2022 MSU FOOTBALL RECRUITING Discussion Thread

I'll say this about Dalton Davis and it's more of a general statement.

I think sometimes people focus too much on 40 times and measurables and not enough on whether a guy can actually play the game or not.

I've seen this play out several times. A guy is too small, not fast enough, skinny, doesn't have enough hair on his chest, etc. And then that player goes somewhere else and plays well and sometimes even gets a shot in the NFL.

And then we get some guy that did well at camp but can't play and they just end up being a never ending project or able to maybe contribute some their senior year.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SilentSteel16

Deion Sanders? So you are saying he would be a great G5 player. 4.8 in SEC just doesn?t cut it. Unless he is another cranial receiver like Austin Williams. But look how long it took him to contribute. Just don?t think you tie up a scholly on that.

---

Im not advocating for/against this kid, but, he's faster than the late, great, Bear Wilson.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Todd4State

I'll say this about Dalton Davis and it's more of a general statement.

I think sometimes people focus too much on 40 times and measurables and not enough on whether a guy can actually play the game or not.

I've seen this play out several times. A guy is too small, not fast enough, skinny, doesn't have enough hair on his chest, etc. And then that player goes somewhere else and plays well and sometimes even gets a shot in the NFL.

And then we get some guy that did well at camp but can't play and they just end up being a never ending project or able to maybe contribute some their senior year.

---

If you're talking about the Davis Dalton kid at MRA he needs to be a last resort option or offer him a PWO spot. Getting open, catching the ball, and absorbing the blow are a completely different animal in the SEC than they are in the MAIS. It's not even in the same atmosphere. Hell the CUSA will be an adjustment for him. It's great to ball out against PCS and Lamar but I don't see many alumni from those places playing on Saturdays. He'll take a minimum of two years to even get him up to speed and his body prepared for this level

Also....everyone is complaining about our recruiting rankings but want us to go offer an MAIS kid with no P5 offers. I'm sure we'll really shoot up the rankings with that one. Go all in on Thomas and Pope. The days of offering a kid because gah lee gee his dad played here and Bob from Bogue Chitto knows his grandparents need to be long gone.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Leroy Jenkins

Im not advocating for/against this kid, but, he's faster than the late, great, Bear Wilson.

---

The main difference is you can't teach 6'6. De'Runnya was a matchup nightmare for any defense. We schemed the hell out of people running the sideline "box out" route with him. An SEC defender couldn't bully De'Runnya. An SEC DB will put this kid in the 3rd row.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

The main difference is you can't teach 6'6. De'Runnya was a matchup nightmare for any defense. We schemed the hell out of people running the sideline "box out" route with him. An SEC defender couldn't bully De'Runnya. An SEC DB will put this kid in the 3rd row.

---

Bear was 6-4 220 at the combine, ran a horrible 4.85sec 40, with an abysmal 28 inch vertical, and I would take him back in a minute.

This kid, who I have not seen outside of HUDL, is 6-3 200 and has a teenagers body still. Now, if he were actually the "best available" option I would just save that scholly for the portal.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

If you're talking about the Davis Dalton kid at MRA he needs to be a last resort option or offer him a PWO spot. Getting open, catching the ball, and absorbing the blow are a completely different animal in the SEC than they are in the MAIS. It's not even in the same atmosphere. Hell the CUSA will be an adjustment for him. It's great to ball out against PCS and Lamar but I don't see many alumni from those places playing on Saturdays. He'll take a minimum of two years to even get him up to speed and his body prepared for this level

---

MRA has played a tougher schedule to this point in the season than at least 85% of Public schools in the state. Probably has played the toughest schedule in the state.

Played the top ranked team in the state of MS (GC), top ranked team in Ark (Pulaski), top ranked team in TN (Oakland). Nobody else in the state has played anything close to that.
JA is solid with two D1 guys. Prep is meh. Played a 3A public in Raleigh. destroyed all 3 of them. If he's not good enough to play at state, it's not bc of weak competition.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

The main difference is you can't teach 6'6. De'Runnya was a matchup nightmare for any defense. We schemed the hell out of people running the sideline "box out" route with him. An SEC defender couldn't bully De'Runnya. An SEC DB will put this kid in the 3rd row.

---

And he excelled at blocking. I don't think we have ever had a WR that blocked like Bear.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Leroy Jenkins

Bear was 6-4 220 at the combine. This kid, who I have not seen outside of HUDL, is 6-3 200 and has a teenagers body still. Now, if he were actually the "best available" option I would just save that scholly for the portal.

