Let's start with the offensive line:
LT - At left tackle you have Mike McQueen. He started a lot of games last year as a Sophomore. How did he fare? He struggled at times. He seems to be focused on improving, however. He slimmed down from 300 to 287 to give him extra quickness. That's important since the LT defends the QB's blind spot, and since as a consequence, he normally faces the opposing team's best pass rusher. Behind him are Justin Haser, who did fairly well last year in limited play, and Zach Murdock, who was out last season win an injury. With another year of experience, this position will be improved.
LG - Mike Lucas had a decent year last year, and should do even better this year. Behind him, they will need to develop some depth.
C- Powell also had a decent year. Again, they need to improve depth behind him.
RG - Last year Gibbons and Wood played most snaps, and both were Freshmen (Wood a true Freshmen).  They had their ups and downs, but both should improve this year.
RT - Watson played a substantial portion of the snaps last year. Another Redshirt Freshman, he also struggled at times, but should be improved this year. They also need to work on depth here, with Curtis gone.
OL - Summary - The expected starting line will consist of 3 Juniors and 2 Sophomores. Not counting the bowl game, of the 824 snaps, their snap counts last year were McQueen=643(77%), Lucas=738(88%), Powell=636(76%), Wood=267/ Gibbons=117(46% combined), Watson=390(47%). Overall they had 67% of the snaps for the year. All should improve with another year of experience, so the line should be better.

TE - Mangen returns, but Hill and Talbert are gone. Davon Henry and Mason Morgan should also play, along with JUCO Brennan Boland, and perhaps walkons Devin Saunders and Zach Hawk. Hill and Talbert were solid, so I'd say TE will be a step down.
WR - Most of the receptions from last year are gone. Foster, Waters, and Dovell are all gone. Cochran does return, and there are a lot of young, talented players on the team, some of whom need to step up. Will it  be S. Smith, L. Smith, C. Brown, Wyatt, Reid, Rodriguez, Cope or Dixon? Or perhaps one of the walkons, like Sawyer, or a new player such as Cameron Wilson? I don't really know, but there is a lot of talent there. For now I'd say WR will be a step down, but I don't think it will be a big step.
QB - With TT gone, now it seems that the job will belong to Vick, though Sprague, Windham, and Leffingwell no doubt all want to win the job. I think Vick will do fine, if he doesn't get hurt. I think in time Vick will be an excellent QB, but the jury is still out.
RB - Gone are Blankenship and Boykin. The job mostly likely will now belong to Daz Patterson, Dorian Brown, and Tim Edmonds. I think they will be fine, and RB will be at least as good as last year.

On the whole I think the offense will probably be on a par with last year slightly better. The improvement in the line will at least offset the changes at the skill positions.

I will post on defense later.

Both posts were frank, fascinating, and helpful.
How about special teams?

I understand your opinion on the running back. I am not knocking Beau or Boykin, but I do think Dorian Brown is going to be a good running back, and I like Daz a lot, though I'm not convinced he's an every down back, nor do I think Edmond is. I just think that between the three they can get the job done. I actually think Irons will ultimately take over the position, but I'm hoping he can redshirt.

As for players who played a lot improving, if they don't get injured, they will surely improve. They all know how much they need to improve, and will work hard in the off-season to try to close that gap. The real question isn't whether they will improve, it's whether they will improve ENOUGH. At some positions the need for improvement is pretty significant. As regards the linemen, I think Wood, Gibbons, and Watson did well for Freshmen (which is a pretty low standard because you should NOT be playing Freshmen on the offensive line), and to me that indicates that by their Senior year they will be very good. Lucas and Powell also played very well for Sophomores.

As regards Special Teams, all three placekickers are back. Yaz has the job, obviously, but if he should falter, he has others who can take over Both punters return, plus a Juco, who may take the job from both of them. Thus placekicking should be as good as last year, and punting should be as good or better.

On the return side, you lose a great punt returner in Carrie. I'm not sure who will replace him, but I would expect the replacement to be competent. There are certainly a lot of athletes on the team. As for kick returns, Carpenter and Bass both return, so it should be no worse than last year. I'd rather see a little more explosive potential, though.

All told on special teams I see mostly sideways - a bit better punting, a bit worse on punt returns, and a wash elsewhere.

I agree that there is a long way to go. I expect improvement this year, and more next year. That's why I'm looking towards 2015 for the big improvement. In 2014 the line will improve, but the offensive skill players will all be replaced, with a net of mostly sideways. In 2015 the line will improve again, but the skill players will also return, for a net big jump upwards.

 

L.C. Great stuff. Like me you obviously find yourself playing these things out in your head. I thought it was interesting the other day in the picture Chris Rodgers tweeted that McQueen was on the right side. I am sure they are experimenting with things. Spring is the time to do that.Thanks for the analysis.
I expect Devin Jones to have a huge year at safety rotating with Ingol and Kristoff. I also expect Blair Brown to have a big year moving to outside linebacker. Impressed with his speed last season in the spring game.

That worked both ways.  For example, when the D gave up touchdowns two of the first 3 plays, and all of the first four possessions against BG, that takes the offense out of its game.

These spring practices so far have produced the customary good news/bad news scenarios.

On the plus side it looks like that if the QB can get the ball out that WR Wilson and Cochran could create some havoc. It's also nice that Cope looks like a decent possession type receiver like Waters last year.

The defensive plus  side has produced the usual suspects like Basham but it also looks like Tent Smart can put some pressure on the QB.  I was a little worried about OLB but Johnson returns and Brown and Grilliott have looked good in practice.

My biggest concern on offense has been the OL.  Depth is slim and we may need to turn to true freshmen for that.  Right guard especially  is thin with Gibbons out for maybe the year and Wood missing spring ball. At least 2 of those freshmen are 3 star guys and Lowery and McCray are big enough to play RG.

We haven't heard much about the RB's but at least so far they are healthy.  Irons as a true freshman and maybe even White could see some pt.

Hopefully April 12 will answer some questions.

Speaking of questions is the spring sale still on?