With the 2011 football season all wrapped up, the Panthers will be looking to rebound and improve in the following season.

I think the Panthers are set at the quarterback position. Sophomore quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is more than capable of leading this team to success. A big part of Garoppolo’s success was the weapons around him. Garoppolo will have all but one of his starting offensive linemen again in front of him next season. Senior guard Eric Zink is the only member of the offensive line not returning for Garoppolo. Another key to Garoppolo’s success were his wide receivers. Junior wide receiver Kenny Whittaker would have been in store for a huge senior season, but his early departure from the team due to a violation of team rules will surely hurt the Panthers.

Junior wide receiver Chris Wright will enter his final year as a Panther and will be an explosive deep threat for the Eastern passing game. Eastern has two young wide receivers who should see a lot more targets next season, red-shirt freshmen Adam Drake and Sam Hendricks. Red-shirt junior Chavar Watkins also showed a lot of promise in his ability as well.

The running game really struggled this season, but hopefully red-shirt junior Jake Walker can start next season the same way he ended this season. The last three games were probably Walker’s three best games of the season, where he emerged as a more reliable go-to back. Red-shirt freshmen AJ Woodson and Jimmy Lera can use the summer off-season to add some bulk and be even more effective as backups for Walker.

The defense has as lot of room for improvement, giving up a lot yards, especially on the ground. The entire defensive line will be returning. Whoever the new defensive coordinator is will definitely have some work to do for a team facing some serious issues in run stoppage. Its said that the statistics don’t lie, but I think in one particular case they do.

The statistics say that the Panthers have one of the best pass defenses in the Ohio Valley Conference, but in reality, it’s just because teams rarely have to pass on the Panthers to put up points.

The Panthers are returning all of their secondary, which is full of hard-hitting players like Nick Beard and Pete Houlihan.

By far, the biggest loss for the Panthers will be the losses at linebacker with Cory Leman and Gordy Kickels both graduating. Whoever replaces the current linebackers will definitely have some big shoes to fill.

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-7942 or dcrenzetti@eiu.edu.