On Thursday night, a much anticipated season starts and I am still conflicted on how good we'll be.
At QB, I think Lee will have a good year. I expect about 20 TD’s and ten or fewer INT’s. We’ll see. If he is hurt, I think we are in real trouble. I don’t see Powell or Cuiellette as 1st string FBS-level QB’s. They are far behind Lee in my view, though Cuiellette has time to develop. If he doesn’t play this year, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Powell move on as a graduated redshirt senior.
I think we’re good at running back. I don’t believe we have any “All Americans” or, super backs like Matt Forte, but we’ve got solid guys, some real speed, and lots of depth. Play calling and good use of each back’s individual skill set will be important, maybe crucial, to success.
I like our tight ends. We’re not as big, nor possibly as fast, as a lot of teams, but we’ve got some guys who would play on some of the better teams in the country. I still don’t see much blocking coming from this group, however, and they need some consistency in catching the ball.
I don’t see the talent that some see in our woefully thin wide receiver corps. Veal looks like the best but he would not be the #1 receiver on many teams in the entire country (my view). Breaux continues to have a lot of potential. And, though CJ seems to be happy with Encalade, I, for one, didn’t see much last year and he hasn’t “jumped off the page” for unbiased observers in camp. I hope he proves me wrong. The two freshmen seem to be struggling so far, but they’ll have to contribute. That Coach Johnson has failed to recruit better at “his” position is perplexing to say the least.
Can our running backs and tight ends shore up the receiving corps? That is a big question in my mind. When (if) we go to four and five receivers, they’ll obviously have to contribute. But then, a lot will depend on the QB’s ability to read the defense and the offensive line’s ability to give him time to find 2nd and 3rd receivers. We’ve certainly got some quick backs who could do some damage in the open field, but if we need them to stay in to block, their ability to go out for passes will be hampered.
As for the offensive line, it looks like we will line up five guys with at least two letters each and a great deal of time playing together. We made marginal improvements each of the past two years, but, in my mind, we were still well below average (up from horrendous). If we can get average performance from the line (meaning equal to roughly half of FBS teams), our offense could shine. I think that is “doable.”
Our defensive line should be fine. The two tackles could have big years with a year of experience playing together and if LeFrance can “come to play every down,” he’ll make all-conference. We have some talent at the other end, but it’s unproven. And our depth is a real question mark. Redwine is a career back up and, from reports, Edwards still looks fat and slow. Thomas doesn’t appear to have returned to his freshman form and our backups at the ends might not be quite ready. Depth should improve as the current freshmen class gets experience, but it could take a while, maybe a full year. Still, I’m pretty happy with the starters.
Line backing should be OK if Marley and Thomas retain their health. Both are undersized (meaning short) and tend to overrun some plays due to being overly aggressive. But that’s an error I can live with. Backing them up are guys who look good on paper (possibly better than the two starters) but haven’t shown it yet on the field.
Assuming we play 5-6 backs most of the time like we have the past couple of years, we are short on experience but, I believe, long on athleticism. The latter does not make up, however, if we can’t tackle, “bite on 1st moves,” or get out of position. Nickerson was fabulous last year playing in a very experienced secondary. Can he repeat that performance with “newbies” all around him? I hope so. Franklin appears ready to step in at the nickel and Allen, hopefully, with two years of experience, can establish himself at the opposite corner from “Nick.” We still need a strong safety. How much will we miss Scofield, Doss, Nixon, LeBeau and Leonard Davis? It could be a lot. Hopefully not.
At punter, Picerelli has been “up and down” but not tragically bad. I expect a solid year from him.
I also expect more yardage from our return team than we’ve seen in recent years. We’ve got some fast guys and some athletic guys, but so has everyone we play. We’ll see.
On the defensive side of returns, I’ll be thrilled if we can keep up the play of the past couple of years. Guys like Carthon and Wadleigh have been great, though I haven’t heard Carthon’s name a lot this fall. Hopefully, some of our freshmen can step in to replace the departed special teamers.
As far as our kicking, I have no idea if we’re in for another year of watching a “clown act” or if we can expect improvement. Camp reports have not been encouraging—at best “up and down.” Hoping for more “ups” than “downs.”
Coaching will be very important. We hear a lot of talk about what we’re “going” to do or “plan” to do or “might” do. Unfortunately, we simply don’t have the talent to say, “go out there and beat those guys.” We need to be better conditioned than the opposition. While that requires individual discipline, it also falls to coaching. We need to get our “fast guys” in space against their slow guys and not allow them to do the same to us. That’s coaching. We need to give our QB options that our offensive line can give him the time to execute. That’s coaching. During the final scrimmage, according to the official site, Tanner Lee was 17 for 22 passing for 111 yards, which included a 35 yard completion. That means his other 16 completions averaged less than five yards each. While the completion percentage was great, we need to gain more yards per pass than that. Receivers need to get open "down field."
And we need to put our defense in the position to make “big plays,” create turnovers, provide field position, and score a few points. Again, that’s coaching. While I think we’ve seen that on the defensive side of the line, I’d argue that we’ve not seen that on the offensive side during CJ’s tenure. I doubt many would disagree. For him to establish a long career at Tulane, that must change. Here’s hoping it starts on Thursday. In looking forward to the season, I waffle between 3 and 8 wins. I’m now predicting a five win season and hoping (again that term) for more. With a little luck, and maybe a pleasant surprise or two from our players, we could do better, a lot better.
