I'm already sick of the "State lost all it's starters" mantra

[Coach34]

Gonna be a long offseason because nobody actually looks at anything past that. Hey- guess what people?

Will Redmond wasn't a starter but he was our best CB. He was always on the field at the end of games
Chris Jones wasn't a starter but he will be playing for 1st round money this Fall
We are losing a 2-star OT and replacing him with a 4-star player

While we lose 2/3 "starters" at WR- in actuality we return our top 2 WR's in yardage and our top 3 in TD receptions. One of our "starters" was 6th in total catches. Graduation makes us better at WR.

Our offense is going to be nasty- that is why Dakota Prescott is returning. It's going to put up some sick numbers. Defensively there is some concern with DT and LB. That is where the questions lie. But as I seem to have to keep saying year after year with Mullen and State football- rumors of our demise are greatly exaggerated.

[State82]

Seems like all you have to be able to do to be a college football "analyst" these days is count the number of names on the roster with a "sr" beside them and read who declares for the draft. Then your analysis is complete.

[ShotgunDawg]

We've been saying for a while that the media is completely lazy, and this no different.

The problem is guys like Phil Steele that started ranking all 120 teams, instead of focusing on a more limited number.

The truth is that, we lose some experience, but should be more talented next year than this year, and our schedule is better next year than this year since we have Alabama, Ole Miss, and LSU at home.

Ark, Mizzou, Texas A&M, and Auburn will be tough road games though. I'll feel good if we win 2 or those four and 2 of 3 against LSU, Alabama, and Ole Miss at home. Therefore, I'm saying we will win 9 games next year.

[Saltydog]

Lord knows that issue has been beaten to death. However, this is where that philosopy pays off in that we have a LOT of guys coming back that have played a ton. For as bad as many of us hated that rotation this year, it will pay some dividends next year.

[ShotgunDawg]

Here is our depth chart from the opening game in 2014. Have fun!

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

[HancockCountyDog]

I think our biggest loss is Josh Robinson. I know he didn't end the season well, but he was awesome the first 8-9 games last year. Just tremendous.

I know people keep saying that our talent level on the OL is going up, but I think we are undervaluing a freaking 4 year starter in Clausell. That guy showed up and came to work for 4 straight years. Day and Beckwith, especially Beckwith played great ball the last two years. Hell, Beckwith by the end of last year was one of the best OL in the SEC. We have the potential to be better, but as Coach34 can tell y'all, cohesion on the OL is more important than individual talent. Give me 5 guys that know how to work together.

Also, I agree with coach that we have some holes to fill on the DL and LB, but I think we still have a big hole at Safety. With Cox and Hughes gone, and Market will be recovering from an achilles tear, we will be breaking in some new bodies. Knowing Mullen, we will not throw a freshman out there, and I expect Coman to be a starter come August, but the other spot will be open.

BOttom line on next season in my opinion is that we have the best QB country coming back. If that doesn't get you Preseason top 15 and a dark horse candidate for the playoffs, then I guess QB play isn't valued by the media.

[Coach34]

The talent will be fine on the OL. But I do worry about the meanness and toughness we are losing. Day and Beckwith are guys right out of Sons of Anarchy. They played angry. Clausell was a smart guy that just played his ass off.

Will we we get that next year? We don't know yet. But in spite of the confusion we had during the Egg Bowl- we are coached well on the OL. That plus solid talent will make them a good group again most likely. And having a QB like Prescott and the best group of WR's we have ever had will also take pressure off the OL

We have to fix the defense. That's the primary concern for next year

[TUSK]

Gonna be a long offseason because nobody actually looks at anything past that. Hey- guess what people?

Will Redmond wasn't a starter but he was our best CB. He was always on the field at the end of games
Chris Jones wasn't a starter but he will be playing for 1st round money this Fall
We are losing a 2-star OT and replacing him with a 4-star player

While we lose 2/3 "starters" at WR- in actuality we return our top 2 WR's in yardage and our top 3 in TD receptions. One of our "starters" was 6th in total catches. Graduation makes us better at WR.

Our offense is going to be nasty- that is why Dakota Prescott is returning. It's going to put up some sick numbers. Defensively there is some concern with DT and LB. That is where the questions lie. But as I seem to have to keep saying year after year with Mullen and State football- rumors of our demise are greatly exaggerated.

I know how you feel.