---

Yea that one bummed me out because the game program always reported 6'6 or 6'5. Regardless, we don't need to take Dalton. If he was such a hot commodity then he'd have a P5 offer. Offer him a PWO and move on down the line. If he's so good he'll prove it and prove me wrong.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by confucius say

MRA has played a tougher schedule to this point in the season than at least 85% of Public schools in the state. Probably has played the toughest schedule in the state.

Played the top ranked team in the state of MS (GC), top ranked team in Ark (Pulaski), top ranked team in TN (Oakland). Nobody else in the state has played anything close to that.
JA is solid with two D1 guys. Prep is meh. Played a 3A public in Raleigh. destroyed all 3 of them. If he's not good enough to play at state, it's not bc of weak competition.

---

But go look at how he did against that competition. And Elam from GCS worked him the first game of the year. Again, like I said, offer him a PWO spot and maybe he'll prove me wrong.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Leroy Jenkins

Im not advocating for/against this kid, but, he's faster than the late, great, Bear Wilson.

---

Is he 6 foot 5 inches and weigh 220? Does he have a 40 inch vertical? If not the comparison is moot.

Ok Bill Brasky.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SilentSteel16

Is he 6 foot 5 inches and weigh 220? Does he have a 40 inch vertical? If not the comparison is moot.

---

De'Runnya's vertical was 28" and he ran a 4.85 fourty

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

If you're talking about the Davis Dalton kid at MRA he needs to be a last resort option or offer him a PWO spot. Getting open, catching the ball, and absorbing the blow are a completely different animal in the SEC than they are in the MAIS. It's not even in the same atmosphere. Hell the CUSA will be an adjustment for him. It's great to ball out against PCS and Lamar but I don't see many alumni from those places playing on Saturdays. He'll take a minimum of two years to even get him up to speed and his body prepared for this level

Also....everyone is complaining about our recruiting rankings but want us to go offer an MAIS kid with no P5 offers. I'm sure we'll really shoot up the rankings with that one. Go all in on Thomas and Pope. The days of offering a kid because gah lee gee his dad played here and Bob from Bogue Chitto knows his grandparents need to be long gone.

---

Amen to this one!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

But go look at how he did against that competition. And Elam from GCS worked him the first game of the year. Again, like I said, offer him a PWO spot and maybe he'll prove me wrong.

---

That's just not true. The stats are online.

8 for 113 yards against Elam and GC
9 for 141 against Pulaski
3 for 38 against Oakland (they ran drop 8 every snap and it have Mra fits (sounds familiar, ha))
7 for 168 against JA
5 for 123 against Raleigh

Also had a State record 388 yards receiving vs prep (who I know isn't good).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by confucius say

That's just not true. The stats are online.

8 for 113 yards against Elam and GC
9 for 141 against Pulaski
3 for 38 against Oakland (they ran drop 8 every snap and it have Mra fits (sounds familiar, ha))
7 for 168 against JA
5 for 123 against Raleigh

Also had a State record 388 yards receiving vs prep (who I know isn't good).

---

My bad on that. Had bad information except for Oakland, which I watched and wasn't impressed. As I said, throw him a PWO offer and let him prove himself. If he's that good then he'll play. Christian Ford has proved that.

Dalton will do well at USM.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dawgman15

De'Runnya's vertical was 28" and he ran a 4.85 fourty

---

Yet he won almost every 50/50 ball thrown his way. Against several SEC corners and OLBs several of which are STILL IN THE NFL. Hell he almost invented the back shoulder throw catch. It was just known then as a bad pass. Ha. That was partially a joke.

I hope the MRA kid does awesome and proves the star buyers at Rivals wrong. I just don’t see him being a contributor at State. He is a good athlete and definitely a D1 athlete. Just not more than a one year starter if that at any SEC school not named Vanderbilt

Jordaan Bailey out of Tampa

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cowboydawg

Jordaan Bailey out of Tampa

---

I think it's safe to say we look like we're preparing to move on from Jordan.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

I think it's safe to say we look like we're preparing to move on from Jordan.

