Wednesday Talking Points

I'm going to keep this short and relatively to the point, with more hoops stuff tomorrow. But this seemed to be the right place for what I've been thinking about football-wise.

1) Are these guys really going to put the quarterback under center? At FSU, Jimbo Fisher's offenses split between snaps from under center and the shotgun/pistol about 50/50. Darrell Dickey's offenses at Memphis went under center about never. Dickey wasn't a playcaller, but he was a system designer. So what wins out? Jimbo's still the boss, so I'm expecting the quarterback to go under center at least some, but we'll see.

2) How will the wideouts be used? Jhamon Ausbon is a starter. Ok, great. So find two more. Do you move Camron Buckley outside and use Roshauud Paul in the slot, or is there another mix here?

3) Can the offensive line toughen up in a new scheme? The odds of finding this one out, frankly, are about zero. I doubt we'll see anything of consequence to tip us off. So that leads us to...

4) Will there be any real competition on the offensive line? Cole Blanton is already on campus. Grayson Reed is back. Jared Hocker, Dan Moore, Ryan McCollum and Colton Prater all got playing time last year. So is the combination of Koda Martin/Keaton Sutherland/Eric McCoy/Connor Lanfear and Carson Green remotely close to being set in ink?

5) So what's this "Rover", anyway? We knew what it was at Notre Dame, but the Aggies don't seem to have anyone who really fits that bill exactly. Will they go big with a Buddy Johnson or Anthony Hines, or a little smaller with Ikenna Okeke or Larry Pryor? This one fascinates me.

6) Is the quarterback job REALLY up for grabs? Fisher insists that it is. He's said all the right things with respect to Kellen Mond and Connor Blumrick, but Nick Starkel lapped them both last year. So shouldn't that mean something in the grand scheme, or is everything from Kevin Sumlin's regime so much garbage now?

7) Who, if anyone, will get an inside edge at corner this spring? Any idea of having the two corners set anytime prior to two weeks before the season starts seems like a pipe dream. Because, frankly, does anyone deserve to be considered a starter right now? We know Charles Oliver, Myles Jones and Debione Renfro played the most last year and would be the leaders if Sumlin had stayed -- but he's gone. I have to believe they're going to start from scratch at let things play out as long as possible before deciding.

8) How will the linebacker rotation work? Will Hines and Johnson be Rovers, or just SAMs in a 4-3? Will Hines even be moved there, for that matter? Is Santino Marchiol ready to back up Tyrel Dodson? For the first time in probably six years, the Aggies can field three good to very good linebackers at once. But what they have after that is a massive question mark.

9) How does defensive tackle work after Keke and Mack? I think we can guess those two guys will get the first crack at the starting jobs and Keke has his set in ink. Now, you've got Justin Madubuike and Jayden Peevy, but there's also TD Moton (who's bigger than both), Josh Rogers and Mo Diallo arriving this summer (let's assume Bobby Brown really is a DE for this exercise). Can two guys distance themselves enough to ensure playing time with the 2's? I think Peevy will, but Madubuike (who I have been very high on) needs to have the proverbial "big spring".

10) They're really gonna use that tight end thingy...right? I know, they've got a couple. And Fisher always uses them. But it's just one of those things you need to really see before it sinks in.

1) cornerback

2) defensive end

3) offensive tackle

4) quarterback (gotta always get one or two)

5) linebacker

6) wideout

7) tight end

8) defensive tackle

9) guard/center

10) running back

11) safety