Hypothetically, in what areas do we progress/regress in 2015?

[chamrocck]

Offensive line must improve. We won't have Ameer who is able to make something out of nothing. We had a tough time running on Mich. St. and USC. Ameer willed and grinded many runs against Miami. I am looking for a big jump in improvement on the O-line.

LB's were the weakest defensive link IMO. Not enough good tackling and slow to keep up with other teams RB's and WR's. Zaire was probably are quickest nose to the ball at LB and will be missed. Bray needs to turn Bando into an all-conference type player. Santos needs to also benefit with new coaching and raise his game.

 

[Thanks_Tom RR]

Progression:

LB play has been poor, a result of 1) Bo's two gap man scheme, 2) poor recruiting at this specific position (recruiting has been better else where), and 3) Els being the man-with-multiple-hats covering LBs, special teams (until this year), and recruiting coordination. Bray is a young talent, and we will get back M Rose plus get two new LBs. The only potential step back would be in the loss of Zaire and Roach

TE will definitely see an improvement under Riley's offense, and hopefully, Carter can stay healthy all year. We also have two athletic TE with RS-Fr Freedom and 2015 recruit Matt Snyder.

QB development should see growth over the off-season under Riley and Langsdorf. We will most likely hear a lot of talk either regarding a QB competition or transferring QBs, based on the number of QBs on scholly.

OL please God make this unit better. Our zone blocking scheme, predictable snap count, and lack of team competition had this unit playing poorly. Recruiting has been good/great the last couple of years, so we should see some very young talent making an impact as the season progresses.

Regression:

RB will take a step back talent-wise without Ameer. Cross may be used better in Riley's offense, but he needs to run more physical (similar to the 2013 season), and both Newby and Cross have to hold onto the ball better. Wilbon and Taylor are both unknowns who need to prove it on the field.

Bo knows DB. The secondary ranked #1 again this year. We have had multiple DB coaches, but Bo and his scheme was the constant that kept this unit one of the best in the nation. Regress might be a harsh word given the amount of talent that will remain on the roster, but it's hard to stay #1, and I anticipate our defense will be more oriented to stop the run next year.

Stay the same:

All special teams play. ST was solid this year, sans FG. We keep all the major players for each of these units, and with a ST coach, I don't think we get any worse. We might see some growth in Drew Brown, which would help.

WR no idea without knowing who the coach will be. We are losing KB, but he has been injured for most of the year anyway.

DL loses RG4 but keeps a lot of young talent. We also have 5 DE (Keels, King, Natter, Newell, and Stoltenberg) who have not contributed yet, but we only need 1-2 to develop, and hopefully, get Moss back. DT should be good again.

 

[TonyStalloni]

Many comments about or DB's always being ranked highly. That is often the result of either two things. Either the DL or LB's are hurrying the QB or the opponents are having such great success running the ball that they don't bother to pass often. We have seen both during Bo's tenure. Suh and co were disrupters while since then our D has often been run on with contempt.

My hope for the new coaches is getting the team to play confident and fast and not worry if BP was going to ride their hineys to the bench and beyond.

 

[Nebhawk]

Areas that I expect to see major improvement is QB play first. Second I think we see better route running from our WR's.

Like someone stated, our OL needs much attention. Without that being improved, it doesn't matter how much QB is improved.

We won 9 games with a sub par OL this year. The OL didn't give up 59 points to Wisky. They didn't give up the early lead to Michigan St. So although it is help, defense is major concern first.

I think that there will be no regression. I think that the offense will be ok. I think that our special teams will be ok. Defense is where it starts at. Defense needs to get better upfront, and in the middle. Front 7 needs work. Losing Gregory, but he never went all out every play, so are we really losing alot there? DL never went after it hard every time either. When those players went for it, our front 7 didn't look that bad. So I think with some come to jesus meetings and change in attitude this team is closer than most think. At least close to winning the West div.

 

[swmohusker]

Areas that I expect to see major improvement is QB play first. Second I think we see better route running from our WR's.

Like someone stated, our OL needs much attention. Without that being improved, it doesn't matter how much QB is improved.

We won 9 games with a sub par OL this year. The OL didn't give up 59 points to Wisky. They didn't give up the early lead to Michigan St. So although it is help, defense is major concern first.

