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Football Analyst
Malachi Toney, is he going to be ready? Dante Moore, he, he showed improvement. Better command.
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
What's going on, y'? All? Welcome back again to summer school on the COVID 3 podcast network. I'm Bud Elliott, that's Chris Cartman. And this means. Yeah, we're going straight to the source, the Sun Devil source Arizona State day on summer school. What's going on, Chris?
Football Analyst
Enjoying this time of year, man. It's, it's lovely and good to catch up with you.
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
Are you guys getting like the crazy heat out there yet?
Football Analyst
We had a really bad March and then April was kind of more normal. So hopefully the, the summer isn't too bad. We'll find out here pretty soon.
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
Oh man, I feel like we got really blessed here in Orlando with like nice March April. I just know they're saving it up. It's going to be just, just a total microwave over the summer. You know, Arizona State stayed pretty hot last year. Not. Not quite college ball playoff return, but 8 and 5, you know, nothing to sneeze at. Not quite up to, I think the expectations, but given some of the challenges they had, the fact they did manage to win eight games, I thought was. Was pretty impressive. So I guess we'll start high level. Like what. What's the general vibe around the program now?
Football Analyst
Yeah, I think fans were disappointed because they had so many of their starters back from the big championship team and everything pointed toward a good schedule and an opportunity to. To maybe go back to back or at least get close to that. They had a huge number of injury problems, way more than you would normally have in a typical season, including a lot of their best players on both sides of the ball. I think the expectations needed to be dropped down a peg, at least as a result of that. I think eight wins, nine wins would have been like the average expectation for what they went through. And that's a good indic that the program is on solid footing with Kenny Dillingham and what they're doing structurally, organizationally, the culture. That's where the sense in the community is very strong about what they have in place from a leadership standpoint. Continuity of their coaching staff, their ability to go out and identify players in the transfer portal and then develop the guys that they have, which that was demonstrated with the NFL draft.
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
So we'll start here on offense. Obviously you mentioned the coaching continuity. I think it's big for Kenny that he kept that staff together. Also, you know, huge fairs on the state that turns down Michigan. Right. And like believes, you know, in what he's building there at asu. But, you know, qb, obviously Levitt, you know, got hurt, like, it's a loss in terms of talent, but like, obviously he didn't play that much last year. You know, now they turn to cutter bowling to the transfer portal. What did Kenny see in him and how do you think that's a fit for what they want to do?
Football Analyst
Well, yeah, he started as a redshirt freshman at Kentucky. Extremely difficult schedule that you're going up against and you're out talented almost every week. Against that caliber of a schedule, that's a very difficult thing to be thrust into. I think Boli has a moxie about him. He's got like a passion, a zest, and then very good at being able to operate quickly. He. He gets the ball for a big, tall long guy, six five and 225 pounds. He gets the ball out of his hand quickly with Good footwork, you know, the screen game, quick game, all that stuff. He, he understands like how to connect with his teammates. He's not riding rough, shot over guys, but he's still kind of bringing them along. So there's intangible values. His passion for the game, he has the ability to make the throws down the field like kind of everything that you would need to have to be able to have a successful trigger man of an offense with potent playmakers around him. I think that's what Kane Dillingham felt like, kind of boldly provided I'm right
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
to assume like he's, he's the guy.
Football Analyst
Yeah, I would say 75, 80%. You know, the, the, the, the only thing that may be like a caveat there would be. Jake Fetty looked really good in his first spring and you would imagine that his acceleration over the next six to eight months is going to be better than the other quarterbacks because he's new, learning the system, learning the personnel, getting his feet wet in college football. And he actually reminds me a lot of Sam Levitt in terms of the height, weight, size, athleticism, movement skills. A twitchy pocket escapes, the ability to throw off platform. So he has this dynamism that's a high upside and I'm not going to completely rule out the possibility that that is able to challenge Cutter Boli at some point this year. I just don't think that it's likely that that's going to happen.
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
Gotcha. That makes sense. So they do lose relique, obviously. I mean big time explosive playmaker for them last year. How do they go about finding that explosiveness again this year?
