It has nothing to do with our recruiting class (which was great, by the way). Look at what we have returning:
Huntley was the #3 QB in the PAC-12 in total offense per game, behind only Rosen and Darnold (that means Huntley is the #1 returning QB in total offense per game).
Moss was an absolute beast last year. And Shyne is coming back as well. And Shyne was better than Moss before he was hurt. And Shyne has looked every bit as good as he did before the injury this spring (although the scrimmage is going on right now. Would love to see them running today).
Our OL will be one of the most experienced in the country. Our OL coach is one of the best in the country.
While lacking experience, we are stocked with talent at WR. Boyd looks like a younger Carrington. Covey is back. Simpkins is really coming into his own and he and Huntley are really clicking. Thompson is promising. Jamison Fields has looked really good as has Dixon. We might not have the #1 we’ve had in the past (Dres, Patrick, Carrington), but the #2-6 are better than we have ever had.
DL looks to be better than it was last year. I mentioned this on another site, but losing Fitts, Lotulelei and Mokofisi hurts on paper. But in reality, Lowell and Fitts were injured all last year. DE was a real weakness for us. Fotu was our best DT the second half of the season and Tonga graded out as good as Mokofisi and better than Lowell. Anae should continue to improve, Tafua is better than what we had last year, Tupai looks like he has finally “got” it and should be able to contribute, Hamilton has bulked up and is starting to look like he can contribute at DE, Penisini looks good, and so on. Our DL won’t have the names from last year, but will be better.
Our LB’s look to be a position of strength this fall. Chase Hansen and Francis Bernard have NFL potential (if Bernard comes). Thompson and Barton were above average to end the season. Lloyd has potential. This LB crew should be as good as Paul/Norris if not better.
Secondary is the best in the south, and in the conversation with Washington to be the best in the PAC-12. And if your secondary is in the same realm as Washington, then your secondary is one of the best in the country.
We have the best kicker in the country.
We have the best punter in the country.
We just added Gary Andersen.
Troy Taylor is coming into his second season.
Our QB depth is better than we ever have. We have three QB’s that we could win 9+ games with. Huntley will be pushed by a QB with legit NFL potential…and right now Huntley is putting him in his place.
There is a reason why so many are so optimistic. For the first time ever, we are a legit PAC-12 team, from top to bottom, with PAC-12 players from 1-126. If our schedule was slightly easier (ie, we had Cal or OSU instead of Oregon or Stanford or Washington) we’d be the frontrunner for the south.
Our hard schedule is our achilles heal this year. And it isn’t as hard as it was last year.
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