What I want to look for during bowl prep

[Todd4State]

And we have some guys that are already on campus that we redshirted that might make a huge difference next year.

QB- Nick Fitzgerald will make us deeper at QB. That means we can be a little bit more liberal with how we use Dak in the running game.

RB- Aeries Williams will give us a third RB that is a beast and he can catch the ball.

WR- Gray is a JUCO and he will make a huge impact. Plus, he should get to go through bowl practices. Dear is an Army AA and he may go through bowl practices as well, along with Deddrick Thomas. We're going to be massively upgraded at Slot WR next year.

TE- As I've said many times, I hope Rashun Dixon steps up, and I'm also eager to see what BJ Hammond can do.

OL- Rankin would be a very good pick-up. I'm curious to see what Elgton Jenkins does and how he looks.

DL- I want to see how Cory Thomas looks.

LB- Gerri Green was good enough to be the top 1B LB this past season. He could very well start at one of the OLB spots. We've already gotten a glimpse of JT Gray and his badassery.

S- Brandon Bryant and Army AA Jamal Peters are going to be huge upgrades at safety, and I'm pretty sure Bryant could have started at the end of the year. I still laugh about Rosebowl saying we were going to pull his offer for visiting freaking USM.

CB- I hope Cedric Giles is starting to get healthy.

ST- I want to see Gray returning kicks.

[CadaverDawg]

Good post.

I think Cory Thomas could have come in and played significant minutes this year for a lot of teams. The fact that he redshirted, has me very excited about his future with us.

Gerri Green has the build of a BMac, so it will be interesting to see if he is 1B MLB, or if he starts out at OLB so that he can get more PT with the 1A's.

Oh, and it's "Jiles" with a "J". No big deal, but I keep seeing you call him "Giles", ha.

Good post. The safety position should be interesting and fun to watch. I really hope we get more aggressive and let these young talented guys (Peters, Bryant) loose early in there careers.

I like your thoughts on Dixon. Wouldn't it be awesome if he took over at TE and was a beast like his bro was at RB? If not, hopefully Hammond or Hutch can rise to the occasion.

[Todd4State]

My bad on Jiles. Having better safeties like Peters and Bryant in theory should allow us to do some more creative things on defense. Maybe. I feel good about Redmond and Calhoun at CB especially with them being seniors next year.

Assuming McKinney leaves, I'm guessing it will be Beniquez, Richie, and probably either Gray or Green. I'm thinking Gray is probably better in coverage than Green at this point without really having watched Green at this point. I watched film of Jung today and he might at least figure in as a back-up next year because he is coming in June.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Gerri will be the 1B MLB.

[GTHOM]

Malik Dear didnt look as good as i thought he would when i saw him play, he showed flashes but not as many as he did his Jr year. i might would get tired of playing at murrah too though. he should be a good player. Gerri Green could be a 1A next year if you ask me, Cory Thomas will be an All SEC type player for us. Is jamal peters graduating early?

[Bo Darville]

Aeris Williams intrigues me. Milton transferred and Nick Griffin is graduating. Holloway is not a running back. Shumpert is a good blocker and tough runner, but I'm not sure he is shifty enough to be an every down back, and he still only carries it in his right arm. Josh Robinson is the man, and I hope Aeris shows that he can be his successor.

Agreed on Donald Gray. I hope that Gray will help us in the slot and as a returner on day 1.

Market is hurt, Cox is gone (idiot), and Hughes is graduating. Coman, Evans, and a healing Market are the safeties for 2015, so there is definitely playing time available for someone new to step into the rotation in the fall of 2015. I too am hoping that Bryant and Peters make a big push.

Definitely want to see the redshirting defensive tackles and ends.

[Political Hack]

Hutch and Walley have the first nods at TE IMO.

[coastratdog]

It doesn't matter who plays what or where, if Mullen and staff prepare them as they did against the wannabe plantation owners we're screwed. I'm still discusted about the offensive and defensive play calling.

[Todd4State]

It doesn't matter who plays what or where, if Mullen and staff prepare them as they did against the wannabe plantation owners we're screwed. I'm still discusted about the offensive and defensive play calling.

