Week 1 Depth Chart out

[thf24]

I can't find an actual link to it yet, but Bob included a legible image of it in a tweet.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bv5lqP2IYAESiRN.jpg:large

As we know, it means very little as to how the snaps will actually be distributed, but one thing that sticks out to me right away is that Rufus Warren is listed as an -or- along with Justin Senior at RT.

[Covercorner2]

Why do we always have our starting WRs, regardless of how explosive they are, returning kicks?

[bgover4]

There is an or at PK too

[CadaverDawg]

I can't understand why we keep putting Robert Johnson back to return kicks. I would like to have two guys capable of breaking one big. I guess we are planning to let Jameon return every kick and let RoJo be the lead blocker? That would make sense.

Other than that...it's a garbage depth chart yet again. Chris jones 2nd team? Why even post something that ridiculous, Dan?

[preachermatt83]

I like it a lot. I love seeing Nick Griffin on the 2deep!

[MarketingBully01]

I can't find an actual link to it yet, but Bob included a legible image of it in a tweet.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bv5lqP2IYAESiRN.jpg:large

As we know, it means very little as to how the snaps will actually be distributed, but one thing that sticks out to me right away is that Rufus Warren is listed as an -or- along with Justin Senior at RT.

I don't necessarily think that's a negative regarding Warren. We know Senior had a great camp and the coaches are really high on him. What that tells me is Warren is making a push which can only be a good thing.

[Dawg496]

I don't necessarily think that's a negative regarding Warren. We know Senior had a great camp and the coaches are really high on him. What that tells me is Warren is making a push which can only be a good thing.

Absolutely, let them both get snaps in the first three games, and maybe even let each get a start so we can know what we have going into LSU.

[MarketingBully01]

I can't understand why we keep putting Robert Johnson back to return kicks. I would like to have two guys capable of breaking one big. I guess we are planning to let Jameon return every kick and let RoJo be the lead blocker? That would make sense.

Other than that...it's a garbage depth chart yet again. Chris jones 2nd team? Why even post something that ridiculous, Dan?

Agreed on Jones. He is going to play a lot.

[Esmerelda Villalobos]

Ill be nervous if warren plays a lot of snaps this year

[CadaverDawg]

Ill be nervous if warren plays a lot of snaps this year

No need to worry, "best OL Mullen's ever had".

In all seriousness, I agree with you Ennis

[Dogchomp]

Holy sheet, this depth chart scares me. There are a whole lotta seniors at key positions.

[messageboardsuperhero]

I can't understand why we keep putting Robert Johnson back to return kicks. I would like to have two guys capable of breaking one big. I guess we are planning to let Jameon return every kick and let RoJo be the lead blocker? That would make sense.

Other than that...it's a garbage depth chart yet again. Chris jones 2nd team? Why even post something that ridiculous, Dan?

Mullen and Turner are almost always going to list seniors as starters. That's just the way it goes with him. It's also part of why I take the "returning starters" statistic with a grain of salt from us. Deonte Skinner started pretty much every game LB last year- but Benni Brown played at least as many snaps.

Just because Jones might not play the first snap of the game, doesn't mean that he won't be playing the majority of snaps.

[Todd4State]

Holy sheet, this depth chart scares me. There are a whole lotta seniors at key positions.

Better than having freshmen at key positions.

[MarketingBully01]

Ill be nervous if warren plays a lot of snaps this year

I think we will be fine either way. This OL is much better then the average MSU fan gives them credit for. With that said if he is playing out of necessity because of more injuries sure but if he is playing more because he is getting the hang of it in the natural progression of the OLine I think we are okay. He definitely has great size for a tackle.

[DragonDawgZ]

Holy sheet, this depth chart scares me. There are a whole lotta seniors at key positions.

Yeah terrifying? We are talking about this 2014 season. That has potential to be special. This is a good thing. And our staff says over in over a lot of players will play. Meaning younger guys. Shit just be happy with how loaded THIS seasons depth looks

[MarketingBully01]

Holy sheet, this depth chart scares me. There are a whole lotta seniors at key positions.

The sarcasm is strong in this one.

[UMCDawg16]

Interesting that Fred Ross isn't listed in the 2-deep...

