Looking into the crystal ball can only get you so far.

Instead, a better way to gauge how well a team might finish the new season is to carefully examine each position group to see how it stacks up against those of last season.

This is no exact science. Certain improvements or declines simply cannot be accounted for ahead of time, but what I can take inventory of, I have here. This is my best guess as to whether each position group on the Ohio State offense will take a step forward, a step backward or stay in exactly the same place in 2020.

Justin Fields didn’t have all the time in the world to learn all the ins and out of an intricate Ryan Day offense heading into 2019, but you’d never know that from his on-field results.

Despite racking up 51 total touchdowns, the Buckeyes actually used Fields somewhat judiciously up until the final two games of the year, as he averaged fewer pass attempts per game than Dwayne Haskins did in ‘18 by a double-digit margin.

If Fields got to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist in year one, it’s scary to think what might happen when his full potential –– and the full extent of the playbook –– is unleashed upon opponents in 2020.