If you look at just the surface, which is apparently all the guys with these preseason pubs do, you see a team coming off a 3-9 season losing NFL draftees in Bowen and Rubin on defense and on offense losing Meyer and Blythe - two guys that own virtually all the passing and receiving records. Plus, take into consideration some of those losses - UNI, Kent State, and Toledo, as well as the drubbings we took against Texas Tech and Texas. That, and Chizik is only in year two of what people think is an overhaul that is expected to take years (if it can ever be done by someone not named McCarney) - Does not look good.
If you decide to dig a little bit deeper than just the surface, you find that although the Bowen and Rubin losses are killer, you've guy guys like Smith and Raven waiting in the wings, plus two defensive ends that are going to pose problems for offenses. If the front 7 is even serviceable, the secondary is plenty good enough to be able to do their job, and the defense could end up being better than expected. As far as Meyer and Blythe are concerned, most everyone here already knows that my opinion of those two are "addition by subtraction" as Meyer's QB abilities were ruined by a previous coaching staff and Blythe took more than a few plays off with his lack of effort, and on other plays was going to have to outjump the secondary as it was common knowledge he wasn't going to blaze by anyone running an impressive route. Any records those two held are due to the fact both played since they were freshmen, and just with the history of ISU football that fact alone will leave you holding records upon graduation. Doesn't make them great players on a national level - just makes them record holders of a really shaky history. Honestly, I think we'll be BETTER with both Meyer and Blythe gone. That, and if you take a look how we played 4 of the last 5 weeks of the season last year (drop that Kansas game) - we outright hung with BCS-bound Oklahoma and BCS-ripped-off Mizzou, and we beat Colorado and K-State, two teams that everyone seems to think we don't have a chance of winning this season. That, and Chizik was already "righting the ship" using players that aren't exactly ideal for his system. He's had Shep murdering his players in the weight room all offseason, and now they're beginning to look like beasts. I think if you look beyond the surface, I think there's reason to be optimistic with this team. Granted, we're not going to go out and compete for the division crown this year, and I'm not even saying we're going to make a bowl game this year. But there's no reason why we can't at least think about 6 wins this year, and there's no way in hell we're not at least a top 70 team this year.
