Todd4State
04-11-2017, 02:48 AM
It has been a few days but after watching the game in person...
QB- Normally I would be worried about our QB throwing four INT's in the spring game but if there is one thing that I trust Dan Mullen with, it's QB's. I think Nick is very solid and will make even more strides during the season but I don't think he will "master" the position fully until his senior year. He's on the right path though. The other thing is because it was the spring game we basically took away the QB run element and that really limits our offense because I think that opens up the passing game. There's no better example of that than the Egg Bowl on Malik Dear's TD where Nick faked a run and then pulled up and threw to a wide open Dear all alone in the end zone. As far as Keytaeon goes, and I know this won't be popular as an opinion- but to me he looked like a freshman. Based on what I saw I think he would probably benefit from a redshirt year. I know he's going to have to play some because of our depth chart but I hope it's three games or less. And I hope Dan has a plan for when Fitz's helmet gets ripped off rather than burn his redshirt handing the ball off a couple of times a game. He has a good arm but it seemed like he threw the ball to Reggie Todd every single time almost. And I think in the first half he only had six completions on 20 attempts. Don't get me wrong- I think he's going to be great. I just think he may need some more development than originally thought.
RB- I thought the RB's looked the strongest of any position group on offense. It's good to see some big SEC looking running backs in our offense rather than a scatback getting most of the carries. Aeris looked really good and I think Nick Gibson looked very good as well. I hope we use Dontavian Lee like we used Nick Griffen and honestly I think he's a better version of Griffen. I would actually be comfortable with any of those three starting for us. I like Kylin Hill too- but I think we're so deep here it probably would be prudent to redshirt him too rather than getting around 10 carries during the whole year.
WR- I know we didn't start Gray or Mixon but this group looks a little iffy right now to me. I know Nick threw a couple of INT's on deep balls- but to me it didn't seem like the WR really fought for the ball on those two picks or was outmuscled for the ball. That's why I don't care for small outside WR's. Gabe Myles honestly to me didn't really look that much better to me although I know a lot of people will disagree with that. Reggie Todd and Jamal Couch have a lot of talent and upside but they both looked really raw to me. Unless they make huge strides between now and the opening kickoff I can't really see either one of them having a huge impact and they both look like they are about a year away. Gray has really only shown to be a deep threat against OOC and against shorter SEC CB's- meaning that guy from Arkansas. Otherwise he's best to me on shorter routes and screens like his TD in the Egg Bowl. It looks like Jesse Jackson will catch a few balls for us- I'm guessing around 12 for the year and that will help a little bit. We do look pretty good and deep at TE and honestly if it were me, I'd move Dontae Jones to WR at least part time just to try to help out the group some. We're going to miss Dear a good bit.
TE- This group should be pretty solid. Farrod Green is one of my favorite players and then Jordan Thomas had the best catch of the spring game. And then we have Justin Johnson who is a solid player too. I also really liked what I saw from Dontae Jones as well.
OL- I know no one wants to talk about it, but they didn't look all that great to me. And yes I know that o-line is a position group that requires a lot of cohesion but I'm talking about guys getting dominated in one on one battles. People want to bury their head in the sand and insist that Calhoun is going to be the center, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be Rankin. And that's sad because it breaks up the left side of the line that was so good late last year. It's amazing to me how long Hevesy has been allowed to underachieve and no one does anything about it. Jenkins will be a leader and I think Calhoun will start as well. I guess the other guard spot will be between Story and Williams which is incredible to me considering how scary Williams injury against Kentucky was last year. And I really liked Greg Eiland and I think he has really good upside. I'm not sure if he starts or not- but I think he will be pretty good in time.
The defense really impressed me and I liked what I saw out of them.
DL- What a deep group! I really liked that we used both 3 and 4 man fronts. I think Simmons is going to be a three year guy, and Deion Pope really stood out too. Grant Harris surprised me as well. Then you add in Kobe Jones, Fletcher Adams, Chauncey Rivers, and Cory Thomas and this is probably our most improved position group from last year.