[MarketingBully01]

Yeah terrifying? We are talking about this 2014 season. That has potential to be special. This is a good thing. And our staff says over in over a lot of players will play. Meaning younger guys. Shit just be happy with how loaded THIS seasons depth looks

I think he is being sarcastic at least I hope he is.

[MarketingBully01]

Interesting that Fred Ross isn't listed in the 2-deep...

He will play a lot. Remember when Mullen first got to State and he said he needed 7-9 WR? Well he has that in spades this year. A lot of the receivers will play and be rolled out there quite a bit. This is the most talented and deep WR corp Mullen has had since he got here.

[DragonDawgZ]

I think he is being sarcastic at least I hope he is.

Really hope so too. That's just a dumb dumb statement to make

[Pokerdawg44]

I can't understand why we keep putting Robert Johnson back to return kicks. I would like to have two guys capable of breaking one big. I guess we are planning to let Jameon return every kick and let RoJo be the lead blocker? That would make sense.

Other than that...it's a garbage depth chart yet again. Chris jones 2nd team? Why even post something that ridiculous, Dan?

My guess is J Lewis is the primary returner and RoJo is mainly a lead blocker. Even tho hes back there he doesn't get the chance to return many kos.

[thf24]

I don't necessarily think that's a negative regarding Warren. We know Senior had a great camp and the coaches are really high on him. What that tells me is Warren is making a push which can only be a good thing.

That's how I took it too. Just struck me as impressive how far he's come at a new position in so little time, if taken at face value.

[UMCDawg16]

I think this depth chart shows just how committed this staff is to having upperclassmen high on the depth chart regardless of ability and/or actual reps this season. I think its more of a "earn your stripes" approach when it comes to being high on the DC. I think our depth charts have less to do with actual season reps than most every team in the country. Stricktly for the media.

[Political Hack]

of Holloway is our punt fumbler this season, I'm going to be PO'd.

[War Machine Dawg]

Pissed we aren't giving Holloway and/or Redmond a chance in the return game. Ben Franklin say "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Mullen needs to be put in a straight jacket if you look at our ST decisions. Completely, totally unacceptable.

[deltadawg99]

I don't understand why we keep putting Robert Johnson back there to return kicks. He's a damn possession WR.

[Coach34]

Ill be nervous if warren plays a lot of snaps this year

Why? Just curious. He has great feet and has been our blocking TE in goalline packages- they sent him in to do that because he was our best blocking TE. It's not surprising he would be making a push if he accepted the move and put effort into it

[Coach34]

Why do we always have our starting WRs, regardless of how explosive they are, returning kicks?

because those guys get the most work at "catching' the ball.

[HoopsDawg]

Why? Just curious. He has great feet and has been our blocking TE in goalline packages- they sent him in to do that because he was our best blocking TE. It's not surprising he would be making a push if he accepted the move and put effort into it

You watched him in the spring and said he was horrible.

[HoopsDawg]

I don't understand why we keep putting Robert Johnson back there to return kicks. He's a damn possession WR.

It almost Darius Slay bad, that Will Redomond isn't returning kicks.

[deltadawg99]

Slay was only a juco all american for being a return man. Makes way too much sense to put him back there. Nothing against Banks, but Slay was a good bit faster and more explosive in the return game.

[SDDawg]

I don't think this depth chart warrants the level of attention it's getting, just my 2 cents.

[Dawghouse]

Our back-ups are All-Americans.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

I don't understand why we keep putting Robert Johnson back there to return kicks. He's a damn possession WR.

Rojo was the return man last year for every game & returned 4 kicks. He's basically the lead blocker for Tubby. Now if you wanna switch Tubby out & put in someone else cool but Rojo job isn't to run back kicks it's to lead Tubby.

[Coach34]

You watched him in the spring and said he was horrible.

I didnt say Warren was horrible- I said Robinson was...and Thomas...notice neither one will be at OT for us this year

[DudyDawg]

Literally the only position that concerns me is safety (not including future injuries of course). And concern is a verrrrry strong word. It's more curiousity. With Hughes coming back from injury, and Cox making the move (neither were our safety last season). I guess that's the only place we don't know what we are going to get. Cox is an elite athlete but can he be an elite safety? I think so, but I'm not sure. Is Hughes back to 100% and improving as a player? We will see. We do have Market, who's solid, so that's why I hesitate saying I'm concerned. I think they will be the key to us having a top 7 SEC defense or the top of the league.

