WMD's SBW Thoughts

[War Machine Dawg]

I'll do this by sport:

Baseball:
1. Took care of business by winning 2 of 3. Keep winning, hosting will take care of itself.
2. The ump shrunk the strike zone on Graveman. It sucks, it happens, move on.
3. Lindy was out of his mind. 8+ of scoreless baseball was huge. Survived his second inning trouble and never looked back.
4. Can we please give Frost a shot in LF? Henderson is awful.
5. Trey Porter should be full time DH. Screw the lefty-righty matchup. Dude was hitting warning track shots after not batting for 2 weeks. Give him the ABs to get comfortable and we'd have a legit power hitter to put behind Renfroe.
6. Big Wes is as good as you'll see defensively in college. Hopefully his bat and power come around, because he's shown flashes.
7. Auburn pitched around Renfroe pretty much all weekend. He got maybe 3 pitches to hit in 2 days. No one respects Pirtle at cleanup. Hell, I wouldn't either.
8. Jonathan Holder = Kenny ****ing Powers. Struck out 10 of the 12 he faced. Bonus points for using Johnny Cash "God's Gonna Cut You Down" for entrance music.
9. MASSIVE crowd Saturday. According to David Murray, we now own the entire Top 10 NCAA attendance records. But the Black Bearz have the best atmosphere in college baseball now? Riiiiiight. I dunno if it was a legit 14.5K, but it was easily 10-12K. Can't imagine what a regional and/or SR would be like.
10. Love Cohen, but he still makes some head-scratching decisions. Pitching Holder with a 6-run lead Saturday was just bad. I know you wanna win the series. But it was another prime opportunity to give Bracewell, Miles Gentry, Will Cox, E Mitchell, etc. a chance to pitch. Have Holder up on standby if it gets down to 3 runs, but try to develop some bullpen depth. We can't make a tourney run with only 3 bullpen arms. It's why I hate starting Pollo. He's just more valuable out of the 'pen.

Football:
1. Russell is Russell. Still holds the ball too damn long. Word has it he has a LONG way to go with his footwork taking snaps under center. Not surprising, considering he's been a shotgun QB his entire life.
2. J-Rob is a beast. His screen was a thing of beauty. And dude runs mad. Been a big fan of his, wish he'd get the majority of touches. As others have said, pass blocking is apparently all that is keeping him from being the #1 RB. Heard at the game Saturday he's been studying the playbook hard and watching a lot of film to try to improve that area. If it's true & he improves, I feel comfortable saying he'll overtake Perk at some point during the season.
3. Brandon Holloway is FAST. Rumor is we've got some Dexter McCluster-type plans for him. If nothing else, he NEEDS to be returning kicks & punts.
4. Joe Morrow: OVER-RATED clap clap clapclap OVER-RATED. He just doesn't play physical or fight for the football. He's got size, but that's about it. He'll be a non-factor.
5. Pleasantly surprised with Chappelle. We need him to step up. You don't get a JUCO player to ride pine.
7. Tubby looked much better. Hopefully he's finally figured it out and becomes the player we all think he can be.
8. RoJo & MoJo: Badasses. 'Nuff said.
9. TE looks to be a real position of strength. Every guy out there looked capable of contributing at this level.
10. Fred Brown is going to play. He's big, he's smooth, he catches the damn ball. We've been needing guys like him desperately.
11. Our D will be very sound. Love the energy & enthusiasm they played with.
12. The OL will be solid, but we need to stay healthy (Captain Obvious).
13. Our LBs are very fast.
14. Kendrick Market had a really nice day. All the talk is about everyone else, but he's quietly making a push.
15. Took me a second to recognize Nick James. He's still the size of Rhode Island, but you can tell he isn't the same fat tub of goo he was last year. Really loved seeing the energy he had out there. He looked like he was having fun. Confirms everything Beast and others have been saying.
16. We've got some very nice depth on D. Very reminiscent of the late 90s teams. This could be a very fun year on that side of the ball.

Feel free to fire away. I'm damn excited to see how baseball and football play out.

[Will James]

Have always enjoyed your recap posts

[CadaverDawg]

Pretty good.

Obviously I agree completely about the bullpen, and needing to get some guys innings.

I actually thought Henderson looked much better this weekend. Still not great, but a lot better.

I think Porter should get a majority of the DH starts, but I have no problem with mixing in a Norris or Flair against lefties until Slauter returns. Once Slauter gets back, I say we bat him as DH against Lefties, Porter against righties, and Ammo is now our full time starter on weekends.

Your football notes are exactly what I saw too.

[engie]

Not much to disagree with from me. Agree with all of it...

[WeWillScrewItUp]

Agree with your baseball recap and thanks for the football recap. I was not able to watch it so I am happy you posted this. I had a feeling Joe Morrow just didn't have the fire to compete at the level we would like from what I have seen since he came to campus.

[Coach34]

I havent watched the 2nd half-but did Milton go off or something in the 2nd half? I saw someone on 247 call Milton the MVP of the scrimmage.

In the first half- all I saw was JRob show why he was running with the 1st team and play much better of the two. Milton had a couple of solid runs also and will be pretty good- no doubt. Just wondering if I missed an awesome 2nd half.

[CadaverDawg]

I havent watched the 2nd half-but did Milton go off or something in the 2nd half? I saw someone on 247 call Milton the MVP of the scrimmage.

In the first half- all I saw was JRob show why he was running with the 1st team and play much better of the two. Milton had a couple of solid runs also and will be pretty good- no doubt. Just wondering if I missed an awesome 2nd half.

