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View Full Version : What our starting line up should look like for football



Todd4State
11-10-2013, 03:25 AM
QB- Tyler- OK, I know the people that like the zone read option are going to say I don't know the difference between or QB and a quarter pounder. But Tyler is completing around 67% of his passes and has 3 TD's and 1 INT in limited action. I think the coaches are royally screwing him over with the personnel (Perkins and the WR's to be particular) as well as the play calling. I'd play Tyler about 67% of the time and rotate Dak in for about 33% of the time. And I would do it spontaneously rather than for a drive or two at a time.

RB- Robinson/Shumpert- Perkins is beat up and isn't all that physical to start with. At least not compared to those two. If it's third and two, I'd much rather give the ball to either one of those guys over Perkins. Robinson has pretty good hands too. I haven't really seen what Shumpert can do as far as catching the ball, but I do know that he goes forward pretty much every time. Robinson and Shumpert would take the pressure of the two QB's.

WR- Bear Wilson- The guy is 6'6" and can catch and he can run. But what I really like about him is he likes to block. That's useful on screens and option plays among other things. 17 catches and he has three TD's. It's pretty obvious why he sits on the bench.**

Slot- Jameon- I was down on him early in the year for dropping passes. He has won me over. He gets open, he is very good on jet sweeps, and he catches the ball. He is also a legit threat throwing the ball which adds to his versatility. Why have we not used him in the wildcat? Perhaps our most improved player from the start of the season until now.

WR- Fred Brown- He impressed me against Alcorn and didn't see the field again because he got penalized and kicked out of the game. But he has very good hands and he is 6'3". I love his swagger.

H-back- Malcolm Johnson- He has been hurt from Tyler not playing as much. I think playing Tyler more would help him out some. He has been somewhat of a disappointment to me- but I don't think it's totally his fault.

ATH- Perkins- Now that I have ripped him to shreds, he is a good player that is being used incorrectly for the most part. He has only three TD's this year and only one is a receiving TD. We need to use him as a change of pace back when Robinson/Shumpert gets tired, in the slot and use him more in the passing game. He has also been banged up this year.

The o-line- I actually agree with Dan here for the most part. Our tackles are very pedestrian to say the least, but there's not really a better solution either with Clausell and Siddoway. Gabe is a NFL pick, so that's a no brainer, as is Day who is a Remington nominee. Beckwith is OK at RG, and while Clayborn has done a good job at RG, I'm not sure that I would have burned his redshirt. Not the best o-line I've ever seen at MSU, but not the worst either.

DE- Preston Smith and Chris Jones- Denico just hasn't done much this year. Chris Jones is a badass and I think he can score some sacks for us. Preston Smith is a very solid player with good length. I see no reason to move him.

DT- PJ Jones and Quay- Honestly, I don't care that Quay forgets his driver's license and that's apparently a big deal- when he actually plays, he makes plays. Put him next to Chris Jones and let teams pick their poison. PJ is a solid player, and I had a hard time choosing him over Nelson Adams and Curtis Virges.

Will- Nickoe Whitley- I think MSU fans have been a little hard on him when in reality he is another guy playing out of position. We need to tell him to kill the QB and not think. Being a safety, he's probably not that bad in coverage for a linebacker- although I want him rushing the passer as much as possible. Mettenberger crawling off the field against Alabama tonight- that's what would happen if we played Whitley at LB and told him to kill the QB.

Mike- McKinney- He's the poster boy for Dan's 2 star diamonds in the rough. Would anyone trade CJ Johnson straight up for him? Nope. Benardrick is a solid tackler and is only going to get better.

Sam- Matt Wells- He's a pretty solid player, but I'd like for him to be a little more consistent. He misses tackles from time to time. I don't know of anyone else that would be an upgrade on the team.

FS- Justin Cox- Yet another player that we are playing out of position at CB. I think he is a great athlete, but he doesn't have the great ball skills a CB needs. And if I'm not mistaken, he was a safety in JUCO. So, we are playing him at CB why?

SS- Market- If he was 6'0" tall, he would have been just as highly recruited as his homeboy Brassell. He's undersized, but he is a very good tackler and he is a winner.

CB- Love and Redmond- Love is solid. He doesn't get beat very often and he has shown the ability to make plays. Redmond has impressed me already even though he is inexperienced.


