Ms st will be better next year.

[Coach007]

IMO, it's a little disingenuous to think that Fletcher Adams and Hoyett can even come close to replacing Jones and Brown. It's not happening coach. And while I do think Nelson is somewhat serviceable he's not CJ. I'll just go ahead and say it, but the three of them combined can't replace Brown and Jones.

Wait now..., i,said the defense will be improved. I did not say a position will be improved. A defense, or offense, can improve as a unit and not replace a star. Happens all the time. I'm not convinced we will miss jones as much as you think with the lbs we return and the ones we add.

[BB30]

We will miss dak a lot more than I think any of us want to believe. Still a chance to have a decent season but I don't think we will be much improved unless our o line becomes much better

[Coach007]

We lose the best player to even put on maroon. We lose both CBS. We might lose 1 or both DTs. Lose Ryan Brown. Maybe Torrey Dale who has finally come on as of late. Hutch, kickoff specialist, snapper, our best OLman on a bad OL, possibly Fred Ross and Bear (I doubt it on Bear because he won't evaluate well).

Our OL and RBs return... Our WRs should be ok but if we lose either of our studs we'll have a drop off. TEs will take a hit. The only positions we may be better at next season is DE, LBs, S's, K. Our offense will be worse.

Add to that the schedule is tougher with LSU, Bama and OM away. We also add SC and BYU. We'll be lucky to sweep our West home schedule with Ark, A&M, and Auburn coming to town. We could easily be going into November praying to keep a bowl streak alive.

No no no.. our TEs will be improved. Our Ol will be improved. Qb will be fine. Our rbs will be improved. I'm worried the most about the OL. They will improve from experience.... but that may not be enough.

[Coach007]

We will miss dak a lot more than I think any of us want to believe. Still a chance to have a decent season but I don't think we will be much improved unless our o line becomes much better

I don't think we are giving enough credit to Mullen on qbs. This will be the 3rd year for Fitz... I'm not worried.

The OL... yeah... very worried. We need a new ol coach, or a recruiter.

[HoopsDawg]

No no no.. our TEs will be improved. Our Ol will be improved. Qb will be fine. Our rbs will be improved. I'm worried the most about the OL. They will improve from experience.... but that may not be enough.

Anybody can come on here and say we will be improved next year. There's no way to prove it. It's like saying we have a great recruiting class. But if it's possible to be objective, looking at what we lose, you have to think we are going to take a step back.

[BrunswickDawg]

I don't think we are giving enough credit to Mullen on qbs. This will be the 3rd year for Fitz... I'm not worried.

The OL... yeah... very worried. We need a new ol coach, or a recruiter.

Fitz or Staley will have a good opportunity early to build on people selling them short because they are not Dak. They won't be as good, but they aren't going to kill us either - assuming the OL improves. Again, our season will hinge on OL. Outside of LSU, our schedule is manageable until November - as usual. SC and BYU are even swaps for Mizzou and USM.

[Coach007]

Anybody can come on here and say we will be improved next year. There's no way to prove it. It's like saying we have a great recruiting class. But if it's possible to be objective, looking at what we lose, you have to think we are going to take a step back.

That's true. But, I can look at what we have coming in and make that claim.

[Coach007]

Fitz or Staley will have a good opportunity early to build on people selling them short because they are not Dak. They won't be as good, but they aren't going to kill us either - assuming the OL improves. Again, our season will hinge on OL. Outside of LSU, our schedule is manageable until November - as usual. SC and BYU are even swaps for Mizzou and USM.

Intelligent. Nice post!

[msugolf]

That's true. But, I can look at what we have coming in and make that claim.

How? How can you make that claim? Because you're a troll?

I'm sorry, you're just not a real person.

[Liverpooldawg]

We won't fall off as far as many think but we will miss Dak. We are in a transition phase right now that started THIS year, not next year. Shore up the line and 2017 could be fun.

[Political Hack]

SC and BYU are even swaps for Mizzou and USM.

Respectfully disagree here.

BYU > USM every year
SC next year > Mizzu this year

[Eric Nies Grind Time]

South Carolina would have to make a very good hire for me to be worried about them at all next year. BYU is a slightly scarier OOC opponent than what we had this year, but nothing crazy.

[ScottH]

All I know is....

Mizzou this year > BYU this year

[BrunswickDawg]

Respectfully disagree here.

BYU > USM every year
SC next year > Mizzu this year

The only thing worrisome about BYU is what ref crew we get. They are not the old BYU, and Mizzou just beat them. Record wise and talent level is very similar to USM now.

[Johnson85]

We lose the best player to even put on maroon. We lose both CBS. We might lose 1 or both DTs. Lose Ryan Brown. Maybe Torrey Dale who has finally come on as of late. Hutch, kickoff specialist, snapper, our best OLman on a bad OL, possibly Fred Ross and Bear (I doubt it on Bear because he won't evaluate well).

Our OL and RBs return... Our WRs should be ok but if we lose either of our studs we'll have a drop off. TEs will take a hit. The only positions we may be better at next season is DE, LBs, S's, K. Our offense will be worse.

Add to that the schedule is tougher with LSU, Bama and OM away. We also add SC and BYU. We'll be lucky to sweep our West home schedule with Ark, A&M, and Auburn coming to town. We could easily be going into November praying to keep a bowl streak alive.

I agree with your overall point, but I think the part of the schedule you highlighted actually helps us. We aren't beating LSU or Bama anywhere. OM at home would help, but they'll probably take a step back next year too so that's still a possible win. Much more important to get Auburn at home and A&M at home. Uk on the road could end up scary. Hopefully USCe won't improve a lot. It's hard to project (who thought Auburn was going to be this bad or that A&M would basically be two teams this year, a top 25ish team for half the season and possibly the worst team in the West for half the season), but I don't look at this year's schedule compared to next and think one is much better than the other (except for the fact that we know that Mizzou and Auburn ended up sucking this year; we don't knwo who if anybody will fall off a cliff next year).

We're going to take a step back next year for all the reasons you mentioned. Our only hope is that our O-line gets much better. That's not a completely crazy thought. Jenkins and Calhoun are young enough that they could both make significant jumps this off season. If they turn into pretty good linemen, Senior and CLayborne get a little better, Rankin is solid and Flowers comes in to replace Desper, then we should be able to put a line out there that at least doesn't have a revolving door at any position, which should make it much, much easier to sustain drives. If Mullen doesn't insist on spending another year proving that Shump isn't an SEC back, we could end up with an offense that is much more suited to Mullen's strengths.

[Coach007]

We will be better.

[sleepy dawg]

We will be better.

I like that you're sticking to your guns, but I just don't see it. I think the lack of experience at QB will definitely cost us at least 1 game. Probably 2.