Wolverine247 Board

yup, and he better be better, because the recievers/tight end group as a whole will be less talented/experienced.

Not sure who is saying we won't be good next year. But Denard better be improved or we might be in trouble. I want to see the Denard from Nebraska/OSU last year. I do not want to see Denard throwing jump ball interceptions when he has wide open running lanes or him pulling the ball down and running without giving the play enough time to develop.

I agree that the majority of the offense's effectiveness will fall on Denard, as most would. His passing has to improve, and from all accounts from the spring, it has. My biggest fear is that he is good in practice (passing), but in a game day environment, he gets too excited and loses focus on his mechanics and decision-making. I think he tries too hard to make a play, leading to ball security issues. He needs to learn to tuck it and run sometimes, while other times he needs to let the play develop. If he can find that happy median, he will be virtually unstoppable.

The passing game does not solely fall on Denard though. The receivers need to step up immensely, and I think they can. Roundtree needs to revert back to his 2010 form, where he and Denard had great chemistry, though Roundtree was playing from the slot mostly. It would be great if a couple outside receivers could step up and allow for him to slide down to the slot more. The quick slant in 2010 was the bread and butter for 'Tree and DRob, and very much the offense as a whole (besides Denard running for huge chunks of yards).

We are talented at the RB position, with a well-rounded Fitz, a couple bruisers in Rawls and Hopkins, and some change of pace backs Smith and Hayes, though it could be argued that Smith is about as well rounded as they come. That kid runs amazingly hard for his size. It all boils down to the O-Line.

Lewan and Schofield will be bookends, but the interior is somewhat suspect. Omameh is solid, but didn't impress last year like I thought he would. Barnum is leaning a new position, and center is arguably the most important position on the line. We were blessed with Molk the past few years, and the biggest question is will Barnum fill those very large shoes? LG is still a tossup, but I think we will be alright. Depth is the single biggest concern, as we all know. An untimely injury to a starter could spell disaster.

TE is also a position of concern. Although I didn't think Koger was outstanding, he was well rounded and very serviceable. We have some guys not that need to prove themselves, and somebody needs to step up and evolve into a good blocker AND receiver. Having a TE by committee can lead to keys for the opposing defense.

Overall, I see this offense being about as productive as last year. We face some tough defenses, so the stats may tail off a little bit, but I see the tough games remaining close.