What our starting lineup will be next year

[Todd4State]

Barring injuries, unexpected NFL defections, etc.

QB- Dak. If Coach34 says he's coming back, I'll go with it. And Dak will be a pissed off and motivated fifth year senior.

RB- Ashton Shumpert and Aeries Williams. Josh leaving might be a blessing in disguise if Aeries Williams is as good as I think he is. Shumpert is physical and can block. Williams is bigger than Josh and has pretty good hands. The two of them should be able to replace Josh's 1000 yards between the two of them and I wouldn't be surprised if we actually see a statistical improvement here.

WR- Bear. I think he leaves after next year.

WR- Morrow. I put him over the Fred's because he will be a senior and will get the "honor" of starting because of that. All are relatively close in terms of talent all will play.

Slot- Donald Gray. We're going to be much deeper here with Gray, Myles, and I expect at least two of the freshmen- Dear and Deddrick Thomas to play a lot as well. I'm not sure if Graham will be back at this point. I think Gray starts and will be an upgrade over Jameon because of Jameon's injuries.

TE- Gus Walley. After watching him play last night and coming up with a nice catch in traffic, and having seen him all year, I feel better about this position for us. I just want to see him get a little bit stronger, but I do think he can replace Malcolm. I'm eager to see Hammond, Christy, and Dixon and what they can do.

LT- Martinas Rankin. Most of the film I've seen on him is from practice, so I can't really say that means a lot to me. I can tell that he has a mean streak which I like. I hope he's better than Clausell, who was average and struggled at times.

LG- Justin Malone. I saw him starting a lot there last night. Good veteran player.

C- Jamaal Clayborn. I think he will be fine. He played some as a true freshman and if he had not had his personal issue with a death in his family, he would have seen more action.

RG- Devon Desper. It's his time and he did OK against Texas A&M. I think he can give us what Beckwith did last year.

RT- Justin Senior/Damien Robinson. If Robinson comes back, I think he will get the "honor" of starting, but I think Senior will get a majority of the snaps. If Robinson doesn't come back, then Senior starts.

DE- Ryan Brown. Solid starter who I hope has a light switch go on and he has a monster season.

DT- Chris Jones. I think this will be his last year. I think he gets his weight down and has a monster year.

DT- Nick James or Nelson Adams. I was impressed by Nick James last night. He just keeps getting better and better, and I think next year could be his year. If not, then Adams would be a solid guy. Cory Thomas is a dark horse here.

DE- AJ Jefferson. He reminds me a lot of Edward Smith.

OLB- Beniquez Brown. Smart player who I thought was better than McKinney a lot of times.

MLB- Gerri Green. McKinney 2.0. Do we put a redshirt freshman in at MLB or do we let one of the Brown brothers handle the spot?

OLB- Richie Brown. Fan favorite who might be the weak link in our defense next year. He needs to get stronger.

CB- Will Redmond. All-SEC type guy at CB who will be in the NFL.

CB- Tavese Calhoun. Physical player who is also a great corner.

S- Jamal Peters. He's good enough to start as a true freshman. He's better than Evans right now. MASSIVE UPGRADE.

S- Kendrick Market. Good football player who also get the senior honor of starting, but I expect to see a lot of Brandon Bryant.

K- Evan Sobiesk. Credit to him because he won the kicker job and was solid and accurate despite his lack of range. He has a lot of experience going into next year.

P- Devon Bell. Senior punter who has a lot of experience. He will be solid and for all the crap that he has gotten during his career, he has All-SEC potential as a punter. He was pretty steady other than the Alabama game.

KR/PR- Donald Gray. MASSIVE UPGRADE here and this could make a big difference for us. We sucked at returning the ball this year. Gray looks a lot like Kevin Prentiss in JUCO at least, and I hope he can translate that to the SEC.

We're going to be a lot better next year and despite what we lost, I think we have better talent. But even scarier is we will be hungry next year. If the new DC is indeed Orgeron, he will at the very least bring in a lot of energy, and while he lacks DC experience- the good news is no one knows what he will do on defense. Will it be Monte Kiffen or Clancy Pendergast? We as MSU fans know it will be Monte Kiffen.

[CadaverDawg]

I agree with most of that, Todd. The exceptions being Ross starting over Morrow. I like Joe, and he has worked hard to become a really good target, but if we don't start our most talented WR, Fred Ross, Dan should be fired. I also think Myles starts over Gray. I also think Gray SHOULD return kickoffs along with Redmond....but I expect to see Brandon Holloway back there with someone like Rashun Dixon to block. Stupid, but it's Mullen.