LB- If there is one thing Mississippi produces a lot of it's good linebackers. That's why it has always made sense to me that in whatever defense we run that our LB's should be active rushing the passer. I really like this group with Sweat, Leo, Green, Spencer, Erroll Thompson and now you have a guy like Tim Washington stepping up and Dez Harris becoming a leader that's another deep group of talented players. I also thought Jung played pretty well for us last year too. We have a lot of versatility and it's going to be nice to watch them actually rush the passer.
CB- I think Jamal Peters and Cam Dantzler are going to be NFL CB's. Peters is really learning the position and I think he's going to be one of the best in the SEC. He's just a complete freak show and moving him to corner was a great move by the staff. Dantzler looks a lot like Banks did as a freshman. If we get Shaq Wiggins he could start as well and I think he would help our defense out a lot just because he's familiar with the system. I think Durr is a pretty solid college CB as well. And I'll be honest I was a little leery about letting Cedric Giles go, but after seeing this group in person I can understand it now. I really like those long athletic corners like Peters and Dantzler that we have.
S- MUCH BETTER. It was so nice seeing our safeties make plays on the ball for a change. Abrams obviously stood out. We've missed a guy like that since Nikoe Whitley graduated. Brian Cole surprised me a little bit as well and then McLaurin had a great game. If Brandon Bryant decides that he likes football again we'll be that much deeper. I like moving JT Gray to safety as well. I think that's a good move for us. Our secondary is going to surprise a lot of people that don't follow us very closely.
K- Probably the worst unit we have right now. There are high schools with better kickers than our group- and that's the sad truth. I hope that freshman can do the job. The green field goal line on the TV is going to be on the two yard line. I seriously would be begging Westin Graves to come back if I were Dan.
P- Cooke looked solid. He's a good punter for us. I wonder if he can kick field goals too? I'd sure look at it if I were our coaches.
KR/PR- Mixon will be pretty good for us returning kicks but again we'll miss Dear. We'll see who else returns kicks but I could see Deddrick Thomas breaking out potentially for us as a kick returner.
QB- Normally I would be worried about our QB throwing four INT's in the spring game but if there is one thing that I trust Dan Mullen with, it's QB's. I think Nick is very solid and will make even more strides during the season but I don't think he will "master" the position fully until his senior year. He's on the right path though. The other thing is because it was the spring game we basically took away the QB run element and that really limits our offense because I think that opens up the passing game. There's no better example of that than the Egg Bowl on Malik Dear's TD where Nick faked a run and then pulled up and threw to a wide open Dear all alone in the end zone. As far as Keytaeon goes, and I know this won't be popular as an opinion- but to me he looked like a freshman. Based on what I saw I think he would probably benefit from a redshirt year. I know he's going to have to play some because of our depth chart but I hope it's three games or less. And I hope Dan has a plan for when Fitz's helmet gets ripped off rather than burn his redshirt handing the ball off a couple of times a game. He has a good arm but it seemed like he threw the ball to Reggie Todd every single time almost. And I think in the first half he only had six completions on 20 attempts. Don't get me wrong- I think he's going to be great. I just think he may need some more development than originally thought.
RB- I thought the RB's looked the strongest of any position group on offense. It's good to see some big SEC looking running backs in our offense rather than a scatback getting most of the carries. Aeris looked really good and I think Nick Gibson looked very good as well. I hope we use Dontavian Lee like we used Nick Griffen and honestly I think he's a better version of Griffen. I would actually be comfortable with any of those three starting for us. I like Kylin Hill too- but I think we're so deep here it probably would be prudent to redshirt him too rather than getting around 10 carries during the whole year.