Kind of interesting that you mention that. I was watching a video on youtube about the Saints Super Bowl win a few years ago where they did the surprise onside kick and Sean Payton.

Payton had been talking to Bill Parcells before that Super Bowl and Parcells told him basically to go into that game and win or lose, don't leave the stadium without feeling like he did everything as a coach and playcaller to win the game. That's a lesson Dan really needs to learn.

[Todd4State]

Malik Dear didnt look as good as i thought he would when i saw him play, he showed flashes but not as many as he did his Jr year. i might would get tired of playing at murrah too though. he should be a good player. Gerri Green could be a 1A next year if you ask me, Cory Thomas will be an All SEC type player for us. Is jamal peters graduating early?

Dear has zero help. And everyone in the ballpark knows that odds are he was going to be involved in the play. I think he was also hurt a little bit this year as well.

[RougeDawg]

Kind of interesting that you mention that. I was watching a video on youtube about the Saints Super Bowl win a few years ago where they did the surprise onside kick and Sean Payton.

Payton had been talking to Bill Parcells before that Super Bowl and Parcells told him basically to go into that game and win or lose, don't leave the stadium without feeling like he did everything as a coach and playcaller to win the game. That's a lesson Dan really needs to learn.

What has Dan done to show that he's ever going to coach this way? As soon as we get a big lead or obtain a "lofty" goal/rank, he pulls back on the reins, playing not to lose instead of having killer instinct and finishing the job. His reign pulling against Bama and OM this year was just a larger scale version of the things he's continued to do from day 1 at MSU. I'm not questioning his ability to recruit and develop undervalued guys, but his in game and game Prep abilities have clear and apparent deficiencies. I don't give a shit what anyone says, Dak was responsible for 3-4 wins himself this year. Yes Dan recruited and developed him, but Dak making plays is why we won The critical games this year. Play calling wasn't exactly stellar in those as well, but we neve allowed the big plays on defense in those like we did at Bama and OM. Just not sure we'll ever get all the way over the hump unless he miraculously changes his mentality or turns over all play calling duties to someone else.

[Todd4State]

What has Dan done to show that he's ever going to coach this way? As soon as we get a big lead or obtain a "lofty" goal/rank, he pulls back on the reins, playing not to lose instead of having killer instinct and finishing the job. His reign pulling against Bama and OM this year was just a larger scale version of the things he's continued to do from day 1 at MSU. I'm not questioning his ability to recruit and develop undervalued guys, but his in game and game Prep abilities have clear and apparent deficiencies. I don't give a shit what anyone says, Dak was responsible for 3-4 wins himself this year. Yes Dan recruited and developed him, but Dak making plays is why we won The critical games this year. Play calling wasn't exactly stellar in those as well, but we neve allowed the big plays on defense in those like we did at Bama and OM. Just not sure we'll ever get all the way over the hump unless he miraculously changes his mentality or turns over all play calling duties to someone else.

I agree. I hope his conservative play calling is due to inexperience more than anything and I will say that early in his career he called some creative plays that burned us big time. I remember a couple of fake punts that went horribly wrong and then the jump pass vs. LSU. I also hope he has a lot of regrets about how he called the Alabama and Ole Miss games this year. At the same time, I have seen very little that would indicate that he would change.

It's really frustrating to me to watch Oregon last night with the same offensive scheme as us calling some really good plays using the slot WR on speed sweeps, screens, pop passes, and mixing in the option and also watching Manny and La Tech blitzing Marshall's pants off. And then wondering why we don't do the same?

We're going to be good next year because of Dak. I hope he masters the offense to the point where he calls more of the plays and can overcome Dan. Urban legend is in the 2013 Egg Bowl when Dak ran the ball in on fourth down- which has become Dan's favorite play of all time- Dak was the one who wanted to run it on fourth and inches with our second round pick at guard while Dan wanted to throw some kind of a pass.

[Coach34]

Green is not going to start ahead of the Brown twins unless he is the 2nd coming of Dick Butkus

[Smitty]

Would like to go to the 3-4 on D…

[CadaverDawg]

Would like to go to the 3-4 on D…

That would add one more defender in the secondary of our Soft Zone, so it may be a good choice.*