Tanner had some pretty good receivers a couple years ago who would run decent routes, understood positioning, and would go get the ball if he threw it up. This crop seems content to let the secondary man handle them at the LOS and not fight for position while waiting for the ball to come to them. I think Talon & Micah have shown some fight & promise but they just doesn't seem to be as physically gifted as Mathews, Jeurgens, Blackmon, Pearson, or even Kurtz. Taysom had most of this same crop of guys last year but we lacked a legit deep threat that we had in Mathews and that made us more one dimensional. Now we have bunch of guys that are more slot type receivers (no legit threat to do more than get 5-7 yard per catch) and seem to think they're playing 7 on 7. Bushman has been a bright spot, but unless the receivers step up the D can bring up a safety to double Bushman and serve as run support as well. Wisconsin was successful with this.

With the RBs looking back to last year, Jamaal was an elite back who excelled at reading the D on zone runs and using his ability to cut/change direction to get to the second level (especially last year) and then wreaking havoc with his unique combo of speed, agility, and physicality. This year any back not named Ula seems to blindly run at the designated hole full speed and not read the D and make the appropriate cut or adjustment to get to the next level like Jamaal did. Not that Ula is perfect but he has shown more ability to read, react, and use his strengths to get yards.

The O line could definitely be better, and the QB play has been sub par, but the I believe the bigger culprit of our offensive woes on the players' side is with the backs and receivers.