QB: Austen Arnaud (So.)
RB: Alexander Robinson (So.)
TE: Derrick Catlett (Jr.)
WR: Marquis Hamilton (Jr.)
WR: RJ Sumrall (Sr.)
WR: Sedrick Johnson (Fr.)
LT: Matt Hulbert (So.)
LG: Reggie Stephens (Jr.)
C: Alex Alvarez (So.)
RG: Ben Lamaak (So.)
RT: Doug Dedrick (Sr.)
The readers have spoken, and this is the lineup you guys wish to see to start out the season against the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State. There aren't any real big surprises from the readers, save maybe Reggie Stephens at left guard. It's still anyone's guess who will start at center between Mike Knapp and Alex Alvarez. And, if Sedrick Johnson is as good as advertised, it'd be hard to imagine him not starting, as guys like Jason Carlson and Wallace Franklin are still pretty much question marks.
I still have to believe many of the positions on offense will occur in a playing time by committee fashion. I fully expect Austen Arnaud and Philip Bates to split time at quarterback, while Alexander Robinson, JJ Bass, and Jason Scales will all get meaningful time at runningback.
Needless to say, if last year's offensive line improvement showed anything about Coach MacFarland's skill, and Gene Chizik's claim that he's the best offensive line coach in America - plus the fact that we're reportedly having the redshirt freshman from last year outplay the starters from last year - we're going to be able to move the ball better than we had. We saw what happened last year when we finally got ahold of the offensive system.
The Spring Game was kind of painful to watch, but it was reportedly the worst "practice" of the spring for the offense. They'll have a smooth enough learning curve at the beginning of the year with South Dakota State, but let's hope the incoming freshmen make a bit of a push.
I got to play with the player tag function in this story. It's pretty powerful and it's going to be very useful.