More Wool thanks to USA Today/SDS

[BrunswickDawg]

It just keep getting thick guys. It's going to be a looooonnnngggg summer!
http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/2014/sec-sleepers-to-watch-in-2014/

[GreenheadDawg]

The whole OM's roster is LOADED drives me up the ****in wall. That had one.. ONE.. ****in top 5 class and they are loaded? Give me a break. I can't wait to beat the brakes off them this year

[Political Hack]

special teams... can we make it consistently from 45 in?

The team should enjoy good field position most of the year with our punter's leg, ground control offense, and a stout defense.

[FISHDAWG]

I getting sick of this whole place kicking thing .... and so far NOTHING has been done about it ... how many juco kickers are there in the South just wanting to walk on to a SEC football team

[Pollodawg]

This is potentially, we all know what potential means, the best we have ever been.

[RossDawg82]

did anyone notice they said we are the only team below 50% in FG at 13/21..... who the **** does the math at that company.

[thf24]

I getting sick of this whole place kicking thing .... and so far NOTHING has been done about it ... how many juco kickers are there in the South just wanting to walk on to a SEC football team

Probably not many, or major conference teams wouldn't find themselves in kicking predicaments so often. We can say we should be able to find a JUCO kicker, a soccer player, hold open tryouts, whatever, all we want. But what it comes down to is that you don't truly know if you have a kicker or not until he actually takes the field in a real D1 game. Combine that with the fact that you can only afford to use one or two scholarships on a position that's a) full of head cases and b) as I said, among the most difficult to evaluate, and it's not a big surprise that even the big boys have issues in this area from time to time.

I'm not excusing our staff's failure to deal with this situation over the past few years, just saying that it's not uncommon and that we're not the only major conference team to ever have kicking issues.

[smootness]

I getting sick of this whole place kicking thing .... and so far NOTHING has been done about it ... how many juco kickers are there in the South just wanting to walk on to a SEC football team

Well, we won't know if it's fixed until we play games, but you're going to continue to hear about it. Just the way the offseason goes; doesn't mean it continues to be a problem necessarily. We could fix it and know nothing about it until Southern Miss.

Let's wait until games begin to determine it remains a major issue.

[Schultzy]

Don't forget, that field goal by Sobiesk to tie it in the 4th quarter on Thanksgiving night was clutch. That's something to build on.

This off season would be very different if not for that make.

[ShotgunDawg]

special teams... can we make it consistently from 45 in?
.

45 in ?

I think we would all take from 35 in and consider it a major upgrade.

At this point, I can deal with a kicker that doesn't win us games, meaning he doesn't score for us when our offense didn't legitimately put us in a position to score. All I'm asking for is that our kicking game isn't deficient and loses games for us, meaning our offense puts our team in positions to score, but our kicker can't convert. I consider anything inside of about 35 yards, as something that SHOULD be made.

[Schultzy]

We will make the 40 and in this year. Just catch the damn snaps to punt and get the ball away.

[War Machine Dawg]

I getting sick of this whole place kicking thing .... and so far NOTHING has been done about it ... how many juco kickers are there in the South just wanting to walk on to a SEC football team

Shhhh.......I've been told you can't find JUCO kickers. #Idiots

[War Machine Dawg]

45 in ?

I think we would all take from 35 in and consider it a major upgrade.

At this point, I can deal with a kicker that doesn't win us games, meaning he doesn't score for us when our offense didn't legitimately put us in a position to score. All I'm asking for is that our kicking game isn't deficient and loses games for us, meaning our offense puts our team in positions to score, but our kicker can't convert. I consider anything inside of about 35 yards, as something that SHOULD be made.

Nailed it. Anything over 40 is a crapshoot. But 35 and in should be automatic. There ought to be plenty of guys who can do that.

[dickiedawg]

did anyone notice they said we are the only team below 50% in FG at 13/21..... who the **** does the math at that company.

Noticed that. I think the numbers are probably a little off- sure SEEMED like we missed more than 8 FG last year.