Yea, Milton had a big half and a great total game. I think it was partly what he did Saturday, and partly how good he looked doing it. No lie, he finally looked the part out there from a quickness and physicality standpoint. He made quick hard cuts, and he hit the hole hard like a SEC back should.

I'm still not convinced he was anything as good as JRob, but Milton looked really good to me too.

[engie]

Milton went nuts in the second half. He's improved drastically -- as Cadaver said, he got stronger as it wore on and ripped off a couple of really, really impressive runs late. He's not going to make it easy for JRob, that's for sure. I just want to see them both play ALOT more this year. We need a true power run game where we can actually gain yardage on the ground against some of the elite defenses -- we haven't been able to do that since Boobie left...

[Coach34]

Now I do agree that both need to play more and Perkins number of carries should be reduced.

[MSUDawg4Life]

Until they get pass blocking down, they DON'T need to see the field more. We'll end up with no QB. Perk should play. He's significantly better than them at pass blocking and equal to them in running. There is no advantage in playing JRob or Milton right now other than giving Perk a breather.

[War Machine Dawg]

Honestly, I don't get the Milton love. He did look better in the second half, but I still haven't seen anything that would make me think he's better than J-Rob. Plus, J-Rob barely touched the ball in the second half, minus the screen. He has a role to play, but it isn't starting RB.

I still want to see us use Perk in an "athlete" role. He needs to run some, line up in the slot some, catch out of the backfield, do a little of everything. He'd cause one hell of a matchup problem in that role. Love the guy, but he doesn't have the thump needed to run against elite SEC D-Lines.

[engie]

Until they get pass blocking down, they DON'T need to see the field more. We'll end up with no QB. Perk should play. He's significantly better than them at pass blocking and equal to them in running. There is no advantage in playing JRob or Milton right now other than giving Perk a breather.

Disagree. Perkins does not fall forward -- he can't get the tough yards against decent defensive fronts. These two backs give us that ability.

[War Machine Dawg]

I should also add: I heard Nick Griffin's rehab is going well. He either just started running or will be cleared to run soon, don't remember which. We'll know more when that happens. My personal hope is that we sit him out this season and try to get him the medshirt for a 6th year. Considering he didn't tear up his knee until December, I'd think the earliest he could come back would be late October, but probably more like November. No sense in burning a year for such a small part of the season, especially with RB being arguably the deepest position on the team.

[MSUDawg4Life]

Honestly, I don't get the Milton love. He did look better in the second half, but I still haven't seen anything that would make me think he's better than J-Rob. Plus, J-Rob barely touched the ball in the second half, minus the screen. He has a role to play, but it isn't starting RB.

I agree with you, WMD.

However, against elite SEC D-lines, putting JRob or Milton in the game is not the answer right now. They may bring more thump, but they may also allow those elite SEC D-lines to bring a thump we don't need. Miss a block and put our QB in jeopardy. With our depth at QB, that's a risk we can't take.

Until they show competence in pass blocking, I would only use them to spell Perk. Perk's the man at this point.

[War Machine Dawg]

Disagree. Perkins does not fall forward -- he can't get the tough yards against decent defensive fronts. These two backs give us that ability.

THIS. 1000 times, this. Love Perk, but he just isn't built to be an every down back in the SEC. See my post above about how he *should* be used.

[FlabLoser]

Dan likes seniors. Perk gets 70% of reps all year long. J Rob gets a few reps and Milton gets Robert Elliot's reps.

Anyways it's great being so deep at RB.

[engie]

What have we actually seen to imply that they haven't already improved in pass blocking? Of course, they will need to continue getting better.

I personally don't think our QB situation will be dire at all by fall practice(certainly it is this spring). It looks pretty likely(to me) that we'll have 4 guys on campus, 2 fully ready to go, and 1 that will have a really quick learning curve(Sandberg) incomparable to ANY OTHER qb we've brought in under Mullen -- since he ran Meyer's exact offense in highschool and even used similar terminology. The situation will certainly not be dire enough to sacrifice ANY SEMBLANCE of a run game against good defenses in hopes of being able to protect for a passing game involving receivers that are not even close to as good as our RBs are as a unit. At some point, we've got to lay it on the line and play to our damn strengths -- instead of trying to disguise weaknesses all the time leading to the f'n offensive identity crisis that we saw all year last year.

[Pollodawg]

I'll do this by sport:

Baseball:
1. Took care of business by winning 2 of 3. Keep winning, hosting will take care of itself.
2. The ump shrunk the strike zone on Graveman. It sucks, it happens, move on.
3. Lindy was out of his mind. 8+ of scoreless baseball was huge. Survived his second inning trouble and never looked back.
4. Can we please give Frost a shot in LF? Henderson is awful.
5. Trey Porter should be full time DH. Screw the lefty-righty matchup. Dude was hitting warning track shots after not batting for 2 weeks. Give him the ABs to get comfortable and we'd have a legit power hitter to put behind Renfroe.
6. Big Wes is as good as you'll see defensively in college. Hopefully his bat and power come around, because he's shown flashes.
7. Auburn pitched around Renfroe pretty much all weekend. He got maybe 3 pitches to hit in 2 days. No one respects Pirtle at cleanup. Hell, I wouldn't either.
8. Jonathan Holder = Kenny ****ing Powers. Struck out 10 of the 12 he faced. Bonus points for using Johnny Cash "God's Gonna Cut You Down" for entrance music.
9. MASSIVE crowd Saturday. According to David Murray, we now own the entire Top 10 NCAA attendance records. But the Black Bearz have the best atmosphere in college baseball now? Riiiiiight. I dunno if it was a legit 14.5K, but it was easily 10-12K. Can't imagine what a regional and/or SR would be like.
10. Love Cohen, but he still makes some head-scratching decisions. Pitching Holder with a 6-run lead Saturday was just bad. I know you wanna win the series. But it was another prime opportunity to give Bracewell, Miles Gentry, Will Cox, E Mitchell, etc. a chance to pitch. Have Holder up on standby if it gets down to 3 runs, but try to develop some bullpen depth. We can't make a tourney run with only 3 bullpen arms. It's why I hate starting Pollo. He's just more valuable out of the 'pen.

