Phil Steele's offensive rankings brings some sobering info

[lamont]

Steele ranks State on offense this way:

QB-4
RB-13
WR-9
OL-13

QB- with the talent at QB in the SEC this year, I have no problems with a #4 ranking heading into the season. Hurts, Allen, Stidham, Fitz, Eason should all have good seasons. Then you look as LSU, SC, Kentucky, Mizzou all return solid QB's as well. Florida finally has a full stable of QB talent. Best QB talent the SEC has had at once that I can remember

RB- He has us at 13 due to looking at the whole group- and while that may be a little low- its hard to put us in the top 10. State RB's return 777 yards- 11th most in the SEC. Bama, Georgia, Auburn, LSU, A&M, and Mizzou are loaded at RB. Those teams return a minimum of 1600 yards at TB. State fans obviously feel good about our RB situation-especially after starting a munchkin at TB before Williams- but when you look at the entire SEC, its loaded at RB.

WR- 9th. Thanks Phil- I'll take it. Gray and Mixon should have good seasons. Need a bounce-back season from Myles. Our TE group should play a big part in the success of our passing game this year. Depth at WR is a huge concern- staying injury-free at WR is paramount for this season's success

OL- 13th. I dont think our OL will be this bad- but there is lots of concern. We dont return many starts- somewhere around 40 or the high 30's total. Our Center will not have played one college play as a Center. Another starter will not have played one college play in college and will be green. There is no depth at OT or C.
On the bright side- Rankin played well the 2nd half of 2016, Calhoun is a good OG. Jenkins has alot to learn at Center- but he is a good OL player. Williams was improving before his injury last year. We do have OG-depth in case someone goes down there. This group probably struggles the 1st half of 2017 because of the tough early schedule and then comes on the 2nd half of the season.

There is certain reason for optimism in 2017 and this certainly could be a 7 win team in 2017. However- its not hard to see the concerns for 2017.

[Tbonewannabe]

Steele ranks State on offense this way:

QB-4
RB-13
WR-9
OL-13

QB- with the talent at QB in the SEC this year, I have no problems with a #4 ranking heading into the season. Hurts, Allen, Stidham, Fitz, Eason should all have good seasons. Then you look as LSU, SC, Kentucky, Mizzou all return solid QB's as well. Florida finally has a full stable of QB talent. Best QB talent the SEC has had at once that I can remember

RB- He has us at 13 due to looking at the whole group- and while that may be a little low- its hard to put us in the top 10. State RB's return 777 yards- 11th most in the SEC. Bama, Georgia, Auburn, LSU, A&M, and Mizzou are loaded at RB. Those teams return a minimum of 1600 yards at TB. State fans obviously feel good about our RB situation-especially after starting a munchkin at TB before Williams- but when you look at the entire SEC, its loaded at RB.

WR- 9th. Thanks Phil- I'll take it. Gray and Mixon should have good seasons. Need a bounce-back season from Myles. Our TE group should play a big part in the success of our passing game this year. Depth at WR is a huge concern- staying injury-free at WR is paramount for this season's success

OL- 13th. I dont think our OL will be this bad- but there is lots of concern. We dont return many starts- somewhere around 40 or the high 30's total. Our Center will not have played one college play as a Center. Another starter will not have played one college play in college and will be green. There is no depth at OT or C.
On the bright side- Rankin played well the 2nd half of 2016, Calhoun is a good OG. Jenkins has alot to learn at Center- but he is a good OL player. Williams was improving before his injury last year. We do have OG-depth in case someone goes down there. This group probably struggles the 1st half of 2017 because of the tough early schedule and then comes on the 2nd half of the season.

There is certain reason for optimism in 2017 and this certainly could be a 7 win team in 2017. However- its not hard to see the concerns for 2017.

QB at #4 seems low. Fitz is the best big play QB in the SEC but I could see Hurts being ranked ahead of him. Allen, Eason, and Fitz are all pretty close though.

RB at #13 is low also. If Williams played the entire year like the back half then he goes over 1k. I could see being back half of the SEC but not next to last.

WR #9. Subtract Donald Gray and this group would be #15. Donald Gray is going to have to play up to potential and give guys a chance to get some catches to develop confidence.

OL #13. I can't complain. Did we get the transfer from UT because we need another tackle? Same as WR except if a tackle or center goes down then the line is screwed.

[PassInterference]

Buy or sell: Our WR roster has reached Sly Croom levels.

[DownwardDawg]

Buy or sell: Our WR roster has reached Sly Croom levels.

Soft sell. At least we have 1 decent option in Gray. Our TE's will help that group as well.

