Our DB group should be better than they were last year, especially at CB and Star. That unit's success is much more reliant on how McCoy returns from injury than having anyone have a breakout season, much less multiple players needing to do so. Safety is the biggest concern but that's no different than this time last year.
Our LB group returns everyone of consequence besides Pili, who stayed injured, and should be better than last year. Again, not reliant on any breakout performances.
Our DL lost a few really good players but also returns quite a few really good players and still has depth along with some highly rated recruits coming in, including Isaiah Campbell and Mariyon Dye. Again, multiple breakout seasons not required.
Our OL is a bit of a question mark but I'm not sure I'd say we need multiple players to have breakout seasons. We need Pendleton and Moe to be at least solid, Heard to stay healthy and show improvement from last year and Sanders to be at least solid. For me, the biggest concern there is replacing Mays at Center.
Our TE group is more talented than they have been in years. Kitselman needs to get healthy but Ethan Davis and the two Freshman should be capable of success.
Replacing Dylan Sampson at RB is no small task but, with the yearly success we have had running the football with whomever is back there, I'm not too concerned about our ability to be at or near the top of the SEC again this year as a team.
WR is another talented group, albeit a bit inexperienced. While it would certainly be helpful to have a couple guys breakout, we didn't have anyone fit that mold last year and we made the playoffs.
QB is a pretty big question mark at this point. Again, it would be great if Aguilar or Merklinger had a breakout season but we weren't exactly dynamic at that spot last year and still made the playoffs. I think the most important aspect this year is to have whomever is QB1 be able to make quick decisions, hit open receivers downfield and limit mistakes.
You talk about the McCoy injury like it’s just a given, when in reality it is a huge question mark. We already need a safety to breakout. If McCoy isn’t the same guy he was, we need another corner to breakout. McCoy was great last year and any drop off in play could have a very bad impact on the secondary, which was already mediocre in the biggest spots last year.
The dirty little secret last year was that our linebackers were below average after Pili went out. The defense was also markedly worse. We definitely need better play there.
The DL definitely needs guys to breakout. I think we will be fine there, but the defense the last couple years has required the DL to be more than fine. A dropoff there could really expose the back 7.
The OL definitely needs some breakout guys. Heard has to improve A LOT. Sanders could be everything we hope he is in 2 or 3 years but not be a good player right now, a la Darnell Wright. Pendleton has only gotten action due to injury so far. Is he gonna be good enough to run with the job? Center as you acknowledge is a huge question mark. I think Moe will be an upgrade, but the other 4 are huge question marks. We need at least two guys to breakout at those positions.
Tight end, I think we will be fine there if Kitselman’s injury didn’t derail him. Otherwise, it’s a bunch of unproven guys and we will need one to breakout.
Running back, I view about the same as the DL. I’d say we will be fine there. Problem is, based on last year, we need to be better than fine. Sampson was great and we still struggled on offense. He was the whole offense. Replacing that is asking a lot, and someone will have to breakout.
Receiver is not overly talented. It’s not like we have a Jeremiah Smith or Ryan Williams out there. We definitely need someone to breakout. Last year I would argue Thornton broke out, and even with that, receiver play was not good enough. Sure, we made the playoff, but it was 100% in spite of the passing game.
QB, I don’t think anyone will argue Shute fact that we need someone to breakout.
All in all, we have question marks at every single position. There’s not one that we should feel great about. That’s asking a lot if we are expected to tread water compared to last year, and it’s asking even more if we are to actually be competitive for championships. I don’t see how anyone with any objectivity could look at the roster and say “oh we don’t need a bunch of guys to breakout.” Most of the team has never done what they are going to be asked to do.
