Great write-up, and I think fairly even-handed. I'll add a few points....
OL is our biggest deficiency. Due to a variety of injuries and guys unexpectedly leaving the program we're starting 3 Freshmen and 1 Sophomore on OL. They're talented, but young. They seem adept at pass protection, but almost worthless at run blocking.
RB is a huge issue for us. We lost our pre-season offensive POY mid season after only a handful of total carries. The guy who was supposed to become RB1 in 2022, Kaleon Black, set the world on fire early, but had a season ending knee injury too. Our current starting RB #5 Palmer is a bruiser, but he's not meant as an every down back and doesn't have home-run speed.
Coming into the year we expected the run game to be our #1 strength, but due to all of the injuries it's become our #1 weakness.
On Defense #3 DT Mike Green is our star. He only made 2nd team all conference because he only played the second half of the season due to injury, but he has first team AA talent. He'll definitely play on Sundays. Expect to double him all game.
#7 WR Antwane Wells.....this kid is special. He's a R-FR, and through 20 games in his career he has 20 TDs. He's got an NFL type body and does just about everything well.....plenty fast, good routes, steady hands, and competes for 50/50 balls. He's the best JMU WR I've seen in the last 25 years, guaranteed to play in the NFL if he stays healthy. The only teams that have contained him did so by putting a dedicated safety over the top on his side of the field all game. And when they did that, Kris Thorton went off on the other side (see 4 TDs receiving vs. Campbell).
TE: We have abandoned them in the offense, needing them to stay home to block since our OL is undersized and young.
QB: Cole Johnson is really good. I personally don't think he has a shot at the NFL because of limited mobility and a somewhat slow release. But he's got a few things going for him. 1) Veteran decision making....knows when to throw it away. Really good at identifying coverages and calling out protections. 2) Best deep ball in FCS this season. 3) Stealthy runner.....he won't make you miss, but if you give him some green space he'll take it, and at 6'5" he's got crazy long strides. This past week vs. Southeast Louisiana was fun because the reining Walter Payton award winner was on the other side of the field, and it was clear who the better QB was.....Cole Johnson.
Our DBs are not a strength. Lots of Pass Interference calls early in the season. We've cleaned it up a lot recently, but if you have an NFL quality receiver (do you?) he's going to have a day.
Looking forward to this one, Griz. And regardless of who wins, let's all cheer to knock off the Bison the following week.