I am finishing the defense today; I will list the offensive guys late next week.
Depth - We are losing nobody , but of course we were decimated by the defections this year. Back will be: Abdur-Rao'oof, Talib; Adams, Jarius; Austin; Blessian; Campbell, Zane; Chase, Brian, Cioffi, Anthony: Clayton, Najee; Hampton, Saquan; Hester, Kiy; Hunt, Andre; Jacobs, Davon; James, Ronnie; Snorweah, Charles; Verbitski, Brian; Walker, D'Von, and Wharton, Isiah. I count 7 guys coming back who I am sure will be contributors, so depth should not be an issue at all - barring the kinds of issues we had this year (doubtful).
Talent - Right now even I can see the potential in 2 or 3 to be special players before they graduate. 2 or 3 more could be strong B1G contributors also by the time they graduate. If Coach Flood comes back, Rene and Campbell look like they might be special players also. As I have said, it is amazing to me that our coaches have built the kind of depth that allowed us to field a serviceable backfield after losing so many players off the 2-deep in such a short time. Even just two years ago, we struggled mightily with half the number of defections.
Experience - We will have a great mixture of seasoned veterans and younger players. We are even looking solid for the year after with the guys we have out there now. I can't wait to see Hester and Cioffi out there next year ball-hawking. It should be the first year in a while that we have had such a strong defensive back field.
As far as coaching goes, I know some poster have questions about Coach Wilson. From my perspective I see him as a coach who was successful at Iowa for a number of year, and he seems to be getting this year's group to come together as an effective group rapidly. I see these as positives.
Depth - We are losing nobody , but of course we were decimated by the defections this year. Back will be: Abdur-Rao'oof, Talib; Adams, Jarius; Austin; Blessian; Campbell, Zane; Chase, Brian, Cioffi, Anthony: Clayton, Najee; Hampton, Saquan; Hester, Kiy; Hunt, Andre; Jacobs, Davon; James, Ronnie; Snorweah, Charles; Verbitski, Brian; Walker, D'Von, and Wharton, Isiah. I count 7 guys coming back who I am sure will be contributors, so depth should not be an issue at all - barring the kinds of issues we had this year (doubtful).
Talent - Right now even I can see the potential in 2 or 3 to be special players before they graduate. 2 or 3 more could be strong B1G contributors also by the time they graduate. If Coach Flood comes back, Rene and Campbell look like they might be special players also. As I have said, it is amazing to me that our coaches have built the kind of depth that allowed us to field a serviceable backfield after losing so many players off the 2-deep in such a short time. Even just two years ago, we struggled mightily with half the number of defections.
Experience - We will have a great mixture of seasoned veterans and younger players. We are even looking solid for the year after with the guys we have out there now. I can't wait to see Hester and Cioffi out there next year ball-hawking. It should be the first year in a while that we have had such a strong defensive back field.
As far as coaching goes, I know some poster have questions about Coach Wilson. From my perspective I see him as a coach who was successful at Iowa for a number of year, and he seems to be getting this year's group to come together as an effective group rapidly. I see these as positives.
