War Machine Dawg
08-13-2013, 02:33 PM
Gents, thought I'd do something a little different this year and do a group-by-group preseason look at our team. I know we're all having fun talking about the potential Rebears probation smackdown, but kickoff is 2.5 weeks away. And I'm itching to start talking football. I'm going to start with offense. I'll do the Defense in a day or two and Special Teams a day or two following defense.
QB: We're in good shape at QB, maybe for the first time in Mullen's tenure. Russell is a known quantity. Pro-style, slug-footed QB with a big arm. Prone to throwing INTs in bunches, but makes some incredible throws too. Tends to hold the ball too long and take some big hits he shouldn't. I'll be the first to say that was partially a problem of our WRs getting separation, but it was also partially TR waiting until a guy broke open to throw it instead of throwing a WR open. Dak is the prototypical Mullen dual-threat QB. Big arm, makes plays with his legs. Footwork issues last year led to some poor throws, but like TR, makes some incredible throws on occasion. Williams at 3rd string - complete unknown. Dual threat like Dak.
RB: Our deepest, most talented position on offense. Perk is a superb athlete capable of the big play. Griffin and J-Rob are the prototypical physical backs that you need to run between the tackles in the SEC. Milton is solid, but has fumblitis. J-Rob and Milton struggled in pass protection last season. All reports are J-Rob worked his ass off in the off-season at pass pro and is greatly improved in that area. Shumpert is having a really nice fall and pushing for PT. I still think he should redshirt, unless he's the second coming of Adrian Peterson. In my mind, that's the only way he should play this season, because we're a legit 4-deep ahead of him.
TE/H-back: We have a good group here. Malcolm Johnson has the potential to be an elite hybrid TE. Losing Gus Walley hurts our depth. Christian Holmes is an intriguing wildcard in this group. I think he should be the H-Back/FB to help bring some extra thump in the run game. If we see him in that role, it bodes well for our offense.
WR: Our most inexperienced offensive position group, but there's lots of potential. I'll make no bones about it - the development of this group could be the key to our season. RoJo is a fast, physical WR. I look for him to have a breakout year. Tubby Lewis might be our most explosive, exciting player with the ball in his hands. Chappelle should at the very least be a nice possession WR for us, which is something we've been missing the last few seasons. I really liked what I saw from Fred Brown in the spring, but it remains to be seen how he'll bounce back from the wrist injury. Word in camp is Fred Ross looks legit. Hopefully it's not another case of the Great MSU WR Hype Machine at work. But one encouraging thing is unlike in the past, Ross is from TX - a state that produces more polished, college-ready WRs than MS. I wouldn't be surprised if he really does emerge as a real threat for us as a true freshman. Brandon Holloway is the wildcard of this group. He has the speed to be an immediate game changer. We need to find a way to get him some touches.
OL: This group has me damn excited. We return all 5 starters from last season. The importance of that can't be overlooked. We all know what we have in Gabe and Day. Clausell has developed into a solid starting LT in the SEC. The year of experience Malone got last year will be seen this season. I look for him to make a big jump forward. I also look for Siddoway to improve. He was solid last season, and should be even better this year. It gets a little hairy in terms of depth after our starting 5. We need some guys like Archie Muniz and Damien Robertson to take BIG steps forward this season. If they do, we could have a big season on the offensive side of the ball. Staying healthy here well be of the utmost importance.
Scheme: We all know what I think about this. TR isn't exactly what we want at QB in terms of skillset. Supposedly we're making some changes to further accomodate him. I did have a little birdie tell me in the spring that TR has a LONG way to go in terms of footwork under center, which wasn't surprising to me. He's been a shotgun QB his whole life, so this is all new to him. I do look for the 2 TE set to help us more in the run game by giving us an extra physical presence along the line of scrimmage. For the first time under Mullen, most of our WRs are big, physical guys that look the part of an SEC WR. If that translates to the field, look for our passing game to improve. TR can get these guys the ball if they get separation. RB is the other position where I believe we aren't maximizing our personnel. Perk is being wasted in this attempt to make him into an every-down SEC RB. He's a very good player, but he doesn't have the thump needed between the tackles. Griffin & J-Rob should get the bulk of our RB carries, with Perk being used in the "super athlete" role to get him the ball several different ways. If J-Rob has indeed improved his pass pro, don't be surprised to see him get more & more carries. Dak will get more reps this season. I really want to see him as our redzone QB. I also look for Mullen to have a much shorter leash with TR if he starts throwing picks again.
Questions: Who's calling the plays? Will we continue to try the 5-wide set? And if so, will we make adjustments to have routes that develop quicker and allow TR to get rid of the ball quickly? Can we stay healthy up front? Who will emerge as our go-to play maker at WR? Can Griffin and/or J-Rob become the starting RB? How extensive will our schematic changes be?
