The Quad Countdown

[NewsCopy]

 Players to watch: The Cajuns may not have the skill players to repeat last year’s success, but they return all five starters on their offensive line, including three all-conference performers.

This returning talent gives them the best front five in the Sun Belt. The best of the bunch is likely the senior left guard Brad Bustle, a first-team all-Sun Belt pick. The coach’s son, Bustle improved greatly enough over his sophomore season (his first as the starter) to have earned a spot on the prestigious Lombardi Award watch list. If Bustle isn’t the team’s best linemen, that title must go to center Chris Fisher, another first-team all-conference honoree. Entering his fourth season as a starter, Fisher was also named a freshman all-American in 2006 and a second-team all-conference selection in 2007.

Though the team will find it difficult to replace Chery at wide receiver – especially given his role as a pass catcher and runner – but the Cajuns do return three players who posted at least 18 receptions last fall. The senior Louis Lee is the team’s leading returning wideout with 20 catches, but the player to watch is the sophomore tight end Ladarius Green, whose standout freshman campaign included 22 receptions for 268 yards and 5 scores. His role will grow in 2009, especially since he should be a nice security blanket for the yet-unnamed starting quarterback.

On defense, the Ragin’ Cajuns will look toward the senior linebacker Antwyne Zanders for both leadership and production. Zanders, along with fellow retuning linebacker Daylon McCoy, tied Keyes for the team lead with 69 stops in 2008. Zanders also added a sack and an interception, meriting him all-conference honors for the second consecutive season. McCoy moves down to linebacker from the strong safety spot, putting more speed on the field but leaving his previous position open for grabs. The most likely candidate to step into the starting role is the sophomore Chris Richard, who played sparingly as a freshman. The secondary will then need to get even better play from the senior free safety Gerren Blount, who is entering his third season as a starter. Blount had two defensive touchdowns last fall (one a 22-yard fumble return, the other a 55-yard interception) to lead the team.

One area where the Cajuns need to improve is in their pass rush. Defensive ends Hall Davis and Nate Douglas led the team in sacks with 3.5 and 3, respectively, but added pressure will need to come from somewhere other than this pair. Douglas, only a sophomore, has great potential. He’ll back up Davis at one end spot, but should see plenty of playing time this fall, especially in passing situations.

The rest of the story

By Paul Myerberg

[BeauCajun]

Nice in depth write up. I do think we will finish higher than 110.

[RCAJUN90]

_ Nice in depth write up. I do think we will finish higher than 110. _

LOL! WE ROCK WATERSKING!!!

[ULGrad@HOU]

Nice write up indeed, just hope he's wrong on the upcoming season.

[wcd35]

Then again, I did predict the Cajuns to be one of the bottom 10 teams in the land last year, so what do I know.

Do you really want us to answer that question Paul?

[DestinCajun]

Nice in depth write up. I do think we will finish higher than 110. _

LOL, a new name variation too - "U.L." (with the periods).

I have to admit this guy does seem to know more about the Cajuns line up and talent than one would expect from sources like this.

I don't think he recognizes our defense can be a whole lot better than last year simply by avoiding the injury bug. Our DL is deeper now than it has been in a looooong time.

Or, that we really aren't as bare in the cubbard at QB, RB and WR as one might expect. Having a veteran offensive line makes up for a lot but not only do we have star quality returning, we have young, big and talented guys Plouhar and Odom chomping at the bit.

If we get good coaching and leadership on the field from guys like McGuire and Zanders it'll be "fun time for Cayenne".

[CajunZ1]

_ I don't think he recognizes our defense can be a whole lot better than last year simply by avoiding the injury bug. Our DL is deeper now than it has been in a looooong time.

I agree. There is no way we can be as bad or have the bad luck we had on defense again this year.

Or, that we really aren't as bare in the cubbard at QB, RB and WR as one might expect. Having a veteran offensive line makes up for a lot but not only do we have star quality returning, we have young, big and talented guys Plouhar and Odom chomping at the bit.

We may have some talent at QB, but there's no denying that QB is a question mark right now. I'm sure someone will step up, but for right now all we really know about our quarterbacks is that McGuire played one game, and he played pretty well.

[Just1More]

_ LOL, a new name variation too - "U.L." (with the periods).

I have to admit this guy does seem to know more about the Cajuns line up and talent than one would expect from sources like this.

