Hawaii Rainbow Warriors TOP 10 Football Players for 2024

when you looked at Hawaii you knew it was going to take some time for Timmy Chang to get everything up to speed to get this program where he wanted it to be and to get this team into a position to be successful and heading into the 2024 season with the top 10 returning players that we'll talk about today there's reason to be excited for this team this year it was a 5 and eight season last year so you're expecting a slight Improvement which probably puts you in a bow game and everything starts with the offense and Braden shagger 3500 yards 26 touchdowns you'd like to see him reduce those 14 interceptions but you knew that last year was going to be a learning experience for everybody and when you look at what this team has returning in the passing attack there's a lot of reasons to be excited for Hawaii in 2024 now shager is going to be the focal point of this offense he's going to be the reason they either Thrive or struggle and that's a good thing you look at the talent that He has you have good armed tal he's experienced in this system he's now more comfortable with the guys he has around him and he has a solid frame 6'3 225 lbs returning to the 27th best passing attack in college football there's a a lot of reasons to be excited for a team that used to have one of the best passing attacks when Chang was there when col Brennan was there you had a number of guys that were really good for this team for the Rainbow Warriors and Sher could be the next in line for that if you can like I said reduce some of those interception ctions and in increase the passing yards and the passing touchdowns which shouldn't be difficult with the talent they have returning this team is going to be in great hands one of the players that he'll look for is a guy who had a breakout year in Stephen McBride the former Kansas transfer came to Hawaii last year and had the best season of his career over a thousand yards receiving nine touchdowns and I think that he could have even better numbers this year if other players are able to step up and make improvements then McBride is going to Thrive from that as well now he's going to get a lot of attention from teams early in the season because of what he did last year and you average 16.3 yards per catch teams are going to notice they know what you're capable of doing they know that you are an explosive player now obviously like we said some of the players on Hawaii are going to be able to help him out by stepping up as well and if they do that Hawaii like I said is in great hands and this passing attack is going to be even more dangerous now it's not all the on the offense either the defense has to play a role and a guy like pet manuma will be a Major Impact player 87 tackles last year five and a half tackles for loss three interceptions he was a big time player for this defense now this defense was good against the pass finished 49th in the country and defending the run will be a little bit of a challenge but the safety position shouldn't be too much of a factor in there though manuma is capable of making plays five and a half tackles for loss obviously shows that he's capable of getting in the back field and it'll be fun to see what this coaching staff has in store for him this year he's a guy who can be versatile he's someone who can move all around the field and if you can get other players like I said to step up same with the offense then Hawaii is going to be a really fun team to watch early in the season I think a lot of people thought buelli ashack was going to be a big- time player for Hawaii and there's a lot of reasons that point to that and there's still plenty of time for him to be that big time player I mean he had 832 yards in nine touchdowns last year early in the season was really when he was doing the most damage when you look at the Vanderbuilt game there's a number of games where you could see the talent and we talked about Stephen McBride and these two are a great Duo this gives Bren shager plenty of options and at 6 foot2 175 pounds you see the frame you maybe like to see him out a little bit of weight but you see the frame that allows him to be successful and teams struggled defending him at times last year now he has a full year of experience his belt and he's looking to have an even bigger year with teams focusing on McBride Matlock is someone who could have a bigger year because he's going to see more favorable matchups more of those one-on-one opportunities and we know what he's capable of doing when he's presented with those turn back camstone is one of the more underrated quarterbacks in college football and when you look at what Hawaii needed when Pam Lockridge departed they needed a corner that could be kind of a lock down guy a guy that they could rely on when it comes to defending in the past Stone has been that guy since he transferred from Wyoming and the production has shown teams are a little bit weary of throwing to his side which is great for this past defense and it's a big reason why he's one of the better Corners in the group of five and again another lepton player in terms of college football stone is going to be another big time player for Hawaii once again this year wide receiver position is so important for Hawaii and it's easy to see why they'll have a number of players that make a big time impact and we talked about Tuma already and maybe Kali nishigaya is too high on this list with only 322 yards and one touchdown but somebody is going to thrive