Football Analyst
Yeah, I don't think they're going to have a problem to be honest. Relief Brown, definitely, definitely a home run hitter. But also he had four rushing touchdowns and moving the pile. The ability to do it on third and fourth and short and in the goal line situation, that wasn't really there. And Dillingham throughout his career has been able to creatively manufacture explosive plays and they have a complement in their backfield between the Jason Browns who had 130 rushing yards against Duke and looked explosive and had that, that, that capability with the bigger bodied backs that they brought in via the transfer portal. I like Marquis Gillis a lot from Delaware State. He rushed for over 1100 yards. Clinton Portis was his backs coach spoke extremely highly of him. He had a hamstring at the beginning of spring ball but by the end he looked to me like he was about as good as anyone. And he's 225, 230. Very thick, muscular, but moves with a quickness and an ability to kind of get on the second level and, and he is going to wear on you physically. So they have these contrasting styles. Kyson Brown will be back. Remember he was a starter last year ahead of Relik Brown before he had a foot inj that basically cost him the season against Mississippi State. This is about. They don't have like that obvious Cam Scatter boo guy, but this is about as deep and as versatile a group as we've seen. And Sean Iguana, ASU's running backs coach, has had a thousand yard rusher just about every year that he's been coaching in asu. The run game has always been reliably pretty good.
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
So receiver, I mean this is a big ask. Like Jordan Tyson when he was on the field was basically unguardable. McLean's gone, right? He was a senior or did he get an extra?
Football Analyst
Yeah. So they, so Malik, Malik McClain is gone. He's. He's in a free agent situation. So they, they lost really their top receivers.
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
How did they go about replacing that? I mean like Tyson, it feels like a big ask.
Football Analyst
Yeah. So I think they understood that this was one of their biggest challenges and that's why they went out and signed arguably the top trio from the Portal and the wide receivers, Omarion Miller and Reed Harris. They were both roughly top five ish in the portal. Raiden Vines Bright had 20 plus catches at Washington as a true freshman. He's from Tempe originally. I gotta tell you bud, like in spring ball, this group looked really good. Reed Harris is, he's got that huge frame that reminds you of like a Vincent Jackson or some of these bigger bodied receivers that have the ability to go catch the football. High point it red zone weapon. Mario Miller is, well, he's, he's a physical specimen, like, like a A.J. brown type of a guy who's thick and physical, but he has the ability to run and move. And in their scrimmages when the lights were on, those guys showed up in a big way. They had all three touchdowns between them. In ASU's final scrimmage, Rayden Vines brought. You can move him everywhere in the formation. Smooth, great hands, fluid. So. And they have Jaron Hamilton who could take the top off the defense. Jalen Moss is a guy who struggled I think last year with some health and injury issues. He's a zone beater who can kind of, kind of I think give you the change of pace and the versatility that you want at that position. So yeah, Jordan Tyson, you're not going to replace him like one to one. But I think that in totality what they have is probably better than what they had last year.
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
I mean also the production, like he played nine games, right? He caught 60 balls. Obviously they were impactful catches, but still like it's, this is not a slight to him. He just, he was awesome when he was on the field, you know, but obviously like the injury stuff, it, it mattered. So I guess it's a little bit easier than replacing, you know, like if you got a true full season of him, definitely.
Football Analyst
He had the collarbone the year prior against Arizona, which cost him the postseason. He had the hamstring against Texas Tech that he actually tried to battle back from and then he had to sit out for some games. He's not, you know, I think he's been a little bit unlucky and I think people maybe realize that in fact he had a, suffered a cut, a gash in his hand last year during the season and had like seven or eight stitches and he still played that weekend, you know, but if you have a grade two to grade three hamstring or you break a collarbone, like you're not going to be playing. But yeah, I just think that, that their ASU was just so reliant on Jordan Tyson last year or Leak Brown, Jordan Tyson, Sam Levitt. It's like I feel like this team is poised to have more diversity and be more challenging in some respects for defenses to try to manage and it
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
bowlies, you know, as you said, good at getting out quick, you know, figuring out like who the ball needs to go to with the pre snap look that that could certainly hold up offensive line wise. They do lose what one of the portal. I know when I was out there the last time I was out there over, over summer and talking to those guys and last year we chatted like they, they had some young guys on offensive line they were pretty excited about. How are you feeling about this group this year?
