Strength and Weakness of 2011 team.

Correct me if I am wrong, but this team seems to be pretty loaded up with depth and competition at almost every position. A few questions:



What will happen at tight end? Is coach Wreynolds up to this task. I've heard through the grape-vine that his enthusiasm has declined in recent years.



How will the secondary look?



Our D-line is big enough to stop the run, but will it be too big to pass rush?



Am I wrong to be excited about the linebackers? It seems like there will be at least one great addition at that position (Kavinga) . Maybe that is where the pass rush will come from.



Did Apo's finger heal up completely? That sounded like an injury with some permanent damage.



Will Bronco have the 1s practice against the 1s prior to Ole Miss? Seems like he has the depth to practice a little harder.

The Defensive Line & the Linebackers are going to control the trenches & stuff the run. If the Lineman get stopped @ the line - the Linebackers are athletic enough, strong enough & quick enough to finish off the task. All good!

One weakness is youth. while most are returning we are still a young team.



my biggest concern is tight end and defensive back. Quarterback is also a concern but not a huge one. Jake will get better each game, but as i mentioned earlier he is only a sophmore. if we can get our pass defense in good shape, then our d is going to be better than last year. people will struggle running against us. we have talent and depth in the front 7. if our pass defense is good, we will be hard to move the ball against.



offensively, i worry less because our offensive line is experienced, good, and deep. that will allow the rest of the offense a little leeway to continue building chemistry, timing and an understanding of our 'new' offense. we will be much better by the end of the year then the beginning (obviously) but i am hopeful that we will be good enough early on to make it through the gauntlet with only one or two losses. i think there is a chance we could run the table but that is hard for any team to do. i expect there will still be a learning curve with this bunch but as the year goes on they are going to be very good.

The issues I have are not positional, because those will play out. They are unit related. And with the road schedule we have this year, they could be big.



1) Can we run it when we have to vs. big, physical BCS caliber defenses. This will be major in our first 2 games. BYU has struggled with this and never been great at it, except 1996 and 2001. And in close games when we need a first down to kill off the clock or get in better field goal range, can we do it? Great o-lines can run on anyone, not just weak sisters. The experience we have this year needs to equal results in this area.



2)Will the front 4 develop a pass rush for BYU this year. The last several has not--at all. That means Bronco may have to blitz to get pressure. And with a very inexperienced secondary, that could be an issue. Our front 4 needs to hold their own on passing downs, and even if not get sacks, they need to create some havoc. This will help our secondary immensely.



3) Kicking game needs to be REALLY good. On the road, especially. I suspect we will play more field position type of games, with time of possession being a goal on our road games. For an example, see the SDSU game last year. In those tight games, we need special teams, and the kicking game to help us out.

I think our strengths will be our linebacking corps, our offensive line, and the receivers.



My biggest question mark is our defensive backfield. This is what our defense hinges on every year.

Because we run a modified 3-4, in which a LB comes up to the line, but does not go down into a stance, we are basically running a 4-3, with the option of dropping one of our lineman (the LB) into coverage. This means that on most running plays, the D-line is asked to take up blockers, while the LB's are asked to make tackles. Seeing that we have such a large D-line, and good to great LB's, running plays shouldn't be a concern this year.



However, this modified 3-4 also means that if our Defensive Backs are unable to cover their assignments in a man to man situation, we are forced to fall into a zone, which prevents us from rushing more than 4, and in many cases only 3. It is unrealistic to imagine that a 3 man front is going to create enough havoc to disrupt the passing game. This is especially true considering we lack the prototypical DE who has the speed to disrupt the pass by himself.



That is why I think the DB's will be by far the most important position on the field this year. I think our offense will be able to move the ball effectively (although I am concerned about our ability to score in the blue zone without an established TE), but in order for our team to truly be great, we are going to need our corners to allow us to send more than 3-4 men at the QB.

Lawboy wrote:
Our front 4 needs to hold their own on passing downs, and even if not get sacks, they need to create some havoc.

See Fangupo. Watching him in the spring game was ridiculous. I am sure that him and manu will be creating some serious havoc.

I fear that we will give up some big plays due to inexpereince in the D.

jonnylingo wrote:

Our front 4 needs to hold their own on passing downs, and even if not get sacks, they need to create some havoc.

See Fangupo. Watching him in the spring game was ridiculous. I am sure that him and manu will be creating some serious havoc.

Fangupo looks impressive. Did he play at all last year at USC? One site listed pass rushing as one of his weaknesses. Do Ole Miss or Texas like to run up the middle? Cuz that wont be happening with this D-line.

Dwight wrote:

Lawboy wrote:
Our front 4 needs to hold their own on passing downs, and even if not get sacks, they need to create some havoc.

See Fangupo. Watching him in the spring game was ridiculous. I am sure that him and manu will be creating some serious havoc.

Fangupo looks impressive. Did he play at all last year at USC? One site listed pass rushing as one of his weaknesses. Do Ole Miss or Texas like to run up the middle? Cuz that wont be happening with this D-line.

That is all Ole Miss does. Texas is transitioning into running the ball more. Fangupo played but I don't believe he was a starter. But honestly at the spring game there was not an offensive lineman that could stop him. he was putting them on their backs. given i believe he is listed as third on the depth chart i think they will be able to rotate at dtackle and really wreak some havoc on the opposing teams offensive line.



pass rush is clearly a weakness of ours. having bryson would be great. sure hope he comes back. rowley should get better and better at pass rush as well.

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Says the passing game may be sparse for Ole Miss. They have a good O-line but will struggle if opposing teams "stuff the box". Looks like that's something BYU can do well this year.