Football:
1. Russell is Russell. Still holds the ball too damn long. Word has it he has a LONG way to go with his footwork taking snaps under center. Not surprising, considering he's been a shotgun QB his entire life.
2. J-Rob is a beast. His screen was a thing of beauty. And dude runs mad. Been a big fan of his, wish he'd get the majority of touches. As others have said, pass blocking is apparently all that is keeping him from being the #1 RB. Heard at the game Saturday he's been studying the playbook hard and watching a lot of film to try to improve that area. If it's true & he improves, I feel comfortable saying he'll overtake Perk at some point during the season.
3. Brandon Holloway is FAST. Rumor is we've got some Dexter McCluster-type plans for him. If nothing else, he NEEDS to be returning kicks & punts.
4. Joe Morrow: OVER-RATED clap clap clapclap OVER-RATED. He just doesn't play physical or fight for the football. He's got size, but that's about it. He'll be a non-factor.
5. Pleasantly surprised with Chappelle. We need him to step up. You don't get a JUCO player to ride pine.
7. Tubby looked much better. Hopefully he's finally figured it out and becomes the player we all think he can be.
8. RoJo & MoJo: Badasses. 'Nuff said.
9. TE looks to be a real position of strength. Every guy out there looked capable of contributing at this level.
10. Fred Brown is going to play. He's big, he's smooth, he catches the damn ball. We've been needing guys like him desperately.
11. Our D will be very sound. Love the energy & enthusiasm they played with.
12. The OL will be solid, but we need to stay healthy (Captain Obvious).
13. Our LBs are very fast.
14. Kendrick Market had a really nice day. All the talk is about everyone else, but he's quietly making a push.
15. Took me a second to recognize Nick James. He's still the size of Rhode Island, but you can tell he isn't the same fat tub of goo he was last year. Really loved seeing the energy he had out there. He looked like he was having fun. Confirms everything Beast and others have been saying.
16. We've got some very nice depth on D. Very reminiscent of the late 90s teams. This could be a very fun year on that side of the ball.

Feel free to fire away. I'm damn excited to see how baseball and football play out.

Agree on the football part. Agree mostly on the baseball part. I am always ready to give up on Henderson, then he makes some amazing play to make up for all of the ones he missed. He's feast or famine.

[CadaverDawg]

I agree with you, WMD.

However, against elite SEC D-lines, putting JRob or Milton in the game is not the answer right now. They may bring more thump, but they may also allow those elite SEC D-lines to bring a thump we don't need. Miss a block and put our QB in jeopardy. With our depth at QB, that's a risk we can't take.

Until they show competence in pass blocking, I would only use them to spell Perk. Perk's the man at this point.

Disagree. If we are actually going to focus on the run game and play action, then JRob doesn't have to be the best pass blocker on the team. We will need our best RB if we're going to effectively Run the ball. It sounds crazy to say, let's play the lesser actual RUNNING back, bc he can pass block better than our best running back. We have to improve in the run game, so we need a SEC RB. Perkins is a 3Rd down scat back/pass catching back. JRob is an every down SEC type back IMO.

Besides, it's not like they are horrible pass blockers...they just aren't as good as Perkins. That doesn't mean every pass play that JRob is in there is going to look like a jailbreak screen and Tyler will get hammered. If our coaches are doing their jobs, JRob should be pass blocking well enough to play by season opener. He has obviously been working hard, bc he gets better every time we see him.

[FlabLoser]

What have we actually seen to imply that they haven't already improved in pass blocking? Of course, they will need to continue getting better.

I personally don't think our QB situation will be dire at all by fall practice(certainly it is this spring). It looks pretty likely(to me) that we'll have 4 guys on campus, 2 fully ready to go, and 1 that will have a really quick learning curve(Sandberg) incomparable to ANY OTHER qb we've brought in under Mullen -- since he ran Meyer's exact offense in highschool and even used similar terminology. The situation will certainly not be dire enough to sacrifice ANY SEMBLANCE of a run game against good defenses in hopes of being able to protect for a passing game involving receivers that are not even close to as good as our RBs are as a unit. At some point, we've got to lay it on the line and play to our damn strengths -- instead of trying to disguise weaknesses all the time leading to the f'n offensive identity crisis that we saw all year last year.

Absolutely. I'm all for playing to our strengths. What is that? Seriously.

We've got the best passing QB we've ever had to go with a lot if young WRs and a couple Dexter McCluster starter kits. Our TEs are supposed to be studs. And we might be deeper at RB than we have ever been, although our best RB is average at best by MSU standards.

[MSUDawg4Life]

What have you seen to imply that they have improved pass blocking?

And I'm not as sure as you are that Sandberg will be here or that Williams will be ready to play if necessary. Add Dak's toe injury and I think it'll be in our best interest to keep Tyler Russell as clean as possible.

I understand being optimistic, Engie. But, I don't believe in counting chickens before they hatch. Whether they be pass blocking chickens or baseball draft chickens.

