What to expect from Rhett Lashlee's offense in 2024, inside SMU's QB competition, will OL step up?

let's start at the top quarterback and this is an interesting position from the standpoint of when we talked with Casey Woods on Wednesday I did not expect the discussion with him to turn into what ended up being a a a major talking point and probably out of fall Camp the the most important quote that might have been thrown out there over the course of of the entire fall camp and I asked him I said how do you handle keeping Preston Stone Kevin Jennings uh Happy how you know what's the plan for them and and where do you go going into the season and he talked a lot about you know how well they've handled the competition and how well they've been able to be good teammates and they and they have complete trust in them to run the offense and there's not going to be a drop off and all those things and then the followup was well do you see them they being a do do you know who's going to take the first snap against the wolf pack and he said no quote no I don't think so I think there's ongoing conversation as there has been since January right I think we've got a good mindset about hey we want to evaluate this thing all the way to the end and let those guys compete and separate themselves in the places where they could or couldn't fortunately we've got two Proven Winners that really that are really good strong men and they believe in themselves they believe in this team and we're going to execute a high level either way and I think that quote is important and there's a lot more you can watch it on our YouTube um Channel as far as the full video and his comments there's also the story at on the pony express.com with his full comments but I I think the big thing that you could take away from it is they really trust these two quarterbacks and and they're not going to settle for average Quarterback play this year and this is what I learned about the quarterback position the biggest takeaway is they're not going to settle for all right this is a learning time SMU is moving up into the ACC this is a learning time for these quarterbacks and quite frankly you can apply this to the entire team because there is too much talent and I said this La earlier this week there's too much talent on this team there's too much just overall depth that you can't be held back trying to learn and everyone is going to have to raise their level of play that's been their offseason Mantra is raise it and and and for the quarterbacks they have to do that when the games come on and in particular when he says in places that they could or couldn't that might involve this thing going into the season where SMU opens at Nevada Preston Stone could play Kevin Jennings could play they could both see time they also have what should be a layup against Houston Christian the next week they have BYU the week after a team that missed a bowl game I believe they missed a bll game and so you're going to have a three-week stretch where you have a chance to truly evaluate this thing and it isn't going to be something where hey we're evaluating this thing and we know we might have to take some lumps because there's a first year player in terms of a starter like Preston was last year SMU was patient and it paid off with Preston Stone through those first six games he got in the back half of the schedule he's playing really well played well in the second half against Memphis was obviously cooking against Navy led the offense to some wins over some poor competition and and got it rolling now this team the way they've assembled it and the experience they have they believe they have a team that can make noise in the ACC and the quarterback position this year is not going to be one that has a short leash it's not going to be one though that is allowed to in my opinion struggle as maybe much as it did last year because there was this kind of understanding that Preston won the job he's going to get his opportunity and we're going to see how it goes and until we're forced to really make a decision and go elsewhere with it Preston's got the Reigns this year I don't think that's the case Preston has done plenty in Fall Camp he's looked the part he's done better at checking down the football he's been able to push the ball down the field I think that's a credit to what we'll talk about a bit with the wide receivers being a little bit more seasoned with both quarterbacks and Preston is had a really good fall Camp from what I've seen the reality too though when evaluating these guys is the defensive line is so good it's hard to get a good read on how these guys are going to play When the bullets are flying against other teams because as I'll share when we talk about the defensive line I believe that defensive line that SMU has is probably better than nine of the 12 just kind of off the top of my head defensive lines that SMU smu's offensive line will face over the course of the season so kind of think about it in that perspective when we talk about how good this defensive line is how maybe the offensive line has struggled handling them but as far as the quarterbacks to evaluate this position and this is where this whole thing turned into a insane five-page threat on our board which quarterback is a hot button discussion but we've said that Preston and Kevin are competing and they've been competing this off season and especially once Preston got back healthy what that means is not there is an end with the first snap of the Nevada game because they're now at a point in their careers and what they've both done on the field where they have earned the coach's trusts and you can if you want to believe coache like that was coache with Casey Woods saying we're gonna operate at a high level anyway and things like