Fletcher Adams looked great last night...

[HancockCountyDog]

I recorded the all star game last night, and watched Adams on defense and he was extremely good. No surprise to anyone that has watched him the last few years.

He will play next year. We need more like him, but he is a great start.

[CadaverDawg]

What was he playing, DT or DE?

I have seen many project him as an Isaac Gross type of DT in college, but others say he can come off the edge. Thoughts?

Glad he seems to still be playing great as the competition gets better. That's a great sign.

[Really Clark?]

I only watched some of the first half and saw him playing DT. But I had several things going on around the house at the same time so might have missed him playing DE. He looked good though. Beat his man a lot and I know a couple times made the play on the back side on the RB.

[HancockCountyDog]

What was he playing, DT or DE?

I have seen many project him as an Isaac Gross type of DT in college, but others say he can come off the edge. Thoughts?

Glad he seems to still be playing great as the competition gets better. That's a great sign.

He is a DT. I may injure someone if we try to play him at DE. He is a disruptive cat quick DT that will probably be able to carry 275-280 lbs easily.

Speaking of DT's, anyone know how Chris Jones is doing? I know people mentioned that he was playing hurt this year, anyone know if he is scheduled to have offseason surgery? I watched a little of the first half of Orange Bowl again (Im a masochist) and he has to be pushing 315-320. He is every bit of 6'7" and is overweight. I really hope a focus this offseason is to get him leaner. THere is simply no excuse for him to be the weight he is. It really limited his monster potential.

[BeastMan]

He is a DT. I may injure someone if we try to play him at DE. He is a disruptive cat quick DT that will probably be able to carry 275-280 lbs easily.

Speaking of DT's, anyone know how Chris Jones is doing? I know people mentioned that he was playing hurt this year, anyone know if he is scheduled to have offseason surgery? I watched a little of the first half of Orange Bowl again (Im a masochist) and he has to be pushing 315-320. He is every bit of 6'7" and is overweight. I really hope a focus this offseason is to get him leaner. THere is simply no excuse for him to be the weight he is. It really limited his monster potential.

I may get roasted for saying this but Im not real happy with the DL development in general. The big talents aren't progressing like they should. The only 2 guys who got better from last year imo were Preston Smith and AJ Jefferson. Both are high motor guys so I wonder if it's a product of their hustle. The DL just doesn't look like they play with passion to me. No emotion. Always terrible body language between plays. No energy. I'm not going to 100% pin that on Turner b/c he can coach but I wouldn't mind some new blood at DL coach. Preferably a high energy guy.

[mic]

I may get roasted for saying this but Im not real happy with the DL development in general. The big talents aren't progressing like they should. The only 2 guys who got better from last year imo were Preston Smith and AJ Jefferson. Both are high motor guys so I wonder if it's a product of their hustle. The DL just doesn't look like they play with passion to me. No emotion. Always terrible body language between plays. No energy. I'm not going to 100% pin that on Turner b/c he can coach but I wouldn't mind some new blood at DL coach. Preferably a high energy guy.

I agree... One of the main reasons I wanted O..

[Coach34]

Jones has simply grown out of being a DE

[mic]

Jones has simply grown out of being a DE

And the faster he realizes that the better....

[msugolf]

I may get roasted for saying this but Im not real happy with the DL development in general. The big talents aren't progressing like they should. The only 2 guys who got better from last year imo were Preston Smith and AJ Jefferson. Both are high motor guys so I wonder if it's a product of their hustle. The DL just doesn't look like they play with passion to me. No emotion. Always terrible body language between plays. No energy. I'm not going to 100% pin that on Turner b/c he can coach but I wouldn't mind some new blood at DL coach. Preferably a high energy guy.

I agree with this and will also add that I think we've focused too much on adding bulk to guys. DLinemen need to be a lot leaner these days in order stay quick. Gone are the days where you just have DLinemen to be gap stuffers. They have to be able to move laterally and tackle in space to keep up with the fast paced, spread offenses. And being leaner will also help with conditioning. That second half against GaTech our much bigger guys were getting blown off the ball, much of that was from being gassed.

