this is still something that interests me.
Expectations:
The Scmed led defense will look more like an aggressive SEC defense should. You'll still see the multiplicity that Mason demonstrated up front, but with a much higher frequency of 5-man pressures, man-coverages, and split-field coverage concepts. The will take some pressure off safeties and LBs and allow them to play much more aggressively.
The top end of the DL group will be one of the SEC's best. They will need depth to supplant depth to sustain it, and that will hopefully come from 2 transfers. I would suspect the DL 1st team DL won't get a ton of reps against the 1st OL this spring, as much like last fall camp, that would be discouraging. I expect a major bounce back year from Z Walker.
The OL will be protected from media exposure and scrutiny, but will be pushed harder than they've been before. However, unless some major physiological changes have taken place the ceiling isn't much higher than what we've seen. Coffee has earned some buzz this off-season, and has been nicknamed "The Mountain" ala GoT from the strength staff. Maybe the two JUCO tackles finally make a jump. This would be KZ's first full offseason. I anticipate KZ at LT and BC at RT by the time fall camp starts. Trox's injuries and limited mobility due to them could continue to be an issue.
Tank and Hunter give AU the "most talented" 1-2 punch in the SEC. Another off-season of learning how to read outside zone and "duo" blocks should help Tank become a much more effective player. Hunter's production takes a huge jump in the absence of Shivers.
Coach Keys' offense will be what you saw from he and Harsin at BSU. Ton of outside zone, quick game built around stick and spacing route concepts, and frequent gadgetry/slight of hand. With the attrition from the WR group, the TE usage will only increase. Getting Shenk back is HUGE, Deal and Fromm will be better, and King will be a true Hybrid tool. 12 and 13 personnel will be common place in spring, and into the fall.
I think King is the breakout guy on offense out of shear necessity, followed by Dawson as they will look to manufacture touches for his speed.
Predictions:
TJ and Calzone come out of spring 1A/1B obviously, but only because Hars considers TJ a culture guy and will do that to satiate the locker room going into summer. The real battle will be between Calz and Holden IMO. Ashford is the wild card. I think the staff has for whatever reason decided on the notion the DDavis isn't what they want.
Wesley Steiner makes a huge jump forward on defense.
Joko and Asante(sp?) become assets as pressure guys.
The JUCO dbs are immediate impact players.
Pappoe is handled "with care" making sure he gets to fall camp healthy.
The receivers on the roster make major technical strides under Hilliard. Johnson jr, Dawson, and JVar look much more refined and capable. Shed still gets a lot of play bc he's a culture guy.
ASSumptions:
The offense will collectively be bad during what the public gets to see of the spring so they'll face a lot of 2s and 3s in scrimmages.
Schmed will become the Bunker's next crush bc his defense will be very Muschamp-esque in style.
The trio or Roc, Zac, and CRob recruit better than fans expect over the course of the summer and get a solid defensive group committed.
Will Friend earns some recruiting redemption this summer (I'm surprised AF that he's still here for a number of reasons), but will it stand come December?
We hear s lot about big M'ba early in spring and on through the summer.
AU starts flinging that NIL cash around on 3/19/22......lessons learned.
TLDR SIW......I know, it's still basketball season.
Expectations:
The Scmed led defense will look more like an aggressive SEC defense should. You'll still see the multiplicity that Mason demonstrated up front, but with a much higher frequency of 5-man pressures, man-coverages, and split-field coverage concepts. The will take some pressure off safeties and LBs and allow them to play much more aggressively.
The top end of the DL group will be one of the SEC's best. They will need depth to supplant depth to sustain it, and that will hopefully come from 2 transfers. I would suspect the DL 1st team DL won't get a ton of reps against the 1st OL this spring, as much like last fall camp, that would be discouraging. I expect a major bounce back year from Z Walker.
The OL will be protected from media exposure and scrutiny, but will be pushed harder than they've been before. However, unless some major physiological changes have taken place the ceiling isn't much higher than what we've seen. Coffee has earned some buzz this off-season, and has been nicknamed "The Mountain" ala GoT from the strength staff. Maybe the two JUCO tackles finally make a jump. This would be KZ's first full offseason. I anticipate KZ at LT and BC at RT by the time fall camp starts. Trox's injuries and limited mobility due to them could continue to be an issue.
Tank and Hunter give AU the "most talented" 1-2 punch in the SEC. Another off-season of learning how to read outside zone and "duo" blocks should help Tank become a much more effective player. Hunter's production takes a huge jump in the absence of Shivers.
Coach Keys' offense will be what you saw from he and Harsin at BSU. Ton of outside zone, quick game built around stick and spacing route concepts, and frequent gadgetry/slight of hand. With the attrition from the WR group, the TE usage will only increase. Getting Shenk back is HUGE, Deal and Fromm will be better, and King will be a true Hybrid tool. 12 and 13 personnel will be common place in spring, and into the fall.
I think King is the breakout guy on offense out of shear necessity, followed by Dawson as they will look to manufacture touches for his speed.
Predictions:
TJ and Calzone come out of spring 1A/1B obviously, but only because Hars considers TJ a culture guy and will do that to satiate the locker room going into summer. The real battle will be between Calz and Holden IMO. Ashford is the wild card. I think the staff has for whatever reason decided on the notion the DDavis isn't what they want.
Wesley Steiner makes a huge jump forward on defense.
Joko and Asante(sp?) become assets as pressure guys.
The JUCO dbs are immediate impact players.
Pappoe is handled "with care" making sure he gets to fall camp healthy.
The receivers on the roster make major technical strides under Hilliard. Johnson jr, Dawson, and JVar look much more refined and capable. Shed still gets a lot of play bc he's a culture guy.
ASSumptions:
The offense will collectively be bad during what the public gets to see of the spring so they'll face a lot of 2s and 3s in scrimmages.
Schmed will become the Bunker's next crush bc his defense will be very Muschamp-esque in style.
The trio or Roc, Zac, and CRob recruit better than fans expect over the course of the summer and get a solid defensive group committed.
Will Friend earns some recruiting redemption this summer (I'm surprised AF that he's still here for a number of reasons), but will it stand come December?
We hear s lot about big M'ba early in spring and on through the summer.
AU starts flinging that NIL cash around on 3/19/22......lessons learned.
TLDR SIW......I know, it's still basketball season.
