Lack of NFL talent on this team

[Irondawg]

We all knew that talent leve was down a bit and recruiting hasn't been great, but do we have a single player getting PT on this team that will even sniff a NFL practice squad?

Ross has killed his stock. AJ is undersized and James has off the field issues. Brown has struggled.

Leo shows potential and for some reason I'm still a big Donald Gray fan and think he has a small shot. Maybe Calhoun, then Simmons is the only other guy and i just haven't seen enough yet.

[CadaverDawg]

We have several that can play in the league, but most are Sophomores or younger, except for AJ and maybe Ross. Most of our talent is on the defensive side of the ball, which says a lot about Mullen, Hev, Sallach, and Knox's recruiting.

My question is this....

What happened to all of the talented young DB's? Remember how fired up everyone was about Peters, McLaurin, Bryant, Smitherman, Stamps, Rayford, etc? Now we're all wishing Tolando Cleveland was out there. What happened to those guys? Shouldn't they be getting experience right now, especially since the season is toast? They've had DeShea and now Buckley coaching them...I figured we would be seeing weekly progression from that secondary, and more young guys rising up the two deep with all the injuries we've had...that has been disappointing to me.

[HoopsDawg]

No senior's or juniors except for AJ and Ross.

[thf24]

What happened to all of the talented young DB's? Remember how fired up everyone was about Peters, McLaurin, Bryant, Smitherman, Stamps, Rayford, etc?

I don't recall Rayford ever carrying more expectations than a career depth guy, but Smitherman had all those offers and I heard Stamps referred to as the next Jon Banks several times. Very curious as to why neither of them have made it onto the field in any significant capacity.

[Cooterpoot]

We have several that can play in the league, but most are Sophomores or younger, except for AJ and maybe Ross. Most of our talent is on the defensive side of the ball, which says a lot about Mullen, Hev, Sallach, and Knox's recruiting.

My question is this....

What happened to all of the talented young DB's? Remember how fired up everyone was about Peters, McLaurin, Bryant, Smitherman, Stamps, Rayford, etc? Now we're all wishing Tolando Cleveland was out there. What happened to those guys? Shouldn't they be getting experience right now, especially since the season is toast? They've had DeShea and now Buckley coaching them...I figured we would be seeing weekly progression from that secondary, and more young guys rising up the two deep with all the injuries we've had...that has been disappointing to me.

McLaurin played pretty well for his first start against BYU. Rayford has looked a little better but still has a lot to learn. Peters is a head-case that's finally settling on a position it looks like. Bryant is just simply terrible. Stamps and Smitherman "aren't ready" it appears.

[msstate7]

Is part of Bryant's struggles due to changing defense? Seems he started to come on at the end of last season and then we switched defenses this year. Wonder if he's thinking too much instead of just reacting... hopefully he starts to come on down the stretch like last season some

[starkvegasdawg]

Is part of Bryant's struggles due to changing defense? Seems he started to come on at the end of last season and then we switched defenses this year. Wonder if he's thinking too much instead of just reacting... hopefully he starts to come on down the stretch like last season some

From a small sample size I think a lot of Bryant's struggles appear to stem from the fact he is scared shitless of contact. He needs to get Nikoe Whitley to sit him down with game tape of Ronnie Lott and and do some extensive film study.

[CadaverDawg]

We overcomplicate things far too much on both sides of the ball, I've concluded. Teams have impact freshmen all over the field each season, but MSU has guys that "aren't ready" all the damn time. Me and another poster were just talking about how that's probably our biggest issue...we have guys out there thinking too damn much instead of flying around and relying on football instincts. Get out there, fly around, have fun, and leave it all on the field. Too much thinking and over complicated schemes are making our team play slow, react poorly, and not have fun.

Say what you want, but that OM defense flys around and looks so fun to play for. I saw the same out of Georgia Southern's defense by the way this weekend. Random, I know, but I had coin on the game. I actually like the way that GSU team plays. Fun football.

Just my random thoughts though

[Irondawg]

Cadaver - I think it's honestly a different problem. I don't think we have many guys with very good football instincts. And yeah OM's system might be fun to play in but we've been high ranked in total defense 2 of the last 3 years (not including this year)

I think the problem with both Peters and bryant is they have above average athleticism with below average instincts. Several of the other guys I have no idea

[LC Dawg]

I think the problem with both Peters and bryant is they have above average athleticism with below average instincts.

Instincts come naturally to some players but they are also continually developed with playing time and competition. As long as we keep signing kids from small Mississippi high schools we will continue to have the problem you mentioned. Bryant is from Rosa Fort and Peters is from Bassfield. They didn't have to develop instincts because they could be dominant just with natural ability.
You can tell the players that come from larger high schools just by watching them play early. They normally adapt to the college game quicker.
Damian Williams is not a great quarterback by any means but he was better prepared to play as a freshman than a lot of our players just because he went to Archbishop Rummel and faced much better competition in high school.

[smootness]

Say what you want, but that OM defense flys around and looks so fun to play for.

