2010 position rankings

[ISU_Alum_2000]

KU, NU, CU, KSU, NIU, and UNI will all likely have inferior QB play. Utah breaks in a new guy I think, too.

Utah will start Jordan Wynn (a guy we recruited) who started for them the second half of the season last year as a true freshman.

[Frak]

Our biggest questions on offense are going to be center and WR.

I don't think that center is going to be a problem at all with Lamaak moving there. IMO there won't be a drop off. The OL's biggest question will be depth. Haughton should move to RG with Burris sliding in at RT. He played quite a bit this year, so I'm not too worried there. My worry is depth. Caspers is supposedly redshirting. Tuftee and Lichtenburg are just getting off redshirt. Spears and Baysinger haven't gotten any playing time yet and Smith is a walk-on who could be solid, but we haven't seen enough to prove anything. IF Hicks makes it back, then we have a solid backup or possibly a starter forcing Alvarez to be more of a utility backup.

WR has a lot to prove. I'll feel a lot better when Young and Gary are on campus. If that happens, I think that the position has a chance to be MUCH better than last year. Reynolds back, a year in the weightroom for Lenz, a healthy Darks and SJ...

TE is a worry for me. Catlett did a lot of nice things and it remains to be seen whether Howard can pick up the slack there. I don't think that the underclassmen are going to be ready to help much. Of course, as far as receiving threats go, Franklin is more than solid.

On D, I'm concerned about everywhere but CB and DT/NG. DE should be better, the question is how much. They need to be twice as good as they were and I don't know that they'll get there...even with Nelson and Parker. LB, I feel OK, but the depth there is VERY questionable. Makes me a little less worried that they didn't feel the need to go JUCO. Safety all depends on Givens. If he comes in and plays at the level that Sims did, we're in great shape. If not, starting O'C or Sandvig opposite Sims means that we've taken a step back or at the very best stayed even IMO.

I think that we'll know a lot more watching how Howard, Young, Brooks and Taufoou do this spring and who all shows up this summer.

[clonehenge]

Utah will start Jordan Wynn (a guy we recruited) who started for them the second half of the season last year as a true freshman.

And tore it up in their bowl game...kid looks like he's going to be a stud. I only saw him play that one game but I would have to give him the edge at QB...he was extremely accurate and just seemed like a playmaker.

[CloneIce]

How can anyone possibly rate QB before LB? Or DL before LB for that matter.

Seriously, we have no linebackers who have ever started a game before. By default it is our weakest position until proved otherwise.

[Cyclonestate78]

I would switch 1 and 2 but other than that I agree. We need to find away to get pressure up the middle against the passing attacks. That will be key.

This. Our ability to get pressure on the quarterback makes everything better on defense. I think our secondary is in pretty good shape but those guys can't continually cover some of the receivers that we face in the BIG XII when the opposing QB has all day to sit in the pocket. We absolutely have to find a way to get pressure. If we can do that look out because last year we didn't get pressure on qb's too often and you can still see how much our D improved. I really think that is going to be the last piece to the puzzle. Well... that and the fact that we didn't play the Chizdick/Bolt 10 yard cushion with our corners on every play.

[Clones85']

KU, NU, CU, KSU, NIU, and UNI will all likely have inferior QB play. Utah breaks in a new guy I think, too. Iowa is a push as both Stanzi and Arnaud make great plays and idiotic ones in the same game, and Texas and OU have some serious question marks. Tech's guy is probably one dimensional, and a system product, and Mizzou clearly has a better guy.

Garrett Gilbert will be the best Qb in the conference next year IMO.

[Cyclone29]

weaknesses???? you'd have to assume we are going to be better. AA with a bum hand most the season and still did pretty good. D-line will be the weakness if any. We need to get pressure to the QB. All the other positions will be fine if you ask me.

[IOWASTATE]

I think the secondary will be fine... I would say the biggest thing to affect them is the loss of Ash. Otherwise, talent wise I think they bring a lot to the table (hopefully)

[CrossCyed]

Don't worry about Austen. He puts in more work than any other player, and he's had to face a number of injuries.