Also, I think Fred Ross will stay at Punt Returner, and I have no problem with that. I would rather it be Gray because I dont think he is a starter at WR....but I will be fine with Ross or Gray.

[Todd4State]

I agree with most of that, Todd. The exceptions being Ross starting over Morrow. I like Joe, and he has worked hard to become a really good target, but if we don't start our most talented WR, Fred Ross, Dan should be fired. I also think Myles starts over Gray. I also think Gray SHOULD return kickoffs along with Redmond....but I expect to see Brandon Holloway back there with someone like Rashun Dixon to block. Stupid, but it's Mullen.

Also, I think Fred Ross will stay at Punt Returner, and I have no problem with that. I would rather it be Gray because I dont think he is a starter at WR....but I will be fine with Ross or Gray.

I think Morrow and Ross are dare I say it 1A/1B. Ross is better, but typically if a player is anywhere close the upperclassman gets the nod. Ross will probably end up playing more than Morrow though.

Myles didn't really wow me this year. He was good on screens, but I don't remember seeing him catching very many passes downfield. He's just a freshman, so he has plenty of time to get better and be productive.

I hear what you are saying about Gray as KR, but my hope is that he is too good to ignore back there. If Gray is a good enough blocker, he could essentially replace Robert Johnson as the "blocker" and we might see Holloway and Gray returning kicks.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

No way Robinson starts over Senior.

[thedawg]

I always thought that dontavian Lee would always be buried behind Aeries.. I think the world of Williams and always thought he would pass shumpert easily.. Well Shump got a ton better all of the sudden and my sources said Lee was better in bowl practice than Williams.. RB will be fine we have a ton of talent..
Te is the other intrigue.. Walley will play but is he THE guy.. I'm not sure. Dixon is intriguing and every thing points to Ravian Pierce being in for January.. Peirce getting spring practice puts him in the mix to live up to his potential next year..
At safety I think u see Coman and Bryant as ur starters early.. Market and Peters play a ton early and eventually Peters takes someone's job..
The rest looks good

[bulldawg28]

No way Kendrick Market should ever start again.

[bulldawg28]

:p

[Irondawg]

Amen. Robinson isn't starting unless we have a ton of guys go down

[EngineerDawg]

I always thought that dontavian Lee would always be buried behind Aeries.. I think the world of Williams and always thought he would pass shumpert easily.. Well Shump got a ton better all of the sudden and my sources said Lee was better in bowl practice than Williams.. RB will be fine we have a ton of talent..
Te is the other intrigue.. Walley will play but is he THE guy.. I'm not sure. Dixon is intriguing and every thing points to Ravian Pierce being in for January.. Peirce getting spring practice puts him in the mix to live up to his potential next year..
At safety I think u see Coman and Bryant as ur starters early.. Market and Peters play a ton early and eventually Peters takes someone's job..
The rest looks good
What I hear of Lee also. We should be exceptional at the position. Shump is going to be a force next year and I think he will play with a chip on his shoulder.

[maroonmania]

Really hope Williams and Lee come in ready to play because I just don't think Shumpert is the answer. Last night he drove me nuts running right into bodies when there was open space in one direction or the other but he just doesn't see it. A RB that doesn't have the vision to find the hole is just not an every down back IMO.

[Todd4State]

No way Robinson starts over Senior.


No way Ladarius Perkins starts over Josh Robinson either.**

[Todd4State]

I always thought that dontavian Lee would always be buried behind Aeries.. I think the world of Williams and always thought he would pass shumpert easily.. Well Shump got a ton better all of the sudden and my sources said Lee was better in bowl practice than Williams.. RB will be fine we have a ton of talent..
Te is the other intrigue.. Walley will play but is he THE guy.. I'm not sure. Dixon is intriguing and every thing points to Ravian Pierce being in for January.. Peirce getting spring practice puts him in the mix to live up to his potential next year..
At safety I think u see Coman and Bryant as ur starters early.. Market and Peters play a ton early and eventually Peters takes someone's job..
The rest looks good

I think Lee might bulk up and become our FB and essentially replace Nick Griffen. And hopefully be more involved in the offense.

[GreenheadDawg]

Really hope Williams and Lee come in ready to play because I just don't think Shumpert is the answer. Last night he drove me nuts running right into bodies when there was open space in one direction or the other but he just doesn't see it. A RB that doesn't have the vision to find the hole is just not an every down back IMO.