Final Thoughts: Offense improves from last year, but not much. Most of it will be due to our OL and the improvement of our WRs. We continue pounding the square peg into the round hole at QB and RB. We'll have some times where we look like we can move the ball and score at will on anyone, but we'll also have some times where we look like a good HS defense could stop us. Inconsistent will be the word to remember for the 2013 offense.
QB: We're in good shape at QB, maybe for the first time in Mullen's tenure. Russell is a known quantity. Pro-style, slug-footed QB with a big arm. Prone to throwing INTs in bunches, but makes some incredible throws too. Tends to hold the ball too long and take some big hits he shouldn't. I'll be the first to say that was partially a problem of our WRs getting separation, but it was also partially TR waiting until a guy broke open to throw it instead of throwing a WR open. Dak is the prototypical Mullen dual-threat QB. Big arm, makes plays with his legs. Footwork issues last year led to some poor throws, but like TR, makes some incredible throws on occasion. Williams at 3rd string - complete unknown. Dual threat like Dak.
RB: Our deepest, most talented position on offense. Perk is a superb athlete capable of the big play. Griffin and J-Rob are the prototypical physical backs that you need to run between the tackles in the SEC. Milton is solid, but has fumblitis. J-Rob and Milton struggled in pass protection last season. All reports are J-Rob worked his ass off in the off-season at pass pro and is greatly improved in that area. Shumpert is having a really nice fall and pushing for PT. I still think he should redshirt, unless he's the second coming of Adrian Peterson. In my mind, that's the only way he should play this season, because we're a legit 4-deep ahead of him.
TE/H-back: We have a good group here. Malcolm Johnson has the potential to be an elite hybrid TE. Losing Gus Walley hurts our depth. Christian Holmes is an intriguing wildcard in this group. I think he should be the H-Back/FB to help bring some extra thump in the run game. If we see him in that role, it bodes well for our offense.
WR: Our most inexperienced offensive position group, but there's lots of potential. I'll make no bones about it - the development of this group could be the key to our season. RoJo is a fast, physical WR. I look for him to have a breakout year. Tubby Lewis might be our most explosive, exciting player with the ball in his hands. Chappelle should at the very least be a nice possession WR for us, which is something we've been missing the last few seasons. I really liked what I saw from Fred Brown in the spring, but it remains to be seen how he'll bounce back from the wrist injury. Word in camp is Fred Ross looks legit. Hopefully it's not another case of the Great MSU WR Hype Machine at work. But one encouraging thing is unlike in the past, Ross is from TX - a state that produces more polished, college-ready WRs than MS. I wouldn't be surprised if he really does emerge as a real threat for us as a true freshman. Brandon Holloway is the wildcard of this group. He has the speed to be an immediate game changer. We need to find a way to get him some touches.
OL: This group has me damn excited. We return all 5 starters from last season. The importance of that can't be overlooked. We all know what we have in Gabe and Day. Clausell has developed into a solid starting LT in the SEC. The year of experience Malone got last year will be seen this season. I look for him to make a big jump forward. I also look for Siddoway to improve. He was solid last season, and should be even better this year. It gets a little hairy in terms of depth after our starting 5. We need some guys like Archie Muniz and Damien Robertson to take BIG steps forward this season. If they do, we could have a big season on the offensive side of the ball. Staying healthy here well be of the utmost importance.
Scheme: We all know what I think about this. TR isn't exactly what we want at QB in terms of skillset. Supposedly we're making some changes to further accomodate him. I did have a little birdie tell me in the spring that TR has a LONG way to go in terms of footwork under center, which wasn't surprising to me. He's been a shotgun QB his whole life, so this is all new to him. I do look for the 2 TE set to help us more in the run game by giving us an extra physical presence along the line of scrimmage. For the first time under Mullen, most of our WRs are big, physical guys that look the part of an SEC WR. If that translates to the field, look for our passing game to improve. TR can get these guys the ball if they get separation. RB is the other position where I believe we aren't maximizing our personnel. Perk is being wasted in this attempt to make him into an every-down SEC RB. He's a very good player, but he doesn't have the thump needed between the tackles. Griffin & J-Rob should get the bulk of our RB carries, with Perk being used in the "super athlete" role to get him the ball several different ways. If J-Rob has indeed improved his pass pro, don't be surprised to see him get more & more carries. Dak will get more reps this season. I really want to see him as our redzone QB. I also look for Mullen to have a much shorter leash with TR if he starts throwing picks again.
Questions: Who's calling the plays? Will we continue to try the 5-wide set? And if so, will we make adjustments to have routes that develop quicker and allow TR to get rid of the ball quickly? Can we stay healthy up front? Who will emerge as our go-to play maker at WR? Can Griffin and/or J-Rob become the starting RB? How extensive will our schematic changes be?
Final Thoughts: Offense improves from last year, but not much. Most of it will be due to our OL and the improvement of our WRs. We continue pounding the square peg into the round hole at QB and RB. We'll have some times where we look like we can move the ball and score at will on anyone, but we'll also have some times where we look like a good HS defense could stop us. Inconsistent will be the word to remember for the 2013 offense.