[BrunswickDawg]

I think the QB's could have been anywhere from 1-5 - Steele really could have ranked them 1A-1E - they all have their +'s & -'s and their success will depend more on the team around them.

RB is just the fact of being in the SEC. No matter what, the SEC will always have the best of the best at RB. It is a little low, but doesn't really concern me.

WR is about right. I think we have potential to be better if Myles gets back to catching the ball instead of dropping 2 of every 3. And, no, we are no where near Croom level with our WR. Just stop that talk. We had only 1 season under Croom where our leading receiver went for more than 600 yards. Gray went for 709 last season, and was second behind Ross. Gray will get 900+, and someone else will step up for that 500-700 #2 role.

[Tbonewannabe]

I think the QB's could have been anywhere from 1-5 - Steele really could have ranked them 1A-1E - they all have their +'s & -'s and their success will depend more on the team around them.

RB is just the fact of being in the SEC. No matter what, the SEC will always have the best of the best at RB. It is a little low, but doesn't really concern me.

WR is about right. I think we have potential to be better if Myles gets back to catching the ball instead of dropping 2 of every 3. And, no, we are no where near Croom level with our WR. Just stop that talk. We had only 1 season under Croom where our leading receiver went for more than 600 yards. Gray went for 709 last season, and was second behind Ross. Gray will get 900+, and someone else will step up for that 500-700 #2 role.

I know Gray has more straight line speed but I wish we would use him like we did with Jameon Lewis. We moved him all over just to get the ball in his hands. I guess if Gray can consistently take the top off the defense then Mixon and the TEs can eat up the middle of the field.

[Dawgowar]

Soft sell. At least we have 1 decent option in Gray. Our TE's will help that group as well.

"One decent Option" has been our DNA since I have been a Dawg. McDole, nobody else. Glenn Young, nobody else (Danny Knight was a wingback), Sherrill never had two WR's who played consistent together. It was the one glaring weakness I had hoped, along with QB's, that Mullen would fix.

I hope they get more out of this group than what we see now. I do not understand for the life of me why we do not address this position. OL, plenty of theories on that issue. WR's, there are too many kids out there that can play the position in this offense to not have a stable full of potential. A good to great college WR does not have to be an NFL prototype in the spread.

Truly hope we are pleasantly surprised.

[Tbonewannabe]

"One decent Option" has been our DNA since I have been a Dawg. McDole, nobody else. Glenn Young, nobody else (Danny Knight was a wingback), Sherrill never had two WR's who played consistent together. It was the one glaring weakness I had hoped, along with QB's, that Mullen would fix.

I hope they get more out of this group than what we see now. I do not understand for the life of me why we do not address this position. OL, plenty of theories on that issue. WR's, there are too many kids out there that can play the position in this offense to not have a stable full of potential. A good to great college WR does not have to be an NFL prototype in the spread.

Truly hope we are pleasantly surprised.

WR in Mullen's offense is similar to RB, you have to be able to block to get on the field. One thing that Bear did as a freshman was he blocked the shit out of DBs.

[MetEdDawg]

There is a zero percent chance we end the year and people say we have the 13th best RB situation in the conference. But since most journalists and publications don't pay attention, I'm not shocked they are ranked there preseason. We will finish inside the Top 8 in that category.

QB situation is going to end up worse than 4th in my opinion, but that's going to be because our WR situation is so terribly bad. Fitz is a Top 3 QB in the league right now, but when you are throwing to what could be on paper the worst WR core in the conference, you don't ever finish Top 3 in the league as a QB. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised by the WR, but right now that position scares the heck out of me.

There is also a zero percent chance our OL finishes 13th. We may not be great, but we aren't that bad and never will be. I think they end up looking like the 8th or 9th best unit in the league.

[Ari Gold]

Isn't This the bag that didn't even have our roster correct in his magazine?? I'm sure he is spot on with his breakdown ..

[BiscuitEater]

"One decent Option" has been our DNA since I have been a Dawg.

You have to go way back to '67, '68 to find Sammy Milner and David Smith receiving and 'All SEC QB' Tommy Pharr. Y'all young'ens have 'no clue' just HOW really bad MSU football was 'before Jackie & Dan. Anyone complaining about ANY winning season needs to go read about the '60's. It's real sobering

To emphasize how bad State, and its offense in particular, was in 1967, in LSU's 55-0 win over State, the Tigers' 55 points in that one game was more than State scored all season, 49.