Roll Wave!!!
At QB, I think Lee will have a good year. I expect about 20 TD’s and ten or fewer INT’s. We’ll see. If he is hurt, I think we are in real trouble. I don’t see Powell or Cuiellette as 1st string FBS-level QB’s. They are far behind Lee in my view, though Cuiellette has time to develop. If he doesn’t play this year, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Powell move on as a graduated redshirt senior.
I think we’re good at running back. I don’t believe we have any “All Americans” or, super backs like Matt Forte, but we’ve got solid guys, some real speed, and lots of depth. Play calling and good use of each back’s individual skill set will be important, maybe crucial, to success.
I like our tight ends. We’re not as big, nor possibly as fast, as a lot of teams, but we’ve got some guys who would play on some of the better teams in the country. I still don’t see much blocking coming from this group, however, and they need some consistency in catching the ball.
I don’t see the talent that some see in our woefully thin wide receiver corps. Veal looks like the best but he would not be the #1 receiver on many teams in the entire country (my view). Breaux continues to have a lot of potential. And, though CJ seems to be happy with Encalade, I, for one, didn’t see much last year and he hasn’t “jumped off the page” for unbiased observers in camp. I hope he proves me wrong. The two freshmen seem to be struggling so far, but they’ll have to contribute. That Coach Johnson has failed to recruit better at “his” position is perplexing to say the least.
Can our running backs and tight ends shore up the receiving corps? That is a big question in my mind. When (if) we go to four and five receivers, they’ll obviously have to contribute. But then, a lot will depend on the QB’s ability to read the defense and the offensive line’s ability to give him time to find 2nd and 3rd receivers. We’ve certainly got some quick backs who could do some damage in the open field, but if we need them to stay in to block, their ability to go out for passes will be hampered.
As for the offensive line, it looks like we will line up five guys with at least two letters each and a great deal of time playing together. We made marginal improvements each of the past two years, but, in my mind, we were still well below average (up from horrendous). If we can get average performance from the line (meaning equal to roughly half of FBS teams), our offense could shine. I think that is “doable.”
Our defensive line should be fine. The two tackles could have big years with a year of experience playing together and if LeFrance can “come to play every down,” he’ll make all-conference. We have some talent at the other end, but it’s unproven. And our depth is a real question mark. Redwine is a career back up and, from reports, Edwards still looks fat and slow. Thomas doesn’t appear to have returned to his freshman form and our backups at the ends might not be quite ready. Depth should improve as the current freshmen class gets experience, but it could take a while, maybe a full year. Still, I’m pretty happy with the starters.
Line backing should be OK if Marley and Thomas retain their health. Both are undersized (meaning short) and tend to overrun some plays due to being overly aggressive. But that’s an error I can live with. Backing them up are guys who look good on paper (possibly better than the two starters) but haven’t shown it yet on the field.
Assuming we play 5-6 backs most of the time like we have the past couple of years, we are short on experience but, I believe, long on athleticism. The latter does not make up, however, if we can’t tackle, “bite on 1st moves,” or get out of position. Nickerson was fabulous last year playing in a very experienced secondary. Can he repeat that performance with “newbies” all around him? I hope so. Franklin appears ready to step in at the nickel and Allen, hopefully, with two years of experience, can establish himself at the opposite corner from “Nick.” We still need a strong safety. How much will we miss Scofield, Doss, Nixon, LeBeau and Leonard Davis? It could be a lot. Hopefully not.
At punter, Picerelli has been “up and down” but not tragically bad. I expect a solid year from him.
I also expect more yardage from our return team than we’ve seen in recent years. We’ve got some fast guys and some athletic guys, but so has everyone we play. We’ll see.
On the defensive side of returns, I’ll be thrilled if we can keep up the play of the past couple of years. Guys like Carthon and Wadleigh have been great, though I haven’t heard Carthon’s name a lot this fall. Hopefully, some of our freshmen can step in to replace the departed special teamers.
As far as our kicking, I have no idea if we’re in for another year of watching a “clown act” or if we can expect improvement. Camp reports have not been encouraging—at best “up and down.” Hoping for more “ups” than “downs.”
Coaching will be very important. We hear a lot of talk about what we’re “going” to do or “plan” to do or “might” do. Unfortunately, we simply don’t have the talent to say, “go out there and beat those guys.” We need to be better conditioned than the opposition. While that requires individual discipline, it also falls to coaching. We need to get our “fast guys” in space against their slow guys and not allow them to do the same to us. That’s coaching. We need to give our QB options that our offensive line can give him the time to execute. That’s coaching. During the final scrimmage, according to the official site, Tanner Lee was 17 for 22 passing for 111 yards, which included a 35 yard completion. That means his other 16 completions averaged less than five yards each. While the completion percentage was great, we need to gain more yards per pass than that. Receivers need to get open "down field."
And we need to put our defense in the position to make “big plays,” create turnovers, provide field position, and score a few points. Again, that’s coaching. While I think we’ve seen that on the defensive side of the line, I’d argue that we’ve not seen that on the offensive side during CJ’s tenure. I doubt many would disagree. For him to establish a long career at Tulane, that must change. Here’s hoping it starts on Thursday. In looking forward to the season, I waffle between 3 and 8 wins. I’m now predicting a five win season and hoping (again that term) for more. With a little luck, and maybe a pleasant surprise or two from our players, we could do better, a lot better.
Roll Wave!!!
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