that with who regardless of who's in there that's fine they do believe that though and for Kevin he has shown some ability to make some plays and some throws that arm strengthwise Preston maybe doesn't necessarily have but Preston also in his own right as we know can make plays can create and do things and that's where later Casey says we're not having Preston try to be ke and Kevin's not trying to be Preston they need to be their own people and their own players and that's why I think this quarterback competition worked so well they couldn't be more different in terms of how they came to be at SMU and they couldn't be really more different in terms of where they're at in kind of their careers so far in college either and that's what makes this intriguing because SMU staff knows that they have Preston who has played a ton of football from high school to now at SMU and was coming on strong at the end of last year and really showed Improvement and has had a very good fall camp and then they also have Kevin who can quite frankly run around make a little bit more plays than than Preston can Preston can extend Kevin can maybe run a little bit more than than Preston can and you can also see it in his arm strength that he got a little bit of a gun and he's got a little bit of a gunslinger mentality if there's something that Preston does differently than Kevin it's that yes you want him to check it down instead of extending and making plays but also Preston early on last year wasn't pushing the ball down the field as much as he should have and we kind of talked about that and how inconsistent the the downfield passing game was for SMU at times earli in the in the year it was act I mean I've it was pretty wild and so to look at this competition you don't look at it is they need to have an answer and they need to be done and this is you know can't believe we're having this discussion it's a credit to both guys quite frankly like Preston ended last season on a a bad note with getting hurt and I feel for him because I would have loved to have seen him in the two-lane game and I would have loved to see him and how the blll game would would have gone but Kevin got an opportunity and led SMU interceptions and all to a Championship win over a two lane team that hadn't won it or haven't Lo hadn't lost at home in like three years and there's there's Kudos that are deserved for that and the coaches see something in Kevin as well and whenever you talk about quarterbacks so many so much of the time it has to be oh you're on X player side or Y player side that doesn't need to be the case here and that's what I learned about this competition is that they really do both buy into the team aspect and they're both excited when they make plays and they're both uh they were great together when they went to ACC media days together mind you and think about all the leaders on this team that could have gone in and I'm I'm just gonna say Kevin's place because Preston is the returning quarterback he's on all the preseason watch lists and all of those things but there are other guys that could have gone in Kevin's place but he Brett lashley's words deserved to go they got Kevin to this season the whole idea that oh we needed to SM needed to bring him to keep him and help you know do this or do that for him like no like Kevin is Kevin is back they will have some sort of either decision or storyline when this season ends around one of these two quarterbacks because they're both getting into the back end of their career and SM is going to have to make a decision most likely so this season will play out however it plays out but in Fall Camp these two guys showed their maturity they showed their competitiveness and they both made plays amid kind of tough tough uh circumstances with the injuries to the offensive line and having to go through the Hat in team period but when you get a chance to watch them every now and again in seven on seven you can see why SMU might want this thing to play out into the season potentially and that's also confidence in the team that SMU has if you want to read even further into it you look at last year and there were moments like think about this SMU rotated Brandon Crosley and CJ Sanders CJ obviously grabbed the nickel job and really held on to it but SMU was so good defense defensively they sat back and said let's just red shirt Brandon Crosley so he can come back that's where smu's at with the rest of this team when trying to decide how to handle the quarterbacks they feel like they can play both they feel like they can get a little bit more information on both and that's a good good problem to have so um shoot 18 minutes in already but I learned that those two are handling the competition well they both can lead this offense and direct it the right way just remember that whenever presid Preston's in whenever Kevin's in it looks very different you know last year SMU took out a lot of the RPO slow developing things that in my opinion kind of plagued Preston added another situation that he needed to deal with and it's not from a processing stpoint it's from a comfort level in the offense and what you're trying to do like let Preston drop back and just go that's kind of what he can really do Kevin does a really nice job in the RPO he's got the threat of being true Runner a little bit more in in the ground game we saw that in the two lane game a little bit just his ability to extend plays and run and I think that's something that is different when he's in there and so just kind of keep that in mind you know scbu has two really good quarterbacks and they also have a guy to transition finally out of those two kelrick luster had a really strong fall Camp he was one of the guys that really stepped up and however you want to look at it from well