[HancockCountyDog]

Jones has simply grown out of being a DE

That is like saying I grew out of my 34' jeans from college. Yeah, it happened, but so did about a 12 pack of beer each night and something with gravy in the morning.

Im not saying he should be at DE, but he just isn't the same disruptive player he was as a freshman. He needs to lose the weight or we are going to waste a once in a generation talent on the DL. I guess the upside is that if he doesn't lose the weight, he will be here for 4 years.

[msstate7]

That is like saying I grew out of my 34' jeans from college. Yeah, it happened, but so did about a 12 pack of beer each night and something with gravy in the morning.

Im not saying he should be at DE, but he just isn't the same disruptive player he was as a freshman. He needs to lose the weight or we are going to waste a once in a generation talent on the DL. I guess the upside is that if he doesn't lose the weight, he will be here for 4 years.

I want jones to be a 1st rounder next season. I'd be a blackeye to our program to not put a high 5-star in the nfl after 3 years.

Really wish we could get fletcher cox to give him a little pep talk about profitable being a dt can be.

[engie]

I agree with this and will also add that I think we've focused too much on adding bulk to guys. DLinemen need to be a lot leaner these days in order stay quick. Gone are the days where you just have DLinemen to be gap stuffers. They have to be able to move laterally and tackle in space to keep up with the fast paced, spread offenses. And being leaner will also help with conditioning. That second half against GaTech our much bigger guys were getting blown off the ball, much of that was from being gassed.

I think it's pretty clear that we started as soon as Mullen got here trying to build the defense to stop what Alabama and LSU do. We've done pretty well with that over most of Mullen's career, while simply not having the offense to keep up.

That's one thing I liked about Diaz -- he stopped the spread. Meyer, Malzahn, and RichRod all dead in their tracks.

It's something we need to come to terms with -- as long as the defensive philosophy stays constant and how we recruit/build plays constant -- we ain't beating Freeze's speed demons on their field turf. And they won't be able to do anything with us when we grow the grass a little longer for the Egg Bowl and neutralize that speed.

[CadaverDawg]

I want jones to be a 1st rounder next season. I'd be a blackeye to our program to not put a high 5-star in the nfl after 3 years.

Really wish we could get fletcher cox to give him a little pep talk about profitable being a dt can be.

I agree.

Heck, he could be our Offensive Left Tackle at his size right now.

[msstate7]

I agree.

Heck, he could be our Offensive Left Tackle at his size right now.

Maybe he should be haha

[msugolf]

I agree.

Heck, he could be our Offensive Left Tackle at his size right now.

There's really no reason for him to not be able to play and stay around 285. I don't care if he is 6'7", 310+ lbs is not "just a normal weight" for any person. You have to try to stay that size. And I've never met a healthy 300 lb person in my life. Chris and the coaches should put up Julius Peppers posters all over his room and say, that's your goal.

[Dawgfan77]

I have stated several times turner is an average recruiter and an average dl coach. We could do much better at dl

[I seen it dawg]

I may get roasted for saying this but Im not real happy with the DL development in general. The big talents aren't progressing like they should. The only 2 guys who got better from last year imo were Preston Smith and AJ Jefferson. Both are high motor guys so I wonder if it's a product of their hustle. The DL just doesn't look like they play with passion to me. No emotion. Always terrible body language between plays. No energy. I'm not going to 100% pin that on Turner b/c he can coach but I wouldn't mind some new blood at DL coach. Preferably a high energy guy.

Is there anyone on our staff that is high energy? We have become too business like and dare I say stoic. Nobody, ever, gets fired up about anything. It's shocking when anybody on our sidelines does anything resembling excitement. Our "juice" is more like diarrhea.

[NCDawg]

I agree... One of the main reasons I wanted O..

I agree also. Not sure Preston Smith got a whole lot better. He started good, but seemed to level off as the season wore on. I think AJ Jefferson did get a lot better. It appeared to me he was about the only one on our DL that really played hard in the Orange Bowl.
Also, one of the main reasons I wanted O, along with his recruiting prowess.