I was just reading that more than half of Zeke Elliot's (OSU rb) scoring runs went for double digits (yards). He rushed for over 1800 yards. We know Hunt had some great games this year. Over (1800 yards) himself. But two games he had over 100 yards in the first half but did not even set foot on the field in the second half. And to make things worse he missed three more entire games. Elliot is a fine rb but The University of Toledo has one hell of a rb. Man where would he have ended up? 2200 yards? I just cannot wait for Toledo Rocket football. Stay healthy Mr Hunt. Looking to see some awesome things from you and this Rocket team.

Hunt didn't break 1,800 yards last season. He was just over 1,600, which is very impressive since he did that in just 10 games.

Elliott had nearly 700 yards in OSU's three postseason games. The tear he went on was unreal.

(06-03-2015 07:43 AM)Rocket Pirate Wrote:  Hunt didn't break 1,800 yards last season. He was just over 1,600, which is very impressive since he did that in just 10 games.

Elliott had nearly 700 yards in OSU's three postseason games. The tear he went on was unreal.

Elliott runs behind two Preseason First Team All-American OL in Decker and Efflin. Boren, Price, and Farris aren't too bad either.

...and Hunt ran behind a great O-Line as well. It will be interesting to see what the YPC looks like this year with the revamped O-Line. Hope Kareem and the rest of the RBs can continue to put up gaudy numbers!!!

(06-03-2015 05:12 PM)Rocket A Wrote:  ...and Hunt ran behind a great O-Line as well. It will be interesting to see what the YPC looks like this year with the revamped O-Line. Hope Kareem and the rest of the RBs can continue to put up gaudy numbers!!!

I hope I am wrong but I fully expect to see a drop off in the productivity of the offense due to breaking in a new O-line. The new players may well be talented and even have seen some playing time, but they have not seen time together as a unit.

If you look at the past two seasons, there were some fairly complex blocking schemes with a lot of linemen pulling and working in unison on varying assignments to open holes almost every single down on running plays. This year I don't think that we will see such a well oiled machine working in unison on such complex schemes----of course when there is a hole, Hunt and the RB corps will still have those spectacular runs, but I just think that we will see fewer of them with more stops happening at the LOS and even TFL when the blocking schemes break down due to poor execution or missed assignments and this will hurt the YPC. Likewise I expect the pass protection which has been stellar the past two years, particularly in 2013, will drop off a bit as well.

However, as I have said elsewhere, while I expect a bit of a drop off on offense, I do expect a marked improvement in the defense this year. The way in which the offense's decline and the defense's improvement balance out will ultimately determine if this is going to be a good season (7-5 for example) or a great season (10-2) for example----I am leaning toward good---say 8-4 and another "close but no cigar" sort of year but at least capped off by a bowl game.

Of course at this point this just speculation that may or may not have any bearing at all on how the season actually plays out.

(06-03-2015 05:12 PM)Rocket A Wrote:  ...and Hunt ran behind a great O-Line as well. It will be interesting to see what the YPC looks like this year with the revamped O-Line. Hope Kareem and the rest of the RBs can continue to put up gaudy numbers!!!

They will, the O-line will be okay.

I think Bill Connelly is one of the best in the business when it comes to preseason reviews. If you have not yet read his preview on Toledo, I would recommend it. Below is part of his review based on the Offensive Line...

Quote:In 2013, Toledo was one of six teams to rank in the top 20 in both Adj. Line Yards and Adj. Sack Rate. In 2014, the Rockets returned four line starters and became one of six teams to rank in the top 25 in both categories.

When Greg Mancz got hurt against Kent State, he missed a few games, which forced Josh Hendershot to move to center and Storm Norton to start at left tackle. The three games Norton started are now the only three career starts the 2015 Toledo line can boast. All five starters are gone, which means accomplished young OL coach Tom Manning is going to earn his salary this fall.

With no drop-off up front, Toledo might have the best mid-major offense in the country. But how are you going to avoid a drop-off?

Granted, there will be plenty of juniors on the two-deep, along with graduate transfer Ruben Carter from Florida State and big JUCO transfer Sami Kassem. Size won't be an issue, and up to five members of the two-deep will be former three-star recruits according to either Rivals or the 247Sports Composite.

But damn, this is a lot to lose at once. It is the dominant question for Toledo. The Rockets boast 14 returning starters at the 17 offensive and defensive positions outside of this unit ... and none in this unit.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football...ule-roster

As long as Hunt can stay healthy, I think the offense will be OK. If he gets hurt again, we will struggle. The drop off after Hunt is considerable, IMO.

(06-04-2015 12:44 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  As long as Hunt can stay healthy, I think the offense will be OK. If he gets hurt again, we will struggle. The drop off after Hunt is considerable, IMO.

I think Swanson is a good back, but nowhere near Hunt. If the line and passing game are good, then I think the offense can still function with Swanson. But Hunt is such a force and I really hope he is healthy from the start of the season until the end.

Hunt should excel no doubt. The O-line is surely to have some growing pains, I just hope the drop-off isn't too bad. If we replace the O-line with one even near the same quality as last year, I will be shocked, and stoked! However, that is a far cry's chance, especially for the start of the season for sure. Personally, I think this might also be good for Swanson since he likes to play both the traditional running back position as well as catching some passes out of the backfield. If our O-line happens to sputter against stronger defensive teams, we may need more speed on the field along with some mobile blocking schemes. Swanson is also a decent blocker, so he should be a versatile part of the offense coming into his SO year. After Hunt wears down the teeth of the defense, Swanson will surely take his share of the spoils. After seeing his high school stats, and considering the area he came from, I will be surprised if he doesn't have a great season this year. My guess is that he will about 190 lbs of muscle by now. Swanson and DJM should both be fairly impressive this year, I would think. Studs get stronger year to year at this age, and all three are studs.

(06-04-2015 09:27 AM)SeniorBearcat Wrote:  I think Bill Connelly is one of the best in the business when it comes to preseason reviews. If you have not yet read his preview on Toledo, I would recommend it. Below is part of his review based on the Offensive Line...

Quote:In 2013, Toledo was one of six teams to rank in the top 20 in both Adj. Line Yards and Adj. Sack Rate. In 2014, the Rockets returned four line starters and became one of six teams to rank in the top 25 in both categories.

When Greg Mancz got hurt against Kent State, he missed a few games, which forced Josh Hendershot to move to center and Storm Norton to start at left tackle. The three games Norton started are now the only three career starts the 2015 Toledo line can boast. All five starters are gone, which means accomplished young OL coach Tom Manning is going to earn his salary this fall.

With no drop-off up front, Toledo might have the best mid-major offense in the country. But how are you going to avoid a drop-off?

Granted, there will be plenty of juniors on the two-deep, along with graduate transfer Ruben Carter from Florida State and big JUCO transfer Sami Kassem. Size won't be an issue, and up to five members of the two-deep will be former three-star recruits according to either Rivals or the 247Sports Composite.

But damn, this is a lot to lose at once. It is the dominant question for Toledo. The Rockets boast 14 returning starters at the 17 offensive and defensive positions outside of this unit ... and none in this unit.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football...ule-roster

o$u had to replace 4 starting offensive lineman this past season and they went on to win it all, so there's hope for us Rockets for next season.

Helluva preview, by the way.