I've a gotta lot of them but let's start with the very obvious choice at the top...
- Nic Scourton vs Anyone - A must. I'll be curious to know how much he dominates, who's on him, how much he moves around, if switches inside or ends at times, all that and more. Nic's gonna get his, but I wouldn't Mark telling us that so and so got him a few times here and there. That would bode well for the Cushing and the Line.
- The Guard Spots - I don't believe a job has been guaranteed to anyone. I'm still a big fan of Nabou and Dewberry, but Bisontis showed promised in there as well. Still like the transfer from Kansas to make a serious run and don't count out my guy, TJ Shanahan yet. These guys are gonna be doing some serious pinning and pulling in the run game. Blatant missed assignments in pass pro ain't gonna cut it anymore, either! I'm honing in on the guards, but it will go for the whole line, backs and TEs. Speaking of which...
- TE 2s and 3 - Our starting TE, if healthy, is Donovan Green. TE 2 and 3 get a little murkier. Coach Klein wants willing blockers as a priority one of the TEs. They are keys in the run game and everything set off it i.e. play action, straight drop back or even running routes themselves. Theo has tools but is he ready to take next step? I liked what we saw out of Platt late in the year and in the bowl. Our portal guys certainly diversify the position. Mind you, TE play is very near and dear to Coach Klein's heart and his play calling. He'll be in 3 TEs as much as he's in 4 wides and not necessarily 100% to absolutely run or pass from either formation. That's what being a good OC is.
- Nose and 3 Tech Guys - These battles will be extremely interesting to me on a few fronts because of the talents of the players involved, some of the relative inexperience and how the staff is going to choose to deploy them. I've said all along I believe Hicks, Turner and Brownlow-Dindy are all better fits at the 3 technique, or shading off the guard's shoulder. Regis is really the only NT we have along with Samu. We'll have to see on Moffitt's Magic on Samu's conditioning. GBD played some nice snaps on the nose in the bowl game. Perhaps we build on that. My bottom line is I want all these guys play so well on the interior it makes hard for Coach Bateman to decide to know who to pull off the field.
