Biggest concern for the 2014 season?

[LSU Law Greenie]

I know we have a lot of questions on both sides of the ball with the most obvious being Lee playing QB and some new faces on defense. But what worries me the most is the position of PK. Santos obviously was pretty money on FG's but his greatest asset was touch backs on kickoffs. Most kickoffs went either in or through the end zone. It makes a big difference when the opponent starts on the 25 instead of the 35 or 40. I'm really worried the kicking game could cost us a game or 2 this season. It was so nice to know that once the offense got to the opponent 35 we were in legit FG range.

Any thoughts? What are some of y'all concerns and don't give me any bullshit about the size of the stadium. I want this to be a serious topic.

[OUG]

In order:

Offensive Line
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
Placekicking and Deep Snapping

[nawlinspete]

Defense. If we can keep the opponent on defense by our shutting down their offense we will be fine. It is a lot easier to win low scoring games than it is to win track meet games. Our DEFENSE is our key to success.

[DfromCT]

1. Line Play on both sides of the ball.
2. See #1. Control the line of scrimmage and everything else falls into place. RB's have holes to hit and ability to showcase his talent. QB has time to look through his options and show off his arm. On D, pressure in the backfield makes everyone else that much better. Linebackers seek the ball, and secondary can jump the pass play if the QB has to get rid of it quickly.

We have skill players, but will only see their real abilities if both lines do their jobs.

[capwave]

I think you have to throw DL in there. Thankfully T Smart got some good experience and getting a healthy Calvin Thomas back will help, but loosing Davenport and Warmsley has me concerned.

[OUG]

I think you have to throw DL in there. Thankfully T Smart got some good experience and getting a healthy Calvin Thomas back will help, but loosing Davenport and Warmsley has me concerned.

Don't forget Welcome and Redwine, who apparently had a good spring.

[capwave]

I think you have to throw DL in there. Thankfully T Smart got some good experience and getting a healthy Calvin Thomas back will help, but loosing Davenport and Warmsley has me concerned.

Don't forget Welcome and Redwine, who apparently had a good spring.

Your right and they have experience. But they need to finally have big years.

[DfromCT]

If the line play on BOTH sides of the ball isn't strong, we're not going to win more than 3 or 4 games, tops.

[winwave]

1. OL play
2.DL play
3.LB play
4. PK and kick-offs
5.DS
6.TE's
7. The stadium being too damn small ( wouldn't have put that but for the uncalled for last sentence of the OP).

[msdos]

this is going to be blasphemy on this board, but we are assuming our offensive play is greatly improved due to a quarterback that hasn't played a down yet.

[jonathanjoseph]

I'll answer this slightly differently. It's not so much positions as a list of players, some of whom need to step up for the season to be the success we all hope.

Offense:
1) Tanner Lee, and that goes without saying. How long he takes to adjust will have the biggest impact.
2) KSM, Godfrey, Stewart. Can any of these "thumpers" step up and solidify the OL?
3) Terren Encalade, how quickly can he become a playmaker at the D1A level? Rare open field instincts.
4) Devon Breaux or Kedrick Banks, needs to become a playmaker.

Defense
1) Ade Aruna, Can he become a bookend pass rusher across from LaFrance?
2) Ed Williams or one of the frosh, needs to emerge next to Marley
3) Calvin Thomas, if he's a solid contributor, then our DL rotation won't miss as much as people expect
4) Which defensive back can replace the expected contributions from Franklin and Nickerson?

[jonathanjoseph]

this is going to be blasphemy on this board, but we are assuming our offensive play is greatly improved due to a quarterback that hasn't played a down yet.

Actually, yes. That's a combination of how bad Montana/Powell were last year and eyeball reports from spring practice.

We often forget that we just needed a QB to not lose games for us last year. Mind-numbing INTs cost us the FAU and ULL games last year and one could argue that mediocre QB play would have won us the UTSA and Rice games also.

[winwave]

this is going to be blasphemy on this board, but we are assuming our offensive play is greatly improved due to a quarterback that hasn't played a down yet.

Not really. I don't think anyone is saying the offense will be great. Many of us are just hopeful that if Lee is just competent this year then if the defense doesn't take a step back then we'll have a chance to win some games. We all know he's a RS freshman. Though it has to be noted the last two Heisman winners were RS freshman QB's. I'm not saying we should expect him to play at that level but it shows that it's not unrealistic to have hope that he can be productive this year. CJ and the staff did good by getting Montana in here. They knew we had no experience and as much as they thought of Lee they knew how much he'd benefit from a RS. So Montana did his part and Powell did too. The thing is I think the question about the defense is up for a lot more than most think it is. We'll see shortly.

[LSU Law Greenie]

Just as an FYI:

Last year Santos had 44 touchbacks out of 58 kickoffs which is 75.86 % which was #1 in the country in 2013.

[Eaglewave]

1. Offensive line (KSM? Stewart?Godfrey? Who's going to come out to play?)
2. QB ( CJ needs to name starter. We all assume that Tanner has won the job, but CJ needs to confirm this.)
3. LB Corps (Nico Marley became the 2 star playmaker that I expected, but he is just too small to carry the LB Corps. Bigger guys must step up.)
4. Offensive Lineman Coach. (Our O line has too many kids with experience for them to suck for a 3rd consecutive year.)
5. Offensive Coordinator (Last year's play calling was pure trash.)
6. Defensive Line (Losing Warmsley was big time. We can rumble without Davenport. But can Welcome and Redwine bring it?)
7. WR's (Xaiver Rush must step up.)
8. Blocking (Under the CJ era, our players block poorly on both sides of the ball. After a fumble recovery or INT, our players spend more time pumping their fist and holding up 1 finger rather then becoming blockers.)
9. Robert Kelly. (Will Kelly become a star this year? He has the ability to be very good.)
10. Tight Ends. (Can we incorporate our two 6'6 guys in the passing game?)

[JerseyWave]

Rick Dickson is still AD! That's my #1 concern as we head into the Fall of 2014.

[2ndGenWave]

this is going to be blasphemy on this board, but we are assuming our offensive play is greatly improved due to a quarterback that hasn't played a down yet.

Actually, yes. That's a combination of how bad Montana/Powell were last year and eyeball reports from spring practice.

We often forget that we just needed a QB to not lose games for us last year. Mind-numbing INTs cost us the FAU and ULL games last year and one could argue that mediocre QB play would have won us the UTSA and Rice games also.

+1

[sader24]

this is going to be blasphemy on this board, but we are assuming our offensive play is greatly improved due to a quarterback that hasn't played a down yet.

I agree with you in the sense that I think Tanner is going to have quite a few hiccups this season, however the QB last season was historically abysmal. I'm not sure how he could be worse.

[sader24]

To be honest there are lots of question marks all over the field. We all have our hopes up, but something tells me whenever our annual game by game season prediction thread starts during Fall Practice I think those of us who are honest with ourselves are not going to like our predictions.

[mbawavefan12]

Have to come out at worst 2-3 in the first 5.

Very worried about OL and WRs. Really have no clue how this season will go. I can already feel the butterfly's thinking about the Tulsa game, it's so huge for both schools.

[Hornetswave]

Tulsa vs TULANE GREENWAVE....this is my biggest game to be worried about so far.....ROLL WAVE ROLL.

[T1B2TW]

Tulsa vs TULANE GREENWAVE....this is my biggest game to be worried about so far.....ROLL WAVE ROLL.

You'll get no argument from me on this point.

[golfnut69]

to quote Keith Jackson..."The Big Uglies"