Miami (Ohio) Redhawks 2018 Football Preview

Miami (Ohio) Redhawks 2018 Football Preview

Opening Statement: I have read statements about this program stating that the rebuild should be complete. I could no agree less. In short, I think that this team has been a mess, and last season proved that as goes Gus Ragland, the team goes with him, and they are 1-5 without him. That is not a rebuilt football team, at least not in my book. Chuck Martin is in a win now or else situation, and placing the expectation on him that the rebuild should be complete puts my statement on him to the test. Call me someone who does not buy that the rebuild is complete, because my assessment will not show that.

Breakdown Offense: Gus Ragland is back, but he gets hurt, a lot. He played in 9 games last fall, and passed for 2032 yards with 19 scores and 7 INTs. He completed just 55.8% of his passes last season, and if that is who they are banking success on, the program could be in for a rough time. Much is being made of the grad transfer of Alex Malzone from Michigan, but he never tossed a pass for the Wolverines, and even if he was a 4 star prospect, I find it hard to get pumped about a 3 year player who never saw the field. That 4 star ranking no longer means anything. He is, however, in the wings if Ragland goes down...again.

Kenny Young and Alonzo Smith are both back at RB, and combined to rush for 1441 yards last fall, but neither is a star on his own, and neither appear prepared to carry the load, if asked. They also both missed time last fall, which is something to be concerned about. Maurice Thomas returns, but missed 9 games last fall with yet another injury. What he brings to the table will be based on if he can stay healthy or not.

James Gardner is a solid option at WR, as he returns after posting a line of 47-927-11 last fall. He averaged 19.72 yards per catch on the season, but only averaged 3.9 receptions per game last fall. The Redhawks need to find 2 new starters at WR, and they appear to be Luke Mayock and Dominique Robinson. Jack Sorenson is in the fight for an open spot, but he did not catch a pass as a RS freshman last season. Depth at the position, and experience, are not good.

Ryan Smith, who caught 35 passes at TE last fall, is gone. Nate Becker, who caught 3 passes last fall, is the likely starter here. Again, depth is not great.

Only 3 starters return on the line in LT Jordan Rigg, LG Sam McCollum, and RG Jarrett LaRubbio. Danny Godleveke is in a battle to win the C job with Mitch Palmer, while Tommy Doyle and Matt Skibbinski are battling at RT. Ian Leever provides backup work at Tackle, and Ryan Mullen is the backup at OG. Jack Schoer is the backup at C.

Breakdown Defense: There is some experience returning up front on the line, as 3 starters return. Pasquale Calcagno is back at DE and recorded 5 TFLs last fall. Dean Lemon is slated in as the other starter at DE as a junior, but does not have a ton of experience. Ben Kimpler is the backup off the edge.

Nate Trawick and Doug Costin are the DTs. Costin is extremely disruptive, as he finished with 8.5 TFLs last fall. Trawick finished with 3 TFLs last fall. Mack Duffin provides depth in the middle.

Brad Koenig and Junior McMullen are back at LB. Koenig totaled 102 tackles last fall, and added a team leading 10.5 TFLs. Bart Baratti has the edge on the weak side at LB, and should be able to lock it down. Depth is not great here as far as experience is concerned.

The secondary is in decent shape, despite losing both 4 year starters at CB. Deondre Daniels, who has starting experience at CB, is back and should role into one of the jobs. He totaled 7 PBUs last fall, and should create a seamless transition. Zedrick Raymond is slated at the CB spot, but Travion Banks could push him. Neither made much of an impact last season.

De'Andre Montgomery is back at SS, while Joshua Allen is the FS. Montgomery finished with 62 tackles, but missed 3 games due to injury last fall. Allen finished with 4 PBUs, and totaled 53 tackles. Daryus Thompson is the backup.

Breakdown Special Teams: Samuel Sloman is back at PK after hitting 12/16 FG attempts last fall. He should have more expectations on him as a junior this fall.

Kyle Kramer is back at Punter, and he was decent last fall with an average of 40.55 yards per punt. Again, he needs to show some minute improvements this season as a junior.

Jaylon Bester should be the primary KR man after averaging 20.44 yards per return last fall. A new PR man must be found in fall camp.

Final Analysis: The Redhawks rebuilding effort is definitely not finished. There are depthissues on defense, and the offensive group lacks star quaility players that we have seen in other strong MAC programs in the last decade. If they want to put it all on Ragland at QB, that may backfire, because he tends to be overrated when healthy, and he tends to not be healthy often. I just don't like the pieces on the roster as much as others may, and I find it difficult to reconcile this team as a MAC conference or division contender in my head.