Not really worried about RT due to Daks ability to move and our ability to use misdirection/read options in the run game. Also, it's not his blindside. Think that'll cover up some of our "weaknesses" there

[CadaverDawg]

Literally the only position that concerns me is safety (not including future injuries of course). And concern is a verrrrry strong word. It's more curiousity. With Hughes coming back from injury, and Cox making the move (neither were our safety last season). I guess that's the only place we don't know what we are going to get. Cox is an elite athlete but can he be an elite safety? I think so, but I'm not sure. Is Hughes back to 100% and improving as a player? We will see. We do have Market, who's solid, so that's why I hesitate saying I'm concerned. I think they will be the key to us having a top 7 SEC defense or the top of the league.

Not really worried about RT due to Daks ability to move and our ability to use misdirection/read options in the run game. Also, it's not his blindside. Think that'll cover up some of our "weaknesses" there

Cox will be a far better safety than he was a corner. He's back at his natural spot, which I'm sure you're aware of since it's been said so much.

[DudyDawg]

Cox will be a far better safety than he was a corner. He's back at his natural spot, which I'm sure you're aware of since it's been said so much.

Agree that he will be better at safety than at corner. Just hope his brain equals his physical ability there and he can be a ball hawk. If he can, with the ability we will have to stop the run with that mammoth front, we can be one of the top defenses in the country.

[Pokerdawg44]

I didnt say Warren was horrible- I said Robinson was...and Thomas...notice neither one will be at OT for us this year

So our 2 Four star oline recruits turned out terrible.

[Reason2succeed]

Our back-ups are All-Americans.

Exactly! Mullen puts seniors as starters so that the NFL scouts will at least take a look at them. Scouts aren't lazy but they are trying to look at hundreds of players. So, our coaching staff makes sure that the seniors are up front to be seen. Yeah, they want to look at Chris Jones, but for what, he isn't coming out this year anyway. Put someone as the starter who is still better than 60% of the starters at other schools and hope he gets a combine invite of a FA contract.

[HoopsDawg]

Literally the only position that concerns me is safety (not including future injuries of course). And concern is a verrrrry strong word. It's more curiousity. With Hughes coming back from injury, and Cox making the move (neither were our safety last season). I guess that's the only place we don't know what we are going to get. Cox is an elite athlete but can he be an elite safety? I think so, but I'm not sure. Is Hughes back to 100% and improving as a player? We will see. We do have Market, who's solid, so that's why I hesitate saying I'm concerned. I think they will be the key to us having a top 7 SEC defense or the top of the league.

Not really worried about RT due to Daks ability to move and our ability to use misdirection/read options in the run game. Also, it's not his blindside. Think that'll cover up some of our "weaknesses" there

We need a pass rush from Ryan Brown's spot.

[Reason2succeed]

Also, in a scheme that Mullen says is based on exploiting one on one match ups his depth chart confusion is just one more thing for the opponent to have to figure out. I'm not saying it is hard but make them figure out that their guards are going against Christ Jones and not Curtis Virges or Kaleb Eulles.

[HoopsDawg]

So our 2 Four star oline recruits turned out terrible.

Damien Robinson was a 4 star in the same way that Templeton Hardy and Montrell Conner were 4 stars. In other words, they got an early rating from the recruiting services and it was never updated during or after their senior years.

[engie]

Interesting -- Coman may have essentially beat out Deontay Evans. Or Evans could be dinged/have a case of moultrie knee for the first game...

[Dogchomp]

Yeah if only we had good backups. At key positions.. Who weren't seniors... Oh well there is always next year.

[Dogchomp]

Lol. In all seriousness, this team has "the makeup" of what a special team is supposed to consist of. It's just up to the players to stay hungry, stay focused, and block all outside noise.

[maroonmania]

Slay was only a juco all american for being a return man. Makes way too much sense to put him back there. Nothing against Banks, but Slay was a good bit faster and more explosive in the return game.

I have just made peace with the fact that with all the positives about Mullen he is just a dufus when it comes to evaluating and coaching special teams. Better just to accept it and move on.