I think that there will be no regression. I think that the offense will be ok. I think that our special teams will be ok. Defense is where it starts at. Defense needs to get better upfront, and in the middle. Front 7 needs work. Losing Gregory, but he never went all out every play, so are we really losing alot there? DL never went after it hard every time either. When those players went for it, our front 7 didn't look that bad. So I think with some come to jesus meetings and change in attitude this team is closer than most think. At least close to winning the West div.

O didn't give up 59 points but they did not move the ball at all for 3 quarters allowing the snowball to gain steam. Defense forces like 4 turnovers and we get them out of there game plan. Second level defenders killed us all year.

Progress I would say oline, wr/qb communication, run defense

Regress pass defense, wr play(mainly blocking), rb due to graduation

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

All areas...

Also...all tough games are at home...

Seems like we should be very excited for next year and really be looking at 11 wins

11 wins? I think that's a tough task. BYU, at Miami, Michigan State and Wisconsin will give us fits.
I do hope we can compete for the division next year, but NU faces an uphill battle.

 

[gtsum2]

I would like to see an identity established on offense and a reduction in turnovers and penalties. We really need some O lineman to develop (as well as get more depth at D line). LB depth is not good at all...need some difference makers there. I like our secondary, RB's, TE, and WR's going into next year...none of which works real well without mean and nasty lines (and our "hell in a helmet" line was anything but this year)

 

[Saunders]

All areas...

Also...all tough games are at home...

Seems like we should be very excited for next year and really be looking at 11 wins

11 wins? I think that's a tough task. BYU, at Miami, Michigan State and Wisconsin will give us fits.
I do hope we can compete for the division next year, but NU faces an uphill battle.

We had better. The Big Ten West division is hot garbage, and there's no excuse to not be in it come the last week or 2 of the season.

 

[True2tRA]

All areas...

Also...all tough games are at home...

Seems like we should be very excited for next year and really be looking at 11 wins

11 wins? I think that's a tough task. BYU, at Miami, Michigan State and Wisconsin will give us fits.I do hope we can compete for the division next year, but NU faces an uphill battle.

We had better. The Big Ten West division is hot garbage, and there's no excuse to not be in it come the last week or 2 of the season.

I don't think anyone said we won't be in it. He said those could be some tough games.
We've been "in it" almost every year toward the end, we haven't won 11 games ever under the previous staff.

You say there's "no excuse", but actually there's a pretty good excuse if we would take a short step back, though I don't expect it. An entire coaching staff change is a pretty big deal. There's a lot that goes with it.

We lost some pretty good ball players off this squad as well.

 

[Red Five]

LBs will improve because they actually have a D-1 coach.

I also expect to see our TO margin improve. It's amazing we won as many games as we did with our TO margin the last few years.

 

[klb835]

Offensively we will be really hard to stop with pierson el and my boy stanley morgan. Heck even Jamal Turner might have a good season. I think we will be 11-1 so that's an improvement Playing for big ten title

 

[Redux]

I mean statistically on Pass D. Overall I think we will be ok in that area, just maybe not the nationally ranked numbers we got used to.

 

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan]

Improvements:

QB

O-Line

Regress:

D-Line

I think next years D is not going to be pretty at all, mainly because of the lack of big time playmakers on that side of the ball, which is odd for a "defensive guru" to struggle getting decent players on defense. Armstrong will improve if he starts, the offense as a whole would improve under Stanton IMO. I think DPE and Cross will do extremely well next year since Riley knows how to put them in positions to be successful.

That D though... that will be the biggest question next year.

 

[IvabigN]

I'd say we'll go 9-3 regular season- so with a bowl win we could be plus one.

This is all based on a somewhat easy schedule- i.e. new coaching at Wisconsin and a home game with them as well as MSU and Iowa at home.

BYU's QB, if 100% might be the wild card in all of this but they say he isn't even walking on his own yet

I see losses to MSU (even at home) Minnesota, and Miami

I'd say that Rutgers could be a loss but they lose a lot of players.

all in all, we'll be in the same spot as last year, give or take

 

[jsneb83]

I mean statistically on Pass D. Overall I think we will be ok in that area, just maybe not the nationally ranked numbers we got used to.

I, personally, would rather us be top 20 in both rush and pass d as opposed to top 5 in pass d and 50+ in rush d. Especially now being in the B1G.