---

Jordaan Bailey
https://www.hudl.com/video/3/1264190...02270a041f5070

Jordaan Bailey is fast

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cowboydawg

Jordaan Bailey
https://www.hudl.com/video/3/1264190...02270a041f5070

---

Ho..Lee.. Chitty chitty bang bang 👀👀

Him and Hargrove in the same backfield??SPEED KILLS

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

Getting open, catching the ball, and absorbing the blow are a completely different animal in the SEC than they are in the MAIS. It's not even in the same atmosphere. Hell the CUSA will be an adjustment for him. It's great to ball out against PCS and Lamar but I don't see many alumni from those places playing on Saturdays. He'll take a minimum of two years to even get him up to speed and his body prepared for this level.

---

I?m not advocating for signing Dalton, but this is just a stupid and lazy take. We have three other players committed from MAIS (Elam, Dakota Jordan, and Miller) yet nobody has said this about them. Dillon Jonson came from MAIS and played last year as a true freshman. Jon Banks came to MSU and excelled as a skinny true freshman from a small public school that didn?t play anywhere close to the competition level that MRA has played. We often sign public school players that play weaker competition than what MRA has faced and nobody ever mentions them absorbing blows, getting up to speed, etc. Jon Banks, Jamal Peters, Discenzo Miller, and many more come to mind.

I think we can do better than Dalton. I think SEC ball is an adjustment for everyone. I think smaller school players do have a larger adjustment to make. But let?s not act like 1A, 2A, and 3A public players are playing in some tough league while MRA is playing flag football.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by somebodyshotmypaw

I?m not advocating for signing Dalton, but this is just a stupid and lazy take. We have three other players committed from MAIS (Elam, Dakota Jordan, and Miller) yet nobody has said this about them. Dillon Jonson came from MAIS and played last year as a true freshman. Jon Banks came to MSU and excelled as a skinny true freshman from a small public school that didn?t play anywhere close to the competition level that MRA has played. We often sign public school players that play weaker competition than what MRA has faced and nobody ever mentions them absorbing blows, getting up to speed, etc. Jon Banks, Jamal Peters, Discenzo Miller, and many more come to mind.

I think we can do better than Dalton. I think SEC ball is an adjustment for everyone. I think smaller school players do have a larger adjustment to make. But let?s not act like 1A, 2A, and 3A public players are playing in some tough league while MRA is playing flag football.

---

Then stop advocating for why we need to offer him. you started by saying that you weren't for signing him and then gave all the reasons why we should. As I said 4 previous times, I'm not against giving the kid a PWO and letting him prove himself. All I'm saying is don't waste a scholarship on a kid who at most could contribute one year for you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

Then stop advocating for why we need to offer him. you started by saying that you weren't for signing him and then gave all the reasons why we should. As I said 4 previous times, I'm not against giving the kid a PWO and letting him prove himself. All I'm saying is don't waste a scholarship on a kid who at most could contribute one year for you.

---

He's not advocating for signing the kid, he's advocating against your logic for not signing the kid. Which is the same thing I said. If the kid is not good enough to play here, it is not for the reasons you stated (poor competition), it is bc he just isn't good enough to play here. The competition he has faced has been superior to the competition faced by just about everybody committed to us.

Guys, let’s be real here. Is this kid a D1 athlete? Yes, is he a SEC athlete that can contribute like a D. Jordan, NO…. Jordan was being recruited 2 years ago. I am a public school kid myself, growing up in Pike County when Parklane Academy was a thing. We played them in fall ball, name the sport and we won just about every game. BTW we made the playoffs in baseball and football a grand total of 1 time in my 4 years of playing HS ball. Parklane won state championships 2 times in 2 different sports during that same stretch.

There are generational talents, such as J Banks and the kids mentioned above from small public schools as well as kids from small private schools. Hunter Renfrow I am looking at you, but the shear number of players in between those said players is way higher on average to not be exceptional.

Take my HS for instance we had 5 kids on my Hs football team my senior year to make a D1 roster and actually hit the field, 2 of them were later drafted into NFL and one MLB, he retired last year after over 10 years in MLB , not the system, the actual league. Again, neither baseball or football those same years made the playoffs. Parklane won a state title that very year, you know how many actually made a D1 roster, 0 zero.

I truly do not think that my example is an anomaly. This kid at MRA is a great player and will get a shot somewhere but you can’t tell me the level of co potion at MRA is the same for a school like pick a school, Brandon High or even a smaller school like Tylertown in the public school sector. If you think those are even comparable then you are proving my point. That generally speaking, in football for instance a 3A public school will produce just as many D1 athletes as a top level private school such as MRA.