The RB position will be dripping with talent. Like IOWASTATE said, the secondary should have talent with Sims, Givens, Johnson and A. Young the likely starters with guys like O'Connell, Reeves and Benton all providing solid play. Losing Ash is the major blow there.

The D-line is the biggest concern.

[dualthreat]

how can we not worry about austen? He needs to be a complete Stud for us to be good. And his sophomore year he did very well, but he needs to improve on that.

We all know its not Just arnaud, but he misses wide open receivers a lot. That really really needs to be corrected-- but im not sure if one offseason is enough.

Not weaknessess, but concerns: From most to least

DL
P
TE
QB
WR
LB
DB
K
OL
RB

[Istate]

Here's how I'd rank the units from strongest to weakest:

WR...while we haven't seen game-breaking ability out of any of these guys, we do have alot of kids that are solid contributors. Darks was finally getting back his stride. Johnson is solid. We lost our best WR, but we have enough guys coming back, and our receivers aren't asked to do any tremendous. Just catch the 5-7 passes and make an occaisional play. They all can do that

QB...AA isn't an all-american, but he's experienced and confident. Plus, everyone knows he's the leader which instills confidence in a team. Tiller is a competant back-up, but he isn't accurate enough of a passer to be a serious contender to replace AA.

RB...Alexander showed that he's capable of being a 1,000 yard rusher. Yeah, our schedule was WEAK last year against the run, but the offense is set up to get backs like Alexander 70 yards on a bad day because you can't focus enough on him when we're running option. Not having depth is biggest issue here. I think Johnson is by far the best recruit coming in this year and will be #2 by year's end.

K...we're as good here as we have been in a long time. We need a kicker because we still struggle to score inside the 20's and will with this type of offense

now it starts getting a little hairy...

OL...yes, we have alot of talent back, but we lost our best. We saw what happened when Steph wasn't in. He makes the calls and was a solid leader. I'm a little more nervous about our OL than I though I would be heading into 2010.

S...Sims was probably our 2nd best defender last year and seriously gave us at least one win. I'm a little worried about our other spot, but Simms is too good to rate the S positions down any further regardless of who is there.

TE...we were 50/50 on who was the better fit last year. Now we have one and even if he can't get it done, we've got enough depth at WR to offset it.

CB...not good here. Almost slipped into the next category. LJ is a good athlete, but he isn't a great cover corner, and he misses too many tackles going for the knock-out shot (however not quite as many missed as Banks had). The other spot is going to be either manned by a nickel LB or someone new. Not a situation we need in a conference of talented wide receivers.

now it's almost scary what we're going to be seeing here

DL...We lose our best two defensive lineman from a line that was ok against the run but couldn't pressure Jared Lorenzen after a stopp at BK. We get parker back who at best is an average Big-12 DL when healthy (will he be healthy?). The rest are still new but with at least some experience so it isn't a complete blackhole. We're going to struggle more against the pass and the run this year...partly because of the next unit







LB...seriously, those of you predicting we're going to be better at LB next year are either pipe-dreaming or pipe-smoking. We lost our best defensive player. The heart, soul, and brains of our defense for basically three years. We also lose our multi-year starting outside backers too. We replace them with a Juco underperformer and two sophomores whose primary experience is running down in a lane to make tackels on kick-off coverage. Do these guys appear to be decent athletes? Yes, when running down hells-bells covering a punt or kick. How 'athletic' do they look reading guards, taking on fb's, and dropping into zones? That's right, we don't have any idea. If these guys can just move into the serviceable category, we have a legit shot of getting to 6 wins. However, they, when coupled with the new DL, could also lead us to a 3-4 win season too.

[Campbell14]

Knott looked pretty athletic against Colorado

[RustShack]

I think our LB's will be better next year. Losing Smith is the biggest blow, but this is college football. Speed and talent is more important... and these three are more athletic than the last three. Now, if theres an injury.. thats when the concern starts.

[RustShack]

Klien will be the Sam, Taufoou the Mike, and Knott the Will.