[MSUDawg4Life]

Disagree. If we are actually going to focus on the run game and play action, then JRob doesn't have to be the best pass blocker on the team. We will need our best RB if we're going to effectively Run the ball. It sounds crazy to say, let's play the lesser actual RUNNING back, bc he can pass block better than our best running back. We have to improve in the run game, so we need a SEC RB. Perkins is a 3Rd down scat back/pass catching back. JRob is an every down SEC type back IMO.

Besides, it's not like they are horrible pass blockers...they just aren't as good as Perkins. That doesn't mean every pass play that JRob is in there is going to look like a jailbreak screen and Tyler will get hammered. If our coaches are doing their jobs, JRob should be pass blocking well enough to play by season opener. He has obviously been working hard, bc he gets better every time we see him.

Come on, Cadaver. You're better than this.

Play your lesser back?

"If our coaches are doing their jobs" ....

That sounds like a whole lot of hoping and wishing. And you guys have to know that Tyler is going to be throwing the ball. A lot. Even if we do focus on the running game, Tyler is going to be slinging the ball and he will need to be protected. Hoping and wishing is not going to cut it. Our best overall back is Perk. He needs to play. Period.

[CadaverDawg]

Come on, Cadaver. You're better than this.

Play your lesser back?

"If our coaches are doing their jobs" ....

That sounds like a whole lot of hoping and wishing. And you guys have to know that Tyler is going to be throwing the ball. A lot. Even if we do focus on the running game, Tyler is going to be slinging the ball and he will need to be protected. Hoping and wishing is not going to cut it. Our best overall back is Perk. He needs to play. Period.

Are you kidding? I'm not hoping and wishing for anything....Im expecting a 2nd year RB to be able to pass block. That should be expected. From all reports, JRob has been studying the play book, and working hard, so I fully expect him to be able to pass block.

If we have such a difference between Perkins and JRob's pass blocking that it keeps us from playing the better back...that is a coaching issue. A guy as small as Perkins should not be an every down back in the SEC, regardless of his pass blocking skills. But if we are improving our run game, which by all accounts we are focusing more on this year, then we shouldn't be throwing as much and therefore will need JRob in the game.

Nothing against Perkins, but he is a 3rd down back in the SEC.

And yes, when it comes to actually running the football between the tackles in the SEC...Perkins is our lesser back between he and JRob. You need a guy that can get tough yards and fall forward....Perkins can't do that.

[MSUDawg4Life]

If only your expectations could make a block.

I'll wait until I see them do it on the field. Until then, Perk plays.

[engie]

What have you seen to imply that they have improved pass blocking?

And I'm not as sure as you are that Sandberg will be here or that Williams will be ready to play if necessary. Add Dak's toe injury and I think it'll be in our best interest to keep Tyler Russell as clean as possible.

I understand being optimistic, Engie. But, I don't believe in counting chickens before they hatch. Whether they be pass blocking chickens or baseball draft chickens.

They are now RS Sophs -- why wouldn't they have improved their pass blocking? Common sense says they'd get better at this as they go -- just like OL do with age, maturity, and time in a system. I've heard positive reports about it as well, but the fact is we don't know how good ANY of them pass block -- because no one can come at Russell with all they've got right now. I do know this -- Nick Griffin was a helluva lot better pass blocker than any of them were last year -- and that didn't get him many snaps despite being tremendous in all facets in the ones he got.

Sandberg is a 90% chance right now. Williams will redshirt -- as will Cord most likely. Dak's recovery is going excellently and he will be FINE by summer workouts.

Basically, I see our QB situation as better than it was JUST last year. How is it not?

I know this much -- I'm not putting up 30 damn rushing yards against Ole Miss in a completely failed attempt to keep Tyler upright. Just not f'n happening....

[CadaverDawg]

They are now RS Sophs -- why wouldn't they have improved their pass blocking? Common sense says they'd get better at this as they go -- just like OL do with age, maturity, and time in a system. I've heard positive reports about it as well, but the fact is we don't know how good ANY of them pass block -- because no one can come at Russell with all they've got right now. I do know this -- Nick Griffin was a helluva lot better pass blocker than any of them were last year -- and that didn't get him many snaps despite being tremendous in all facets in the ones he got.

Sandberg is a 90% chance right now. Williams will redshirt -- as will Cord most likely. Dak's recovery is going excellently and he will be FINE by summer workouts.

Basically, I see our QB situation as better than it was JUST last year. How is it not?

I know this much -- I'm not putting up 30 damn rushing yards against Ole Miss in a completely failed attempt to keep Tyler upright. Just not f'n happening....

^^^This^^^

Exactly.

[CadaverDawg]

If only your expectations could make a block.

I'll wait until I see them do it on the field. Until then, Perk plays.

See Engie's post. How will you ever "see them do it on the field", if only "Perk plays"? You don't hurt your chances at running the football because you fear the best RB will not be as good at pass blocking. You can't afford that in this league.

[engie]

If only your expectations could make a block.

I'll wait until I see them do it on the field. Until then, Perk plays.

So, you liked the 45 yard output against Ole Miss? The 42 against aTm? The 38 against Bama? All 3 of those games, Perkins was outgained in average yards by our other backs by a wide margin.

I'm sorry -- but I just hate it when Perkins isn't moving the chains, JRob gets the ball in the Gator Bowl, and MARCHES us down the field -- only to disappear for two quarters. IDGAF about pass protection at that point. Just keep him in the game and feed him the damn ball and let him take it over until someone stops him.

