JC Shurburtt of 247 frickin gets it.

[Rayburn8]

http://mississippistate.247sports.com/Article/Southeastern-Conference-Football-Notebook-Quarterback-Issues-37324974


Some will say Mississippi State will finish last because the Bulldogs did lose a lot of personnel off last season's Orange Bowl team. But with one of the top quarterbacks in the country returning in Dak Prescott and talent replacing talent on defense, do you really think the Bulldogs take that big of a dip? Perhaps, but it isn't cut and dry.

He ran a poll and asked who would finish last in the SEC west this season. You can guess the answer. The article as a whole is about the QB situation in the SEC. State was not mentioned much because he was focusing on the lack of QB play at most schools. But he said what we have all been saying all offseason, smart guy.

[smootness]

The fact that people are predicting us near the bottom of the conference with a QB like Dak, given the state of QBs around the conference, tells you all you need to know about what they think of the rest of our team. I hope Mullen uses this to fuel their fire all season.

[Dallas_Dawg]

We do better as underDawgs. 2001 anyone?

[maroonmania]

Ok, who outside of the MSU fanbase had ever even heard of Preston Smith prior to last year? Josh Robinson? Matt Wells? Malcolm Johnson? I would say of all our draftees the only one that had made a name for himself prior to last year was McKinney. To go beyond that who had heard of Ben Beckwith? People probably knew of Day and Clausell just because they both starter for 4 years but I don't think either ever made an All-SEC team of any kind the entire time they were here. Same could be said for guys like PJ Jones, Eulls and Love on the defense. Good, steady players but hardly irreplaceable.

So my point is that yes, as Shurburtt puts it, we lost a lot of personnel, but very few guys who we will be hard pressed to replace their production. In fact, I would say that the vast majority of replacements for the guys we lost have more potential and higher ceilings than the guys they replaced.

[DanDority]

We do better as underDawgs. 2001 anyone?

Bingo!!!!!!

[BulldogBear]

No. I do not want a repeat of the 2001 season.

[Dawgcentral]

We're going to put some points on the board this year, even beating last years totals. Mullen said when he arrived that he wanted receivers. This year he has them, as well as a 5th year senior QB that fits his system perfectly.

We have multiple RBs that can get the job done. We have a DC that's aggressive, and uses linebackers to shoot gaps and bring unanticipated pressure. With better coverage in the secondary we can keep people guessing instead of going over the top 6 times a game and not paying for it.

I'm looking forward to it.

[mic]

We are going to have to order more bulletin boards .. The ones we have now are already full...

[ShotgunDawg]

The fact that people are predicting us near the bottom of the conference with a QB like Dak, given the state of QBs around the conference, tells you all you need to know about what they think of the rest of our team. I hope Mullen uses this to fuel their fire all season.

The problem is that they don't think about the rest of our team. They just assume that because we lost NFL players and haven't had elite recruiting classes, that we will regress. What they fail to realize that our talent level will be even better at most positions.

This also says a lot about their understanding of the game of football and what is important. The Patriots throw boarderline slop around Tom Brady every year, but they continue to win. Not saying Dak is Brady, but the point is, a good QB changes everything. The media fails to realize this.

[blacklistedbully]

He lost all credibility with me when he singled out Ole Miss for being really good at, "evaluating and developing talent". Seems to me they are at the bottom-of-the-SEC-barrel when it comes to developing players. The fact we appear to be light-years ahead in this department makes it even more silly he would consider TSUN great at this. They aren't even close to the best in our state, much less the SEC.

[Coach34]

As I said in another thread:

Mullen played 2 star guys and and a walk-on on the OL to get to #1 in the nation. The pundits all agreed 1 year ago we didnt have the "talent" to contend

FF 1 year later- and now Mullen has higher rated players stepping in- do they think that he cant develop higher rated kids now into better players? Or that he just got lucky? Its laughable

[Dawg-gone-dawgs]

I could not believe it when I read that....I had to laugh out loud. How are these guy experts?

[smootness]

The problem is that they don't think about the rest of our team. They just assume that because we lost NFL players and haven't had elite recruiting classes, that we will regress. What they fail to realize that our talent level will be even better at most positions.

This also says a lot about their understanding of the game of football and what is important. The Patriots throw boarderline slop around Tom Brady every year, but they continue to win. Not saying Dak is Brady, but the point is, a good QB changes everything. The media fails to realize this.

Yes, I understand all this. My point is that we know they're going to do this, and it is better for us if they do.