K- Sobiesk- Other than his kick that got blocked against A&M, he just looks better than Bell. Now that he has gotten an opportunity, I think he will be very solid. He reminds me of Westerfield a little bit.

P- Swedenberg- Honestly, other than the two punts in the end zone, Bell hasn't looked that bad. Baker is a senior, can get the job done and had a chance to win the Ray Guy award, so...why not?

KO- Devon Bell- He's pretty good at kicking off. I'll give him that.

KR/PR- Jameon. One of the best in the SEC and country at returning kicks. I'd probably use Holloway on kick returns as well. Perkins wouldn't be a bad choice either.

Political Hack
11-10-2013, 07:10 AM
agreed almost completely.

I'd find a new PR, start Clayborn at OG, and split the QB snaps a little more evenly. I'd also try to find a replacement for Malcolm. I don't know what's up with him this season but he's had a really tough time blocking on certain situations.

Dawgface
11-10-2013, 07:32 AM
I stopped reading after the Tyler Russell suggestion.:confused:

maroonmania
11-10-2013, 09:02 AM
agreed almost completely.

I'd find a new PR, start Clayborn at OG, and split the QB snaps a little more evenly. I'd also try to find a replacement for Malcolm. I don't know what's up with him this season but he's had a really tough time blocking on certain situations.

For MJ blocking and catching have become an issue, maybe that's why Samuel has gotten so much playing time the last couple of games. Used to believe MJ had the best hands on the team but that certainly hasn't been the case this year.

Tbonewannabe
11-10-2013, 10:00 AM
The problem with tyler is mullen has no clue how to call plays once the game gets going. We run very few routes and once the defense adjusts we try to run zone read when Tyler is probably slower than some of his oline.

ShotgunDawg
11-10-2013, 10:05 AM
Dak is soooooooo much better than Tyler. It's not even close.

Political Hack
11-10-2013, 10:07 AM
Dak is soooooooo much better than Tyler. It's not even close.

at running.

ShotgunDawg
11-10-2013, 10:13 AM
at running.

Agree, he is just better at running, but he is much better at throwing than Tyler is at running. Our offense is one dimensional with Tyler at QB because the launch point for the football never changes.


Our offense is much much more dangerous with Dak at QB than Tyler

Political Hack
11-10-2013, 11:02 AM
it's a matter of fundamental philosophies... I'd prefer to use the spread to spread the football rather than run the QB keeper 25% of the time. I feel like Tyler does a better job getting the ball to other players.

Running Tyler at all is boneheaded though.

cheewgumm
11-10-2013, 11:10 AM
Agree almost completely also. Problem is the QB with how dan coaches rh, but I know you mentioned that.

Some of
The other ideas should have been done regardless of the QB though.

Nikoe- great idea
Bear- exactly
Quay- right again

CadaverDawg
11-10-2013, 11:27 AM
Pretty good write up, Todd. I have a few differences in opinion, but agree with most of what you said.

I would script a drive or two per game for Tyler, and that's it. Dak is our guy, and Tyler will not give us any better chance to beat Ark or OM than Dak. Neither will beat Bama, and Dak is our future. In my opinion, we lose that game yesterday somewhere in the neighborhood of 65-24 with Tyler at QB. Dak gave us a running game which took away a few possessions for A&M. We have ZERO run game with Tyler, and I agree that it's not his fault...but if Dan hasn't learned how to call plays for Tyler by now, it's way way way too late IMO.

I love your RB's, WR's, and HBack. And I like Perkins on 3rd and long as a pass catcher, so I agree with him as ATH.
I completely agree with your D-Line. Put Quay out there at DT right next to Chris Jones at DE, and watch the fun begin. Put PJ and Preston on the other side and it could be even better.

I disagree about Nickoe. I do think people forget that he lost a step with the injury, but it's his poor angles, boneheaded mistakes, and poor tackling to go along with his lack of speed now that has everyone pissed. Yes, he makes a few INT's, but he has hurt us this year. And the sad thing is...moving him to LB won't help IMO bc he already is getting beaten by TE's in coverage. He may be good as a blitzer though....I agree with that. I think Jackson would be a better starting LB than Whitley by far. Jackson is a sure tackler, and seems faster than Nickoe. I wish he played more because he reminds me of Market...always around the ball, with good instincts.