Yes, I am STILL pissed about our offensive personnel decisions and playcalling -- just like I was ALL season last year.

[Todd4State]

I would say Frost is a better hitter at this point- at least based on numbers, but Demarcus is likely better defensively than Frost as far as playing left field. I say likely because we haven't seen Frost play out there. What I did see was Demarcus make sliding catch in foul territory to record an out which was a darn good play.

I agree that Porter should be the full time DH. I'm not sold on him being a legit power threat though. He expands the zone way too much, but he's a walk-on so I'm not going to bash him too much. At this point he's a better option than Norris, there's no doubt about that.

I think Wes is much more likely to become a legit power thread behind Renfroe than Porter. Wes has four home runs, and really should have five except for the stupid scoreboard at Kentucky.

We need to get Ben Bracewell into some games more than anyone. Part of the "problem" is we are starting to get more quality starts out of our starting pitchers- like Graveman and Lindgren, and it's not unusual for Pollorena to go six. That's leaving approximately 5-8 innings for our bullpen, and of course most of that is going to Ross or Holder. We also don't play very many midweek games at this point.

If I was Cohen, I'd start Woodruff again, have Ross ready in case Woody doesn't have it again, and make darn sure that I get Fitts, Bracewell, and maybe even Girodo into the game. I would try not to use Holder more than one inning if I could.

Innings 1-3 Woodruff/Ross
Innings 4-6 Ross/Fitts
Innings 7-8 Bracewell, maybe Girodo vs. a LH hitter, maybe Gentry vs. a right hand hitter, Holder in case of trouble.
Inning 9 Holder

Maybe try to work Shelly in as well?

[msstate7]

I would like to find ways to get Perkins and jrob in the game together. I do think Perkins should be in the slot some this year. Perkins is a huge weapon once he's in space. There's more ways to get him the ball than handing it off to him. If saban or miles had perk, he'd get 5-10 screens a game. We've got to figure out how to run screens more effectively. Screens would also help our tackles out with pass rush.

[engie]

I would like to find ways to get Perkins and jrob in the game together. I do think Perkins should be in the slot some this year. Perkins is a huge weapon once he's in space. There's more ways to get him the ball than handing it off to him. If saban or miles had perk, he'd get 5-10 screens a game. We've got to figure out how to run screens more effectively. Screens would also help our tackles out with pass rush.

Exactly...

It comes off like I don't like Perk -- that isn't it at all. I just don't think we've used him as effectively as we should -- and I don't think giving him handoffs up the middle puts us in the best position to win.

I'm fine with his touches -- just get creative with how you use them -- and when the rock needs to be pounded, it needs to be with someone else in the game...

[Drugdog]

I agree. I texted O48 during the Baseball game and said I loved watching Porter hit.

[Coach34]

vs Northwestern:

Perkins- 19-84 yards
JRob- 7-91 yards

We dont play JRob vs OM

UPig- JRob had 4 carries for 26 yards

For those of you scoring at home, in JRob's last 2 games we handed him the ball, that 11 carries for 117 yards. He is at worst as good of a RB as Perkins. He runs the ball much better inside than Perkins does- and as was mentioned- he falls forward after contact. Perkins does not.

He will continue to get better at pass-pro. He still has 4 weeks of August practice before we take the field. We need to give him the football and use Perkins in an athletic role as others have said. Dak's recovery is going fine and if Sandberg does indeed make it to August with us, if Russell gets hurt- he gets hurt. The sooner we get back to a mobile QB- the better.

[biscuit]

The baseball team will be fine. I'm excited about the football team. I think we can win 8 this year and we will actually feel good about it.

[BeastMan]

Honestly, I don't get the Milton love. He did look better in the second half, but I still haven't seen anything that would make me think he's better than J-Rob. Plus, J-Rob barely touched the ball in the second half, minus the screen. He has a role to play, but it isn't starting RB.

I still want to see us use Perk in an "athlete" role. He needs to run some, line up in the slot some, catch out of the backfield, do a little of everything. He'd cause one hell of a matchup problem in that role. Love the guy, but he doesn't have the thump needed to run against elite SEC D-Lines.

The only folks who don't get the Milton love haven't seen them up close and personal. His td run was a hard cutback against the grain to the opening. He's the only back we have that could have made that run. Any other back plunges it for 2 yards.

I know this is a personal preference deal & you either feel 1 way or the other but this is my take. I've seen more practices than anyone outside of a beat writer or pay site guy the last 2 years. I know what I see. I really like both but Milton has a higher ceiling IMO . He's faster (this isn't debatable per Bails 40 watch), he's bigger, he has better hands, and he doesn't have conditioning issues.

JRob looked much better this spring and in my first notes I said he looked better conditioned. Paul wrote last week that he was 217 and was now 207. I think JRob movement, particularly lateral movement, has taken a hit since his size gain since HS. I think if he lost a few more pounds, he could really take off.

Milton & JRob's #1 issue by far is pass blocking. Milton got better as spring wore on. He's got the size to get better. JRob is physically limited pass blocking due to size. He's 5'8 with really short arms.Its not that he doesn't try. Watching him try to block a 6'3 240 LB on a blitz is just tough. That said, screens are pretty dang effective slowing a blitz and he does that just fine.

[msstate7]

The only folks who don't get the Milton love haven't seen them up close and personal. His td run was a hard cutback against the grain to the opening. He's the only back we have that could have made that run. Any other back plunges it for 2 yards.

I know this is a personal preference deal & you either feel 1 way or the other but this is my take. I've seen more practices than anyone outside of a beat writer or pay site guy the last 2 years. I know what I see. I really like both but Milton has a higher ceiling IMO . He's faster (this isn't debatable per Bails 40 watch), he's bigger, he has better hands, and he doesn't have conditioning issues.