going against the third team or doing this doing that I tell you what he might have the strongest arm out of the three main guys that could could in theory play for SM this year Tyler Aronson's gonna red shirt in all likelihood unless there's a ton of injuries and SMU will continue to develop him he showed some improvement I thought from from Spring to Fall Camp a little bit more comfortable in what they're doing and and and how they're uh you know what they're asking him to do keldrick though took the biggest jump out of maybe all three quarterbacks and and that makes sense right you you have your first college season and your head swimming you get a little bit of an opportunity to get in there and play and get your feet wet I think it against Prairie View and then uh you fast forward and your season's over well what do you need to do you need to get back to work and that's what keldrick does really well so he's got a big arm made a lot of plays in fall and he really when when people were talking about the quarterbacks and all the coaches and interviews and things like that kri Lester came up a bunch from a lot of these coaches and players so credit gets thrown his way uh rightfully so for the fall camp that he had but he showed a big arm and just a a much better understanding of the offense and what they're trying to do as well which you would expect going into your second year so but we'll jump in here to the running back room and Jaylen knon and LJ Johnson quite frankly we didn't see much of in Fall camp in a sense that when we're allowed in as reporters they saw some time here and there they kind of Switched Off being the first team uh running backs during the tempo period which shows you where they stand on the depth chart no question but also that they they've earned a lot more trust and I think that's one of the other things that I learned in Fall Camp about this team is this coaching staff and Casey Woods had a really good answer to this you can't be dumb tough in Fall camp where you get a bunch of guys hurt and all of a sudden you're going from a team that they feel like they can challenge in the ACC and make some noise early on to all of a sudden being down and out because you've beat up your guys you've gotten guys hurt they're out for the year and I think Jaylen Knighton and LJ Johnson between themselves need to be more consistent on the field this fall but what SMU can't have is them getting hurt and then not being ready to go and if my football memory serves me right on this I think Jaylen knon got hurt right before the season I could be wrong on that and and and maybe he got nicked up and he and it was kind of something that we were we were watching really closely early in the season I could be could be off on that LJ Johnson also got nicked up later in the season and they just battled consistency issues so they're a group that LJ has shown the ability to flash with power flash with speed Jaylen knon has that that smoothness that Vision that explosiveness he can catch the football a little bit all those things can factor in those are your 1 a1b but the the biggest change outside of Kamar Wheaten being hurt uh and and he's out for a for a bit we'll just leave it at that Rett Lashley hasn't been able to formally address it yet but he's out for a bit brashard Smith coming in to Ball Camp Looking ready to go physically and then stepping up into that role really well from a running back perspective this is a guy that was fourth nationally in kickoff return average for last season across the country and smwe brought him in as hey we need to upgrade our kick return game let's bring him in and maybe he can play a little bit of running back for us as well and sure enough he's come in look the part physically and you're going to see him be used in I think special teams of course with the return game but also being a running back he's got a little bit more of a um a a an explosiveness that SMU hasn't had since you listus Bentley quite frankly and so if he hits he's probably one of those players that if you look at if he hits for SMU this year One what an incredible late edition by Kyle Cooper running backs coach and special teams coordinator basically he didn't have to convince Rett Lashley but at the time they were pretty tight on roster spots and uh CP kind of pushed and you know said hey I think I think we should go for this and so sure enough they did and I I if it pays off it's going to be one of those great last additions to this team like a Kobe Wilson was last year for the defense SMU has a a decent group of running backs dererk McFall looks like he's going to be a star at some point for SMU but he's still just a true freshman but brashard Smith has that true Elite level talent that again if he if it hits look out this offense just added a big piece of explosion and in the kick return game if those things can be if those issues can be alleviated man SMU is going to be dangerous for the first time in a minute on special teams with him back there so um that's kind of the running back group I think they're just going to try to find the hot hand early in the season and go from there the wide receivers this is one of everybody this is one of uh our message board's favorite favorite discussions if you're not at on the pony express.com use code smu1 that's SMU the number one for two months for just a dollar gets you into the season gets you into ACC play at this point so jump on board with us and get on the message board it's the number one message board for SMU fans chatted up during games over recruiting what have you and we can chat on there as well but the wide receiver group Jordan Curley moves on and they now have six guys coming back that they really feel like they trust so with that is the question of are they going to