I agree. I'm just not as high on Shump as some of the guys on here. I just haven't seen that much from him aside from the EB. I think he really lacks the vision and speed to be an SEC back. I hope Williams will be as advertised

[Todd4State]

Really hope Williams and Lee come in ready to play because I just don't think Shumpert is the answer. Last night he drove me nuts running right into bodies when there was open space in one direction or the other but he just doesn't see it. A RB that doesn't have the vision to find the hole is just not an every down back IMO.

I don't think it will be just Shumpert, I think with will be both Aeries and Shumpert.

[gravedigger]

The fk

[maroonmania]

I agree. I'm just not as high on Shump as some of the guys on here. I just haven't seen that much from him aside from the EB. I think he really lacks the vision and speed to be an SEC back. I hope Williams will be as advertised

I can live with his speed if he had better vision but he leaves so many yards out there by not knowing how to run to space.

[I seen it dawg]

I think Shump is a guy we have to have in our locker room, weight room, etc. He is going to be a leader for us. May not be most talented but he will lead and show the younger guys the way.

[msstate7]

To get shump' full value as a rb, I think you have to give him 15-20 runs a game. All those short, tough runs he gets to start a game would be longer runs as defenses wore down tackling him imo

[CadaverDawg]

Yea, Shump has only averaged about 6 yards per carry for his career, and is a great pass blocker and goal line blocker for Dak....Definitely not an every down back in our offense***

The constant talk of "Shumpert can't be the guy" is tiresome. The guy has done everything we've asked of him, yet people can't get away from being stuck on the notion that he can't be our RB. He's not as quick as Perkins or JRob, so he's not going to try and race to daylight when he knows he will get caught. He has to hit the hole hard, and then get North and South and stay there....that is his game. At some point people have to accept the type of back that he is....and he is good at it. He improved tremendously this year, just didnt get a ton of carries.

[CadaverDawg]

To get shump' full value as a rb, I think you have to give him 15-20 runs a game. All those short, tough runs he gets to start a game would be longer runs as defenses wore down tackling him imo

Great point.

[CadaverDawg]

I think Shump is a guy we have to have in our locker room, weight room, etc. He is going to be a leader for us. May not be most talented but he will lead and show the younger guys the way.

I agree, he is a tough SOB, and he wants to win. From what I have heard, he is a great locker room guy....on top of the fact that he is a great special teams player and getting better at RB every single game. Not sure why people can't get on board with a guy like that.

[I seen it dawg]

I agree, he is a tough SOB, and he wants to win. From what I have heard, he is a great locker room guy....on top of the fact that he is a great special teams player and getting better at RB every single game. Not sure why people can't get on board with a guy like that.

Probably because they are fn stupid I guess. I love Shump for all he brings. Super intangibles and enough talent to be good. Maybe not great but good. And who knows if he gets quality, not jerked around, PT maybe he could be great. He damn sure is going to work his ass off and play with intensity. I want 85 of them.

[missouridawg]

Whats our OL two deep going to look like? We will live and die by this group.

[thedawg]

OL Two Deep:

LT will either be Rankin or Senior as starter.. Backup will be Cole Carter pushed by Elgton Jenkins
LG will be Justin Malone backed up by Kent Flowers
C will be Jamal Clayborn backed up by Deon Calhoun
RG will probably be Devon Desper but he will have competition from Flowers and Jake Thomas
RT will either be Rankin or Senior as starter .. Backup will be Warren/ Robison

[Coach34]

J. Johnson will be ahead of Carter at OT. But other than that you are spot on. Hev has to decide this Spring who will be the LT and who the RT out of Rankin and Senior

[thedawg]

Forgot about him... Joquell is no slouch and if he can handle the mental part of it he may beat all the backups out as the third tackle

[Coach34]

Jenkins is a WC also. Hev loves the shit out of this guy. Heard he usually hates Freshmen- but really loves Jenkins and Calhoun

[Todd4State]

Yea, Shump has only averaged about 6 yards per carry for his career, and is a great pass blocker and goal line blocker for Dak....Definitely not an every down back in our offense***

The constant talk of "Shumpert can't be the guy" is tiresome. The guy has done everything we've asked of him, yet people can't get away from being stuck on the notion that he can't be our RB. He's not as quick as Perkins or JRob, so he's not going to try and race to daylight when he knows he will get caught. He has to hit the hole hard, and then get North and South and stay there....that is his game. At some point people have to accept the type of back that he is....and he is good at it. He improved tremendously this year, just didnt get a ton of carries.

