re: Does Dak really scare anyone?

His 3 returning starters at WR averaged 14.5, 16.3, and 16.6 yards per catch last season.


Phil Steele looks at game 1 starters, Jameon Lewis is one of those and basically didn't play last season. He also isn't counting Will Redmond, who is Mel Kiper's top senior CB, or Chris Jones, who is a preseason All-American. I feel better heading into this season than I did last, we had unexpected guys step up. Nobody saw Beckwith or Smith as being able to even fill the gaps, much less be outstanding players.

We are replacing players with higher talent players, and will still have a more experienced lineup than damn near anyone else. Since you probably haven't looked at those numbers, currently it looks like we will have 10 senior starters and 12 junior starters this season, almost all of whom redshirted. We are second in the conference when you look at the returning number of snaps played.

I get that it's odd, because the whole "development" approach isn't something a lot of teams do. The point we are all trying to get across is that "returning starters" is much less important when your coach generally only starts Juniors and Seniors. Literally every year we are going to lose a lot of starters. Hell he redshirted like 20 guys last year in a time where most coaches are trying not to redshirt. It's a different approach, we will see if it's stable.

Now you can continue making the argument that the second string guys would have been starters if they were better than the first. Or you can look at the hard fact that Will Redmond, Chris Jones, and Fred Ross were all better than the guy ahead of them last year, and weren't "starters". But who was on the field when it counted? Who made the game winning interceptions against LSU and Arkansas? Will Redmond. Who batted the pass on Auburns last drive, causing an INT? Chris Jones. These were the guys in when it counted, regardless of who got the "start".