Football Analyst
A little better than I was expecting. I think they did a very good job in the transfer portal. Tana Alo Tupola is going to be their center. He was the starting center at Georgia Tech as a sophomore. They had that great Haynes King rushing attack. He reminds me a lot of Lee Faltanu from a couple years ago who really was a stabilizing influence on their entire offense. Stout has some physicality. I think he is cerebral. He plays well naturally with the guys next to him. Good operation. They added Luke Baklenko, who had been a two year starter at Stanford before he was the top backup at Oklahoma, I think he's a very solid right tackle starter to help replace Maxi Honotour. He's probably not going to be that good obviously, but I don't think he's going to be like a weakness by, by any stretch. And then when Maxi Honuchor and Josh Atkins who transferred to Missouri, as you mentioned, you know, the sun bowl, they had Jalen Clem and Champ Westbrook started at their tackle positions and those guys handled Duke very well. They didn't give up a lot of pressures or have any sort of glaring issues in the run game. So Champ Westbrook's bigger, heavier. I think he's a young up and cominging guy who has a very good chance to start at left tackle. Jalen Clem had a stroke two years ago, missed the year, lost 20, 30 pounds. He spent all the last year kind of working his way back. The son of Adrian Clem. So he's somebody that has that developmental skill set where he just looks really pretty pass pro, all that. Now he's a little bit stronger. I think that's going to help. At guard they have Makai Stewart who started games as a true freshman last year. I think he was the biggest surprise of the team in terms of what he was able to give. He looks like an NFL prospect in the making, 330 something pounds, seven, six, five. He's got a lot of power in his hands. Left guard probably Wade Helton who started some at center last year when, as a redshirt freshman when Ben Coleman got hurt and went out. So you know they have, they have other players like Jarmain Mitchell was the number one overall junior college offensive prospect or prospect general and offensive tackle and he got a little bit of a slow start in spring because of an injury, but he's another guy that they could factor in there and they have others. I really, I can't stress this enough in the time that I've been covering asu, a couple decades or so. Sangatuitele Their offensive line coach is as good as I've seen at the ability to identify who to bring in and then at being able to develop those guys. Johanna Troy was a perfect example.
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
Chris, I'll ask you this and I, I kind of ask everybody this because when I was, you know, doing the FSU beat like they kind of thought Jamis was going to be 20, like he'll like he really emerged in 2014 and all of a sudden it's like oh, he's here now. Like is there a guy who maybe you don't expect or internally they don't quite expect to, to play at that ceiling this year. But if for some reason on offense he did other than bowling, clearly like it would really change how you feel about the Sundell Sun Devil offense.
Football Analyst
Well, Jake Fetty and Carde Mack are really potent freshmen. Good job. To 247 sports for the on the evaluation piece. Those are the two highest ranked offensive guys and they absolutely look like it. Cardi Mack I think is going to have an NFL future. The body needs to get in a little bit better shape. But you know, he's true freshman coming in. He's going to, you know, buy into the strength conditioning program. He's probably 210 pounds but he's got those, those quick feet and that just natural feel and vision that you can't teach. I could see him making an impact. I mentioned Marquis Gillis earlier. You know, he's not that heralded as a junior college player coming in. I think he can be that big body, physical bruising, contrast and I think, I think Raiden vines bright. Super impressive. AJ E as a tight end is somebody that I think is poised to, to do a lot of great things into his future. He didn't really get a chance to play much last year and we'll see this year. You know, they still have Kamari Anderson. They brought in Anthony Miller as a tight end from Tulane. You know, he, you know, was their, their split rap guy but 10 win team so. But I don't know that they have like surprise, you know, star that's going to emerge from this.
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
All right, let's take a break here. On the flip side. Little defense, little schedule, a little kind of wrap up on what we expect from the sun devils here in 2026.
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Podcast Host Chris Cartman
You don't wash your jersey during a win streak. You don't switch seats when your team's up big, and you definitely don't shave during the playoffs. When things are working, you don't change them. That's why when you drink Jagermeister, you drink it ice cold. Anything else, well, that'd just be bad luck. Drink it cold or don't drink it at all. Jagermeister. Damn, that's cold. Drink responsibly. Jagermeister liqueur 35% alcohol by volume imported by Mast Jagermeister US White Plains, New York. Alright guys, welcome back to Summer School. On the COVID 3 podcast network, that's Chris Cartman. That means we are talking Arizona State today. We already ran down the offense. Let's jump into the defense here again, more coaching staff continuity for a staff. I think it's done a pretty good job overall. Where do you see as the big bright spots for this defense this year?
