Long Podcast, linked here. VT talk starts at 1:09:50. Highlights include:
- Duke and UNC will be bad
- FSU's OL could be a four year rebuild - "being just 'bad' would be a huge step forward for this group"
- Syracuse's S&P+ ranking might be a little inflated because Clemson, ND, and WVU were all having QB issues/injuries when they played Syracuse.
- GT has a hell of a rebuild
- Wake is interesting and has a good offense. Clawson needs to take the next step.
- Pitt has a small rebuild
- BC's schedule is less than ideal
- VT has an easy schedule and a lot of returning production. Top 25-30 team on paper.
- UVA is building something. They got pretty unlucky in multiple games last year, and it is statistically unlikely that that happens again.
- Miami is (still) a QB away from being good.
- Bud Elliott (unconfidently) picks VT to win the coastal, because of our favorable schedule, suggesting that 6-2 in conference is enough to win the coastal.
- Bill Connelly (unconfidently) picks Miami to wins the coastal because they have UVA and VT at home, and he believes VT, UVA, and Miami to be the three best teams in the Coastal.
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I heard on the radio that a Vegas sports book (or possibly online) has the good guys as a 5 point dog against UVA in C-Ville. Yikes!
Fan Duel has VT as a 6.5 pt favorite?
So, what I take from this is that it is May and nobody really has too much of a damn clue as to what will transpire in late November. That being said, -6.5 is stupid lol
I guess I'm an optimist because I read this as "WTF is up with that Miami line?"
BC has a rebuild too. They return a great back and a so so QB, but not much else.
Cuse is interesting, but in the limited time the backup QB played he looked good for that system. They have some skill position coming back. I could see 9-3 from them easily.
FSU might be 4-8 this year. Their oline is terrible, they lost their best players on defense.
Am I the only one that is annoyed when someone says "skill position"? What position on the any team requires 0 skill? They all have to be skilled.
Edit: Not griping at your post at all. Just a general observation
There is a laundry list of phrases with football that I hate a lot more than skill position.
Deceptively fast
Knee bender
Dual Threat (especially since the other option is Pro)
Circus Catch
The Eye test
There are tons I just can't think of right now.
one that always makes me giggle is "ball skills" because I'm 5
When literally every sports analyst says prototypical when they mean archetypical.
This. A thousand times... It has cost me at least a few minutes of lost concentration, during broadcasts, pondering wth they say that.
I'm still not entirely sold on the future success everyone is promising for UVA. Their recruiting is still average, pointing to Bronco's success at BYU is misleading given the circumstances there, and they lost some pretty key components from last year's team on offense. I think their defense will be solid again, but I don't think Bryce Perkins is a good passer, and he has less weapons around him this year than he did last year. It reminds me of how Logan Thomas threw the ball really well in 2011 with Danny Coale and Jarrett Boykin out but not so good in 2012 as 2013. I think they're the team I'm most intrigued about outside of Virginia Tech this season.
They lost some good defenders too. But when you say future Perkins isnt the future he is the now, this is his last season.
I think UVA has the pieces in Perkins, Bryce Hall, and the Charles Snowden kid to be a 7-5 team but I think their ceiling is another 8-4 season. They dont have the offensive firepower to go along with the decent defense they will have.
Their key is going to be Bryce Perkins' health. He did fine last year, but I think he's going to have to run a lot more this season. If he can hold up, I think they're a 7-5, 8-4 team. If not, they won't bowl.
I think it's more due to the fact that the coastal is so weak. Bronco could get UVA back to the Al Groh level (8-9 wins every few seasons). Maybe a top 25 finish or two over the next decade.