Well, they bring in freshmen that are ready to play right away. And I wouldn't call that defense good this year.

[msstate7]

Well, they bring in freshmen that are ready to play right away. And I wouldn't call that defense good this year.

13th in sec in scoring def
12th in sec in rush def
11th in sec in pass def
14th in sec in total def

[Bothrops]

We all knew that talent leve was down a bit and recruiting hasn't been great, but do we have a single player getting PT on this team that will even sniff a NFL practice squad?

Ross has killed his stock. AJ is undersized and James has off the field issues. Brown has struggled.

Leo shows potential and for some reason I'm still a big Donald Gray fan and think he has a small shot. Maybe Calhoun, then Simmons is the only other guy and i just haven't seen enough yet.

It's more of a motivation thing than actual talent. Our players aren't being properly motivated. They aren't being pushed. Some of them are lost on the field. I'd love to see our defense under Derek Mason, without Mullen hovering over, messing with things.

[CadaverDawg]

Well, they bring in freshmen that are ready to play right away. And I wouldn't call that defense good this year.

I wouldn't call their defense "good" this year either...but they have been in the past, and it doesn't change my original point...that they fly around, hit hard, and are put in position to make plays. The reason our defenses typically rank high is bc we choose to die a slow assed death defensively where we put no pressure of any kind on good opponents. Therefore we don't give up a ton of big plays. That sounds great and all, but the negative to that is very few turnovers, very few defensive scores, and very little excitement.

That being said, Defense is not our big issue by any means and that's NOT what I'm talking about. I'm referring more to our overall coaching philosophy where we seem to have guys overthinking things, and less of the Nickoe Whitley style ball hawking. And that's offensively too....we seem to be thinking too much instead of just playing ball. The guys don't seem to be having much fun even in wins.

Maybe it has nothing to do with anything, but we sure seem to look slow out there, and we ALWAYS hear that guys aren't ready or haven't learned the blocking schemes/pass routes/positions yet. Seems we either overcomplicate it, or we have the dumbest collective bunch of players in the NCAA every year. But that's just me

[smootness]

I wouldn't call their defense "good" this year either...but they have been in the past, and it doesn't change my original point...that they fly around, hit hard, and are put in position to make plays. The reason our defenses typically rank high is bc we choose to die a slow assed death defensively where we put no pressure of any kind on good opponents. Therefore we don't give up a ton of big plays. That sounds great and all, but the negative to that is very few turnovers, very few defensive scores, and very little excitement.

That being said, Defense is not our big issue by any means and that's NOT what I'm talking about. I'm referring more to our overall coaching philosophy where we seem to have guys overthinking things, and less of the Nickoe Whitley style ball hawking. And that's offensively too....we seem to be thinking too much instead of just playing ball. The guys don't seem to be having much fun even in wins.

Maybe it has nothing to do with anything, but we sure seem to look slow out there, and we ALWAYS hear that guys aren't ready or haven't learned the blocking schemes/pass routes/positions yet. Seems we either overcomplicate it, or we have the dumbest collective bunch of players in the NCAA every year. But that's just me

I think you bring up some good points and some fair criticisms. I have no idea what the issues are, and it doesn't really help for me to speculate on it. I just hope it gets better, and if it doesn't, then it'll be time for a change.

[drunkernhelldawg]

Here's the link for our players currently in the league. I imagine that a couple from the current team will join them. http://hailstate.com/news/2016/5/20/209495520.aspx

The thing that strikes me is how many actual NFL stars are on this list: Dak, Cox, Mckinney, and McPhee. Preston Smith and Darius Slay.

[Irondawg]

The general point is you need some elite guys to help anchor units and make a couple of plays a game other can't make. We don't have many, if any of those guys at this point. We had hoped Ross would be one and Bryant another but that just hasn't worked out.

[RezDog7]

The general point is you need some elite guys to help anchor units and make a couple of plays a game other can't make. We don't have many, if any of those guys at this point. We had hoped Ross would be one and Bryant another but that just hasn't worked out.

Another thing that is very obvious is the amount of talent we lost due to declaring early over the last few years. That is something that is so much more difficult for a team like ours that recruits in the 25-35 range.

[maroonmania]

I believe Mullen is an excellent developer and coach of QBs. Seriously, beyond that is there any area of our team that one would say is well coached? On defense its hard to tell about coaching because we've had so much turnover and scheme changing that part of it just may be getting comfortable with new assignments in the 3-4 or whatever scheme we are running. We really had the perfect storm this year of a huge turnover in coaches and a huge turnover in players starting. If Mullen hadn't been so intent on leaving himself maybe a few of the defensive coaches would have stayed.

[oldtrickdawg]

Coaching turnover is often the 800 pound gorilla. I have no, zero, information re our situation but too much change is never a good thing; intelligent players or not..There is emotional capital invested in each coach which has to be replaced with each turn of the coaching stile. And, usually, methods change with the coach..Our defense seems way out of position on too many plays right now...