And I think Matt wells is a beast. Yea, he missed a few tackles, but he has made some incredible open field tackles as well. I love the way that guy plays.

Completely agree with your secondary and kickers. Why Cox isn't at FS blows my mind. A Wilson-esque move IMO.

I agree that Jameon is good, even though he scares me on punts. But I would put holloway back on kickoffs with him instead of RoJo (I think you said this too). To me, RoJo and Perkins are two guys that have zero potential at returning a kickoff for a TD, so don't put em back there. However, Holloway is so tiny that he makes me nervous because he could literally get hurt out there, and he seems like a fumble risk being so skinny. He may be strong, I don't know...but he looks a little too small to me. He definitely needs more pT though...wish he had caught that pass last night.

Good write up.

thedawg
11-10-2013, 11:54 AM
Dak is the best offensive skill player on our team... playmaker... the team believes in him and plays for him... I hate it for Tyler... great kid but it is what it is

ShotgunDawg
11-10-2013, 11:57 AM
Dak is the best QB to enter the state of MS since Eli Manning.

Am I wrong?

DownwardDawg
11-10-2013, 12:00 PM
at running our offense

Fixed it.

RiverCityDawg
11-10-2013, 12:43 PM
I agree with most of those, particularly RB, FS & CB. I don't see Nickoe at LB at all. Maybe Nickoe from 2010, but the 2013 version has been a poor tackler and just flat out soft at times. He had JFF on a one-on-one tackle opportunity in the first quarter and Manziel absolutely trucked him, got a couple extra yards and the first down. I don't know if the hard hits have taken their toll or what, but he isn't the hitter he used to be and is no where close to being physical enough for linebacker.

Also, for this offense and running scheme, I think Dak has to be our QB. If we added back the FB and ran more down hill as opposed to the stretch and slow developing counter with a single back, I might go with Tyler.

ckDOG
11-10-2013, 12:52 PM
I'm a Dak guy, but I'm also okay with TR if we try to establish a power run game with JRob and Shumpert. A reliable running game that can wear out the interior defense does so much for opening up the pass game that Perk can't do himself.

Todd4State
11-10-2013, 01:14 PM
Agree, he is just better at running, but he is much better at throwing than Tyler is at running. Our offense is one dimensional with Tyler at QB because the launch point for the football never changes.


Our offense is much much more dangerous with Dak at QB than Tyler

Actually, it's one dimensional either way. But again- that's not totally Tyler's fault, nor is it Dak's fault. We have to put the best personnel on the field for both of them to reach their potential and the coaches have to play call better for both of them as well. Not once did we ask Tyler to throw the ball down field. And it seemed like it was the exact same routes every single time- those 10 yard outs. But yet we ask Dak to throw it down field- but instead of it being Bear Wilson or Perkins, we're throwing to Holloway?

And I have to wonder if Dak would run it less himself if we had someone other than Perkins on the option. I know it's a read- but if I'm the QB and I make the "wrong" read because I think I can get more yards on my own than by giving the ball to the running back on the "right" read- it's kind of hard to argue that. Not very many people have talked about the fact that Dak got pulled at the end of the game because he was beat up. Who knows what his status will be for Alabama at this point, and also going forward?

But as far as "our offense"- I think a coach should be able to adjust his offense to his personnel. Croom got railed for that when he was our coach- and rightfully so. But with Dan it's "let him get the right QB". If you are a coach and you can't operate a successful offense with a Parade All-American QB that set some school records- there is something wrong there. That means that if Dan had AJ McCarron- a Heisman candidate- as our QB, he wouldn't know how to use him. And that's un-excuseable.

hailmari
11-10-2013, 01:54 PM
I'm intrigued by the Nickoe suggestion. Not full time, but situationally.

Perkins is a good player and offensive threat that simply isn't used correctly the majority of the time. Not his fault at all.

JRob and Shumpert are gonna do work next year. Griffin is still very capable of making plays too. I like him in that FB spot.

It's safe to say we all have bro-crushes on Bear. I wanna see more of Fred Brown, he absolutely wanted that ball yesterday and got it.

We need another playmaker in the secondary, Cox hasn't been that guy yet (at CB anyways). I liked the pressure we brought yesterday. That was against a good OLine and if against any other QB, we would've gotten a couple more sacks.

And man, if Holloway catches that pass..... Shoot.