Truth be told- Shumpert probably fits our offense better than Robinson or Perkins. Being a running back that runs over people is not a bad thing. And if people start talking about durability- if he splits carries with Aeries and Dak and maybe even Dontavian Lee it won't be that big of an issue.

[Todd4State]

OL Two Deep:

LT will either be Rankin or Senior as starter.. Backup will be Cole Carter pushed by Elgton Jenkins
LG will be Justin Malone backed up by Kent Flowers
C will be Jamal Clayborn backed up by Deon Calhoun
RG will probably be Devon Desper but he will have competition from Flowers and Jake Thomas
RT will either be Rankin or Senior as starter .. Backup will be Warren/ Robison

Honestly, that might be the deepest o-line we have had in awhile.

[thedawg]

Heres some questions for next year:

Does Holloway ever play again... I hope not I hope Dear takes all of those touches.

Is Ravian Pierce good enough to give us a game breaker at TE as a Freshmen.

Will anyone be able to cover our WRs.. our depth here of NFL guys.. wow

How big of a loss will Wells and McKinney be? the will be a loss for sure.. Gerri Green and Dez Harris gotta grow up in a hurry.

Does Redmond fully realize his potential and become a Smoot/ Banks lockdown caliber guy.

Will Chris Jones become a first round pick next year?

Which upperclassmen does what Turtle did and comes out of nowhere.. Morrow is an obvious guess.. What about Zach Jackson, Nick James, the maligned safeties?

[msstate7]

Heres some questions for next year:

Does Holloway ever play again... I hope not I hope Dear takes all of those touches.

Is Ravian Pierce good enough to give us a game breaker at TE as a Freshmen.

Will anyone be able to cover our WRs.. our depth here of NFL guys.. wow

How big of a loss will Wells and McKinney be? the will be a loss for sure.. Gerri Green and Dez Harris gotta grow up in a hurry.

Does Redmond fully realize his potential and become a Smoot/ Banks lockdown caliber guy.

Will Chris Jones become a first round pick next year?

Which upperclassmen does what Turtle did and comes out of nowhere.. Morrow is an obvious guess.. What about Zach Jackson, Nick James, the maligned safeties?

Jung could fill wells' spot.

How is dez Harris healing?

Chris jones needs to drop weight. He has eaten his explosiveness away.

[thedawg]

Jung is very talented but it takes the best Jucos (Pernell McPhee, Darius Slay) about half a season to figure it out .. I would feel better about really relying on him if he had spring practice but he doesnt... I think hes a big help on special teams and rotation guy as a junior but we will see... Dez Harris should be good to go... ACLs are six month deals these days.. He will have 11

[Thompson92]

Heres some questions for next year:

Which upperclassmen does what Turtle did and comes out of nowhere.. Morrow is an obvious guess.. What about Zach Jackson, Nick James, the maligned safeties?

I think Coman could end up being good. He looked good last night, and he has at other times this year. I think there are several guys you don't hear as much about, like Cleveland, Hutch, and Antoine, who could make a move. If I had to pick, I would want Nelson Adams to really turn the corner. He's good now, but having him as a reliable threat with CJ, Ryan Brown, and AJ would be a dangerous D-Line.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

No way Ladarius Perkins starts over Josh Robinson either.**

When did Josh start over Perk for a whole year? When did Robinson contribute to the team at all like Perk had?

[Ifyouonlyknew]

I think Dontea Jones may end up being the freshman who makes the most noise at TE.

[Coach34]

Peters will not start at Safety for us as a true freshman until at least the last 1/3 of the season

[BoomBoom]

Peters will not start at Safety for us as a true freshman until at least the last 1/3 of the season

so long as he gets significant minutes from the start, and he gets it as soon as he earns it on the field. as soon as a 1A safety gives up a TD, Peters should start seeing every other series with the 1As, assuming he looks good with the 1Bs.

[maroonmania]

Truth be told- Shumpert probably fits our offense better than Robinson or Perkins. Being a running back that runs over people is not a bad thing. And if people start talking about durability- if he splits carries with Aeries and Dak and maybe even Dontavian Lee it won't be that big of an issue.

As long as someone can teach Shump to run where defenders are not rather than where defenders are I will be fine with him.

[Todd4State]

When did Josh start over Perk for a whole year? When did Robinson contribute to the team at all like Perk had?

Answer to the first question: Never. Even though Josh was clearly more productive. That was my point. Dan starts guys that are upperclassmen over younger guys all the time.