with teams focusing on McBride and teams are probably going to focus on ashlock as well so a guy like nishigaya has a huge opportunity in front of him can you capitalize on the idea that teams won't be really paying attention to you and that allows you to do a lot of exciting things now you see him more in the slot so you're going to see him against you know that n back or even a linebacker and that's where he can really Thrive if he can find a way to be more than just a possession receiver like he was last year then you're looking at a big time player for Hawaii because teams will have to focus on other players and that gives him more opportunities that gives him more field to utilize and that's really exciting if you're a Hawaii fan the defense ultimately I I think that the offense is going to do its part I think the offense will take a step forward and the defense is really what's going to determine the success of this team team jayen Smith enters the year where he comes in with 67 tackles nine tackles for loss he plays a huge role this is a team that finished 104th defending the run and that needs to improve you're going to face plenty of explosive offenses in the Mountain West and in non-conference play so a guy like Jaylen Smith is set for a huge year for a couple reasons you could have a big year statistically but also you're being asked to do a lot more things and and you're at you're defense is going to be asked to play at a different level you are going to require them to play at a higher level and the linebacker position is where that can get started Jaylen Smith is a disruptive player at his Peak and Hawaii needs him to be exactly that if you're going to finish better than 112th in scoring defense the defense means needs to be disruptive the defense needs to find ways to get the offense the football back and need to find a way to improve on what was a kind of a poor year for the most part as we mentioned before the passing defense wasn't too shabby finishing 49th is nothing to scof about and you have plenty of experience in practice because of the offense you face every single day and a guy like verdell Edwards definitely benefits from facing that passing attack the receivers that he goes against in practice every day is going to strengthen him and you saw what he did last year comes in at 6'2 210 lbs so he has really good size to be physical with those opposing receivers and he knows that he has an elite group to go against like I said at practice so if you're finding ways to sharpen iron with iron as you will you are going to benefit from that because now this is a group that knows how to take a Next Step they obviously learned with lot from last year in their five and eight finish so a guy like verdell Edwards could have a big year because he has that experience he knows now he's more familiar with the talent he'll face outside of his own team and that's really exciting for a group that is looking to improve elsewhere but the passing attack that they'll face in practice is going to make the pass defense even better one way to help with that as well so one way to help the passing attack pass defense even more and also just help the defense in general is being more disruptive upfront and a guy like Ezra EV malal is going to be a big- time player in that regard in terms of his importance to this group and it's not just him but he plays a big role five and a half tackles for last and three and a half sacks you're looking at a player that could have a Major Impact for various different reasons now being disruptive doesn't necessarily mean just getting tackles for loss and sacks quarterback hurries plugging up the Run Lanes causing running backs to bounce their runs because their their Lane isn't open that's where he can really step up that's where this front seven for Hawaii can play a big role because teams are going to find ways to move the ball all over the field and they want to establish the run against a team like Hawaii after what they saw last year you want to be able to run the football because if you can't run the football we've seen that Hawaii can give you trouble defending the pass now you're looking at a front seven that has a great opportunity in front of them you have the opportunity to be more disruptive you have the ability to be more disruptive and like I said if you're able to do that then you're looking at a much better team and finally we talked about the secondary Elijah Palmer is another player that will play a a big role maybe slotting him more in that nickel spot closer to the line of scrimmage we'll see where they move him but they they can use him at a number of different positions a little bit under a smaller size at 58 170 pounds but we saw what he's capable of doing he had two interceptions last year and teams weren't super worried about him but they also they didn't test him a ton either and I am excited to see what this group can do you lost a couple of starters on the defensive side of the ball and the secondary like I said finished 49th so teams know what they're capable of and the returning talent that they have coming back leads me to be excited about what this team can do in 2024 the offense obviously we know what it's capable of doing the defense must improve it must show some signs of improvement and if you put those two things together I think you're looking at a much better group a really fun group to watch in 2024 and Timmy Chang is growing this program in the right direction and I think you see them take that next step