Punter: We were brutal last year, and we got the best punter from the FCS level. That has to be an upgrade over Cerni and whoever the other guy was.
PK: Again, we were awful last year. And again, we tapped the FCS market for a reliable option who made about 80% of his FGs.
(Say what you want about FCS vs. FBS level of competition, but kicking and punting can't be THAT different.)
QB: I suppose we can debate this one. We know that AM presided over four losing seasons and - for all his good qualities - couldn't lead a game-winning drive to save his life. It's fair to question Thompson, since he was also the primary starter on a losing, underachieving team last year.
D-Line: Mathis was one of the top, if not the top, DE's available in the portal. Drew had some decent production at Texas Tech, and we may still get Wynn from Alabama. We are not super deep here, but a top four of Mathis, Robinson, Hutchmaker, and Drew should be more than serviceable. I do wish we had Daniels back one more season, and I'm guessing he might wish the same after going undrafted.
O-Line: In my previous post, this was the group I said probably did not get upgraded. We brought in two guys who may or may not help this year. I don't think we helped ourselves a ton here, and the Jurgens loss is killer. Hopefully better schemes and coaching?