Heres just my thoughts on the season and my point of view on position breakdowns, team play and coaching as a whole:
QBs - I think everyone is on the same page here. Bolin just didnt have enough to get it done and could not close out games. Gio gave the offense and team a spark of energy and confidence during a stretch of games where it was important for us to win games. Our passing game was about as pathetic as you could have imagined. No vertical passing attack whatsoever and when there was a vertical passing attack we missed open guys or guys werent open. Next year we’ll have a more experienced room and a few new guys who was can be excited about. It is imperative for Lewis to take this off season and develop himself as a passer i.e study the playbook, watch as much film as he can, and get timing down with the WRs. If he can develop himself to even be a game manager and average 150 yds/game next year we’ll win 6 games.
Position grade - D
RBs - Not much to say here. All 3 of the running backs who rotated were solid all year long. Edwards was extremely impressive and has a shot to play on sundays. At times I thought Martin was a better runner than Edwards but they had different styles. Blackshear was clutch during that stretch of important and will benefit greatly from being in the weight room. Edwards and Martin will be greatly missed but much to be exctied about with Blackshear next year.
Position Grade - A-
WRs - This position group was particularly troubling. Losing Grant for much of the season pretty much eliminated any chance of even a moderate passing attack. Tough position for the freshman to be in. Melton was non-existent and shouldve have been playing in the slot from game 1 as opposed to the outside, thought that much was obvious but im not around them every day. Ahmir Mitchell being kicked off the team will hurt us next year as well. Hayek, Melton, Jabbie need to crush the weight room this off season if we want any semblance of a passing attack that can throw over 10 yards next year. Offseason focus: work on separation from man press defenders and just getting open in general.
Position Grade - F
OL - Thought they were great all year long. Obviously they were very much improved from the prior season as they gave up the fewest allowed sacks in the big10. I cant wait to see what Vretman and Clark do in the future as the both look like they could make big impacts.
Position Grade - B
DL - Showed some great things this year. At times would have liked to see more pressure on the QB but they were solid all year. Turay and Joseph will be sorely missed.
Position Grade - B
LB - This group surprised me at times. Although they were undersized and outmatched they made some great plays at times. One thing that bothered me all year was at times they were really out of position and Deonte Roberts was the worst offender of this one. Fogg showed some flashes towards the end of the year and I think this unit will keep improving which will help immensely.
Position Grade - C+
CB/S - For a unit that was riddled with injury, this was the group that surprised me the most. Harris coming in was a brilliant move and he looked like he was in his natural position. We played a lot of young guys this year and to be completely honest, they held their own in a lot of games against some very good talent. Hester to me seems out of position a lot and certainly missed some important tackles as well. They stll dont look back at the ball for how many years in a row now. For the younger guys to be thrown in and have moderate success is important for their development and they should be a strength once again going forward
Position Grade - B
Coaches
Head Coach - Ash for most of the season was extremely frustrating. Had nothing to loss and a lot of times played way way way too conservative. The punts inside our own territory were horrible and we were playing not to get blown out in a lot of games. When youre playing top teams in close games sometimes you have to get ballsy. He always had that confused look on his face and like he was a deer in the headlights. One thing i’d like to see more of is him getting into the ref’s face and get a little red in the face like he did on the off sides vs Maryland. The plan he has laid out is being executed like he said but hes learning on the fly and he needs to improve a lot which i think he will.
HC grade - C-
OC - Kill was way too conservative all season long. I understand the control the game clock game plan but needed some aggressiveness at times. He had to dumb down the playbook a lot which is OK because of our young team but needed him to open it up as the season went on. As the players grow I hope he expands the playbook next year.
OC grade - C
DC - I thought Neimann had a great gameplan all season. The players were well prepare minus the Indiana game and given the injuries in the secondary I thought that he adjusted and the defense was strong as a unit. They understandably got worn down in most games but that is to the fault of the 3 and out bug the offense has. I think this will be an evsn stronger unit next year as all the young guys are a year older.
DC Grade - B
Season - Althought 4-8 left a lot to be desired with tough losses to EMU and Nebraska which we couldve won, there is obvious improvements to our football team. We hung around tough with UW, PSU and UMich which was big for growth of the football team. On the flip side, we looked looked like a HS team vs Indiana and for upward trajectory we cant being doing that. Looking into next year we could win 4-6 games and I think that would be successful. I couldve made this significantly longer but wanted to keep most of the analysis shorter.
