So we've got all the hard data we're going to get for the next four months. Here's what we know (or, rather, what I think I know):
- The team is talented, deep, and experienced at the offensive skill positions. The best pure passer in the league will be throwing to a talented stable of receivers and handing off to as many as four running backs with playmaking ability.
- The offensive line is unsettled. The pass blocking more than likely won't be as good as it was last season. The run blocking, almost as a matter of simple mathematics, has to be better.
- The defensive line has potential, but it's potential of the very young variety.
- The linebackers are led by the top defensive playmaker in the league and show enough depth for the 3-4 to be a real possibility as the base defense--which could just maybe mean less predictable defensive play calling.
- The starting defensive backs (Rucker/Adams/Hyde/Robinson) look good on paper, although that's the only place the defensive backs looked good last season.
- The punter is a senior. The placekickers are freshmen (effectively).
- The schedule has pluses (all four nonconference games are [basically] at home, no Ohio State) and minuses (Michigan, Iowa, and Penn State on the road).
Corrections? Predictions? Prognostications? Vacillations?
We'll take any of those.