JRob looked much better this spring and in my first notes I said he looked better conditioned. Paul wrote last week that he was 217 and was now 207. I think JRob movement, particularly lateral movement, has taken a hit since his size gain since HS. I think if he lost a few more pounds, he could really take off.

Milton & JRob's #1 issue by far is pass blocking. Milton got better as spring wore on. He's got the size to get better. JRob is physically limited pass blocking due to size. He's 5'8 with really short arms.Its not that he doesn't try. Watching him try to block a 6'3 240 LB on a blitz is just tough. That said, screens are pretty dang effective slowing a blitz and he does that just fine.

Do you feel we'll be able run some effective screens thus year? Last year was our screen game was pathetic.

[BeastMan]

Do you feel we'll be able run some effective screens thus year? Last year was our screen game was pathetic.


Hell I hope so. That's the most underutilized part of LP's game. All of our backs are strong in the screen game. It baffles me we don't run more of them

[Pollodawg]

vs Northwestern:

Perkins- 19-84 yards
JRob- 7-91 yards

We dont play JRob vs OM

UPig- JRob had 4 carries for 26 yards

For those of you scoring at home, in JRob's last 2 games we handed him the ball, that 11 carries for 117 yards. He is at worst as good of a RB as Perkins. He runs the ball much better inside than Perkins does- and as was mentioned- he falls forward after contact. Perkins does not.

He will continue to get better at pass-pro. He still has 4 weeks of August practice before we take the field. We need to give him the football and use Perkins in an athletic role as others have said. Dak's recovery is going fine and if Sandberg does indeed make it to August with us, if Russell gets hurt- he gets hurt. The sooner we get back to a mobile QB- the better.

This. All day every day, this. I love Tyler. I appreciate him sticking with State when we didn't know what was going down after Crxxms left and Mullen came in. But we need a QB who can run Dan's preferred system, and it shows. Neither Dan nor Koening like the offense Russell works best in. They aren't comfortable calling plays with it. An offense takes on the personality of its QB. Tyler plays a "soft" brand of football. Well, a finesse brand, anyway. I want to see MSU football circa 2010 come back with a mean physicality and a smack-you-in-the-mouth attitude.

[FISHDAWG]

Perkins has them all beat when it comes to rcving.

[slickdawg]

Perkins has them all beat when it comes to rcving.

No doubt - he's by far the best receiver of the bunch.

[CadaverDawg]

vs Northwestern:

Perkins- 19-84 yards
JRob- 7-91 yards

We dont play JRob vs OM

UPig- JRob had 4 carries for 26 yards

For those of you scoring at home, in JRob's last 2 games we handed him the ball, that 11 carries for 117 yards. He is at worst as good of a RB as Perkins. He runs the ball much better inside than Perkins does- and as was mentioned- he falls forward after contact. Perkins does not.

He will continue to get better at pass-pro. He still has 4 weeks of August practice before we take the field. We need to give him the football and use Perkins in an athletic role as others have said. Dak's recovery is going fine and if Sandberg does indeed make it to August with us, if Russell gets hurt- he gets hurt. The sooner we get back to a mobile QB- the better.

Exactly.

It's like considering a SEC D-Line to be a brick wall. We are tired of throwing a ping pong ball (Perkins) at it to try and break through. We need a wrecking ball (JRob) to bust through a brick wall. Someone that will go through it instead of bounce off of it.

[BeastMan]

It's our O Line vs their d lines that is the problem. Eddie Lacy wouldn't run for 50 yards on Bama's D with our o line from last year. Part of it is play calling too. Don't act like LP is why we can't run on other SEC schools

[Coach34]

It's our O Line vs their d lines that is the problem. Eddie Lacy wouldn't run for 50 yards on Bama's D with our o line from last year. Part of it is play calling too. Don't act like LP is why we can't run on other SEC schools

It's a combo of scheme, our OL vs superior DL's, and Perkins not being someone that can get tough yards.

There is no disputing that JRob and Milton are better suited to hit it up inside than Perkins is.
Perkins is the best pass-catcher of the three.

We just have to use them wisely instead of giving Perkins 80% of the reps.

[engie]

It's our O Line vs their d lines that is the problem. Eddie Lacy wouldn't run for 50 yards on Bama's D with our o line from last year. Part of it is play calling too. Don't act like LP is why we can't run on other SEC schools

If he isn't running successfully on other teams -- but our other RBs are -- who are we supposed to blame that on? I saw that happen repeatedly last year where they would gash a team for one series with Griffin or Robinson and then never give them the ball again.

Our interior OL was as good as it's ever been last year when Tobias Smith was in the game. No excuse to not be able to pound it at all with those 3 on the interior...

[trob115]

I liked seeing Trevor Fitts come in on Friday and eat a couple of innings. If we can somehow get Woody or Evan Mitchell to consistently hit the strike zone, Pollo should return to the pen. We will go as far as our pitching takes us in the postseason. That means we need 1 more legit starter to emerge. I was very impressed with Lindgren on Saturday. All in all I agree with pretty much everything in your recap.

[BeastMan]

If he isn't running successfully on other teams -- but our other RBs are -- who are we supposed to blame that on? I saw that happen repeatedly last year where they would gash a team for one series with Griffin or Robinson and then never give them the ball again.

Our interior OL was as good as it's ever been last year when Tobias Smith was in the game. No excuse to not be able to pound it at all with those 3 on the interior...

