Even KD's supporters are expecting big things for the upcoming season. This (via Bruingold) from one of the more notorious KD supporters:
We are VERY close this year as is...
5 areas of concern...and each has positives and areas for worry.....
1. QB - if no change in QB performance occurs whatsoever, we are STILL going to be a very good offensive football team this year....very good...to get to greatness all we need to have happen is a SLIGHT improvement in overall passing efficiency...not HUGE changes...slight changes...we all know the physical limitations of DO...and only looking at his numbers...the difference between a great offense and a good offense is in a few passes....we need him to get to 60% or more in passing....we need him to cut down hi interception ratio....and we are set...just a little more accuracy...a little better field vision is all it takes....for him to have reached 60% this last year...he would have had to complete 8 more passes...drop the interceptions down from 13 to 9....without changing the yards per attempt...and his QB rating goes up to 140...which would place him at # 20 in the nation...8 passes is all we need.
2. Overall defensive philosophy - we played a fairly loose zone coverage overall last year....that is because the coaching staff did not feel we had the speed and ability at corner to consistently cover in man....we are committing to covering in man and moving the CB's up to within 2 yards of the receivers this year...and to do that we can't let the receivers isolate the CB's for much time...so the pass rush better be fast and furious or the new strategy crashes down on us quickly. I LOVE this new philosophy...LOVE it...this type of agressive defense is what we have needed...but Kerr being more than a little cautious (in my opinion) will mean few blitzes out of this alignment...we will blitz...but not many all-out, go for the throat type blitzes...overwhelming the offense type blitzes...I would LOVE that as well if it were to happen....so we shall see if the new, agressive philosophy works...I am positive it is a step in the right direction though...
3. Defensive technique improvement - for the defense philosophy to work, both the CB's man technique and the DL rush/separation from the Ol techniques MUST improve...watching the DL befuddle the Ol in spring using the "Moore-kwon-do" hand fighting skills was a sight to see...Brown was unstoppable...Hickman was too fast and powerful to be handled on the outside...and Skaggs REALLY impressed me in the middle....very impressive development going on along the DL....the DB's looked to be having a great spring...each playing better and pushing the other players to improve....so I like our changes and chances defensively...
4. OL continuity - every yea, most every team must replace someone along their OL...and that means the Ol must re-form and bond again....typically the replacement OL guy for a departing senior played alot of minutes the previous year and the continuity remains intact...but you never know...that is why OL performance dips and peaks occasionally...so this is our year to replace two starters...and we need to see how the new OL jells....if they click quickly, we will be dominant offensively (assuming some slight changes in QB performance)...
5. Special teams - losing Kluwe is huge...and what I saw from Aaron Perez wasn't awe inspiring to say the least during the spring practices...his kicks were probably averaging in the 30-35 yard range...hang times in the 3.5 range typically....now he MIGHT have been only working on a certain aspect of his kicking (like the drop) and wasn't concerned with distance or hang time issues...but I was...lol...we need consistency...we grew comfortable with some BOOOOOMING kicks by Kluwe...we might have to "settle" on merely human kicks this year...which is fine provided we knock the living beegeevis out of the punt returner when he catches it....
Other tidbits of info....all the RB's from last year on the team have surpassed the 400 pound mark for bench, and the 500 pound mark for squats....the NFL camp at UCLA recently showed that the best 40 times were by Junior Taylor, then Drew...Breazell, Slater were also in th3 4.4 range...the defensive 40 times were incredible...Havner running in the 4.6's...a few DL in the 4.7-4.8 range....
This is the year we start putting it all together I think....no excuses...
(emphasis mine) Allrighty then. Hey ... we at BN totally agree. KD should win at least 9 games this season or get the heck out of Westwood.5 areas of concern...and each has positives and areas for worry.....
1. QB - if no change in QB performance occurs whatsoever, we are STILL going to be a very good offensive football team this year....very good...to get to greatness all we need to have happen is a SLIGHT improvement in overall passing efficiency...not HUGE changes...slight changes...we all know the physical limitations of DO...and only looking at his numbers...the difference between a great offense and a good offense is in a few passes....we need him to get to 60% or more in passing....we need him to cut down hi interception ratio....and we are set...just a little more accuracy...a little better field vision is all it takes....for him to have reached 60% this last year...he would have had to complete 8 more passes...drop the interceptions down from 13 to 9....without changing the yards per attempt...and his QB rating goes up to 140...which would place him at # 20 in the nation...8 passes is all we need.
2. Overall defensive philosophy - we played a fairly loose zone coverage overall last year....that is because the coaching staff did not feel we had the speed and ability at corner to consistently cover in man....we are committing to covering in man and moving the CB's up to within 2 yards of the receivers this year...and to do that we can't let the receivers isolate the CB's for much time...so the pass rush better be fast and furious or the new strategy crashes down on us quickly. I LOVE this new philosophy...LOVE it...this type of agressive defense is what we have needed...but Kerr being more than a little cautious (in my opinion) will mean few blitzes out of this alignment...we will blitz...but not many all-out, go for the throat type blitzes...overwhelming the offense type blitzes...I would LOVE that as well if it were to happen....so we shall see if the new, agressive philosophy works...I am positive it is a step in the right direction though...
3. Defensive technique improvement - for the defense philosophy to work, both the CB's man technique and the DL rush/separation from the Ol techniques MUST improve...watching the DL befuddle the Ol in spring using the "Moore-kwon-do" hand fighting skills was a sight to see...Brown was unstoppable...Hickman was too fast and powerful to be handled on the outside...and Skaggs REALLY impressed me in the middle....very impressive development going on along the DL....the DB's looked to be having a great spring...each playing better and pushing the other players to improve....so I like our changes and chances defensively...
4. OL continuity - every yea, most every team must replace someone along their OL...and that means the Ol must re-form and bond again....typically the replacement OL guy for a departing senior played alot of minutes the previous year and the continuity remains intact...but you never know...that is why OL performance dips and peaks occasionally...so this is our year to replace two starters...and we need to see how the new OL jells....if they click quickly, we will be dominant offensively (assuming some slight changes in QB performance)...
5. Special teams - losing Kluwe is huge...and what I saw from Aaron Perez wasn't awe inspiring to say the least during the spring practices...his kicks were probably averaging in the 30-35 yard range...hang times in the 3.5 range typically....now he MIGHT have been only working on a certain aspect of his kicking (like the drop) and wasn't concerned with distance or hang time issues...but I was...lol...we need consistency...we grew comfortable with some BOOOOOMING kicks by Kluwe...we might have to "settle" on merely human kicks this year...which is fine provided we knock the living beegeevis out of the punt returner when he catches it....
Other tidbits of info....all the RB's from last year on the team have surpassed the 400 pound mark for bench, and the 500 pound mark for squats....the NFL camp at UCLA recently showed that the best 40 times were by Junior Taylor, then Drew...Breazell, Slater were also in th3 4.4 range...the defensive 40 times were incredible...Havner running in the 4.6's...a few DL in the 4.7-4.8 range....
This is the year we start putting it all together I think....no excuses...
GO BRUINS.