Football Analyst
Chris surprisingly the defensive line looks like it has a chance to really flourish. And I say that because they lost three of their top four ends, they lost one of their starting D tackles and you would say, okay, well it's going to be hard for them to have the type of talent and depth. Two years ago that group was first in the Big 12 and run run defense. Last year they were second in the Big 12 and run defense. That's the most important thing in football. Winning the line of scrimmage, making the other team one dimensional. But what they did was they added Jalen Thompson from Michigan State as a starting caliber dn. He was great in spring ball. And Imarion Winston from Baylor who was a starting DN there. He looked really good in spring ball. They got Clayton Smith back for a sixth year of eligibility. He tinkered on offense in the spring, but he's going to be there and he looked good and then, and then CJ Fight is an anchor nose tackle that I think is going to be really solid. A player that people really won't be thinking about much. But my Keel Gardner went to Oregon at a high school in Arizona and then transferred back to asu. He suffered a ruptured Achilles last summer, missed the season. Well, he's out there in the spring game. He was my spring mvp. On the defense in their, their final scrimmage, he had two passes defended. He was playing in the backfield. Rangy ability to make plays. You know, he's a more dynamic type of a defensive tackle than I think Dillingham has had in a couple years. And their depth is really good there. Zach Swanson had a foot injury last year that pretty much kept him from playing much. He was our number 3D tackle two years ago. They also have two or three other guys that I think have a chance to be very solid players behind them. And they have a true freshman named Julian Hugo who's a top rated freshmen in their recruiting class. On defense, he looks like an animal. Like this is a guy who can make an immediate impact at defensive end playing in the two deep, they're so, they're so deep there that they may not need him, but he's just not going to be denied. Like this is a guy who just has raw physique, power motor, his twitch, his ability to go make plays, his instincts. He has good hands. For being somebody who's young, I think that front is going to be pretty formidable.
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
So from as an outsider, like I think I like safety with Wilson corner room got, you know, like they lost some important pieces there. It looks young. Like are those concerns justified? How do you feel like they're going to look?
Football Analyst
Yeah, corner. Whenever you lose an NFL draft guy. Keith Abney and David Robinson transferred to Wisconsin. That's a question mark. I think that Ashton Stamps has really helped them ease that concern. Coming in from lsu, he had been a starter who then lost his starting job when they brought in an elite transfer who got drafted and then had some other guys that were. LSU is always going to have really good corners and receivers. We know that, right. Stamps two years ago was I think second in passes defended in the sec. He played a lot of games. He looked very good. I think what they did with their defensive back room in general is they got longer and rangier. Most of these guys are taller than 6 foot. They play with, with, with better length in their zone because they're primarily a Cover 3 type of a team. And Rodney Bemidge played a lot last year as a redshirt freshman and his like PFF grade was just as good, if not better than Jaemin Robinson. It was not that. It was one of the best on the team actually. And I think he's ready to be a starter. They also added a couple of transfers who are D1 guys, you know, from, from power level programs and Nigel Pringle is one of him. I thought, I thought he was very good. Joseph Smith started as a, as a freshman against Duke in the sun bowl and he actually looked reasonably good at safety, I think. Lyric Rawls coming in from Kansas where he led their team in solo tackles, over 50 solo tackles. He's a true post safety. He's somebody that has the range and coverage skills. Josiah McGrew came in after starting at FIU as a true freshman. He had four interceptions to lead that team. That guy is six, three and really long and rangy and, and better than I had expected really. I think their nickel position is, is maybe the biggest question in the secondary actually. You know, two years ago they had one of the best players that you could ever have at that nickel position, which is so important in a 4, 2, 5 defense because you know, you have to be able to get off blocks and, and, and be physical in the screen game. You got to be able to cover. Shamari Simmons was amazing at that. Last year they took a little bit of a step back with Kendrick Breedlove and Mon. Boogie Wilson, who started when Xavier Alford got injured last year at free safety, is going to move down to nickel, but he had shoulder surgery to fix the labrum, so he missed like all the spring. So I'm very curious to see whether they're going to have, whether Boogie Wilson's going to be able to handle the coverage aspects of that. If Montana Warren is going to be able to slide over there. I think they have the physicality, but I want to see are they go. Are those guys going to be able to handle it in the passing game?
