I'm asking you Patriot League posters to take off the rose colored glasses and give us a position-by position rundown of your team for 2011. Honesty is the best policy.

LAFAYETTE:

Coming off a 2-9 disaster in 2010, expectations should not be too high. Perhaps a case can be made that 5 of those 9 losses were by a TD or less so maybe that 2010 team wasn't so bad after all. In reality however, the 2010 Leopards had more problems than Bayer has aspirin tablets. Most of those problems will carry over to 2011. Lackluster recruiting may be addressing one or two issues, but has not infused the quantity of real talent needed to plug all the holes. Here is a quick and dirty summary by position of where things stand:

OL: We begin here because this is the key to almost everything. The offense cannot function without these guys. Offensive line coach Stan Clayton (Penn State, '88 and 4 years in the NFL) is on the hot seat. The OL was dreadful in 2010. No, I take that back. The 2010 group aspired to, but never achieved, dreadful. OL is not an easy position for a quick fix. Tavani is “tired of being pushed around” and has adopted the philosophy "size matters." At one point in the spring the two-deep averaged – AVERAGED! - over 310. OL recruiting is one area that has gone well the past two years, but if Stan Clayton can turn this bunch of lard butts into football players it won't be until the second half of the season. This is where it starts though. If there is to be any football team at all this year, there must be a vast improvement in the offensive line.

QB: Mediocre in 2010 with the same starter (Ryan O'Neil) returning. "He's the best we have" is an unfortunate but true statement. Undoubtedly OL deficiencies were a factor, but the coaching staff didn't seem to trust O'Neil in 2010, calling an endless stream of dumps, outs and flat passes, with few throws down the field. Knowledgeable observers expect improvement, but real hope rests with the two incoming freshmen, especially the kid from Wilson West Lawn (Reading) who apparently slipped through all of the big school recruiting nets due to senior year injuries. Unfortunately, neither he nor the other promising freshman from Canton, OH will contribute this year.

RB: Some talent, but, as a group, undersized and injury prone. The best of the bunch is probably senior Jerome Rudolph who is listed at a Lilliputian 170 and is one concussion away from becoming Quasimodo's permanent assistant.

WR: Perhaps the best group of wide receivers in school history was wasted last year. The 2011 group is also very talented and deep. Sophomore Mark Ross may be the real deal. The question is, can anyone get the ball to them?

TE: A disappearing position in college football, but leather helmet Tavani keeps it alive and well on College Hill. (Real men don't run the spread offense!) TE is used mostly as an extra blocking lineman in the Lafayette scheme of things, but even that didn't help in 2010. Some talent here with 6'7” 235 heavily recruited sophomore Brandon Hall probably the pick of the litter.

DL: No penetration or serious first line of defense in 2010. One or two bright spots in spring drills. You might want to file away the name Tahir Basil, a junior, who, if he can stay healthy, looks like a player.

LB: Not a great performance in 2010, but some question if it was because of being sandwiched between a bad DL and a handcuffed DB . Expectations are that this group will perform better in 2011 than in 2010, but without a dominating presence in the Romans, Bennett, Costanzo mold.

DB: Soft coverage r us. Every receiver is given a 10-yard cushion. Apparent philosophy: tackle well, but don't challenge for a ball that's in the air. The problems appear to be more with the coaching than the playing.

KICKING: Punter, place kicker and the kickoff guy have all graduated. If there are replacements in house it isn't obvious. Kickoff coverage was a serious problem last year, giving up huge chunks of field position. Need to find some headhunters who can change this. Unfortunately, at a school like Lafayette that usually means that starters have to man the bomb squad. That is a high risk solution.

COACHING: Any version of an opponent's hurry-up offense in 2010 turned the entire Lafayette defense into a Chinese fire drill. John Loose, the defensive coordinator, needs to turn some decisions over to the kids on the field. I won't go into some of the other dopey stuff that was pure Tavani – and we forgive him for it as long as he wins.

PREDICTION: The Pards will have a tough time with a very difficult OOC schedule. Will probably joust with Holy Cross for 3rd/4th in the Patriot League.

There ya have it, and expecting lots of flak from my fellow Leopards.