Season Grade - C
QBs - I think everyone is on the same page here. Bolin just didnt have enough to get it done and could not close out games. Gio gave the offense and team a spark of energy and confidence during a stretch of games where it was important for us to win games. Our passing game was about as pathetic as you could have imagined. No vertical passing attack whatsoever and when there was a vertical passing attack we missed open guys or guys werent open. Next year we’ll have a more experienced room and a few new guys who was can be excited about. It is imperative for Lewis to take this off season and develop himself as a passer i.e study the playbook, watch as much film as he can, and get timing down with the WRs. If he can develop himself to even be a game manager and average 150 yds/game next year we’ll win 6 games.
Position grade - D
RBs - Not much to say here. All 3 of the running backs who rotated were solid all year long. Edwards was extremely impressive and has a shot to play on sundays. At times I thought Martin was a better runner than Edwards but they had different styles. Blackshear was clutch during that stretch of important and will benefit greatly from being in the weight room. Edwards and Martin will be greatly missed but much to be exctied about with Blackshear next year.
Position Grade - A-
WRs - This position group was particularly troubling. Losing Grant for much of the season pretty much eliminated any chance of even a moderate passing attack. Tough position for the freshman to be in. Melton was non-existent and shouldve have been playing in the slot from game 1 as opposed to the outside, thought that much was obvious but im not around them every day. Ahmir Mitchell being kicked off the team will hurt us next year as well. Hayek, Melton, Jabbie need to crush the weight room this off season if we want any semblance of a passing attack that can throw over 10 yards next year. Offseason focus: work on separation from man press defenders and just getting open in general.
Position Grade - F
OL - Thought they were great all year long. Obviously they were very much improved from the prior season as they gave up the fewest allowed sacks in the big10. I cant wait to see what Vretman and Clark do in the future as the both look like they could make big impacts.
Position Grade - B
DL - Showed some great things this year. At times would have liked to see more pressure on the QB but they were solid all year. Turay and Joseph will be sorely missed.
Position Grade - B
LB - This group surprised me at times. Although they were undersized and outmatched they made some great plays at times. One thing that bothered me all year was at times they were really out of position and Deonte Roberts was the worst offender of this one. Fogg showed some flashes towards the end of the year and I think this unit will keep improving which will help immensely.
Position Grade - C+
CB/S - For a unit that was riddled with injury, this was the group that surprised me the most. Harris coming in was a brilliant move and he looked like he was in his natural position. We played a lot of young guys this year and to be completely honest, they held their own in a lot of games against some very good talent. Hester to me seems out of position a lot and certainly missed some important tackles as well. They stll dont look back at the ball for how many years in a row now. For the younger guys to be thrown in and have moderate success is important for their development and they should be a strength once again going forward
Position Grade - B
Coaches
Head Coach - Ash for most of the season was extremely frustrating. Had nothing to loss and a lot of times played way way way too conservative. The punts inside our own territory were horrible and we were playing not to get blown out in a lot of games. When youre playing top teams in close games sometimes you have to get ballsy. He always had that confused look on his face and like he was a deer in the headlights. One thing i’d like to see more of is him getting into the ref’s face and get a little red in the face like he did on the off sides vs Maryland. The plan he has laid out is being executed like he said but hes learning on the fly and he needs to improve a lot which i think he will.
HC grade - C-
OC - Kill was way too conservative all season long. I understand the control the game clock game plan but needed some aggressiveness at times. He had to dumb down the playbook a lot which is OK because of our young team but needed him to open it up as the season went on. As the players grow I hope he expands the playbook next year.
OC grade - C
DC - I thought Neimann had a great gameplan all season. The players were well prepare minus the Indiana game and given the injuries in the secondary I thought that he adjusted and the defense was strong as a unit. They understandably got worn down in most games but that is to the fault of the 3 and out bug the offense has. I think this will be an evsn stronger unit next year as all the young guys are a year older.
DC Grade - B
Season - Althought 4-8 left a lot to be desired with tough losses to EMU and Nebraska which we couldve won, there is obvious improvements to our football team. We hung around tough with UW, PSU and UMich which was big for growth of the football team. On the flip side, we looked looked like a HS team vs Indiana and for upward trajectory we cant being doing that. Looking into next year we could win 4-6 games and I think that would be successful. I couldve made this significantly longer but wanted to keep most of the analysis shorter.
Season Grade - C
