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Originally Posted by
HancockCountyDog
Sure, practice is definitely exposes talent. The problem is that other than the coaching staff, I don't think anyone on this board has been to practice more than just a few times. I kept hearing how great Shumpert looked in practice by those that were in the know, and I just went by what I saw on the field, in games. He simply wasn't a high level SEC RB. In practice he may look great, but in games, he has proven that he doesn't have it. Smitherman may be great, I hope he is, but to say he is better than Giles and Cleveland while he has never tried to cover Ridley or Paidwell, is just silly.
I don't think I ever thought Shump would be the guy after seeing him run in 2014, even with the good runs in the Egg Bowl. If you look back, I wanted to play Aeris as true freshman some so we wouldn't end up in the situation we ended up in. Especially with what was obviously always going to be a deep RB class in 2015.
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Im not sure how much better he was than Hutcherson. I thought he was solid, but nothing more than that. Just because he made a few nice catches in an all star game, doesn't mean he was better than Walley. Actually though Walley played pretty well this year.
Which highlights my exact point. If a freshman is indistinguishable from a senior -- it's idiotic to play the senior. He was a true freshman -- and he was arguably our best blocker at TE. He's a better blocker than Walley -- faster than Walley -- bigger than Walley. The only things that could be argued was route running, assignments, and as a pass catcher. It was close enough -- that the smart thing to do is to go with the freshman.
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He was getting whipped by their white DE who's name escapes me. Their entire DL isn't going pro despite what the bears may say. I watched Rawlings give machine gun enough time to throw the ball against Bama in game 3 in Tuscaloosa, yet Jenkins was a damn windmill in our game. This was despite everyone clamoring how much better he was than Warren. I truly believe people wanted to believe that because Warren was so damn bad, people just didn't want to believe the guy behind him was actually worse. Guess what - he was worse. I have my problems with Mullen, but this belief that Mullen is sitting guys that are clearly more talented and most importantly, are clearly better players in the game, is just silly. Joe Morrow sat this year. Shump sat most of this year. Benni started over seniors, so did Bmac, Wells and several more. Does Jenkins have a higher ceiling than Warren? Probably. The problem is that right now, Warren's floor is higher than Jenkins.
CJ Johnson had 0.5
Breeland Speaks had 1
Woodrow Hamilton had 1
DJ Jones had 1
Channing Ward had 1
RN had 1.5
Marquise Haynes had 1
Those are a bunch of really good pass rushers -- and those ain't all on one guy either. Hamilton is really the only questionable talent of that group. And it's been obvious for a long time now that the mississippi academy kids get up to speed more quickly on the OL.
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The 2012 team did have defensive talent and some nice offensive talent, the problem was that Mullen was trying to force a QB that didn't fit his system at all. It eventually caught up to us when we started playing teams that could rush the QB. Do I think that 2012 team had more talent on its roster than 2014? Im not sure, Id have to see them side by side, my gut says no, but we are simply talking about talent, not who is the better player when lining up on a Saturday night.
Wait -- do what? That 2012 team played a crap ton of seniors -- and was the worst defense we've fielded since year 1 under Mullen by far. Couldn't stop the run and couldn't stop the pass. We started Dwayne Cherrington at DT and Eulls at DE for goodness sake. Preston Smith says hello. Who still led the team in sacks and was 3rd in TFL in spite of playing 1/3 of the snaps at most -- and watching us give teams all day to throw and not even be able to stop the run in doing it.
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I think Jamal Peters is extremely talented. I don't think he should be in coverage a ton. I think we should use him the same way the bears use Conner in the box and lined up on TE's. If I could choose to play Charles Mitchell from his senior year or Jamal Peters in his freshman year - I go with Charles. Now Peters is more talented, but Charles is the better player. With our program why would we force a more talented, but not better player on the field?
Charles Mitchell was a DRAFTED, borderline elite college DB. A high 4* himself. A 4 year starter that I don't recall ever being a posterized liability. Hardly the same thing as Coman vs Peters/McLaurin. No one is bitching about us playing NFL quality players on our first string regardless of what's behind them. No one is bitching about us playing Richie and redshirting Leo. It's when the starter is an upperclassmen that isn't good. If Cleveland is a starter next year -- we are totally screwed. It's the most obvious thing imaginable. Once Redmond went down -- teams literally found whoever Cleveland was lined up on -- and threw completions to his man for 10 up and down the field. I'd rather roll the dice with Graham than go back with Cleveland -- I'm that convinced he's not the guy at this point.
