State one of only 2 SEC teams to have 2 on Butkus Award list

[Coach34]

congrats to McKinney and Skinner (but our talent level is down????)


http://www.thebutkusaward.com/watchlist/view.aspx?t=c

[msstate7]

The funny thing about that is there are 2 potentially more talented than them as backups (browns). If our dl can keep olinemen off our lb's we could be very good defensively

[Coach34]

The funny thing about that is there are 2 potentially more talented than them as backups (browns). If our dl can keep olinemen off our lb's we could be very good defensively

The Browns have alot of talent- but I dont think we have anybody on our team with more talent than McKinney- he has 1st-3rd round draft potential

[engie]

Agreed on McKinney. Really excited about the next two years with him...

[messageboardsuperhero]

That's why I thought it was absurd that UM's linebackers were ranked third in the SEC and ours were only ranked seventh. We have the talent to be good on defense, so long as they play loose and aggressive.

[PMDawg]

one thing I always look at when i try to gauge a team's strength in the preseason is All-Conference and Award mentions for individual players going into the season. Based on the numbers we are seeing so far, there is no reason to think that we are not a very talented team. The questions that I have are: Will our D-Line do their part? - and - Will our DC follow through on his promise to run a scheme that's better suited for our conference and talent level? If the answer is yes to both of those, there is no reason we can't win 8 games this year.

[War Machine Dawg]

B..b...but.....Mullenz can't recruit!!!!!

I think our D could be pretty damn good. I look for our DL to make a big improvement. They're going to play with much better technique now that Coach Turner is back. And I loved what I saw from Nick James in terms of attitude this spring. He's going to make an impact up front. I'm interested to see how Eulls does now that he's been moved inside. Honestly, we've got more legit depth at DT than we did in '99. And I haven't even mentioned our DEs. I think Ryan Brown is going to surprise some people. He'll get some opportunities with the effort it'll take opposing OLs to block our DTs and Autry.

Our LBs are going to be nasty. We all know how good McKinney is. Wells has all the potential in the world, but it's time for him to capitalize. Skinner is a damn physical monster. He's going to look much improved at the SAM.

DBs are talented, but relatively inexperienced. Love has some decent PT and Nickoe has been playing forever. Cox is a JUCO, but we've seen how long it can take them to make the transition to SEC football. I still say don't fall asleep on Kendrick Market at one of the safety spots. He has a nose for the football and always seems to be in the right spot. That goes a long way at this level. Reminds me a lot of Broomfield in that regard. That said, I think we'll be just fine back there. Experience is easy to get, talent not so much. And I'm not nearly as down on Love as most are. Plus we'll have Jiles, Calhoun, and (eventually) Redmond ready back there.

As for scheme, I'm damn excited about Collins taking over. He's been a pressure-first guy at every place he's been the boss. I have no doubt we're going to be put in much better positions to use our speed and athleticism, while playing downhill on D. No more of the soft Big 12 "read and react" bullshit. It's going to be nice to see us attacking opposing offenses again. You can't sit back and hope for a Bama, LSU, or aTm to make a mistake. As we've all seen, they'll shred your ass trying to do that. You gotta force them into mistakes, and Collins understands this. Hell, I never understood why you go hire a guy with Collins's rep if you didn't intend for him to be your DC. Glad Dan finally made the move.

[PMDawg]

B..b...but.....Mullenz can't recruit!!!!!

I think our D could be pretty damn good. I look for our DL to make a big improvement. They're going to play with much better technique now that Coach Turner is back. And I loved what I saw from Nick James in terms of attitude this spring. He's going to make an impact up front. I'm interested to see how Eulls does now that he's been moved inside. Honestly, we've got more legit depth at DT than we did in '99. And I haven't even mentioned our DEs. I think Ryan Brown is going to surprise some people. He'll get some opportunities with the effort it'll take opposing OLs to block our DTs and Autry.

Our LBs are going to be nasty. We all know how good McKinney is. Wells has all the potential in the world, but it's time for him to capitalize. Skinner is a damn physical monster. He's going to look much improved at the SAM.

DBs are talented, but relatively inexperienced. Love has some decent PT and Nickoe has been playing forever. Cox is a JUCO, but we've seen how long it can take them to make the transition to SEC football. I still say don't fall asleep on Kendrick Market at one of the safety spots. He has a knows for the football and always seems to be in the right spot. That goes a long way at this level. Reminds me a lot of Broomfield in that regard. That said, I think we'll be just fine back there. Experience is easy to get, talent not so much. And I'm not nearly as down on Love as most are. Plus we'll have Jiles, Calhoun, and (eventually) Redmond ready back there.

As for scheme, I'm damn excited about Collins taking over. He's been a pressure-first guy at every place he's been the boss. I have no doubt we're going to be put in much better positions to use our speed and athleticism, while playing downhill on D. No more of the soft Big 12 "read and react" bullshit. It's going to be nice to see us attacking opposing offenses again. You can't sit back and hope for a Bama, LSU, or aTm to make a mistake. As we've all seen, they'll shred your ass trying to do that. You gotta force them into mistakes, and Collins understands this. Hell, I never understood why you go hire a guy with Collins's rep if you didn't intend for him to be your DC. Glad Dan finally made the move.

must....stop.....wool.....growing

[FlabLoser]

Jiles has showed strong flashes in limited PT. I think he is going to be a big play guy with a bunch of INTs.