Looking ahead to 2010

Dec 28, 2009, 3:26 PM

At the Quarterback position: IMPROVEMENT* : Parker is likely to be better next year because of experience. *If Parker bolts for the MLB, and Korn transfers, then we may be in trouble, but Tajh Boyd may end up being even better. He will be the biggest question mark if this scenario happens.

At the running back position: SLIGHT DROP-OFF: Andre Ellington will be a better RUNNING BACK than CJ Spiller. Before you freak out...nobody will ever be as good as CJ in space or on special teams, but in terms of a running game RB, Ellington is slightly better.

A huge question mark is Jamie Harper. He had a horrible season until the last two games. Hopefully that proves to be the rule and not the exception. Either way, Ellington better be the CLEAR #1 back next year.

Roderick McDowell will get some carries and it will be nice to see if he can make a solid addition to a 3-way running back rotation.

At the Tight End position: DROP OFF : We are taking a HUGE hit in losing Palmer. The guy is by far our best receiver. He is Mr. Clutch. Dwayne Allen is a solid TE but Palmer was a leader and offers more than Dwayne thus far. Allen needs to step up. Our depth at this position will be a huge concern as well.

At the WR position: STAY THE SAME : On the one hand Xavier Dye may have a breakthrough, but we are losing Ford. Ford is our best WR by far. Bryce McNeal, DeAndre Hopkins, and Martavis Bryant (if we sign them) will pick up the slack though. We may be improved, but the jury is out, as Ford was a player.

O-Line- SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT - We are losing our best O-linemen in recent years, Thomas Austin. That said, 4 of 5 starters are coming back, and our depth will improve. Experience is the key here, as we know we have athletes.

On the D-line- SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT- While we are losing Alexander and Sapp, we still have our two solid DT's Thompson and Jenkins, while Daquan, Andre Branch and Goodman are back as well. Also, don't forget the red-shirted Kortnei Brown. We will be solid here again.

Linebackers- SLIGHT DROP OFF Kevin Alexander and Kavell Conner are gone which is huge, but Brandon Maye, is back. Scotty Cooper, Johnathan Willard and Corico Hawkins will have to step up. We have some young talent to fill in the depth, but we don't know how they will pan out yet. This will be a serious area of concern next year.

Defensive backfield- SLIGHT DROPP OFF or MAJOR DROP OFF- This one hinges on DeAndre. He is probably coming back, which means the best DB in the ACC is a Clemson Tiger, BUT, we are a man coverage team, and our two veteran corners are gone. However, they were not nearly as effective as man coverage guys as they were as zone corners. We have great talent to replace them but Maxwell is the only one who has proven he can fill in with little drop off. I don't know if they would consider moving Gilchrist over or not, as we will be absolutely LOADED at safety next year if DeAndre stays, but if not, Xavier Brewer and Coty Sensabaugh would have to step up at CB. If Corner wasn't such a crucial position, I would say we had no drop off, but we rely heavily on shutting down receivers with man coverage.

Special teams/ Returns/ TREMENDOUS DROP OFF- Um.. this one is obvious.

Special teams/ coverage/ STAY THE SAME/ unless someone nabs or Spec teams coordinator.

Special teams/ kicking game- Who knows?

Coaching-- IMPROVEMENT -- live and learn, our staff seems solid, they improve again I say.

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Hard to say what Parker will do, but I sure hope he comes back for 1 more year at least. We could work Boyd in next year and recruit two QB's for following year to back up Boyd.

We really need help at TE. Napier showed how much using the TE improves the offense and we need to keep doing this.

I think Jaron Brown will be a factor at WR. He's got all the moves, just needs to get more reps to learn how to block and get open better. One of the freshmen will step up also.

Gilchrest will move to CB if DMac stays. We may end up better at DB than this year.

LB is an obvious concern. You'd think Justin Parker could see a great opportunity to be second string the minute he walks on campus.

Unfortunately, next year's schedule is harder than this year, so we better be good.

Looking ahead to 2010

Great post man

Harper didn't have a horrible season he was the #3 rb......

No, he had a terrible season save the last two games.

Harper started running better after the Maryland game

And comparing Ellington to Spiller is definately hard to do

Disagree.....a little

They also said Ellington was

You serious Clark?******

Harper looked really good, and I look forward to

Nice post - my 2 cents

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