That affected Granfors and Poerio less for some reason. Kraft who does return has a pretty decent average per catch as well.
I’ll just add that I’m not disputing that we don't throw many deep balls. But the players that somehow got more yards per catch are mostly gone. And I’m not trying to define the problem being the QB, the receivers or the plays. However, I do recall seeing a bunch of catches for negligible gain.

There are a other tall receivers. Chad Davis, who caught five passes against Cal is 6’3.
I’m a fan of Babbs. He was so dangerous after the catch before he missed a year.
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I think part of the short average gain per completion is we threw many passes for one or two yard gains, checking down as a safety valve or running screens that gain little. Its not all due to not catching balls downfield.

We lost Poerio, who averaged almost 20 yards a catch on 16 catches. The guys that return have mostly short averages per catch. Need a better average than what the returning wideouts got last year.
Larison had a decent average, but now he isn’t going to be in as a wide receiver often.

iIt will be interesting how the offense looks under new OC and QB coach. They aren't making many changes but play selection might be noticeably different. Mike Cody has spent more time with the Biggs, Moroski branch of the Davis coaching tree than he has with Tim Plough/ Cody Hawkins.

Davis has the following guys who’ve been passing game coordinators or offensive coordinators: Mike Cody, Andre Allen, Kevin Burke, Taylor Chapatte, Trey Shimabukuro. I suspect they all will stay in their lane, but share some opinions, Trey Shimabukuro is listed just as an offensive assistant coach.

. Our big advantage over TAMC is that it is the first game and Davis has a returning team of veterans. We should be sharper and more cohesive than they are. We’ve seen very good play in the first game in recent years against Tulsa and Cal. Davis has to show up ready to play as in those games.
As you say this is a critical game. If they start out 1-2 they could easily end up out of the playoffs again, because it will be tough to make it through conference without three loses. A 6-5 Davis team isn’t going to be ranked, this year. If they lose either this game or Southern Utah, they are going to need to be 6-2 in conference.
Who will Bob Dunning pick?

Rex was a first team all Big Sky starting every game at Boundary Safety. They have to replace Venable and King who started every game. They started 7 or 8 games with 5 DBs. Porter must have the speed to play Safety or they would have left him at linebacker where he was no slouch.

I’m hoping they eventually correctly list players by their eligibility. There are multiple players who didn’t play as Freshmen but are listed as Sophomores. Clayton Lynam is an example, class of ‘22 listed as participating in one game and he’s listed as a Sophomore, when he should be a redshirt Freshman. A significant chunk of the roster has their class level listed incorrectly.

I think in some short yardage situations they use four defensive linemen. With linebackers they use four often but they label one position “rush”, so that guys probably almost playing as a defensive lineman. They often play three DL, three LBs and five DBs.

We have a veteran team that plays a schedule of physical teams. It will be interesting how the new OC play calling responds to what TAMC is doing. I’m kind of surprised we don’t have an assistant offensive line coach, which we’ve sometimes had before. Cody is going to have to be watching the offense as a whole, play calling and coaching quite a few guys individually. I think that is more challenging than an OC coaching the quarterbacks, which was the case here.

Thanks for the tip

;Here is my guess. The guys likely to play as they are all returners. Buchanan, Eaton, Cloyd, Mouisett, Frazier. Sarac will play situationally. New transfer Garreston may earn his way into the mix.

i cant figure out how to post the link so the image loads and not just the URL. I use an ipad, so the options are limited.

Linebacker preview.

https://ucdavisaggies.com/news/2023/8/15/football-season-preview-position-breakdown-the-linebackers.aspx

TAMC had a field goal kicker hitting a 53 yard kick in their Spring game, has seven all conference preseason selection, had the best defense in their conference, and will have a new offense which no one has seen yet.

Player mentioned in OL preview not yet on website roster, committed in July. From American River
Zaire Collier Simonton. OL 6-3 328. Had an offer from New Mexico State 247 3*

We had some players who seemed to be less effective or be placed in a role where they didn’t get the notoriety they had in the 2019, after we changed defensive coordinators. Two are Nick Eaton who was Freshman All American , and Da’Von Frazier who was the most improved player in 2019, This isnt a criticism just an observation that those two guys dropped in their play or production, coincident with the change in the defense coordinator, and both were moved to a different position.

Another roster position change.
Both Connors twins are now DBs. This raises the question of whether they are identical twins, they sure look alike. Porter played well in his opportunities at linebacker, starting one game, but we are loaded there and if he has athletic ability similar to his brother he should be a DB.

Idaho is lucky that Nevada and Cal are coming off disappointing years. They have a good chance of winning at Nevada.

Not a poll, but projected finishes in the Big Sky. Davis is picked third behind Montana State and Idaho
They made a mistake on Idaho, the linebacker they tout is now at Georgia Tech. They got a linebacker from South Dakota. I think Idaho has some major questions on defense. Both Montana State and Idaho have tougher schedules than Davis, based on last seasons results.

https://theanalyst.com/na/2023/08/fcs-college-football-preview-2023-big-sky-conference/