Here were the starting lineups for our offense last year (returners only) in the two wins - Tulane and SMU.

Tulane
WR - Keyarris Garrett
OT - Garrett Stafford
OG - Chris Wallace
OC - Dylan Foxworth*
OG - None
OT - Blake Belcher
QB - Dane Evans
RB - James Flanders*
HB - Mandel Dixon/TE Tyler Wilson*
FL - Keevan Lucas
SE - Josh Atkinson


SMU
WR - Keyarris Garrett
OT - Garrett Stafford
OG - Chris Wallace
OC - Zac Uhles*
OG - None
OT - Blake Belcher
QB - Dane Evans
RB - Zack Langer*
HB - Mandel Dixon
FL - Keevan Lucas
SE - Josh Atkinson

So we basically have 8 returning starters on offense who were in that lineup for both our wins - thus I consider us to have 8 starters returning on offense.

Like the defensive starters, this will be my offensive template. The asterisk* is used if a starter in one game wasn't the starter in the other.

Hope this didn't confuse anyone.

I expect our defense to be improved this year but I expect our offense to be really improved. We ran such a bland offense under BB, just about anything would be an improvement. If our defense could reduce the points allowed per game by even 5-7 points, I think our offense will easily average two touchdowns per game more than last year. I think those things could easily happen and we should end up about 6-6 in Monty's first year, which wouldn't be bad at all.

Let me start with the QB position. We have a returning starter in Dane Evans. As I've stated in the past, I think DE is a very accurate short passer with a somewhat questionable deep throw/arm. From what I saw in the spring, Dane was slightly improved and he seemed to be a little more mobile, but of course that was against a defense playing "tag" during that scrimmage. I'm not a big fan of Calcagni - he just looks awkward compared to some of the others and I think he is second string because the new staff doesn't want to mix up the order of play right now - electing to keep things stable at that vital position - as much as possible. So I think in the fall we will probably see DE as the initial starter with a mixture of several guys backing him up.

I still have my reservations about Dane who showed a "dis-Dane" for running the pigskin last year. But some of that may have come from the BB staff which makes no sense whatsoever because if you are going to run the belly read with the RB and not keep it, why run that play? But thats for another thread I guess.

I do know this, from what I've seen, DE has one of the best set of WRs in the league and a couple of kids that may end up playing on Sundays in the future. If the passing game isn't effective, IMO it won't be the fault of those WR's.

QB rating is B. If DE can run the ball somewhat effectively, put a plus on that grade.

IMO

Now the RB's.

If there is one area that BB and staff seemed to develope it was the run game. So his emphasis was on recruiting kids who could run the old power play/blast play in the I formation until the defenses cried for buttermilk. When they had the linemen and the big, tough runners, that worked very well, but later on, it seemed that telegraphing the play series could be stopped regardless of the runners in the setback spot. Then when we upgraded from CUSA to the AAC, it fell apart even more. But thats for another thread.

We have a good corps of runners returning and its a position the new staff won't have to worry about since its pretty deep. So here is the way I see the depth chart.

1. Zach Langer
2. Deangelo Brewer
3. James Flanders
4. Tavarreon Dickerson
5. Ramadi Warren

Langer is the banger at 6-0 220 and can be spot played in the new offensive scheme, but I think PM wants the breakaway threat in the game as much as possible, so Brewer, Flanders and Dickerson combined will probably have more minutes. I think some of the bigger blocking backs and occasional runners like Dixon will convert to TE. There was no HB listed on the spring roster, so that position may have vanished.

One thing about the new offense is there won't be an intentional "setup" from one play to the next imo. There "will' be a design, but that design will be what is needed to break the play every time instead of to run clock or hold on to a lead. That means we will need a "group" of runners instead of "the man". Get ready for some long gains and a lot of them. It may take awhile, bit its going to happen.

RB gets a grade of A- in my book - mainly because there is experience and a scheme that isn't so dependent on them carrying the load.

Our deepest and most talented position is the Wide Receivers/Ends. I think we may have the best corp of recievers in the league and comparable to most BCS level programs. I'm going to expand the receivers to 4 spots and will designate them as WR1, WR2, WR3 and TE. The reason is that I'm not completely sure of the sets PM will use most. But we have mega-talent at any set we want to put on the field.

TE - Tyler Wilson* 6-7 245-------Payton Prince 6-4 255-------Mandel Dixon* 6-2 240 (Starter at HB last year)

WR1 - Keyarris Garrett* 6-4 225 --------Nigel Carter** 6-3 205

WR2 - Keevan Lucas* 5-10 195--------Bishop Louie** 5-10 175--------Conner Floyd** 6-0 200

WR3 - Josh Atkinson* 6-3 205---------Juston Hobbs 6-4 210

Once again, the receivers are very good and have a bundle of starting/playing experience. We are big, fast and skilled here. With these guys on the field, we will be very scary for several teams in and out of the conference. We do need them to stay healthy though.

They grade out an A+. Size/experience/speed/savvy.

*Designates returning full starter.
**Limited starter.

We finally have some size and speed........I agree, if the QB can get them the ball they should grade out at an "A". We've waited a long time for this kind of size.......we better use it and I think we will now that we have a coach who plays a hurry up offense!!!!

The Offensive Line has been a group that had to carry the load under the BB regime. When they were dominant, we played well/won, but when we didn't dominate, we almost surely lost and sometimes big. So the line will be a focal point for the new scheme and a concern to begin. We have talent there and if they can adapt to the new plays and speedy play calling, we will be very good and score a bunch of points.

We should have 5 starters returning, but unfortunately, one of them evidently isn't returning which is to be expected when there is a coaching flip-over. I'm pretty sure the lineup here will be the same from last year and the big qusetion is who takes that one missing spot.

We have very good, solid players everywhere except that one OG. Stafford, Wallace and Belcher started about every game last year and the center spot was manned mostly by Dylan Foxworth and subbed by Zac Uhles. IMO all those kids can play and compete with the better lines in the league. My main concern is that one missing OG. The new staff moved former DT Willie Wright (6-3 295) to that position in the spring and I assume it was a bit of an experiment. Sometimes this works because a DL usually has a nasty streak some OL don't possess. Whether that results in WW starting, I can't say. Evan Plagg (6-3 280) seemed to get some praise for his work and is a former walkon who reshirted, but the new staff likes him. Mildren Montgomery (6-5 270) is a former player who had several good offers when we recruited him and seems to have a lot of the intangibles, but not much experience. He redshirted last year, but is supposed to be a very good athlete. Tyler Bowling is a man mountain (6-7 325). I'm sure he was recruited to be a player who would bloom at some future point after his RS last year. Issac Johnson (6-7 295) another RS is in that mold as well. And I really liked Chandler Miller from his HS play. He may be the future center, but was a great drive blocker at Bixby.

So there we have it. An OL that needs one player to step up and one of them I mentioned above will be that player. We have good talent here and once they gel with the new schemes, we should be very good here.

Grade = B+