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Ideally? In a non-gimmick collegiate offense (which means no wishbone, no triple option), every OC's dream is to have a QB the likes of Trevor Lawrence, an excellent WR corps, a solid offensive line, and a good stable of running backs.

There are three offensive fronts (passing, running, QB running) that can be exploited.

1) If you can do one of them very well, you can beat up the teams with weak defenses. If you get lucky, and your defense is great, you can pull off an upset of a good team here and there. Think of how we looked with Tommy Rees as the QB in 2013 or Drew Pyne in 2022. We had excellent running backs, but Rees was limited to short range throws (candy arm, couldn't throw a medium range pass with any zip), and Pyne could only make short to maybe medium range throws to his right. That, plus Pyne was slow on his feet, along with Rees being a stone statue...

2) If you can do two of them very well, then you'll have good success. Think of how we were at the beginning of last year, where the passing game wasn't very good, but the running game and the QB runs were top notch.

3) Having at least a reasonable threat on the third front makes it even better, of course. This is how we were looking about midway through the season, where Leonard got better at reading receiver routes, developed better timing, etc. This is also about where we were during the Ian Book era, where the running game was very good, his QB scrambling was very good, and his throwing abilities were decent (good with short and medium range throws all over the field). It can get you to the playoffs, or even the championship, but you need a lot of luck.

4) Excelling on two fronts, and an above average third front makes it even better. This is where I think we can be, since the running game is undoubtedly excellent, the passing game can be very good, and Carr can actually move very well. By all rights, with a competent defense, this should be more than good enough to win a championship, as long as everyone executes properly.

5) If you can excel at all three, then you can be unstoppable, like Clemson was in 2020 with their full roster in place (although that had more to do with all of their future NFL players returning on defense) when they crushed us in the ACC Championship. Had they played that well against tOSU, I think they could have given Alabama a much harder time that tOSU did, and yes, possibly beaten them.

To be fair, the running game and the passing game were working so well, that Trevor Lawrence didn't have to run the ball, but his added threat made life very miserable for us in the ACC Championship game, and all but broke our backs on that 34 yard scamper.


If my guess is correct, Denbrock will use a more balanced offense this year. There's no need to simply make CJ Carr be a game manager with a limited playbook, since the man is one of the smartest players around, and has the physical tools to make things happen.

I simply don't want him running those QB runs very much, since we have plenty of weapons to use, and don't want his getting gimpy. I'd much rather see him stay in the pocket like Mac Jones did in 2020. The only question mark is how good the receiving corps is, but I actually feel a lot better for 2025, with Greathouse and Faison being much more experienced as true juniors, along with Malachi Fields already having some experience as a WR1. That, plus the "home grown" talent with that trio of sophomores should emerge.