Sometimes during "rebuilding years" like this year, hawk fans can remain upbeat because there are some young studs in the pipeline who have shown great potential and very few seniors graduating. Sadly, this years team leaves virtually no optimism for next year. Recruiting has taken a turn for the worst ever since the new staff came aboard. Thus, given this year's team's performance and the high number of seniors on it, next years is going to be worse. Let's look at what we lose:
RB: Draw. Our three year starter at RB, one of the school's career leaders, is gone. Also, our 3rd down back who has caught more passes than any rb in recent history graduates. Some optimism with Wadley and Canzeri coming back, but neither has proved to be even an average Big 10 RB. If Canzeri can stay healthy, he will be serviceable. Maybe Daniels can come back strong?
QB: Net loss (if CJ leaves). In all likelihood, our QB with the most potential and the biggest arm, CJ, is gone after this season. No one would blame him. The coach has made it clear that no matter how well CJ plays, Jake has been his man since he won the job 2 years ago and Kirk "hasn't given any thought to" changing that decision. So next year we are left with Jake. The guy who makes a living at check downs and gets happy feet at the slightest sign of pressure. He has shown glimpses of potential, but more often than not (including against Wisconsin, when the tv commentators were even asking Kirk to put in the backup), he is a "game manager," who can lead a team to a 7-5 record at best. If CJ is gone, we are the same or worse off at the position next year. We got 3 QB recruits coming in, but none had senior seasons that would lead us to believe they will be Big 10 qbs.
WR: Net loss. We lose one of our all time catch leaders. We also lose our first speedy deep threat in nearly a decade, in Powell. What we have coming back are the 3 white interchangeable WRs (Hillyer, Vandy, and who?), as well as Tavon Smith. Any recruits in the pipeline who have seen action and shown glimpses? None that I can think of, other than Willies, who Kirk ran off by playing favorites and not getting him in the game. If Willies comes back, there is some optimism. If not, we will actually be worse at the position next year than we were this year.
OL: Net loss. We lose our all American left tackle. We replace him with a walkon who will be a soph? We lose our RT and our C. Backing some of these guys up are, none other than, other walkons/2 stars. Any stud 4 star OL recruits in the past few years to reload? Nope.
LB: Net gain. We have one of the worst LB units we have had under Ferentz. We have gone out and recruited no JUCOs or 4 star LB recruits to add depth to the position. Given that two of our starters are walkons/2 stars, don't expect the unit to be much improved next year.
DB: Net gain. We lose one of our best DBs, Loudermilk. Everyone else is back. Hopefully, this means we will be slightly improved at the position.
TE: Draw. We lose our starter, Hamilton, but get Duzy back. We are always stacked at TE, so I foresee us being the same next year.
DL: Net loss. We lose our top to players off the DL, one likely being a first round pick in Davis. The other will likely play on Sundays in Trinca Pasat. We replace them with Bazda and Jaleel Johnson. Neither have really shown enough to be excited about. The DL will be worse next year by quite a bit.