WR- I know we didn't start Gray or Mixon but this group looks a little iffy right now to me. I know Nick threw a couple of INT's on deep balls- but to me it didn't seem like the WR really fought for the ball on those two picks or was outmuscled for the ball. That's why I don't care for small outside WR's. Gabe Myles honestly to me didn't really look that much better to me although I know a lot of people will disagree with that. Reggie Todd and Jamal Couch have a lot of talent and upside but they both looked really raw to me. Unless they make huge strides between now and the opening kickoff I can't really see either one of them having a huge impact and they both look like they are about a year away. Gray has really only shown to be a deep threat against OOC and against shorter SEC CB's- meaning that guy from Arkansas. Otherwise he's best to me on shorter routes and screens like his TD in the Egg Bowl. It looks like Jesse Jackson will catch a few balls for us- I'm guessing around 12 for the year and that will help a little bit. We do look pretty good and deep at TE and honestly if it were me, I'd move Dontae Jones to WR at least part time just to try to help out the group some. We're going to miss Dear a good bit.
TE- This group should be pretty solid. Farrod Green is one of my favorite players and then Jordan Thomas had the best catch of the spring game. And then we have Justin Johnson who is a solid player too. I also really liked what I saw from Dontae Jones as well.
OL- I know no one wants to talk about it, but they didn't look all that great to me. And yes I know that o-line is a position group that requires a lot of cohesion but I'm talking about guys getting dominated in one on one battles. People want to bury their head in the sand and insist that Calhoun is going to be the center, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be Rankin. And that's sad because it breaks up the left side of the line that was so good late last year. It's amazing to me how long Hevesy has been allowed to underachieve and no one does anything about it. Jenkins will be a leader and I think Calhoun will start as well. I guess the other guard spot will be between Story and Williams which is incredible to me considering how scary Williams injury against Kentucky was last year. And I really liked Greg Eiland and I think he has really good upside. I'm not sure if he starts or not- but I think he will be pretty good in time.
The defense really impressed me and I liked what I saw out of them.
DL- What a deep group! I really liked that we used both 3 and 4 man fronts. I think Simmons is going to be a three year guy, and Deion Pope really stood out too. Grant Harris surprised me as well. Then you add in Kobe Jones, Fletcher Adams, Chauncey Rivers, and Cory Thomas and this is probably our most improved position group from last year.
LB- If there is one thing Mississippi produces a lot of it's good linebackers. That's why it has always made sense to me that in whatever defense we run that our LB's should be active rushing the passer. I really like this group with Sweat, Leo, Green, Spencer, Erroll Thompson and now you have a guy like Tim Washington stepping up and Dez Harris becoming a leader that's another deep group of talented players. I also thought Jung played pretty well for us last year too. We have a lot of versatility and it's going to be nice to watch them actually rush the passer.
CB- I think Jamal Peters and Cam Dantzler are going to be NFL CB's. Peters is really learning the position and I think he's going to be one of the best in the SEC. He's just a complete freak show and moving him to corner was a great move by the staff. Dantzler looks a lot like Banks did as a freshman. If we get Shaq Wiggins he could start as well and I think he would help our defense out a lot just because he's familiar with the system. I think Durr is a pretty solid college CB as well. And I'll be honest I was a little leery about letting Cedric Giles go, but after seeing this group in person I can understand it now. I really like those long athletic corners like Peters and Dantzler that we have.
S- MUCH BETTER. It was so nice seeing our safeties make plays on the ball for a change. Abrams obviously stood out. We've missed a guy like that since Nikoe Whitley graduated. Brian Cole surprised me a little bit as well and then McLaurin had a great game. If Brandon Bryant decides that he likes football again we'll be that much deeper. I like moving JT Gray to safety as well. I think that's a good move for us. Our secondary is going to surprise a lot of people that don't follow us very closely.
K- Probably the worst unit we have right now. There are high schools with better kickers than our group- and that's the sad truth. I hope that freshman can do the job. The green field goal line on the TV is going to be on the two yard line. I seriously would be begging Westin Graves to come back if I were Dan.
P- Cooke looked solid. He's a good punter for us. I wonder if he can kick field goals too? I'd sure look at it if I were our coaches.
KR/PR- Mixon will be pretty good for us returning kicks but again we'll miss Dear. We'll see who else returns kicks but I could see Deddrick Thomas breaking out potentially for us as a kick returner.