2008 Spring Preview
Key Questions Answered
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2008 ACC Spring Analysis
The Clemson
skill players might be the best in America, but will they have time to
work? How big of an issue is the offensive line going to be considering
all the replacements?
From Roy Philpott,
CUTigers.com
The offensive line is a work in progress. On paper, it looks
as though Clemson lost nearly everybody from last year up front,
however, a closer inspection reveals there's more experienced talent
returning than most realize. In fact, three starters from the bowl
game return - C Thomas Austin, G Barry Humphries and right tackle
Chris Hairston. The Tigers will also depend on a strong redshirt
freshman class this year to fill in the other holes, in particular
tackle Landon Walker and guard/tackle David Smith. Reserve tackle
Cory Lambert, a redshirt junior will also be a part of the rotation
on the offensive line. Four-star tackle Antoine McClain, a true
freshman, could also enter the mix in preseason camp. Austin is the
anchor and is the key for this unit. Clemson's offensive line play
improved considerably when he moved from guard to center midway
through last season. He replaced Humphries, who moved over to a
starting guard spot and was much more comfortable there. It could
take a few games for this unit to gel, but there's more talent
available this year than last. It just doesn't have the experience.
How
much have the suspensions set Florida State back going into this year? Is this really Drew Weatherford’s team now?
From McKinley Rolle,
NoleDigest.com
The suspensions hurt more from a perception level. FSU has
many talented players on the bench who can step in and fill spots as we
saw in the Music City Bowl. These players are very inexperienced, though. The
suspensions will also allow some freshman to play immediately next
season. It also doesn't hurt that your first two games are against
Western Carolina and Chattanooga.
This really should be Drew Weatherford's team but I
don't know if it will be. He has the respect of his teammates. He has an
excellent work ethic and people notice that, but I don't know if his
teammates really believe in their hearts that Drew can help them win the
ACC Championship or a National Championship. He'll also have to fight
off the more athletic redshirt sophomore Christian Ponder and has to battle highly touted prep
quarterback E.J. Manuel.
One other thing, this now Jimbo Fisher's program. His fingerprints were all over the last
recruiting class and this will ultimately be his first recruiting class
(Class of 2009). That has already hauled in three of the top 100 players in
the country.
He hired HIS guy.....James Coley from FIU. Coley was the offensive
coordinator at FIU last
year, coached with Jimbo at LSU, and Nick Saban with the Dolphins.
1) Are the pieces really
in place at Georgia Tech to run the offense the way Paul Johnson wants to, and 2) how’s
the fan base reacting to the change in attacks?
From Jonathan Leifheit,
GoJackets.com
1) The pieces are there across the offense. The depth is a question and
obviously the biggest question is at QB. Josh Nesbitt has all the
tools to run this offense - size, speed, elusiveness, and the arm. The
question is if he can put it all together and learn to run the mental
portion of the offense. Calvin Booker will be the only other
scholarship QB entering practice. So, development of Jaybo Shaw and
Tevin Washington in the fall will be vital. At the B-back
position, Jonathan Dwyer is a perfect fit to go with Quincy Jones,
Trevor Bray, and Luke Cox. Roddy Jones and Corey Early have the skill
set that seems to fit perfectly in the A-back (a.k.a. slotback) positions.
The receivers all have good size and have the talent to easily do what
they will be asked to do. Additionally, there's an experienced
offensive line up front that has good mobility across the board that
should fit nicely with the required skill set.
The biggest question will be how well the team buys in to the spread
option philosophies of Coach Johnson and how well they learn the various
reads each position has to make to allow the offense to work.
2.) The fan base is largely optimistic about the new attack. Many look
at what Coach Johnson did at Navy with lesser talent than most of his
opponents and believe that he can do much more given the overall higher
level of talent at GT. Still, there are some who worry about how well
this version of the spread will work at a BCS level. While Navy played
plenty of BCS schools, very few of them were at a championship level.
1)
Who’s the best fit at quarterback at
Miami, and 2) can
the expectations be kept in check for a year until the tremendous
recruiting class kicks in?
From
Mike Bakas of CanesTime.com
1) Robert Marve will likely be the best
fit at quarterback because of the experience factor. He's the only
one with any. UM will have four
freshman quarterbacks on its roster this fall and three of them were
playing high school football just a couple months ago. While Marve
doesn't have any game experience at Miami, he went through an entire
season and that will play a big role. Plus, it's his job heading
into the spring (he's No. 1 on the depth chart) and it'll be tough
for one of the incoming freshmen to beat him out because he's such a
talented player. Not only will Marve have the most experience, it
can be said that he's got the most ability of the four as well.
2) Expectations? They'll have to be
tempered because this is
still a very young team. None of the quarterbacks will have any game
experience. The defense will be very young and inexperienced,
especially after losing Calais Campbell and Kenny Phillips to the
NFL a year early. There are new coaches in place, a good young core
group of players, and excitement will be high. However, the Canes
will still be very young in 2008 and the schedule won't be easy.
2008 should be a good primer for 2009, when the Canes will likely
make their run at getting back to national prominence.
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