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
For sure. All right, let's turn into the schedule here. So non conference at Texas A M, the rest of non conference, you know, Morgan State and Hawaii. So, you know, pretty, you know, pretty tough one there at College Station early in the season. I'm sure that'll be nice and warm, you know, but obviously Arizona State's used to playing in that. When I look at this schedule, they only get, I believe, two of the top or two of the teams that are in like the bottom Six of the conference odds, and then that means the rest of it comes from, like, the top nine. Obviously, Arizona State can't play themselves. This is not a particularly friendly draw in terms like, not that the Vegas odds makers get the Big 12 right, like, almost ever. But, you know, if there's any signal to those preseason odds that this is a difficult draw for them in terms of conference schedule. And then, you know, some of the, like, some of the travel is not easy either, like having to go to Texas Tech to byu. Like, UCF is not a great team, but. But obviously that's a long road trip to make tour land. Like, how do you see them handling this?
Football Analyst
It's the worst schedule that I think I've seen in a long time, actually, because they also have to go to London to play Kansas after they write,
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
oh, I'm going to swim about this.
Football Analyst
Yeah, after they play Texas A and M. So. So that's, That's a Big 12 opening game. It's technically a home game for Kansas, but they're going to have to travel from College Station to London because you don't want to come back to Tempe and then. And then a couple days later have to make that trip. That's a very difficult thing. And then because of that, they moved the Hawaii game to week five. And then that means that they have no buy in the final, like, nine weeks of their schedule, which you don't want that. Right. You'd rather have like a week zero, move some things up and then have like a double buy, which, you know, teams had a lot in the last couple of years, having to play at Texas Tech at. By you, like, when those are the teams that you're probably trying to go up against to win the Big 12. Having to go to Orlando, as you said, in addition to going to London and College Station, like, this is the. The most travel that ASU will ever have in a regular season. And that's. That is a daunting thing, especially when you don't get a buy. You don't get a breather. Yeah, okay. Like playing Hawaii, that's kind of a buy. It should be. Right. But it's still a game. It's still. There's. You're still, you know, physically required to do all the things that you have to do. And if there's anything that I think holds ASU back more toward what the expectations are, like the 6.5 Vegas over, under or whatever it is now, I would say the schedule is the most likely factor.
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
Yeah, I usually, like, try to look at the win total thing last because I don't want to pre bias myself, right? Like, I'll do my research, pull it in from the sources, take a look at it. Obviously, you know, read your stuff. And then I was like, like six and a half and I was like, oh, the schedule, man, this is like they could be like this. Definitely one of the harder schedules in, in the Big 12, like for sure. This is, I mean, given, you know, the reality, you just, you know, went down the schedule and we don't know how these teams would be. Like, Baylor might just be terrible, who knows, right? Like, like possibly, like there's no guarantee Kansas bounces back. I, I, maybe UCF doesn't improve at all. And then like, you know, Colorado, ucf despite the travels is maybe that's, maybe that's much softer, right? But like, given I guess what we think we know in the preseason, like what is the success for this team this year?
Football Analyst
The team that I saw in spring ball looks good. Like, like the thing that's a little bit tough to calibrate, as you alluded, is some of these teams are changing a lot and it's hard to calibrate what that exactly looks like. And also I think that the average team looks better in spring ball now than it used to look because of the winter portal being the only thing. And so you have more depth, you have more talent. This looks a lot more like what you would see from a team in August, I would say. And so now I'm having to like read other reports and talk to other people to see what they think about the teams that they're covering. But look, I think the bottom line is, is that ASU internally is very optimistic about the team that they have. Like, they're cautiously optimistic even with the schedule that they can compete with the other teams in the conference. And they're so that to me is like a bowl just gaining bowl eligibility. That is not sufficient for what they, what they have in place right now. So that means that six or seven wins is not going to be something that really moves them, them in any kind of a way. So my sense is you got to get to like eight wins for this to be considered like a reasonably good season in light of the schedule and how much new that you have. But the way that they optimistically feel about, about where things are going, I think nine wins is going to be prohibitively difficult given the, the challenges that they're facing with the schedule. So I'm looking at more like a, like an eight win outcome. As something that is plausible and that would be a good outcome.