rotate what's that going to look like and at least this year I will say there there's kind of a an odd number in a sense when Jordan Curley got hurt last year I believe they moved Jord Hudson over to start learning his position or they made some change mid-season there and for this forsome of muci Dixon romelo Brinson kesan Smith and Jordan Hudson it's not I mean it's put up or shut up but they all have their own ways in Fall Camp of standing out and last year I felt like all right kesan is inconsistent drops the ball a little bit too much that was something that was talked about coming over from Miami romelo as bouncy and as as athletic as he is uh he has stick stick figures for legs and he needs a weight room and and just just kind of mature a little bit more Jordan Hudson came in late wasn't here in the spring and was needing to learn the offense develop a little bit more find that like maturity not that he was immature he just wasn't as just like fully like in it like he's whenever I'd po down to campus this summer I saw Jordan Hudson working out in the indoor and he was working out with trainers he was working out with you know this gu that guys like in it and and all all these guys are I mean they they all spend so much time on this craft but Jordan Hudson really has gotten into his bag so to speak in terms of using all the tools that he has both to improve and get better and just from from a talent perspective he's raised his level of game from what I've been able to see his competitiveness when the ball's in the air just what he's able to do as far as setting up Corners he's a he's an issue is what I saw in Fall Camp romelo has now taken the step from being That Bouncy athletic guy to really being a ball winner and and that's going to be something to watch is if he turns that into being a ball winner on the field in the fall in a couple weeks that's going to be really special and then muchi to back up to him muchi is the fastest guy on the team period that's it if you ask just about any player who's maybe not involved in that conversation of I am the fastest muchi is the guy that they pick out now the other one is Jaylen Davis Robinson and and rightfully so you know one of the fastest guys to be on the team and and what he did at waxah hatchee running track but you look at muchi Dixon and he's just he just rolls and he kind of looks like a sprinter in a way like if he trained he would if he trained for it he would look a little bit differently physically but he's he's super veiny very very athletic and last year he had that finger injury which really he just couldn't catch the ball with it and this year he's really developed that topend speed and being able to go get it and that is something between him and kesan I think they're both on the same side from what it seems like Jordan and romello kind of both on the same side from what it seems like those those guys can now go and they can rotate back and forth I think that is going to help this downfield passing game Jordan Hudson's intermediate and short route running has really improved I think Khan's more willing to go over the middle romelo is willing to go over the middle you've got to see it turn on when it comes to on the field and putting it together for these guys but you know when you have these receivers and they have put so much into being more physical being physically ready to go you know it it it can make a difference and so um I'm very intrigued to see how this receiving group looks when the lights actually come on who is gonna be consistent will it be Jordan Hudson will romelo take what he's done and turn it into a terrific season will muchi be able to take the top off of Defense as like he can in SMU practice you know th those those are all questions these are going to be answered quickly because Nevada does have enough talent to obviously give SMU a little bit of a run for its money it's not going to be something where it is a uh layup so to speak and smu's favored by 25 but still they're going to be at least athletic enough to to make SMU earn it there's no question about that in the slot Jake Bailey and Roger Daniels the only takeaway I have really on um rodri Daniels is is with Kamar Wheaton's injury could we see rodri end up getting a couple more snaps in the running back room because quite frankly whenever he's been back there for SMU good things have happened so uh I don't know if maybe they'll toy with that a little bit more but who knows maybe Jake Bailey really looks pretty good um again guys we're we're only in there for so much and I am intrigued to see how SMU walks this line of all right six receivers we really trust RJ RJ Maryland really really really good tight end Matthew hibner they really like as well how do we get those guys to all figure it out and be productive and that's the one that's one of the takeaways that I I will point to with this team they just want to win the culture is there for that it it's really quite something and and until you go out of practice and you really see how they work and you get that extended look at them you it's tough to understand everybody always says yeah they're happy but last year's team they really showed it they were able to put aside their ideas of being starters and this and that they want a championship and so it's Pro proven where the wide receiver and tight end room has to factor in together is SMU had one one really one tight end that it trusted last year and that was RJ Maryland this year they have Matthew hibner a national champion he is an old man in a sense um in that tight end room and athletic and can block do you run a little bit more 12 personnel and all of a sudden you're looking at a team that is not only having to you know rotate all these different positions and things like that but