[Coach34]

The only thing I'd say about Bama Tusk is that you guys losing your QB and your best WR can be a cause for concern. Does Bama have more talent? Absolutely. Will their new QB and WR group produce like 2014 did? That's the biggie

[TUSK]

The only thing I'd say about Bama Tusk is that you guys losing your QB and your best WR can be a cause for concern. Does Bama have more talent? Absolutely. Will their new QB and WR group produce like 2014 did? That's the biggie

I doubt we'll have someone as good as Cooper was in '14, but no one else in the country will either.... but the WR corps will be fine... Stewart will be the "go to" guy.

TE will be fine as far as the passing game is concerned...

RE: QB; I know that I'm more optimist about the situation going in to '15 than I was going in to '14 with a RB at QB... we'll likely have more "stability", especially early on... It'll be wide open with Coker the slight "leader" going in... 1st year QB performances have been good for us lately...

the biggest deal IMO will be gettin RB Kenyan Drake and Reggie Ragland for another year... both those guys could have gone pro had their seasons been just a bit different...

the Defense is going to be better, I believe...

On Offense, 2014 injuries forced us to find some more guys... while they might not have "Sunday" talent, yet, I think they'll be good enough to give us a shot...

Our schedule gets a got bit tougher, though... we open with Wisconsin in JerryDome and have to travel to UGA early... also, we've road games at A&M, MSU and AU...

sorry for the rambling...

[Jack Lambert]

We will be preseason top 20 this year.

[engie]

I'm going to have to write an article about this on M&WN when I have time. I'm sick of it as well. Appalled by the lack of respect, more precisely.

"Recruiting says MSU can never be any good" was the reason to rank us low before. Wait, they were good in 2014 and played a shitload of guys across the board. "Well, since they lose alot of players(average players outside of McKinney, Wells, and Robinson), they can't be good in 2015". Oh -- but the recruiting you used to demean us in the first place says that the 2012 and 2013 classes are VASTLY superior to the JR and SR classes that knocked on the doors to greatness -- that we can now "not overcome the loss of". So, which is it?

It's a self-perpetuating myth by the media is what it is...

- "Their OL is going to be the problem going into the year. They lost starter Damien Robinson to injury and are going to struggle at tackle. Also lost Gabe Jackson to the NFL and weren't great up front last year"

- "They lost starter LaDarius Perkins at RB. There will be a dropoff there"

It just never ends. And, since 2011, our "rebuilding" defenses in the odd years have been better than the ones that return everyone with high expectations in the even years.

[Tbonewannabe]

I'm going to have to write an article about this on M&WN when I have time. I'm sick of it as well. Appalled by the lack of respect, more precisely.

"Recruiting says MSU can never be any good" was the reason to rank us low before. Wait, they were good in 2014 and played a shitload of guys across the board. "Well, since they lose alot of players(average players outside of McKinney, Wells, and Robinson), they can't be good in 2015". Oh -- but the recruiting you used to demean us in the first place says that the 2012 and 2013 classes are VASTLY superior to the JR and SR classes that knocked on the doors to greatness -- that we can now "not overcome the loss of". So, which is it?

It's a self-perpetuating myth by the media is what it is...

- "Their OL is going to be the problem going into the year. They lost starter Damien Robinson to injury and are going to struggle at tackle. Also lost Gabe Jackson to the NFL and weren't great up front last year"

- "They lost starter LaDarius Perkins at RB. There will be a dropoff there"

It just never ends. And, since 2011, our "rebuilding" defenses in the odd years have been better than the ones that return everyone with high expectations in the even years.


I will say that typically Arkansas isn't usually ranked any higher than us as well as TCU in the all important February recruiting rankings.

[defiantdog]

I'm actually glad with the defensive players graduating. McKinney hurts but Richie will step right in..... the kid is smart. Beni Brown will become the new vocal / team leader of the defense. And the defensive line won't miss a step. Yall will be surprised to see how much of a space eater Cory Thomas is. I do worry about our depth at DB and safeties in general. We didn't lose much (even though Love was a hell of a player), but we will be playing a lot of youth at DB. I hope we play some youth at safety, but I don't see that happening.

The offense won't miss a beat with Dak back there. The running game will go back to old school north to south running with Shump, Williams and Lee. All big dudes that like to hit. And we gain more than we lose at receiving.