I don't think he recognizes our defense can be a whole lot better than last year simply by avoiding the injury bug. Our DL is deeper now than it has been in a looooong time.

Or, that we really aren't as bare in the cubbard at QB, RB and WR as one might expect. Having a veteran offensive line makes up for a lot but not only do we have star quality returning, we have young, big and talented guys Plouhar and Odom chomping at the bit.

If we get good coaching and leadership on the field from guys like McGuire and Zanders it'll be "fun time for Cayenne". _

Exactly. I think he did a heck of a job gathering all the surface information for this article. His poor prediction last year should have been even worse... given the uncharacteristic injury situation. No outsider is going to argue the 2-10 thinking with the loss of the marquee players and the new skill players being relatively untested. It is the easiest and most uneducated guess in the prediction world.

I think this article mentioned, but failed to properly weight the importance of:

Returning starting OL - can sometimes more than compensate for a new stable of running backs and a QB trying to get his timing down and his feel for the role. College RBs get far too much credit for their failures and successes... it is an equation that seriously includes the depth and talent of your OL.

QB versatility - we definitely won't have as good of an athlete at QB than MD, but we may actually have a better QB.

Coordinators - for those who didn't see every single game the past 2 seasons - the biggest story was our coordinators and perhaps skill position coaching - vast improvement last year - dang shame that injuries didn't allow it to come to full bloom. I am EXTREMELY critical of our football program, but there were monumental game preparedness, game time situational adjustments and playcalling compared to the year prior.

Skill players - yes, MD, Fenroy and Chery were our exceptional skill players in the 2008 season. They were also the exceptional skill players in the 2007 3-9 season.

Defense - the biggest by far misunderstanding when assessing our program. We have sucked bad defensively the past numerous seasons... I saw substantial improvment... despite the injury bug... last season. I expect, with an injury rate in the norm, we will see our defense actually win a couple of games this season (more pressure, more disruption, more INTs, more forced fumbles). Defense and special teams tend to push pull each other... I expect both to be better. I think we win the field position battle this year, in conference.

I'm predicting a .500 season record with a one game swing either way. JMO

[Zeebart21]

_ I agree. There is no way we can be as bad or have the bad luck we had on defense again this year.

THIS IS A COP OUT! Didnt you read the board last fall? Lack of coaching, and other foolishness lead to us only winning 6 games! The fact that our linebacking corp was totally decimated, Fenroy had some injuries, and Mike D had the knee problem had nothing to do with it! Get with the program, jr!

We may have some talent at QB, but there's no denying that QB is a question mark right now. I'm sure someone will step up, but for right now all we really know about our quarterbacks is that McGuire played one game, and he played pretty well. _

Sports hernia fixed. Look for McGuire to take control in August. If he falters we have 2 capable back ups.

Z

[DestinCajun]

What I'm looking for at QB is leadership not the guy who has to do it all in order for us to win. I think Brad McGuire has "the right stuff" in this regard. I base that on the way he came back and played after his killer INT against Ark St.

I also think we will reap benefits from the several fairly recent hires in the coaching staff.

[zephyr]

_ What I'm looking for at QB is leadership not the guy who has to do it all in order for us to win. I think Brad McGuire has "the right stuff" in this regard. I base that on the way he came back and played after his killer INT against Ark St.

I also think we will reap benefits from the several fairly recent hires in the coaching staff. _

Well, lets hope they don't run him 27 times like they did in that ASU game also! Of course, I think the coaching staff will have actually adjusted playcalling understanding that we don't have a running QB any longer since they are already talking about running more from under center (which is a great idea and I wish they would have done this 2 years ago). If whoever the QB is runs more than 10 times a game, we will be in bad shape. None of our QB's should be put in that position.

[HOUCajun]

_ What I'm looking for at QB is leadership not the guy who has to do it all in order for us to win. I think Brad McGuire has "the right stuff" in this regard. I base that on the way he came back and played after his killer INT against Ark St.

I also think we will reap benefits from the several fairly recent hires in the coaching staff. _

McGuire also played well against USM (granted it was garbage time) and for a series or 2 against K State when Dez went out.
The only reason I can imagine he has not been named the starter is to keep the fire burning for all 3 guys working for the spot.

[MetryCajun]

I look for big changes in the offense next year. I don't see McGuire or Masson being threats running the ball. If they do run it a lot, by bet is they get hurt. Success will hinge on the improvement of our passing game.