Outlook: defense

The Hawks yielded a decent 2,783 yards and masterfully navigated the realities of having a multitude of two-way starters in the 2015 regular season on their way to Week 11. But 10 senior starters to begin 2015 translates into DBs Faxon and Danny Murphy being the lone returning starters — and again, like the offense, therein lies the concern. In a 3-4 look, the LBs have to be active, and it’s an all-new, albeit athletic, corps that averaging a little more than 170 pounds is generally smaller than last year’s stable. Davis must be a tone-setter at LB as well. Freshman DL Will Linsley could prove a big key.