I agree with Coach that the reps need to be much more spread out. Forgive me engie but I don't remember us gashing Bama, A&M, OM, or LSU on the ground with anyone. A decent run here or there maybe but not gashing. We had 2 good series in the Gator Bowl but I attribute that to play calling more than anything. I may be remembering wrong but wasnt Dak the QB on the drives where JRob started hitting them?

[mic]

I agree with a lot of you all. Here are my spring thoughts. I saw a few practices and a couple scrimmages......

RB- Its a great problem to have for us. I think we have 3 maybe even 4 guys that can carry the load when called upon. Lets just hope we RUN the ball more. If we had ran the ball against NW instead of trying to sling it all over the field we win that game. And with us running more Double TE sets and our WR core being very young we should be running more. I think we will..
I dont have a favorite all 4 have their strenghts and weaknesses.

WR- They look the part. All big and fast. Lewis is a different guy this year from what I have seen. Lots more confident and knows its his job. I think he will make plays for us. I do think Chappell beats out Morrow but lets dont give up on Joe yet. Still just a RS Soph. If he gets some in game confidence and makes some plays early in the season I think that will help

TE- Soild. Like Coach said I agree should be top 2 or 3 in the league. Miss match problems all over the field. And dont sleep on Gus .. Kid seems to alwyas get open. I bet he is used alot on possession downs.

OL- Should be better. Just hopefully they can hold their own against the big boys and give us a chance to make plays.. USC LSU BAMA ..

DL- Ends will be very good. I predict Autry All-SEC and Preston will make plays. Having Chris here in the fall should make them even better since Im sure Chris will be pushing them for playing time
I think the DT's will be better. I like Coach Turner more than Wilson. I think the guys up front will play harder and be more effective. And hopefully Nick and Quay have a quiet summer and come in for Fall ready we could have a very very veru good crop of DT's.

LB- Deep and Fast and Faster. I think our biggest problem here is getting them all enough snaps. And I still say its going to be hard to keep Chris Hughes off the field this year..

CB/S- Cox is soild. Redmond prob too good to keep off the field. back ups arent bad either. And I think we def have an upgrade with CDT over Melvin.
Safetys cant get worse than it was last year. I think with Coach Collins running the show it will be much better.

ST- Still wish we had someone who could kick it the endzone whenever we needed it. Swedenberg soild. I think we are deep enough where you wont see many starters on KOC. which means a lot of good back up players that will be looking to make plays to impress Caoches. I like that..
KOR. Please put Holloway back there.. fastest guy I have seen here since...well he is very very fast and even more impressive very tought to be maybe 165.
FG kicking better not cost us a game.. it was shaky at best this spring.

[Coach34]

JRob had 4 carries for 27 yards in the 2nd half vs NW- and the last one was under 2 minutes left in the game for no gain when it was all but over. He had two 11 yard runs in the 2nd half and was immediately taken out for Perkins

That's after going for 3 carries 64 yards in the 1st half


That's inexcusable

[BeastMan]

JRob had 4 carries for 27 yards in the 2nd half vs NW- and the last one was under 2 minutes left in the game for no gain when it was all but over. He had two 11 yard runs in the 2nd half and was immediately taken out for Perkins

That's after going for 3 carries 64 yards in the 1st half


That's inexcusable

I agree and I think that hits my play calling/scheme worries more than anything. I'm prettying sure his 60+ 1rst half yards were when Mullen told TR to take a shower and come back right? Even if I'm mistaken on that, the second half we went all or nothing with a rattled QB when we knew we could run on them at the least.

[msstate7]

I agree and I think that hits my play calling/scheme worries more than anything. I'm prettying sure his 60+ 1rst half yards were when Mullen told TR to take a shower and come back right? Even if I'm mistaken on that, the second half we went all or nothing with a rattled QB when we knew we could run on them at the least.

What % of snaps do you guys think dak will get this year?

[BeastMan]

I wish I knew. I'd like to see more of him unless TR is just playing so lights out it would be dumb

[WeWillScrewItUp]

What % of snaps do you guys think dak will get this year?

My guess would be between 30-40%.

[msstate7]

I wish I knew. I'd like to see more of him unless TR is just playing so lights out it would be dumb

One place I hope dak automatically comes in is in the red zone. Tyler seems to turn the ball over in big situations there

[CadaverDawg]

It's our O Line vs their d lines that is the problem. Eddie Lacy wouldn't run for 50 yards on Bama's D with our o line from last year. Part of it is play calling too. Don't act like LP is why we can't run on other SEC schools

Definitely. I hope you don't think I'm blaming our lack of running game on Perkins alone, because I'm definitely not. But he is a part of the reason we can't run against the big boys, and he will be an even bigger part this year if we can't....because we have a pretty experienced OLine returning.

Running Only from shotgun was a big part of our problem IMO. Our backs were unable to get a head of steam or any forward momentum. Plus, Tyler was no threat to run.

This year with a better OLine and Tyler under center more, we need to have a bigger back in the game. Bring Perkins in on 3rd and 5+ so teams have to respect him as a runner and a pass catcher. Just my thoughts.

But I was not implying Perkins was our only issue in the run game.

[Will James]

My guess would be between 30-40%.

15

[BeastMan]

I was just making a point Cadaver. When our running game struggles, particularly against good SEC D's, LP is the easiest target for us to pick but it isn't all on him. Like everyone is saying, it's a mixture of scheme, play calling, o line, etc...

