89Hen wrote: ↑Wed Sep 30, 2020 1:44 pm
BDKJMU wrote: ↑Wed Sep 30, 2020 12:50 pm
would make it really lopsided on paper in terms of the South being far superior to the North.
Hard to say. SB, Albany, Maine and UNH could all be better than UD, W&M, Richmond and Elon. Who knows?
I agree on the hard to say & who knows.
-As far as Albany, I'll believe it when I see it that they are more than a one hit wonder. They get Undercuffler back at QB (was leading the the nation with 41 TD passes when they lost in the round of 16), and return the leading leading rusher in the CAA. But they lost their 2 stud WR (2300+ yds receiving), 3 starting OL (including a 1st team All CAA), their 1st team All CAA stud DE, and 3/4 of their starting secondary. And that was as of right after their playoff loss @ Mt State. So we'll see.
-SBU its hard to say.
-UNH hard to say- gets McDonnell back after missing last season to cancer.
-Maine hard to say- their HC is what, 31 now?
-URI will blow- they weren't good last yr, and lost their 3 best players to the NFL (WR 5th Rd, WR UDFA, OT UDFA).
Think for UD, Elon, W&M (think London will have them a playoff contender in the next year or 2), and UR, its hard to say.
Pre season, if no China Virus, the top 2 pics clearly would have been/were JMU & VU. But both lost a pair to P5 grad transfer.
-VU lost who was the #1 rated OC in I-AA per NFLDraftscout, AA Paul Grattan to UCLA, and maybe who would have been the best returning WR in the CAA Changa Hodge to VT (NFLDraftscout had him listed 6th I think among I-AA WR.
-JMU lost who was the #2 rated FS in I-AA per NFLDraftscout, and 2x AA punt returner D'Angelo Amos to UVA, and a 2 yr starting DT to UVA.
I was gonna have VU as my pick to win the CAA (they were slated to host JMU), but I think VU was hurt worse by their losses though. Both their losses were legit pro prospects, while only 1 of JMU's was (top 2 JMU pro prospects remain). VU also typically gets few if any transfers. JMU has picked up 6 I-A transfers (2 were starters (Duke WR, UMass S), 2 were 2 deep (UCF DT, UConn OC), 1 was a rFr (Minnesota DE), 1 is a Gr transfer TE from UNC (played 24 games last 2 seasons mostly ST) + have a 2019 All So-Con WR who had 1k+ yds receiving at VMI 2019.
I know TU lost 2-3, biggest being the CAA's other top returning WR, 2018 AA Shane Simpson, missed most of last yr, grad transfer to UVA. I'm sure there were a few other grad transfer defections around the CAA outside of JMU, VU and TU, but don't know who.
Also may not be as many transfers in as usual around the league due to I-AA not playing this fall. I believe last yr, with the transfer portal, it was pushing 3 doz (some teams had none, but some had 5-6). Haven't followed who else around the league got what in terms of transfers, something I would have looked at in the Spring/Summer.
If JMU, VU (and UD for that matter) end up in the South division, think that will be hands down better than the North. If VU ends up in the North, it won't be as clear cut.
-Will the northern teams have more practice issues in Jan/Feb/March? (A lot will depend on indoor facilities).
-Who will have more issues with the virus (testing, logistics, cases, etc)?
This whole thing will pretty much a crap shoot.