[Coach34]

So our 2 Four star oline recruits turned out terrible.

Thomas is a RS freshman and has been moved to OG. We'll see what happens. Hell, you cant just 90% of OL players till their 3rd year anyway

[jimbo352]

I'm really worried about our OL staying healthy... We can no afford big injuries there. I know others are more confident there, but we're very thin IMO. Love the first 6, but after that I'm not so confident.

I like everything else I see. I don't have a problem with WR at KR and PR... Ball security is WAY more important that a few extra yards per return and maybe one TD... Catch the ball and put it back in Dakattack's hands, it's that simple.

[Coach34]

I'm really worried about our OL staying healthy... We can no afford big injuries there. I know others are more confident there, but we're very thin IMO. Love the first 6, but after that I'm not so confident.

How many teams are confident in linemen 7-10 on their OL's? Can you name 1?

[GreenheadDawg]

How many teams are confident in linemen 7-10 on their OL's? Can you name 1?

****ing Exactly! thank you. There aren't many teams, maybe none that can say that they feel ok about their o-line with more than one injury. Most teams are in trouble with one injury. i.e OM

[chef dixon]

Does this mean Hutcherson is redshirting?

[jimbo352]

How many teams are confident in linemen 7-10 on their OL's? Can you name 1?

I understand what you're saying, but it's all relative to what you have in front and what expectations are... Alabama may be concerned with guys 7-10, but I'd take their 7-10 any day of the ****ing week over ours... They may not feel confident in them to make a run for a NC, but their still 4 and 5 star guys with a boat load of potential, who would likely push for starting positions on our squad. A key injury on the OL for us is WAY more devastating than a key injury on Bama's OL.

[engie]

I understand what you're saying, but it's all relative to what you have in front and what expectations are... Alabama may be concerned with guys 7-10, but I'd take their 7-10 any day of the ****ing week over ours... They may not feel confident in them to make a run for a NC, but their still 4 and 5 star guys with a boat load of potential, who would likely push for starting positions on our squad. A key injury on the OL for us is WAY more devastating than a key injury on Bama's OL.

This why they are starting a true freshman at tackle?

They have just as many 4 and 5* busts on the OL as we have 2 and 3* busts. Nature of the beast. They have had one truly elite OL season there. Several other good ones. The one they had last year that got absolutely destroyed by a mediocre OK front 7 and prettymuch got pushed around by ours? Let me keep ours pls.

Here's the thing about the OL -- VERY few of us know what is actually going on there with the "eyeball test". We use a different ideal than practically any of us played in. It's not about road grating. Coach has spelled this out already on the zone scheme.

I'll be the first to admit -- It's hard as hell to evaluate if you aren't an OL guy(I'm not). It's obvious when it's really bad -- but otherwise hard to tell. But easy to rely on what stats tell us. I just see 3-4 true "OL guys" that I've relied on for info in the past(jmoss @ 247, coach57, and 34 among a few others) here and elsewhere that are saying it will be our best OL yet under Mullen and the best depth under Mullen. Hard to argue with those guys even if we don't "see" it...

I do know -- I feel better about the 2s on the OL this year than I have at any point in the past. Based on practice reports, I wouldn't bat an eye playing Deion Calhoun after a couple of injuries -- provided we surrounded him with a little experience. People are looking at the 5 "#2s" on the depth chart and getting worried -- when in reality, it's about 8-9 guys that are going to play and play a bunch.

[Coach34]

I understand what you're saying, but it's all relative to what you have in front and what expectations are... Alabama may be concerned with guys 7-10, but I'd take their 7-10 any day of the ****ing week over ours... They may not feel confident in them to make a run for a NC, but their still 4 and 5 star guys with a boat load of potential, who would likely push for starting positions on our squad. A key injury on the OL for us is WAY more devastating than a key injury on Bama's OL.


ok- so Bama? The team that has been number 1 in the nation in recruiting the last 3 years???

The point is that nobody is happy about their 7-10 OL guys playing significant snaps. We are no different than anybody else outside of teams that are top 5 schools.

