Strengths/weaknesses of every team I see right now:

Chattanooga:
What's good: Good passing game and athletic defense.
What's bad: the running game. It's really really bad, actually.
Note: I am sympathetic to those who would say "well, actually, Chattanooga's offense is just bad" but here's the thing: for the rest of the season (sans USC) they have the Mercer, Furman, Western Carolina, and VMI. All of those defenses are vulnerable. I haven't seen enough of Mercer yet to judge their pass defense, but Mercer's overall defense is not as good as last year right now. I think Chattanooga wins at least 6 games and I think will compete for a playoff spot, especially if ETSU and Mercer have a strong showing this year.

The Citadel:
What's good: offense is definitely improved upon last year. they were only good for 2 scores last year, but so far they've been good for at least 3 against stiff defensive competition.
What's bad: the defense. They've fallen off over the last 2 years. Not sure if it's the pass defense or the overall defense, but the pass defense is bad.
Note: Anyone who says the Citadel is bad just isn't watching. I think they're the South Carolina gamecocks of the Socon. Seriously flawed, not gonna win the conference, but they will make plays and keep your focus.

ETSU:
What's good: Their defense. It's scrappy and has done basically everything you would ask of it thus far.
What's bad: Their offense. It's done just enough, but they need have struggled against so-so conference competition. It may be a stretch to say "they're bad on offense," but I don't think the performance they are showing will keep them competitive against Mercer, Wofford, the Citadel or Samford.
Note: still...their defense makes plays! I'm very skeptical of ETSU, but at the same time you have to give credit where credit is due. It's no longer a question *if* they are competing for a playoff spot. They are. Full stop. I think they'll win at least 7 games. That won't be enough to get in, but I think 8 wins would be good enough. I ranked them this week

Furman:
What's good: They have a pretty balanced attack and a QB who can throw. Nothing really jumps out at you if you look at the dins on paper, partially because they have a few lopsided losses to very good teams. They don't run the ball as good as they do last year, but you can see a commitment to more balance on offense which may or may not be a good thing. At the very least Hendrix is playing to his personnel's strengths.
What's bad: The defense. I've harped on them before so I'm not going to beat a dead horse. It's hard's to say one way or another what the strengths are in this unit because the stats are all over the place. On one hand, they contained Western's run game to less than 4 ypc...but they also allowed 400 yards through the air. Austin Herink had a field day with their secondary as well. They also let Elon run for nearly 300 yards on them. That's not a good stat because the personnel (as far as I know?) from last year to this year was pretty much the same from the playoff game where they held Elon to about 150. I may be belaboring the point, but we just don't know enough about Furman's defense one way or another other than it's not good right now.
Note: Furman's the team we know the least about. Yes, they played a tough schedule and yes, the played a great offensive game against Western Carolina, but at this point we don't know if their trajectory is toward an improvement like last year (I'm skeptical). The narrative would definitely be different had they played/beaten Colgate and not choked against ETSU (who is very hard to beat at home). If they were sitting at 3-2 right now, Elon would be getting #1 votes this week.

Mercer:
What's good: Their offense is better this year. Admittedly, I haven't watched them as much as I'd like and Riddle being hurt is a setback, but they still score the most frequently of any team in the Socon (if you discount FBS games)
What's bad: Their defense is not as good as last year. Last year's defense and this year's offense would be a playoff team (too bad that's not how it works). That's not to say that Mercer is a bad defensive team, they just aren't as good this year.
Note: Like Furman, we don't know enough about Mercer. They lost to the Citadel, but as already established, it's a safe bet that the Citadel's offense is better and special teams were the difference. They have a good win against Samford, a win against Jacksonville (which tells us nothing), and a win against VMI without Riddle (which tells us little). Their record through 5 games is about what you'd expect with the only surprises being Citadel and Samford being the opposite expected outcomes. The big thing is that the defense hasn't played up to par to what you want from them as evident by the VMI, Citadel, and Memphis games. The season's not over yet. They're probably one of the few Socon teams that could get in with 7 wins, pending on what the 4 losses. That's not to say that I think they'll go 7-4, but I do think they have one of the bigger margins of error in the conference.

Samford:
What's good: Devlin Hodges and Kelvin McKnight. And their remaining schedule. They probably won't get into the playoffs, but they could make it a controversy if they win out. Historically, teams like Wofford, Furman, and the Citadel play not-so-good pass defense. They have those 3 teams on the schedule and VMI and ETSU.
What's bad: everything else. Look, I give Samford a 50% chance of finishing with a winning record right now. 30% chance to make the playoffs and a 40% chance of winning out. Going on the road to play the Citadel, Furman, and ETSU is not going to be easy, even if they have some matchup advantages. Their defense has to step up and their offense has to score points.
Note: I'm not going to sit here and pretend like we don't know enough about Samford. We do. Based on what I've seen so far this year, I think they'll be favored against Furman, VMI, and the Citadel (all of their pass defenses are bad). They should also be favored against ETSU, but that game will be tough on the road. Wofford will be tough as well because Wofford is playing good pass defense for the first time since Matt Nelson was in the secondary in 2003 (see: my profile pic).

Western Carolina:
What's good: Tyree Adams. But even then, I think they've managed an easy schedule in terms of the defenses they've played. All five of the defenses they've played haven't been great and I'm interested to see how Western does against a solid defense like Wofford, Chattanooga, ETSU, and even Mercer. I don't think Tyree Adams is overrated, but I think their offense might be.
What's bad: The defense. I'm not joking, it's probably the worst defense statistically that I have ever seen. Western could be a 3-8 team this year.
Note: I really don't have much else to say other than that.

Wofford:
What's good: A LOT. Offense is racking up the most yardage since Eric Breitenstein graduated, and it's not dependent on one player. Defense is noticeably improved in the secondary, third down defense, and total yardage.
What's bad: turnovers and field goals. What's keeping our games competitive this year are turnovers. If we don't have a couple bone head turnovers against the Citadel, it's a blow out. If we don't fumble against Gardner Webb it's a worse blow out. If we don't fumble against Chattanooga it's at least 28-10. Luke Carter has also missed 3 FGs, including 2 last week.
Note: Wofford's in a weird spot because we were the ugliest socon champ ever last year. Last year we made bonehead mistakes that made games closer than they should have been, with us almost losing. This year we're doing that, but it's keeping games within 2 touchdowns instead of a blowout.

VMI:
What's good: they have an offense! They've probably scored more in the last couple games than they have over the last few seasons. They only scored 88 points or so last year on offense.
What's bad: Defense still needs work and their QB isn't great. Udinski isn't a bad QB, but he's definitely missed some easy passes at times this year. I bet the Keydets wish Hodges didn't transfer.
Note: VMI will beat somebody this year. I don't know who, but it will happen.