(10-14-2018 06:57 PM)bit_9 Wrote: (10-14-2018 06:50 PM)blueandsilver Wrote: (10-14-2018 05:33 PM)Mr.BigBlue Wrote: (10-14-2018 09:14 AM)Old Dominion Wrote: (10-14-2018 08:23 AM)Mr.BigBlue Wrote: Good point .....I didn't expect much this year because I knew our OL, QB, and DB were marginal at best. Next year...will be MUCH worse.
I can certainly understand thinking this, but I'm going to hold out a little hope.
At a minimum we'll have a new Defensive Coordinator.
We'll see how our freshman look from here on out this season and we look to have a pretty decent incoming class next year.
Maybe it'll be a case of addition by subtraction. Many senior linemen and D backs graduating, hopefully they'll be replaced by potentially better freshmen.
New coach and Freshman are my justification. Plus no depth and we lose some top WRs.
Kinda sad that at this point in the program, we are pinning hopes on freshmen --- what about all that hypertalk about we need to get through a complete recruiting cycle and then we will reap the rewards of experienced upperclassmen who were recruited at FBS level. Was all that talk by BW complete garbage?
That wasn't just him. That was many on here as well. It's what I was waiting for. This year was supposed to be the year we had ear marked for a few years. Outside the VT win it's been a failure.
Posted from mobile device. Hopefully it's coherent.
There were legitimate reasons for that optimism.
Our first FBS recruiting class as a CUSA member was for 2014.
That was the #2 class in CUSA and 68 overall in the Nation. It included Ximines, Duhart, and Lawry.
https://247sports.com/college/old-domini...l/Commits/
By year three (2016) those players are Juniors and those that were redshirts have gotten playing experience. Consequently we could have expected to see a dramatic improvement.
By 2017 we would have peaked with that class (no G5 redshirts all of their Freshmen) and by 2018 we would have the 5th year seniors left and still been at a high level, especially supplementing FBS recruits each year.
However, we did not
apparently maintain the 2014 level of recruiting, dropping to the bottom of CUSA and the Nation since.
Our defensive woes cannot be completely explained by personnel, so, with off season changes there may be hope for improvement.
Overall, however, based on our recruiting ranking post 2014, next season does not, on paper, look anything but ugly.
So far the 2019 class looks fantastic, and if we can supplement that class with quality recruits, then by 2021 we may be a force in CUSA.