RobHowe
Administrator
Adversity Strengthens Keagan Johnson's Resolve
Iowa Receiver Motivated After Injury Wipes Out Bowl Game, Spring Ball
www.si.com
Agreed on talent at the WR. But, at the risk of stating the obvious, the success of this team will come down to OL play. It was way too inconsistent last year. Petras can be an effective system QB, but he is not going to beat anyone off script. That means there has to be a consistent running attack, that can lead to play action, and keep Petras out of predictable passing situations. If the OL cannot generate a running attack, it won't matter how talented our receivers are because Petras will be on his back or checking down to no one on 3rd and 8 plays.
Add to that the fact that our tackles will have another year of experience and we should be better on offense. Every team with decent or better edge rushers gave us problems last year.I have no objective basis for making this statement, but I think the passing game is going to be appreciably more effective this season and a healthy KJ is a big part of that. He can stretch the defenses, but also can make tough catches over the middle. He played well last season as a true frosh, but had some dropsies, so there is room for him to be even better. With LaPorta underneath, and with an improved running attack, I see Petras developing into an average QB. That should be good enough given the defense I expect we will have. In general, I think we will be able to sustain more drives this season. We have nowhere to go but up!