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
I also think like the, the potential range of outcomes here, just like with the potential variance of those teams. If you, if you were to like kind of line this preseason, there are really only two games in which they are like a decided underdog by Vegas. Right. You know, so everyone like. And both those are winnable if they play well, you know, like you might need the other team not to bring their A game. Maybe, maybe you get a BF effort and you get a home run from Arizona State. Like it's not crazy. Like they're very much in all these games and they're probably still favored in most of these despite the fact they're, you know, difficult games both in terms of opponent and in terms of, you know, when it falls and where it falls. I, I could see like a wide range of outcomes for this team. Chris.
Football Analyst
Yeah, I mean I would be surprised. This isn't a bull team. I, I really, I really. Unless they just have a lot more injury issues or they turn the ball over more than I would expect or things like that. This team, you know, given that they have a couple of easy ones in the non conference and then they host some teams that they are going to be a touchdown or more favorite over. I would say I think this, this should be a bowl team but I don't know that they have that, you know, 10 win ceiling. Because when you got to go to College Station and play in London, Texas A and M, Texas Tech, byu. I mean, gosh, that. And then you got to travel to Orlando. That's difficult traveling across the country for that. I really, I don't know, like, I think people will see this as a range of like a 5 to 8. I see this as more narrowly like a 6 to 9. Like if everything comes together for them.
Podcast Host Chris Cartman
For sure. Chris, man, really enjoy this and I appreciate all the time and always join us on summer school and we'll see you soon, man.
Football Analyst
Good to be with you, bud. Thank you. Criminal Minds Evolution is back. Do you think it's possible to discern some hidden pattern shared by all serial killers with a new killer each week?
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I see those wheels turning.
Football Analyst
When a copycat killer emerges, the BAU will form a dark alliance with a familiar foe. Elias, would you help us this season? Evil is contagious. Problem is, once it starts, it can't be stopped. Criminal Minds Evolution new season streaming May 28th on Paramount Plus.
Date: May 17, 2026
Hosts: Bud Elliott (CBS Sports) with guest Chris Cartman (Sun Devil Source)
This episode of the Cover 3 College Football podcast dives deep into Arizona State’s prospects for the 2026 season. Hosts Bud Elliott and Chris Cartman analyze recent seasons, roster changes, position battles, transfer additions, and the challenges ahead on a notably tough schedule. The conversation offers a nuanced preview of the Sun Devils’ offense, defense, and the broader state of the program under coach Kenny Dillingham.
[02:11]
[03:44]
[06:06]
[08:01]
[11:13]
[14:02]
[17:48]
[20:07]
[23:00+]
[26:23]
On program health:
“That's a good indic that the program is on solid footing with Kenny Dillingham and what they're doing structurally, organizationally, the culture.” – Cartman [02:40]
On QB transfer Cutter Boley:
"He gets the ball out of his hand quickly with good footwork... He's not riding roughshod over guys, but he's still kind of bringing them along." – Cartman [04:11]
On skill position rebuild:
"What they have is probably better than what they had last year." – Cartman [08:24]
On schedule difficulty:
“It's the worst schedule I've seen in a long time... most travel ASU will ever have in a regular season. That's a daunting thing.” – Cartman [24:06]
Throughout, Chris Cartman provides clear, candid insight—balancing optimism about roster quality, coaching, and development, with realism about challenges from injuries and a brutal travel-heavy schedule. The conversation is detail-oriented, grounded, and highly informed by both stats and firsthand impressions from spring practices.
In sum:
Arizona State is well-coached, talented, and deep at most positions after a strong offseason, but their 2026 win total may hinge on weathering one of the nation’s toughest schedules. Eight wins would be celebrated, and a wide range of outcomes is possible depending on health and how well new faces click under pressure.