[GTHOM]

Gonna be a long offseason because nobody actually looks at anything past that. Hey- guess what people?

Will Redmond wasn't a starter but he was our best CB. He was always on the field at the end of games
Chris Jones wasn't a starter but he will be playing for 1st round money this Fall
We are losing a 2-star OT and replacing him with a 4-star player

While we lose 2/3 "starters" at WR- in actuality we return our top 2 WR's in yardage and our top 3 in TD receptions. One of our "starters" was 6th in total catches. Graduation makes us better at WR.

Our offense is going to be nasty- that is why Dakota Prescott is returning. It's going to put up some sick numbers. Defensively there is some concern with DT and LB. That is where the questions lie. But as I seem to have to keep saying year after year with Mullen and State football- rumors of our demise are greatly exaggerated.

I understand DT we wont have as much experience there but LB? Richie and Benni Brown? We have to replace matt wells but gerri green, jung, dez harris, we know these kids can ball

[GTHOM]

I think our biggest loss is Josh Robinson. I know he didn't end the season well, but he was awesome the first 8-9 games last year. Just tremendous.

I know people keep saying that our talent level on the OL is going up, but I think we are undervaluing a freaking 4 year starter in Clausell. That guy showed up and came to work for 4 straight years. Day and Beckwith, especially Beckwith played great ball the last two years. Hell, Beckwith by the end of last year was one of the best OL in the SEC. We have the potential to be better, but as Coach34 can tell y'all, cohesion on the OL is more important than individual talent. Give me 5 guys that know how to work together.

Also, I agree with coach that we have some holes to fill on the DL and LB, but I think we still have a big hole at Safety. With Cox and Hughes gone, and Market will be recovering from an achilles tear, we will be breaking in some new bodies. Knowing Mullen, we will not throw a freshman out there, and I expect Coman to be a starter come August, but the other spot will be open.

BOttom line on next season in my opinion is that we have the best QB country coming back. If that doesn't get you Preseason top 15 and a dark horse candidate for the playoffs, then I guess QB play isn't valued by the media.

I love ben beckwith as much as the next guy but he got his ass beat against arky, bama, and ole miss. our whole o line did, we will be way more talented next year. i hope we see some of the north and south anthony dixon running game come back. i got tired of seeing our zone runs getting smashed

[messageboardsuperhero]

I understand DT we wont have as much experience there but LB? Richie and Benni Brown? We have to replace matt wells but gerri green, jung, dez harris, we know these kids can ball

I may be in the minority here, but I was pretty disappointed with Richie Brown's play this year. After the A&M game, the drop-off between him and McKinney was painfully obvious- particularly against the run.

Talent won't be an issue at LB next year, but experience will be. Benni Brown is great and Richie should be solid next year- outside of that though, it's a ton of players with big upside but haven't really played yet. We'll see what happens. They have a lot to prove.

[HancockCountyDog]

I love ben beckwith as much as the next guy but he got his ass beat against arky, bama, and ole miss. our whole o line did, we will be way more talented next year. i hope we see some of the north and south anthony dixon running game come back. i got tired of seeing our zone runs getting smashed

I can't agree that our OL got their ass beat against Ark, Bama, and the bears. Arkansas' defense is the one we struggled with the most, and that is because they had 3 NFL draft picks in their front 7 (Flowers, Philon, Speights).

Look, Im a big believer in that the reason guys like Beckwith, Day, and Clausell are starting is because they are better than the guys behind them. Now sure, I expect the guys behind them to improve and be coached up, but the reason those three guys were playing is because the guys behind them weren't as good as the guys that were starting.

I remember when we lost SHerrod and Brigone, and people were saying we wouldn't miss a beat. Well we did. 2011 and 2012 we took step backwards in running the ball. In key SEC games, we didn't rotate guys in on the OL. I know against the bears we went with our starting five almost the whole game. Luckily for us, I think we have one of the best OL coaches in the country and we can re-load, but to stay we will be "way more talented" is an insult to three guys that had over 100 starts between the 3 of them.

[engie]

We really are going to have to go through this every.single.year.

"Well, their OL is going to suck without Gabe Jackson and 2 year starter Siddoway. No way they replace those guys".
"Perkins is their only proven RB. Those idiots think they'll get better at the position".
"What has Dak done other than play a good quarter in the Egg Bowl? He isn't worth a shit and their hype is ridiculous".
"Their receivers suck, so it doesn't matter if they come back".

