Akron Zips 2018 Football Preview

Akron Zips 2018 Football Preview

Opening Statement: Teams that average 22.1 points per game on offense usually do not finish with 7 wins, but that is what Akron did a year ago by winning a series of tight games before completely blowing out in the MAC title game and the Boca Raton Bowl. That kind of luck that Akron had a year ago is not likely to repeat in 2018, and Akron seems destined for a fall, especially if they cannot figure out their offensive issues, and do so in a hurry. In short, repeating a 7 win season seems like a pipe dream this fall, as Akron looks to slip back into the pack.

Breakdown Offense: As a team, the Zips passed for 210 yards per game, and rushed for just 105.36 yards per game. The news gets worse when you consider that they lose 2 of their top 3 RBs and 7 of their top 8 receivers from last season.
Kato Nelson now has the QB job all to himself as a sophomore, but he needs to find consistency. He had great games in the middle of the season, but when everything was on the line in the final three games of the season, he fell off a cliff. He completed just 50% of his passes, but did manage to toss a 4:1 TD to INT ratio (8 and 2). That has some promise, but again, there are some serious holes in his game that must be plugged as a sophomore. Robbie Kelly and Nick Johns are the backups heading into fall camp.
Van Edwards is slated to be the starter at RB, but he had a season in 2017 that can hardly be categorized as successful. He finished the year with 343 yards and just 2 scores on 94 carries, and averaged just 3.65 yards per carry and 24.5 yards per game, and that was good for 2nd on the team. Deltron Sands is the backup heading out of spring ball and has some big burst potential, as he averaged just under 7 yards per carry in limited action, and could push for the starting job. There is no real depth behind Sands.
The WR corps was decimated by departures after last fall, and the position basically has to be built from scratch. Kwadarrius Smith left spring with the WRX spot, and led the team with 34 receptions for 726 yards and 7 scores last fall. That is where the good news ends. Andre Williams is the WRH, but caught just 4 passes last fall. Nate Stewart is the WRZ, and caught 3 passes as a freshman last fall. The WRY spot is wide open to competition. Sophomore Dustin Burkhart is the lone depth provider, and he caught a single pass last fall.
Kobie Booker returns as the TE/H-Back, and caught 8 passes last season. Brandon Junk and Dylan Meeks are the backups there.
The line maybe the strength of the offense this season, which may not be saying much, as this unit allowed 6.64 TFLs last season. Trevor Brown and Nick Fazio are the tackles out of spring, with Undrea Bullard and Rich Kallay bringing some depth. Brandon Council and Kyle Ritz are slated in to start at the OG spots, with Jonathon Neeley and Austin Sample as the reserves, while Hunter Corne has locked up a spot on the 3rd unit inside. Andrew Siegman should start at C.

Breakdown Defense: Akron allowed 28 points per game last season, and allowed 30 points or more 6 times. They gave up 237.4 yards passing per game, and 205.43 yards rushing per game.
Jamal Davis II is the star up front at DE, as he finished last season with 15.5 TFLs, and will be one of the leaders in the MAC this season. He finished with 69 tackles, but had just 2 sacks at the end of  it all. Brian Reinke starts at the DE spot opposite Davis, and finished with 7.5 TFLs last fall, including 3.5 sacks. He finished with 48 tackles on the year. Josh Ward is the backup at DE. Brock Boxen starts at DT, but is more of a mop up guy than a play maker. Brennan Williams will push him for time in fall camp. The NT job is wide open currently, and is a battle that will not play out until the fall.
Ulysees Gilbert III is another verified star on the defensive side, as he finished with 140 tackles last season, with 9.5 TFLs. He finished with 4 PBUs and 5 QB hurries as well, and led the team with 5 sacks. John Lako returns at the MIKE spot, playing next to Gilbert at WILL, and Brian Bell is back at SAM after a 56 tackle season.
The secondary has some pieces to work with this fall, as their top 3 INT guys return in Jordan George, Shawn Featherstone, and Kyron Brown. Brown and George return at CB, with George fending off a challenge from Darian Daiely at the FC spot. Denzel Butler backs up Brown at the BC position. Featherstone returns at ROV, while Alvin Davis steps in as the starter at FS. Jamal Bagett and Tyler Gilchrist will back up Featherstone, while Vince Lockett backs up Davis.

Breakdown Special Teams: The PK spot was a mess last season, like so many other areas. Tom O'Leary returns as the starter after hitting just 3/7 FG attempts last season, and Nick Gasser returns as well after hitting just 3/6.
Gasser will handle the Punter job as well after averaging over 42 yards per punt last fall. Jerry Fitschen and James Fonseca provide depth behind Gasser.
Featherstone handled the PR duties last fall, but averaged just 3.5 yards per return, and now there is a wide open battle for the spot heading into camp. Van Edwards averaged just over 19 yards per kick return, but still holds the job heading out of spring ball. Deltron Sands could push him there.

Final Analysis: The Zips are fairly bare in the talent department on offense, and although there is some solid talent coming back on defense, there are still some major concerns in the middle of the line and in the secondary. There is limited offensive depth, at best, and considering how lucky the Zips were in several games last season, it's hard to project them being that lucky once again. Still if the ball bounces right, you never know. Consistency and depth are two major factors here, and Terry Bowden has a huge job to undertake once this team gets into fall camp. If he can get them back to 6 wins, that would be huge.