Let’s not sugarcoat things.

New Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig inherited a mess when he took the challenge of replacing Karl Dorrell as the Commodores’ play-caller this season.

Trying to replace talented departures at quarterback (Austyn Carta-Samuels) and wide receiver (Jordan Matthews, Jonathan Krause), the Commodores found themselves at the bottom of the league in almost every offensive category under Dorrell’s direction in 2014. The state of affairs was so bad that Derek Mason was forced to relieve his good friend and mentor from his duties after just one season.

If things are going to be different in 2015 under Ludwig, some of the more talented skill-position players from James Franklin’s top 25 recruiting classes will have to emerge as playmakers.

Here are five key players who could propel a Vanderbilt offensive resurgence this season:

RB Ralph Webb

This list begins with the one of two players who had what could be classified as productive seasons amidst last year’s offensive turmoil. Webb turned in a very solid freshman season as the Commodores’ primary option out of the backfield, displacing returning players Jerron Seymour and Brian Kimbrow (both have since left the program). He set a Vanderbilt record for rushing yards in a season for a freshman (907), which was previously held by the late Kwane Doster (798 yards in 2002). To put the performance in perspective, Webb’s 2014 rushing output has been bested only six times in Vanderbilt football history. If the Commodores are going to improve offensively in 2015, it will likely hinge on another strong performance from Webb.

TE Steven Scheu

The tight end position was largely ignored in the passing game during the James Franklin tenure at Vanderbilt, so the breakout junior season for Steven Scheu may have come as as surprise to some. The 6-foot-5, 250-pounder took full advantage of the “Stanford mentality” that Mason brought to Nashville regarding the use of tight ends, earning All-SEC honors by leading the Commodores in both receptions (39) and receiving yards (525). A spring practice injury has cast some doubt over his upcoming senior season, but Scheu is expected to again be a leader and playmaker on the offensive side of the ball.

WR/RB C.J. Duncan

When C.J. Duncan arrived on campus at Vanderbilt, the previous coaching staff couldn’t decide just how to use the multi-talented athlete. He spent portions of his redshirt season at quarterback, running back and wide receiver. Mason’s staff settled on using Duncan at wide receiver during his freshman season last year, and the results were a mixed bag. He led all Commodores wide receivers with 441 receiving yards and four touchdowns, and while he was excellent in out-of-conference play (17 catches, 314 yards in four games), he had just 11 catches for 127 yards against SEC opponents. In an effort to make sure he was getting the ball in the hands of his best athletes, Ludwig gave Duncan plenty of snaps at running back this spring, indicating he could play a hybrid-type role in the new offense.

RB/KR Darrius Sims

It is not a stretch to say that Sims was Vanderbilt’s most dangerous weapon with the ball in his hands last season, and he didn’t even play on the Commodores offense. The former cornerback earned his way onto the field as a freshman kick returner in 2013, and rewarded the Commodores with a key 71-yard return in a win over rival Tennessee in 2013. In 2014, he made headlines for returning two kickoffs for touchdowns against South Carolina and then scoring the Commodores’ lone touchdown on a pick-six the following week at Kentucky. Mason has moved Sims to running back as he enters his junior season, with the idea that putting the ball in his hands more often will lead to more good things happening.

WR Trent Sherfield

When the winds of the coaching change shook up the 2014 Vanderbilt recruiting class, four-star recruit Trent Sherfield was one of the few top prospects of the class that chose to stick with his commitment to the Commodores. Mason and staff knew they were acquiring a special talent, choosing to forgo a redshirt year to utilize Sherfield immediately last season. But the output was puzzling. Sherfield did nice things with the ball in his hands (three rushes for 40 yards and one catch for nine yards), but was never given the opportunity to fully show what he could do. That might be expected use of a true freshman in a productive offense, but the Commodores were desperate for playmakers last season. Sherfield showed he may be ready for a bigger role by leading the Commodores with four catches for 67 yards in the spring game.