Taking a look at the biggest losses, best returners by position group, and predicting a way too early 2-deep to assess the biggest areas of need this off season:

QB

Key losses - Gerry Bohanon

Key returners - Retzlaff, Hillstead <or> Bourguet

Outlook: Jake was good this year (138.9 pass efficiency, #52 in the country) but we need him to have a big off-season and be great as a senior.  I believe Hillstead will seize the QB2 job and show that he has the goods to be Jake's successor.

RB

Key losses - Hinckley Ropati

Key returners - LJ Martin, Sione I Moa <or> Pokai Haunga

Key newcomers - Cale Breslin (86 grade 3-star, offers from Wisconsin, Indiana, Syracuse)

Outlook: LJ appeared in 9 games this year, amassing 630 yards at 5.2 ypc.  Can he stay healthy for an entire season to be a 1,000 yard back?  We need depth behind him and while the young duo of Moa and Haunga is very promising (along with incoming freshman Cale Breslin) I believe the coaches need to try and add an RB from the transfer portal for more depth/experience.

WR

Key losses - Chase Roberts, Darius Lassiter

Key returners - Keelan Marion, Jojo Phillips, Cody Hagen, Parker Kingston, Dominique McKenzie, Tei Nacua

Key newcomers - LaMason Waller (88 grade 3-star, offers from Alabama, Oregon, Michigan, Notre Dame, Georgia, etc.)

Outlook: Replacing Roberts and Lassiter would normally be tough but I'm very bullish on the guys coming back and the young talent in the WR room. Keelan Marion has the talent to be a Puka-lite as a senior (just look how ARod used him the last 3 games of the season).  Jojo Phillips has the size and speed combo to be eventually be a day 1-2 draft pick.  Cody Hagen is a former 4-star with 10.5 100m speed who had offers from Oregon, Michigan, USC, etc. and was able to get rid of his mission legs this year.  Parker Kingston is a speedy playmaker who will continue to get better.  Dominque McKenzie was an 87 composite 3-star with offers from Oregon, Pitt, Arizona, etc. who has 10.6 100m speed.  And Tei Nacua is a 6'2 former 87 grade 3-star with offers from Utah, Wazzu, SDSU who had over 2,000 yards receiving in his high school career and made noise in fall camp this year.  LaMason Waller is a very talented, highly recruited young freshman coming in as well.  This position group is loaded, I don't think they need to add anyone else unless a great opportunity comes up.

TE

Key losses - Keanu Hill, Mata'ava Ta'ase, Ryner Swanson

Key returners - Ethan Erickson

Outlook: this position group is a mess.  The only scholarship guy returning is Ethan Erickson, who we've heard for several years now is a talented 6'5 pass catcher but to this point in his career he has just 3 total catches.  He's barely played.  All of the other returning TE's are young PWO guys.  We signed 2 good young tight ends in the class of '25 (Jackson Doman, Blake Bryce) but I believe they are mission first kids.  I don't know what ARod's plan is here, but we definitely need to add some dudes... probably need at least 2 portal guys at this position who can come in and play right away.

OL

Key losses - Connor Pay, Caleb Etienne, Brayden Keim

Key returners - if the season started today here's who I believe would start: LT - Isaiah Jatta, LG - Austin Leusa, C - Bruce Mitchell, RG - Sonny Makasini, RT - Weylin Lapuaho.  Other reserves coming back: Eichorn, Jones, Ostler, Dawe, Griffin, Chidester, Brown, Hingano, Tupou, Clifford, Nelson, Trevor Pay.  That's 17 total guys coming back, but only 5 of them have much playing experience.  This is a position group that I think we definitely need to add at least a couple of guys who can come in and play right away to shore up the experience and talent level.  I feel pretty good about Jatta, Leusa, Mitchell, Makasini, Lapuaho as a returning core to build around but we really need to add at least a couple quality guys from the portal who can come in and challenge for 2-deep spots right away.