Good morning from Seawolves country. Looking forward to a great game next Thursday.
Let me give you my take on the 2016 Seawolves. In short, we will go as far as our QB and the right side of our offensive line will take us. Our defense is top notch again. We may be a little undersized up front but what we may lack in size we make up for in quickness. #95 Aaron Thomspon is a beast at DE and our sophomore NG, #94 Josh Valentine will get a push and will eat blocks every play. He is going to be a heckuva player. Our LB crew is young but solid. Our DB's are experienced. We should provide a formidable challenge to your offense. Our defensive coordinator is top notch, we are incredibly lucky to have him back for another season. I will be shocked if he doesn't move on to a bigger program next year. He has done a phenomenal job at SBU.
On the other side of the ball, we have probably the best group of skill guys we have ever had. Our RBs should be very good. #21 Stacey Bedell ran all over Central CT and New Hampshire in our first two games last year before suffering a season ending injury vs William & Mary. His loss really set us back last season. He returns in top health. Added to the backfield this year is #23 Jordan Gowins. He is a local kid who was a standout high school RB on Long Island who played at Boston College last year and transferred to SB over the summer. We love the homegrown local kids and have high expectations for him.
We have a ton of talent on the outside at WR as well. #13 Ray Bolden was a 1st team all CAA receiver last year. He had 100 yd receiving games vs both New Hampshire and James Madison last year. #1 Tim Keith came to us from Western Michigan last year and injured his knee during camp and never saw game action. He is solid. We also added a couple of transfers at the position this offseason including #3, Sherman Alston, a short but speedy receiver who also should provide production to our return game. Also added to the mix this year is 6'2" WR #83 Harrison Jackson, another FBS transfer. He has had an excellent camp.
At TE we have 4 guys who are big, fast and strong. All have starting experience. #88 was our starting RT last year. I expect that we will buttress our run game and pass pro blocking on the right with TE help. #45 Cal Daniels and #88 Connor Davis are also legit receiving threats.
We have a new OC this year who will be calling the plays. HC Priore has handled the play calling in the past and typically called a run - play action type of offense, frequently with 2 TE on the field. Look for more spread formation stuff and quick passing given the talent we have outside, although if we can establish a run game I suspect we will do so with our big TE's adding to the front line push.
The determining factor for the Seawolves this year will be the play of our QB. After redshirting in 2014, we gave freshman QB #10 Joe Carbone some starts last season. There were the usual painful learning curve experiences you would expect. He is athletic, tough and has a strong arm but did not have the greatest accuracy and made a # of questionable decisions/throws. Hopefully, the experience was helpful to him. The job is his this year. If he can minimize mistakes, we could have a much more productive offense than we have had the past two seasons. Unfortunately, however, we are once again struggling up front. Contrary to the other Seawolves poster I saw here, I would say we are working to find our way at OL, especially on the right side, and we again lack depth, which was a problem for us last year as well (hence one of our TEs having to play RT last season). Our LT #71 and our C #55 are both entering their junior years with 2 years of starting experience each under their belts. They are solid. We are a work in progress at the other positions. Their play, and in particular their ability to provide pass pro for our QB, will be key.
I expect us to surprise folks this season. I am not as down on our QB as some of the other Seawolves fans. Given that it is a home opener for us, under the lights, vs a big time nationally ranked opponent, I expect our guys to rise to the occasion. I look for SBU to pull off the upset 20-17.