ETA: should have been 10/21. Also missed 2 PATs.

[engie]

I'm not excusing our staff's failure to deal with this situation over the past few years, just saying that it's not uncommon and that we're not the only major conference team to ever have kicking issues.

I'm not saying we are the "only" ones -- but we were the worse ones. #122 in FBS last year in FG% -- and dead last in the Big5...

[Todd4State]

We will make the 40 and in this year. Just catch the damn snaps to punt and get the ball away.

This is why I wanted us to hire a special teams coach. We had a lot of issues with fundamental breakdowns over the past few years that has cost us to give up touchdowns with guys getting out of their lanes in kickoff coverage, guys screwing up their blocking assignment on a punt causing a guy to come through free and getting a punt blocked, etc. If we clean up that stuff, it's going to help out our kickers and punters out some, and make them look a little bit better.

My guess from watching us play is that we just simply didn't spend enough time on special teams to be solid at it. At least that's the impression I got because we were sloppy.

And I'm saying this because I've seen some people more specifically on another MSU board say that hiring a ST coach isn't going to help because they just organize and don't help with kicking technique. That may or may not be true- I think it depends on the coach because Jackie knew a LOT about kicking field goals and punting and technique-- but I really feel like at the very least if our guys do their job blocking and keeping their assignments then our kickers will more than likely do their job better even if their talent is limited. Because then it becomes a matter of simply asking the kicker to not do something that they can't do- like kick a 60 yard field goal.

[Todd4State]

A lot of our fans want to reach out to Brett Favre- but honestly, if there is one USM great that I want to associate with our program, it's Ray Guy.

If I was Dan, I would call him up and tell him that he could use MSU as the Ray Guy kicking camp center during the summer for free one weekend. The only thing we ask in return is working with our kickers. I'm sure Bracky would have an issue with it.

[Todd4State]

Don't forget, that field goal by Sobiesk to tie it in the 4th quarter on Thanksgiving night was clutch. That's something to build on.

This off season would be very different if not for that make.

To go all MSU fan on you- yeah but he missed the one to win it in regulation. If he hadn't missed it, we wouldn't have had #Wallacing and Christmas would have never been the same.

I'm honestly not as worried as some people. Sobiesk was a freshman and we should be better organized because we have an actual ST coach. Then we have Westin Graves and yes, even Devon Bell. Sobiesk and Graves probably don't have great range, but as long as they're consistently accurate from whatever their range is, I'm going to be OK with them.

[Bubb Rubb]

Why is there so much love about Ole Miss and their "loaded" roster? They have lots of talent at WR and they're pretty good in spots on defense. But Jesus Christ, they will suck on ice at QB, 3/5 O-line spots (and an injury away from disaster there), and running back. Oh yeah, and they've been kinda figured out offensively to boot.

I really see them struggling next year.

[thf24]

They have lots of talent at WR

Not really even that. Besides Treadwell, they don't have another receiver with more than 30 catches last year returning. I'd say they're still a little above average at receiver, but it's not nearly as strong of a position for them as it was last year.

[SignalToNoise]

Man, the comment section of that article made my head hurt.

You've got a bear fan saying our best win last year was beating them, and that isn't impressive. That's odd, because in 2012 their best win was a spectacularly average MSU and they were all in a lather over that.

[Bubb Rubb]

Not really even that. Besides Treadwell, they don't have another receiver with more than 30 catches last year returning. I'd say they're still a little above average at receiver, but it's not nearly as strong of a position for them as it was last year.

Well, I didn't say that they were especially deep there. If you just count Treadwell, that's a lot of talent. They also have Engram and some other guys. But yes, they aren't as good there as last year.

[FISHDAWG]

Let's wait until games begin to determine it remains a major issue.[/QUOTE]

as of Spring Training - it apparently still remains a major issue

[bluelightstar]

Let's wait until games begin to determine it remains a major issue.

as of Spring Training - it apparently still remains a major issue[/QUOTE]

agreed, it was just spring practice but the kicking was apparently STILL atrocious.