I expect he will be better, and Worley too. And maybe Hurd plays at an All American level from day one. Maybe the line will gel quicker than we think. But even if every best case scenario for the offense comes to pass, the defense is still going to hold this team back. No matter how you look at it, we're still at least a year away.
I completely agree. I posted something similar a couple months ago. Defense is almost a complete reset. We should be okay at LB and have some experience at DB, but of course the line is a huge unknown.
On the O side, there are at least a couple guys that started in cases of injury and an experienced and highly touted JUCO player, and as you point out the other positions other than QB are getting a nice infusion of talent. O can make something work, D is going to struggle, and we are definitely a year away from signficant improvement in the W/L column.
I would not rule out a nice surpise or two this fall though.