Those were the talking points last year. They don't even bother changing them up now -- just recycle them for the next names, I guess...

We bring back 4 guys with starting experience on the OL. We have to find a tackle. Oh wait we signed the #1 JUCO OT? Hell, OM signed the #8 JUCO OT last year who was a guaranteed day 1 starter(which Rankin is not) -- and they were going to dominate up front.

Lol at implications of us struggling at WR. That's not even worth addressing.

I'm worried about TE.

Running back struggles? I've heard it all now....

[Coach34]

Look, Im a big believer in that the reason guys like Beckwith, Day, and Clausell are starting is because they are better than the guys behind them. Now sure, I expect the guys behind them to improve and be coached up, but the reason those three guys were playing is because the guys behind them weren't as good as the guys that were starting.

I remember when we lost SHerrod and Brigone, and people were saying we wouldn't miss a beat. Well we did. 2011 and 2012 we took step backwards in running the ball. In key SEC games, we didn't rotate guys in on the OL. I know against the bears we went with our starting five almost the whole game. Luckily for us, I think we have one of the best OL coaches in the country and we can re-load, but to stay we will be "way more talented" is an insult to three guys that had over 100 starts between the 3 of them.

Couple of rebuttals:

1. Those guys did start because they were the best we had- THIS YEAR. We are bringing in an outstanding juco in Rankin. Calhoun, Jenkins, Desper, Senior- will all be a year older. As will Flowers, Warren, Clayborn, and Thomas. A year changes things.

2. We had so many injuries to the OL in 2011- combined with young back-ups- is what caused 2011. Not Sherrod leaving

3. 2012's rushing problems were because we had a statue at QB that gave us no running game

[NewTweederEndzoneDance]

We really are going to have to go through this every.single.year.

"Well, their OL is going to suck without Gabe Jackson and 2 year starter Siddoway. No way they replace those guys".
"Perkins is their only proven RB. Those idiots think they'll get better at the position".
"What has Dak done other than play a good quarter in the Egg Bowl? He isn't worth a shit and their hype is ridiculous".
"Their receivers suck, so it doesn't matter if they come back".

Those were the talking points last year. They don't even bother changing them up now -- just recycle them for the next names, I guess...

We bring back 4 guys with starting experience on the OL. We have to find a tackle. Oh wait we signed the #1 JUCO OT? Hell, OM signed the #8 JUCO OT last year who was a guaranteed day 1 starter(which Rankin is not) -- and they were going to dominate up front.

Lol at implications of us struggling at WR. That's not even worth addressing.

I'm worried about TE.

Running back struggles? I've heard it all now....

Last year we returned 17 starters, tied for the most in the SEC. We had all been pointing to this year for a while because we knew how much we had coming back. We lose a lot this year. It really just is what it is. The big questions as we move towards next year will be centered on how improved our depth is now and how well the guys with some experience, but not as much as the guys they are replacing, progress.

I personally don't think we will tumble back into the dregs of the SEC. But the turnover in our player ranks will be the talking point about our team this offseason, because whether it offends us or not, we don't exactly have a history or losing 75%+ of our starters and turning in a second consecutive 10+ win season the following year. Here's to hoping we reverse that trend in 2015. In the meantime, I don't believe I'll be getting my panties in a wad over people pointing out what we graduated.

[maroonmania]

Couple of rebuttals:

1. Those guys did start because they were the best we had- THIS YEAR. We are bringing in an outstanding juco in Rankin. Calhoun, Jenkins, Desper, Senior- will all be a year older. As will Flowers, Warren, Clayborn, and Thomas. A year changes things.

2. We had so many injuries to the OL in 2011- combined with young back-ups- is what caused 2011. Not Sherrod leaving

3. 2012's rushing problems were because we had a statue at QB that gave us no running game

A couple of other notes. Who had even heard of Beckwith being on the team until his JR year? What MSU fan didn't dog cuss Clausell regularaly until his THIRD year starting? Day is the only one of those 3 that had a productive career from early on. So, yes, those guys were good but let's not act like they were all 3 year All-Americans that are irreplaceable. We have a LOT of younger OL guys with multiple years in the system now (Desper, Clayborn, Carter, Flowers, Thomas, Warren) that have been undergoing development that should provide enough viable candidates to replace the guys we are losing and have us still performing very well.