you're having to just be so versatile because you have the opportunity to be uh and you have the the the Personnel to be that's the big thing that is going to be interesting as this tight end room emerges and so with that tight end room RJ RJ Maryland is is an absolute stud uh he's up to 24ish uh now at least entering fall camp they're really excited what about what he's going to bring to the table for this offense they feel like this is his money year and if he shines like they think he can then he's gonna have a decision to make and he's got an opportunity to make a lot of money on Sundays but Matthew hibner has come in and pushed him he's not going to overtake him there's no change in the starter at tight end there's no question there Adam Moore has done a lot of good things over the course of fall camp and there's going to be a natural competition there with those guys to earn snaps and continue to see the field just overall and so blocking will be the biggest area that RJ has to continue to step up with and see if he can take that to the next level um because that is such a big part I mean that's what makes rodri Daniels one of the best overall players on on the team because of his commitment to do all the things that they want him to do like if I mean you you can go back back to rodri's either freshman year or maybe I guess yeah I guess it would have been freshman year and he hits 21 and a half miles an hour on that you know short pass that he takes to the house for touchdown against North Texas but oh by the way he is blocking his absolute tail off to help a guy score and he does that day in day out and so they just have a lot of guys that are committed to doing the little things but the biggest thing that needs to happen from Fall camp to the season is you I think you need an alpha to emerge at wide receiver you know I I don't know like many teams that are really good offensively that roll the receivers like smu's done and I know I think at Yukon it was somebody mentioned to me that Rhett had a lot of different receivers catch passes and and yards and they improved a lot in that one year he was at Yukon but when you have when you have athletes like a Jordan Hudson romelo Brinson Kean Smith mui Dixon Jake Bailey Roger Daniels I don't know you want one to be that complete Alpha and go be an all ACC receiver and I think that changes the way teams can prepare for you if you have a an an opposing defense that is going to say okay they're going to rotate receivers that's their prerogative but you're not necessarily going to have to bracket a Jordan Hudson or bracket a romelo Brinson that means that one they don't respect your receivers or they're very worried about you running the football or they're really worried about RJ Maryland whatever and RJ does draw a lot of attention that allows one-on-one coverage but SMU needs one of these guys to merges in Alpha I've seen them win enough one-on-one balls I've seen them be competitive as all get out in particular romelo and Jordan Hudson but you need them to do it in a game and so for fall Camp what I learned about these receivers I think they took the next step in their development but it's got to translate onto the field in a tougher conference and so it's still an unknown for the younger receivers Jackson lavender jamarian Carroll Ashton kosart Randy ree um couple quick thoughts Jackson lavender continuing to be be you know quintessential like coach's son and in terms of his work ethic and what he does day in day out um and practice I mean he works his tail out he's continues to develop his game um and and Ashton Ashton Kart the orgon transfer has come in and I I felt like he was he was nicked up earlier in Fall camp and that kind of you know held him back a little bit but he's come on strong the last week with a couple of really nice catches uh on deep ball and things like that um to make some big plays Jamari and Carroll out of kind of guys who maybe aren't household names yet he probably had the best clothes of maybe any offensive player he had a strong scrimmage on Saturday he looks like he's running around really well he's playing his his way into being a strong option next year when SMU loses five receivers potentially six and then Randy Reese has come in and shown a lot of explosiveness I mean he looks the part running around there now that he's healthy after gray shirting so trip rean another big body he's gonna play on special teams he's he's done some good things as well so um Stone eie uh another uh football guy uh really you know for the brand so to speak and and he'll be in there at times as an Haack um in a heavy set I would imagine IM for SMU when they need a lot of meat out there when you get to the offensive line uh this is a group that I think if if they were completely healthy we would be feeling a little differently about them right now but you get to fall camp and I kind of felt like it was going to be a group that would be fairly settled as far as look Logan Parr was still coming back from shoulder injury um Ben Sparks you see out there if you're watching on YouTube coming back from his own shoulder but was a little bit ahead of Logan and the question was gonna be okay Savon bird battling Andrew chamble at right tackle How's that gonna go well Andrew chamble goes down like day three of fall camp and has been out for a while now Savon bird okay this is your time you're going to step out step up well it wasn't working and they made a change and went with Nate Anderson at right tackle and he's been serviceable he's fairly athletic I think laterally in pass protection you know you want to see a little bit better from him at times but between him and Caleb Johnson they've been battling it out for a while now in Fall camp and um you know it's gonna be Nate Anderson