Once again, a runaway winner in the poll. Now, the voting is going to get harder. Lots of tough choices ahead for who is the next weakest group, especially today, tomorrow and Monday, in my opinion.
So, our position group rankings now sit as follows:
7. ST
8. DL
9. LB
My take: Our special teams could be awesome this year. Our special teams could suck this year. The reason they are a weak spot on the team is we quite literally have no idea. But the upside there is incredibly high. Special teams has been a problem for years, nay decades. Last year was no different--the kicking game sucked, the punt game sucked, and the return game was nonexistent. Borcila flaked out midseason, and they clearly didn't want to ask Peipergeides to do too much after that. Our two leading punters by average last year were Bean and Daniels. We only returned four punts. There is so much room for improvement. And it might come! At kicker, Seth Keller through his career thus far is eons better than any kicker we've had in the past decade. He missed one extra point in three years at Sam Houston, and was 37-43 on field goals. And he has backup--Tabor Allen did great at kickoffs last year and apparently did well in spring with kicking for points, too, and Charlie Weinrich and Peipergeides are strong depth (I expect Weinrich to succeed Keller next year). So if Keller can maintain his historical accuracy, we are improved. At punter, again, the returner was not that good--Vernon struggled to get distance or placement at times last year. He's replaced by an Aussie, Damon Greaves, with an incredible pedigree for development and who has never played football and our coaches had never seen in person before signing him. So, he could be great? He could be terrible? There are many ways this can go. But I like to think he can't be much worse, and if he is, we still can fall back on Vernon. At kick returner, Kenny Logan returns once again, and I would bet on Trevor Wilson to join him back there. That's a fine and formidable duo. Punt returner could be anyone--guys I didn't even realize were on the team still are getting reps--so I expect to see us not actually return punts again this year. Just put the guy best able to fair catch without dropping there, and we will be improved. The upside is high, the downside is what we got last year--another group with a lot of potential to improve this year.
So, our position group rankings now sit as follows:
7. ST
8. DL
9. LB
My take: Our special teams could be awesome this year. Our special teams could suck this year. The reason they are a weak spot on the team is we quite literally have no idea. But the upside there is incredibly high. Special teams has been a problem for years, nay decades. Last year was no different--the kicking game sucked, the punt game sucked, and the return game was nonexistent. Borcila flaked out midseason, and they clearly didn't want to ask Peipergeides to do too much after that. Our two leading punters by average last year were Bean and Daniels. We only returned four punts. There is so much room for improvement. And it might come! At kicker, Seth Keller through his career thus far is eons better than any kicker we've had in the past decade. He missed one extra point in three years at Sam Houston, and was 37-43 on field goals. And he has backup--Tabor Allen did great at kickoffs last year and apparently did well in spring with kicking for points, too, and Charlie Weinrich and Peipergeides are strong depth (I expect Weinrich to succeed Keller next year). So if Keller can maintain his historical accuracy, we are improved. At punter, again, the returner was not that good--Vernon struggled to get distance or placement at times last year. He's replaced by an Aussie, Damon Greaves, with an incredible pedigree for development and who has never played football and our coaches had never seen in person before signing him. So, he could be great? He could be terrible? There are many ways this can go. But I like to think he can't be much worse, and if he is, we still can fall back on Vernon. At kick returner, Kenny Logan returns once again, and I would bet on Trevor Wilson to join him back there. That's a fine and formidable duo. Punt returner could be anyone--guys I didn't even realize were on the team still are getting reps--so I expect to see us not actually return punts again this year. Just put the guy best able to fair catch without dropping there, and we will be improved. The upside is high, the downside is what we got last year--another group with a lot of potential to improve this year.
