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The dark side of putting eight players in NFL camps this season is the hole that those players leave behind. Here at Bull Run it has been called "the talent cliff" and this off season it feels like we are Wile E. Coyote, standing in mid air while looking down at a 1000 foot drop.
We lost Khalil Mack, Branden Oliver, Alex Neutz, Najja Johson, Derek Brim, Colby Way, Fred Lee, and Jasen Carlson. And that's just the big names. With all of that one would think that the Bulls are poorly positioned against our opponents this year?
How do you win seven or eight games without Mack and BO?
Phil Steele recently ranked every NCAA teams experience points, it's a great attempt to quantify the talent cliff.
I then devised a formula that factors all 5 into the total points equation and then turned the point total into a number from 100 to 0. A 100 would be a team with 25 seniors (NCAA scholarship limit) in the two deep and every yard and tackle returning and 120+ career starts on the offensive line. A 0 would be a team with no experience and 0 seniors in the two deep. Just as in years past the first number is where each team ranks in the NCAA. - Phil Steele
With this formula UB is not doing that bad. The Bulls are near the Middle of the pack in the Mid American Conference and stand dead in the middle of the ten FBS teams UB plays this season. That's based on 14 starters this season who were on the two deep last year.
| Total | Senior | Senior | Senior | % LTR | % YDS | % TKL | OL CAR | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | MAC | Exp Pts | Strs | 2 Deep | Exp Pts | Return | Return | Return | STRS |
| 4 | Central Michigan* | 77.43 | 9 | 6 | 69 | 73.44% | 87.59% | 71.15% | 90 |
| 16 | Akron* | 72.9 | 12 | 8 | 88 | 67.24% | 94.49% | 67.33% | 55 |
| 32 | Miami, Oh* | 67.22 | 9 | 3 | 68 | 79.37% | 66.31% | 73.21% | 87 |
| 42 | Toledo | 65.48 | 11 | 1 | 67 | 75.81% | 41.25% | 79.73% | 100 |
| 43 | Eastern Michigan* | 65.15 | 10 | 2 | 62 | 78.26% | 69.90% | 65.27% | 90 |
| 48 | Bowling Green* | 63.72 | 8 | 7 | 68 | 74.24% | 81.95% | 61.34% | 55 |
| 53 | Northern Illinois | 62.71 | 11 | 4 | 69 | 70.59% | 51.36% | 59.56% | 106 |
| 67 | Buffalo | 59.7 | 14 | 2 | 69 | 67.12% | 51.48% | 44.34% | 100 |
| 74 | Kent St* | 58.4 | 8 | 4 | 60 | 70.49% | 73.39% | 57.38% | 44 |
| 95 | Massachusetts* | 54.79 | 5 | 1 | 60 | 62.96% | 69.07% | 63.57% | 30 |
| 111 | Ball St | 49.27 | 6 | 7 | 66 | 78.69% | 30.90% | 69.65% | 44 |
| 112 | Western Michigan | 49.18 | 5 | 3 | 42 | 56.52% | 53.30% | 51.73% | 60 |
| 121 | Ohio* | 46.27 | 6 | 3 | 62 | 68.18% | 22.90% | 75.56% | 39 |
| OOC | Exp Pts | Sr. Strs | Sr 2 Dp | Exp Pts | %LTR Ret | %YDS Ret | % TKL Ret | OL CR STRS | |
| 10 | Army | 75.75 | 12 | 13 | 93 | 70.24% | 92.63% | 60.03% | 65 |
| 81 | Baylor | 56.9 | 5 | 3 | 55 | 69.86% | 78.66% | 50.33% | 64 |
Of course this is only raw numbers, this does not take into account losing the 5th player taken in the draft or your all time leading rusher. Still it give hope that UB, given their schedule, may make some noise in the MAC east again this season and for the first time in their history go to back to back bowl games.