1968 was a wide open, colorful season. The conference season started with the defending SEC Champion (Tennessee) tying the eventual SEC champion (Georgia) 17-17 on a two point conversion after time had expired, and the conference season ended with the AP first team All-SEC quarterback's team tying the following season's AP first team All-SEC quarterback's team 17-17** . Tommy Pharr of winless Mississippi State was named AP first team All-SEC in 1968. The Bulldogs posted an 0-8-2 mark. The Bullies failed to win a game, yet their quarterback was first team All-SEC. And, deservedly so. Pharr had a tremendous season in '68.


**Archie was a Soph; MSU LOST a home game to LaTech and QB Terry Bradshaw. MSU tied OM 17-17 and students partied like it was a Sugar Bowl win. It WAS that bad.

[Pollodawg]

It's Phil Steele. Outside of calling the big boys, he's pretty hot or miss.

[Dawgowar]

You have to go way back to '67, '68 to find Sammy Milner and David Smith receiving and 'All SEC QB' Tommy Pharr. Y'all young'ens have 'no clue' just HOW really bad MSU football was 'before Jackie & Dan. Anyone complaining about ANY winning season needs to go read about the '60's. It's real sobering

To emphasize how bad State, and its offense in particular, was in 1967, in LSU's 55-0 win over State, the Tigers' 55 points in that one game was more than State scored all season, 49.

1968 was a wide open, colorful season. The conference season started with the defending SEC Champion (Tennessee) tying the eventual SEC champion (Georgia) 17-17 on a two point conversion after time had expired, and the conference season ended with the AP first team All-SEC quarterback's team tying the following season's AP first team All-SEC quarterback's team 17-17** . Tommy Pharr of winless Mississippi State was named AP first team All-SEC in 1968. The Bulldogs posted an 0-8-2 mark. The Bullies failed to win a game, yet their quarterback was first team All-SEC. And, deservedly so. Pharr had a tremendous season in '68.


**Archie was a Soph; MSU LOST a home game to LaTech and QB Terry Bradshaw. MSU tied OM 17-17 and students partied like it was a Sugar Bowl win. It WAS that bad.

Thankfully I was spared the carnage by being moved around the country as a Navy brat. Heard the misery of one side (MSU) and the 'This is the year' BS of the other whenever we came home for the summers. That went on from about 1967 to my HS Graduation in '81. We lived in Mississippi one year while Dad was in 'Nam the first go around. That was the season Archie got hurt. Wasn't too into football apart from the Dallas Cowboys then. Staubach was Navy, Dad was Navy. That's all it took. But I do truly appreciate where this university has been and how far it has been built.

We didn't even have lights in the stadium when I was there. They brought in portable ones for two games that were televised. That was so exciting - us being on TV, that half of us went home to say we SAW MSU on TV LOL. Good times.

[Spiderman]

"One decent Option" has been our DNA since I have been a Dawg. McDole, nobody else. Glenn Young, nobody else (Danny Knight was a wingback), Sherrill never had two WR's who played consistent together. It was the one glaring weakness I had hoped, along with QB's, that Mullen would fix.

I hope they get more out of this group than what we see now. I do not understand for the life of me why we do not address this position. OL, plenty of theories on that issue. WR's, there are too many kids out there that can play the position in this offense to not have a stable full of potential. A good to great college WR does not have to be an NFL prototype in the spread.

Truly hope we are pleasantly surprised.

Sherrill had Harris and Truitt, and Moulds and Jones as combos

[lamont]

Seems like many of you were saying last year how wrong Steele was last year too. Except he ended up being pretty close

[1bigdawg]

There is also a zero percent chance our OL finishes 13th. We may not be great, but we aren't that bad and never will be. I think they end up looking like the 8th or 9th best unit in the league.

Can you name the 4 or 5 teams that will have a worse OL than us?

[Jack Lambert]

He also said that he is picking us to finish last in the West even though we will probably not finish last. He is on Asinine mother ****er.

[MetEdDawg]

Can you name the 4 or 5 teams that will have a worse OL than us?

Vandy, UK, and SC are 3 I definitely feel like we can say aren't really any better than ours on paper. Maybe by a little, but nowhere near saying they are definitively better. Georgia's OL is going to be pretty bad too. Lot of people feel that is what will keep them from elevating themselves in the East.

Also, OM has the recruiting star power at OL, but are we convinced they are going to be better than us on the OL? They gave up more than 2 sacks a game last year. We gave up 1.4 and return 3 starters with a senior at center. I think our OL has much more potential to surprise in the positive than the negative.

[MoreCowbell]

Arkansas OL was awful last year, Austin Allen was sacked and ungodly amount. He was sacked 34 times for -256 yds.

[lamont]

Arkansas OL was awful last year, Austin Allen was sacked and ungodly amount. He was sacked 34 times for -256 yds.

The good side of that is they have 4 starters returning