[slickdawg]

Life without LaDarius Perkins, at LSU:

RUSHING No. Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg.
Nick Griffin 11 39 1 38 0 9 3.5
Josh Robinson 5 17 0 17 0 7 3.4
Tyler Russell 5 19 15 4 0 16 0.8
Dak Prescott 1 3 0 3 0 3 3.0
Team 1 0 1 -1 0 0 -1.0
Derrick Milton 1 0 14 -14 0 0 -14.0
Totals... 24 78 31 47 0 16 2.0



Life with LaDarius Perkins at Alabama


RUSHING No. Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg.
LaDarius Perkins 15 40 2 38 0 9 2.5
Josh Robinson 1 15 0 15 0 15 15.0
Nick Griffin 1 9 0 9 0 9 9.0
Tyler Russell 2 1 8 -7 0 1 -3.5
Derrick Milton 2 5 13 -8 0 5 -4.0
Totals... 21 70 23 47 0 15 2.2

[Coach34]

What % of snaps do you guys think dak will get this year?

I figure 25% at most. Hopefully Mullen let's him have some entire drives this season

[Coach34]

One place I hope dak automatically comes in is in the red zone. Tyler seems to turn the ball over in big situations there

agree 100%

[slickdawg]

Well, there's the 100 yard pick 6 he threw at LSU.

Or the 97 (102) yard drive at Alabama that ended in an endzone pick.


But I don't put those on Tyler, that's coaching.

If you are inside the 3 and can't get 3 yards running Perk/Griffin/Jrob/Milton up the gut on four plays, then you have bigger issues.

[Coach34]

Well, there's the 100 yard pick 6 he threw at LSU.

Or the 97 (102) yard drive at Alabama that ended in an endzone pick.


But I don't put those on Tyler, that's coaching.

If you are inside the 3 and can't get 3 yards running Perk/Griffin/Jrob/Milton up the gut on four plays, then you have bigger issues.


Tyler's pick-6 vs LSU was from the 9 yard line and returned 100 yards

Against Bammer and LSU:

Tyler was 1-5 trips in the red zone for 7 points and a Pick-6
Prescott was 2-2 trips for 2 TD passes

the added dimension Prescott gives us in the red zone makes it harder to defend

[Todd4State]

Tyler's pick-6 vs LSU was from the 9 yard line and returned 100 yards

Against Bammer and LSU:

Tyler was 1-5 trips in the red zone for 7 points and a Pick-6
Prescott was 2-2 trips for 2 TD passes

the added dimension Prescott gives us in the red zone makes it harder to defend

It seemed to me that Tyler would force a lot of balls into traffic inside the 5 and 10 instead of throwing something like a fade or rolling out and allowing guys to get open on crossing routes.

[War Machine Dawg]

Damn, I didn't mean to start a RB pissing contest. I just think it's pretty damn obvious to anyone with a modicum of football knowledge that today's SEC requires bigger, more physical backs to have a successful rushing attack on a consistent basis. Speedbacks are specialty players now.

I agree about needing to use Dak more in the red zone. He does have the extra dimension that makes him more dangerous in constricted space.

I think Coach is probably right about Dak only getting about 25% of the snaps next season. Mullen is committed to Russell and I don't see that changing unless Russell has a total meltdown.

It will be interesting to see the position battles continuing into fall, especially at DB. We've got to develop some serious depth at OL. It's time for Damien Robinson to step up and prove he's ready to play. He's been here 3 years, if he can't help us this season then he's a complete bust.

[BeastMan]

Damien Robinson won't start and shouldn't. Next year he probably will and should. He is what he is

[CadaverDawg]

Damien Robinson won't start and shouldn't. Next year he probably will and should. He is what he is

FYI...This thread is why I enjoy eliteDawgs. No chance this thread goes 4 pages on the other board without 2 pages of smart ass comments and slap fights. Great discussion gentlemen.

I think we all pretty much agree on the RB situation. We all know that in tough yardage situations we need JRob, Milton, Griffin...and in medium yardage running situations and most passing situations we need LP in there. Perkins has definitely earned a lot.

The big key this season is once again can our OLine and DLine step up. If our Oline plays like they can, our running game will improve and thus our passing game will be more effective...especially to our talented TE's. if our DLine steps up, it will allow our inexperienced secondary to go through some growing pains without costing us games due to no pass rush.

And once again, Devon Bell worries me. He didn't look like he had kicked a football since the season ended. If our defense makes the improvement I am expecting them to make this year, we will be in some tight games against good teams. That means Devon Bell needs to be an asset instead of a liability. I really hope he works hard from now until Reliant Stadium.

[War Machine Dawg]

Damien Robinson won't start and shouldn't. Next year he probably will and should. He is what he is

Where did you get that Robinson should start from anything I said? I agree there's no way he starts, and shouldn't, if we stay healthy. I said he should contribute, i.e. be capable of taking 30-40% of the snaps if needed and be a quality backup. If he can't do that 3-4 years into his time at State, he's a bust. Reading comprehension, people. It helps.

[War Machine Dawg]

Cadaver, I'm a little worried about Bell too. He's clearly got a cannon in terms of leg strength. But his accuracy is shaky at best. I have yet to figure out how we're failing so miserably at projecting kickers. You're right, Bell could be the difference in 5-7 and 8-4. I *think* he'll be better this year just due to experience, but it's far from a certainty. Kickers are notorious head cases, so it's a crapshoot.

[I seen it dawg]

No doubt - he's by far the best receiver of the bunch.

Plus best at passpro equals 3rd down monster. Unless we beat the shit out of him all yr on 1st and 2nd down. We have to get JRob and Milton quality touches to keep heat off our sledgehammer footed QB.