when they start that season opener I would imagine I don't think Andrew chambley will be back for that game and they're going to have to weather that storm and if if that storm is bad then they'll have to get really creative and that would mean probably I'm guessing chai Clark who's gonna start at Right Guard would move to Center Justin Osborne would kick out if it's really bad if they can weather it they'll be okay because they know at some point Andrew chambley the all SEC freshman from Arkansas is GNA come back so if you run down these this group Justin Osborne has looked incredible at Center I mean he is he was on the Remington award watch list he's got an opportunity to to really boost his draft stock this year Graham uter has come in behind Justin Osborne and taken a lot of snaps at Center and been terrific needs to continue to work on his snaps he I believe he had to play right or left tackle as a senior for his high school and then at some point he switched to Center to he's been all over the place uh but he's settling in they view him as the center of the future without a doubt jaai Clark's been at Right Guard he's been holding that down Ben Sparks has come back and also pushed him Garen Justice shouted him out earlier this week and then left guard they move Savon bird back to a spot where he played at Oklahoma and he looks a lot better for that and that helps because it probably alleviates concerns of oh we need Logan parb back we need Logan parb back we need Logan parb back well now you have a guy that's played a bunch he wasn't he never broke through and was a lead at Oklahoma but he's played a bunch he's got experience there they're going to be able to make it work because he does have that amount of um just experience and he just looks more comfortable there it's very apparent that uh that's the case so then you have PJ Williams who's probably been the best offensive lineman in Fall camp and uh he's just looks I don't want to say night and day from Fall camp or from the spring but it's pretty close he's been outstanding uh and has been dominant at times in one-on ones and has really been able to control the line of scrimmage at that left tackle spot so that's kind of where the starting group stands and then you get into okay Caleb Johnson the former Notre Dame transfer is kind of your swing tackle at this stage with Andrew chamble still out and if not him then they'll get creative but also King large is worked offensive tackle and then I believe kaan sap a little bit but he's also been a guard and so then you have Alex Woods who with graham uter stepping in at Center and being so good he's been put back at guard and that's a great spot for him he can really add some size there I think he'll work out really well in the future you're looking kind of way ahead to next year I could see an very early starting lineup of PJ Williams at left tackle Logan par at left guard it would probably be o it would be probably Graham uter at Center that's how high high they are at on him and then you would have Alex Woods at Right Guard is my guess and then you would have Andrew chambley at right tackle that just way too early 2025 starting offensive line for SMU but they brought in Paris Patterson and um Kon sap is kind of Reserve guys and I would say that right now those two look like they have a lot of development to do they'll had some depth they were power five transfers uh in a way kaan sap went FSU to ECU and then left and went to SMU so um those guys will provide some depth and you know the offensive line I think as a quick takeaway as a group they're GNA be more athletic than they were last year and you return Logan par so net net Kai Clark is in better shape and ready to go at Right Guard and he's kind of a fire hydrant he's physical he's played 40 plus starts at Miami and once they get chambley back they're going to be more athletic at right tackle I mean I liked hen white A Lot H he was very very good but chamy kind of looks the part just a little bit shorter but still a massive human and then at Center you're far more athletic at there with Justin Osborne than Branson Hickman and I like Branson coming out of high school I like Branson what he did for SMU I defended him a lot during times where he you know just took some lumps being a smaller guy but Jo is much stronger he can run he can move around I think they've smu's inside Run game should take a considerable step up this year and again remember they're playing a very good defensive front but they should be able to make some serious inroads running the football up the middle because they have I think a more athletic experience physical interior of their line than maybe they did last year um and and so this will be quite the year to see if SMU can make those moves running the football uh something they have been good and you know bad at at times is running along the interior and then left tackle um as far as the backups King large is probably in there as well uh they like him uh so with that uh the the overall offensive line they should be better along the interior just run blocking in particular and then left tackle I think you're well more well-rounded with PJ Williams versus Marcus Bryan who's an excellent pass protector just wasn't as good in the Run game PJ has really stepped up and seems like he's going to round that out very well so um the offensive line we'll see bullets bullets start flying we'll see how much pressure they allow to see if they can hold it down all those things but it was clear SMU is ready to make some moves overall and kind of um make some changes to that group as they let two veteran multi-year starters walk out the door um in the end so uh quite the move there and we'll be obviously keeping a close eye on that group as as the season gets going