[Westdawg]

What I love about this conversation concerning the "fears" of our OL is that just a few short years ago, we were worried about OL #s 1-5. Now we have a group that has fear over 7-10. Just a few things stand out to me with this that should help all y'all scaredy cats-
1 - we have 6 guys that are really good (maybe not all American but good) OL that we can count on.
2 - we have 4-5 OL under them that have not had the chance to gain experience and prove themselves as of yet. AMAZING WE HAVE QUALITY DEPTH!!!!!
3 - most everyone on this board knows that our 2 & 3 deep on the DL is legit SEC depth across those positions. All of our guys on the OL are gaining critical experience and knowledge going against that unit in practice every day. That counts for something.
4 - we are complaining most about players like carter and Thomas who are RS frost and the fact that they haven't been able to crack the starting rotation or have experience to know what they are capable of.....it's about dang time we had that much depth to finally have idiots say this!!!!
5 - we have a strong contingent that is upset because Damien was said to be a starter when Senior was obviously better, then Damien gets hurt for the year and ppl are upset because Senior may not be good enough and we have to slide Malone over and that warren is playing out of position and has not any experience at RT. If any of y'all complaining had been watching warren you would have noticed that he was used primarily almost always as an extra blocker. He is used to going against the DE and outside rush. He has great lateral movement wide reach and very good footwork. I said a couple years ago that they should have moved him to OT becAuse it was a more natural position for him. Fact is, he is a tweener for those two positions. I honestly think he will do well there.
Personally I love what we have at the OL as starters, 2 deep, and beyond. I hope we blow these first 3 games out so all of those guys can get live game experience and help to show everyone what we have and I for one think it is quality depth and future studs.

[Radddawg]

I just don't see how a team as deep and senior laiden as ours got overlooked by the top 25 polls ?!?!?? Hope the players carry a chip on their shoulder because of it... Win and the rankings will take care of themselves I guess.

[Schultzy]

And Clayborn is a road grater, a Gabe Jackson clone in my opinion running 2nd team. We have depth on the OL.

I also believe Jake Thomas and Cole Carter will step up now that they are truly in the mix for playing time.

[Coach34]

Warren, Desper, and Flowers are linemen 7, 8, and 9...we'll be fine

[Schultzy]

Warren, Desper, and Flowers are linemen 7, 8, and 9...we'll be fine

Yeah see, there are even three better than the ones I mentioned. I believe people with some talent perform when the lights come on and it's game time.

Forgot About Desper having such a good camp and Flowers is big. I knew Warren would end up at Tackle the day he committed.

[UMCDawg16]

What I love about this conversation concerning the "fears" of our OL is that just a few short years ago, we were worried about OL #s 1-5. Now we have a group that has fear over 7-10. Just a few things stand out to me with this that should help all y'all scaredy cats-
1 - we have 6 guys that are really good (maybe not all American but good) OL that we can count on.
2 - we have 4-5 OL under them that have not had the chance to gain experience and prove themselves as of yet. AMAZING WE HAVE QUALITY DEPTH!!!!!
3 - most everyone on this board knows that our 2 & 3 deep on the DL is legit SEC depth across those positions. All of our guys on the OL are gaining critical experience and knowledge going against that unit in practice every day. That counts for something.
4 - we are complaining most about players like carter and Thomas who are RS frost and the fact that they haven't been able to crack the starting rotation or have experience to know what they are capable of.....it's about dang time we had that much depth to finally have idiots say this!!!!
5 - we have a strong contingent that is upset because Damien was said to be a starter when Senior was obviously better, then Damien gets hurt for the year and ppl are upset because Senior may not be good enough and we have to slide Malone over and that warren is playing out of position and has not any experience at RT. If any of y'all complaining had been watching warren you would have noticed that he was used primarily almost always as an extra blocker. He is used to going against the DE and outside rush. He has great lateral movement wide reach and very good footwork. I said a couple years ago that they should have moved him to OT becAuse it was a more natural position for him. Fact is, he is a tweener for those two positions. I honestly think he will do well there.
Personally I love what we have at the OL as starters, 2 deep, and beyond. I hope we blow these first 3 games out so all of those guys can get live game experience and help to show everyone what we have and I for one think it is quality depth and future studs.

Top notch. Best post I have seen in a while. Kudos.