Second question: His sophomore and junior years. And his sophomore year would have been another 1000 yard rushing year if he had started like he should. Josh was better than Perkins. I didn't think that would ever be in question.

[Todd4State]

I think Dontea Jones may end up being the freshman who makes the most noise at TE.

I think he's a WR. He is a lot like Bear.

[justwin]

we need to do 2 things:

1. Start Ross in the slot. He should play 90% of the snaps and return punts. He's really good. The slot position is the marque position in Dan's offense. We've had two guys in Bump & Lewis both 5'9' shifty, decent hands, and we're about to upgrade to 6'2", faster and best hands on the team.

2. Start Peters at safety day one. Our safeties are a step slow and avg ball skills. He's superior to them now.

[Political Hack]

I think Hughes may come back at S, no? He should be eligible for a 6th year medical.

[msstate7]

I think Hughes may come back at S, no? He should be eligible for a 6th year medical.

Id rather he move on.

[thedawg]

Dontae is bigger than Bear.. I am anticipating a guy like Georgia Tech had last night and the Hoover kid will be Robert Johnson 2.0

[Dawg61]

Hope Graham goes HAM for those of you already trying to push out a freshman. Your post would of been great except for that one opinion sentence of yours on Graham.

[Harrydawg]

Exactly, J Hughes is a great kid who is extremely bright but athletically he is sub par.

Also, people need to understand J Rob's decision, he ain't gonna get much better plus he knows the A train is coming.

Guys, Aeries is the real deal. Real deal

[Coach34]

Exactly, J Hughes is a great kid who is extremely bright but athletically he is sub par.

Also, people need to understand J Rob's decision, he ain't gonna get much better plus he knows the A train is coming.

Guys, Aeries is the real deal. Real deal

He may be- but Lee has looked better than him to this point. And that comes straight from our staff

[Harrydawg]

Also great to hear!

[Dawg61]

He may be- but Lee has looked better than him to this point. And that comes straight from our staff

Same Lee that a bunch of you tried to get to transfer or change positions

[Todd4State]

I think Hughes may come back at S, no? He should be eligible for a 6th year medical.

I think he can, but isn't he going to law school?

[Todd4State]

Same Lee that a bunch of you tried to get to transfer or change positions

Funny how that works isn't it?

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Answer to the first question: Never. Even though Josh was clearly more productive. That was my point. Dan starts guys that are upperclassmen over younger guys all the time.

Second question: His sophomore and junior years. And his sophomore year would have been another 1000 yard rushing year if he had started like he should. Josh was better than Perkins. I didn't think that would ever be in question.

My point was this isn't a situation where neither had started & he gives the nod to the upperclassmen. Senior is the veteran starter now he's not losing his job to Robinson.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

I think he's a WR. He is a lot like Bear.

Dontea is already at 240lbs.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

I think Hughes may come back at S, no? He should be eligible for a 6th year medical.

Jay has already made the decision to move on from football.

[msstate7]

Dontea is already at 240lbs.

Wasn't he injured? I wonder if that's good or bad weight

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Wasn't he injured? I wonder if that's good or bad weight

I've seen him recently. He has a little baby fat but he's just a big kid. Even if he loses 5-10lbs before he gets to campus he's gonna put it back on once he gets to campus.

[Todd4State]

My point was this isn't a situation where neither had started & he gives the nod to the upperclassmen. Senior is the veteran starter now he's not losing his job to Robinson.

He almost didn't have it this season because Robinson was ahead of him when he get hurt. Not to mention that Robinson beating Senior out wouldn't be any different than Jenkins and Rankin beating him out- which at this point is not out of the question.

Basically Robinson's situation is the most similar to Tobias Smith if we are going to compare.

[Todd4State]

Dontea is already at 240lbs.

We're not recruiting Jones, Green, and Johnson to all be TE's. Especially with Hammond, Christy, and Dixon all being freshmen next year.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

He almost didn't have it this season because Robinson was ahead of him when he get hurt. Not to mention that Robinson beating Senior out wouldn't be any different than Jenkins and Rankin beating him out- which at this point is not out of the question.

Basically Robinson's situation is the most similar to Tobias Smith if we are going to compare.

Tobias had started before he got hurt unlike Robinson. Robinson is not taking Senior job.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

We're not recruiting Jones, Green, and Johnson to all be TE's. Especially with Hammond, Christy, and Dixon all being freshmen next year.

Johnson was never signed to play TE. He's a WR. Dontea has even said he's going to be at TE. He's 240lbs & not gonna get any smaller.