ECU Football: Can Holton Ahlers lead Pirates to postseason in 2020?

Talented quarterback, receivers lead one of AAC’s best offenses

Eight starters are returning on an offense that ranked 22nd in passing offense and 46th overall.

The main attraction will be the passing offense yet again and that is due to star quarterback Holton Ahlers who threw for nearly 3,400 yards, 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions and he finished the year with some incredible performances against Cincinnati and SMU. He’s hoping he can keep that momentum going, as he was significantly better in the second half of the season than he was in the first.

Ahlers is also a threat on the ground, rushing for nearly 400 yards and six touchdowns.

One of the main focuses that the Pirates need to address is to how to be a better on the ground. The rushing offense for ECU was, shall we say, not good last season and finding a good rushing attack to complement the passing offense is essential to helping take some of the pressure off Ahlers. Last year’s leading rusher, Demetrius Mauney, is back after rushing for 446 yards last season, as is last years other rusher Darius Pinnix Jr.

The wide receiving corps last year was led by two freshmen and a sophomore and those guys should only be better this year. Last year’s leading receiver, CJ Johnson is looking to build upon his freshman season that nearly saw him eclipse 1,000 yards and if Ahlers is throwing the ball around like the end of last season, then there is a good chance that happens.

Blake Proehl and Tyler Snead are back as well and they are two young guys that should only improve. Tight end Zach Byrd is hoping to become more of an all-around player after having 11 catches for 130 yards and three touchdowns

The offensive line is going to have three starters return and will have two newcomers that are relatively young. They are losing a lot of experience with three seniors being gone but left tackle D’Ante Smith has star potential.