[Schultzy]

I just don't see how a team as deep and senior laiden as ours got overlooked by the top 25 polls ?!?!?? Hope the players carry a chip on their shoulder because of it... Win and the rankings will take care of themselves I guess.

Gotta get a win versus lsu or bama before that happens.

[joedog]

Just curious why Dak is still the place holder on kicks???

Couldn't they find someone else to be Lucy to our Charlie Brown?

[MadisonDawg]

Just curious why Dak is still the place holder on kicks???

Couldn't they find someone else to be Lucy to our Charlie Brown?

Only other person we tried back there during camp was bell, and the kickers preferred Dak for one reason or another.

[Todd4State]

This why they are starting a true freshman at tackle?

They have just as many 4 and 5* busts on the OL as we have 2 and 3* busts. Nature of the beast. They have had one truly elite OL season there. Several other good ones. The one they had last year that got absolutely destroyed by a mediocre OK front 7 and prettymuch got pushed around by ours? Let me keep ours pls.

Here's the thing about the OL -- VERY few of us know what is actually going on there with the "eyeball test". We use a different ideal than practically any of us played in. It's not about road grating. Coach has spelled this out already on the zone scheme.

I'll be the first to admit -- It's hard as hell to evaluate if you aren't an OL guy(I'm not). It's obvious when it's really bad -- but otherwise hard to tell. But easy to rely on what stats tell us. I just see 3-4 true "OL guys" that I've relied on for info in the past(jmoss @ 247, coach57, and 34 among a few others) here and elsewhere that are saying it will be our best OL yet under Mullen and the best depth under Mullen. Hard to argue with those guys even if we don't "see" it...

I do know -- I feel better about the 2s on the OL this year than I have at any point in the past. Based on practice reports, I wouldn't bat an eye playing Deion Calhoun after a couple of injuries -- provided we surrounded him with a little experience. People are looking at the 5 "#2s" on the depth chart and getting worried -- when in reality, it's about 8-9 guys that are going to play and play a bunch.

One thing I've noticed that the recruiting gurus consistently miss when they rate o-linemen is I suspect that they look at their weight way too much. For example, we get a guy like Cole Carter and he weighs 260-270 his senior year in high school and then they totally fail to account for the fact that we are going to get him in a good S&C program and those guys that are 250 at HS graduation are going to be 300-310 with good weight while retaining their athleticism.

They'll rate a guy like a Damien Robinson who is like 300-320 already a five star guy because he has "SEC size" already but they fail to take into account that a lot of guys like that are either already developed as much as they are going to get or are likely going to have weight issues in college.

In other words, the recruiting guys can't see projection with offensive linemen.

[Alldawg]

I thought Mullen couldn't recruit OL?

[Johnson85]

I understand what you're saying, but it's all relative to what you have in front and what expectations are... Alabama may be concerned with guys 7-10, but I'd take their 7-10 any day of the ****ing week over ours... They may not feel confident in them to make a run for a NC, but their still 4 and 5 star guys with a boat load of potential, who would likely push for starting positions on our squad. A key injury on the OL for us is WAY more devastating than a key injury on Bama's OL.

We have three solid guards, so we can lose one guard and still feel pretty good about our two starters.

We have co-starters at RT. So an injury there will leave us with basically an equivalent player.

If we lose our center, we will be hurt, but mainly because of snaps. We have a good blocker to put back there.

If we lose Clausell, I assume that'd be a pretty stiff hit, but Senior did play a game there last year.

We could lose a Guard and a RT and be almost unaffected other than lacking a sub to spell people. I would say most teams don't have that kind of margin of safety for injury on the OL.

[Johnson85]

I do know -- I feel better about the 2s on the OL this year than I have at any point in the past.

This is the first time we've had a complete set of 2s to my knowledge. If we put our two's out there, we know we'd have a good guard in Clayborne and a RT that is basically equivalent to our starter (Warren or Senior). At left Tackle, we'd have Carter, who allegedly had beat out Senior as of the spring practice, so he's presumably capable even if he'd be a good bit of drop off from Clausell. We'd have Desper at RG, who is an unknown but at least we've been getting favorable practice reports on him. The only huge hole is at center, with Muniz. I don't think we've had a year where we've had 4 capable backups on the OL.