SJSU offense: better, worse or about the same? Why?

It has to be better or coach Ron Caragher could be in big trouble. The Spartans were last in the conference in scoring last year and don’t have a good enough defense to make up for that lack of production. Being one of the worst red zone teams in the country (scoring just 17 touchdowns on 39 trips) made the ultimate difference.

Caragher often bemoaned the team’s lack of experience offensively last year, citing eight first-year starters. That excuse is gone now. The only significant losses on offense were center David Peterson and receiver Jabari Carr. 

The top four running backs (Tyler Ervin, Thomas Tucker, Jarrod Lawson, Brandon Monroe) and top three receivers (Tyler Winston, Hansell Wilson, Tim Crawley) return, plus tight ends Billy Freeman and Andrew Vollert.

Four starting offensive linemen are back as well, although Evan Sarver seems ticketed for a demotion at right tackle. Nate Velichko, the starter at right guard last year, exited spring on top of the depth chart at right tackle. It’s a not a huge surprise. He’s always been considered a natural tackle anyway. 

It’ll all, ultimately, come down to the quarterback play and that should be at least a little better. Joe Gray has the benefit of 11 games and seven starts should he hold onto the starting job. If not, he’s got better competition this year in junior Malik Watson and Kenny Potter. 

It can be dangerous to rely simply on natural progression that’s never a guarantee, but there is some potential from the true freshmen class and there should be a sense of urgency after two years of backsliding.

SJSU defense: better worse or about the same? Why?

It should be about the same. The secondary was fantastic last year, ranking first in the nation, allowing 117.8 passing yards per game. That was partially skewed by a rushing defense that ranked 116th nationally, but it’s an ultra-talented group led by Cleveland Wallace III, Jimmy Pruitt and Maurice McKnight. All three look like they have NFL potential.

The Spartans lost their two starting safeties, Forrest Hightower and Akeem King, but there’s not much concern there. McKnight played so well as a nickel cornerback early last season, he unseated Hightower at free safety and Hightower spent most of his time at nickel. To replace King, SJSU will look to either senior Vincente Miles Jr., a former Arizona transfer, redshirt freshman David Williams or true freshman Jeremy Kelly. Williams and Kelly are very high upside players.

So while the secondary should be a standout group again, the front seven has question marks after graduating defensive tackle Travis Raciti and linebacker Vince Buhagiar among others. Even with those players, there were plenty of struggles trying to stop the run or get after quarterbacks (just 12 sacks as a team). 

So on paper, the front seven and especially the defensive line doesn’t look as good, but the standard isn’t very high and the strong secondary should offset that again.

You buying or selling this team in 2015? (How many games they winning this year?)

I have to sell. The schedule isn’t lined up well for them. Even their opener against an FCS squad could be tough as they face New Hampshire, the No. 1 seed in the FCS playoffs last season. So much will be determined by the quarterback play, and with SJSU closing all but one of its spring practices, there’s little to evaluate at the position. 

But overall, the roster seems set up more to succeed in 2016. The most important thing for this team is to show some signs of progress to create hope and if they happen to contend for a postseason berth in 2015, it’ll be a delightful surprise.

Jimmy Durkin of the San Jose Mercury News provided the information for our San Jose State football spring recap.  For more San Jose State football information, commentary and analysis, you can follow Jimmy on Twitter @Jimmy_Durkin.