Baseball is a different animal now, considering most kids on Prep and MRA and Parklane come from a family that spent over 2-5k a year in travel ball since the kid was 12 years old. Baseball is not comparable, but football most definitely is.

Granted my above example is above of baseball and football being equal is a couple of decades old, but the message is the same that football wise it still holds true. Baseball is another animal and I for one am not a n advocate for year round travel ball for a kid baseball wise, due to injury, burnout etc…

But let’s not get lost in the weeds here, when I say D1 athlete that does not mean SEC D1 athlete. D1 has a HUGE span because even the kids at Alcorn are D1 athletes, but they are not on level with USM athletes and USM athletes are not on level with MSU, and MSU athletes are not entirely on level with Alabama…you see my point?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by confucius say

He's not advocating for signing the kid, he's advocating against your logic for not signing the kid. Which is the same thing I said. If the kid is not good enough to play here, it is not for the reasons you stated (poor competition), it is bc he just isn't good enough to play here. The competition he has faced has been superior to the competition faced by just about everybody committed to us.

---

Exactly. I’m not sure Dalton is good enough to play SEC ball, and I think we can sign better players than him. But if I use competition as the reason then Steven Ridley couldn’t play at LSU (MAIS kid who was All-SEC over Brandon Bolden, Vic Ballard, Trent Richardson). And Ben Beckwith, Justin Malone, Dillon Johnson, Jon Banks, Cam Lawrence, Jamal Peters, Discenzo Miller, Kaleb Eulls, Bernardrick McKinney Jerion Ealy, and many others couldn’t play either. Now admittedly it is easier for coaches to evaluate a guy at a 6A public school versus a 1A public school. But you can’t just refuse to sign Dicenzo Miller because he didn’t play good competition. It’s not his fault that Weir was small. If Jeffrey Simmons played at Rebul Academy in Learned, I would still want him on my team.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

If you're talking about the Davis Dalton kid at MRA he needs to be a last resort option or offer him a PWO spot. Getting open, catching the ball, and absorbing the blow are a completely different animal in the SEC than they are in the MAIS. It's not even in the same atmosphere. Hell the CUSA will be an adjustment for him. It's great to ball out against PCS and Lamar but I don't see many alumni from those places playing on Saturdays. He'll take a minimum of two years to even get him up to speed and his body prepared for this level

Also....everyone is complaining about our recruiting rankings but want us to go offer an MAIS kid with no P5 offers. I'm sure we'll really shoot up the rankings with that one. Go all in on Thomas and Pope. The days of offering a kid because gah lee gee his dad played here and Bob from Bogue Chitto knows his grandparents need to be long gone.

---

I'm fine taking 1-2 players a year like Dalton. The SEC is a big jump from MAIS. It's also a big jump from 6A ball in Mississippi. With recruits I'm not too concerned if they aren't able to immediately help us because I don't expect that of any of them. That's not even the case for most incoming freshmen at Alabama and we shouldn't not take a player because of that otherwise our classes would be very small because they're all in the same boat as far as that. If he can get into a SEC program and work hard and get his body right by the time he is a sophomore or junior he could be a very productive player for us.

At the same time we shouldn't just run down a player because he is from MAIS and a MSU fan either. Sometimes players that end up somewhere they truly want to be play above their abilities. If he becomes Austin Williams 2.0 for us I would be very happy with that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by somebodyshotmypaw

Exactly. I’m not sure Dalton is good enough to play SEC ball, and I think we can sign better players than him. But if I use competition as the reason then Steven Ridley couldn’t play at LSU (MAIS kid who was All-SEC over Brandon Bolden, Vic Ballard, Trent Richardson). And Ben Beckwith, Justin Malone, Dillon Johnson, Jon Banks, Cam Lawrence, Jamal Peters, Discenzo Miller, Kaleb Eulls, Bernardrick McKinney Jerion Ealy, and many others couldn’t play either. Now admittedly it is easier for coaches to evaluate a guy at a 6A public school versus a 1A public school. But you can’t just refuse to sign Dicenzo Miller because he didn’t play good competition. It’s not his fault that Weir was small. If Jeffrey Simmons played at Rebul Academy in Learned, I would still want him on my team.

---

Competition is so overblown when evaluating recruits. If a player can play he can play. Look at Greenville Christian. They are essentially an All-Star team from the Delta which is mostly small schools and they are able to compete and beat most of their competition.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Todd4State

Competition is so overblown when evaluating recruits. If a player can play he can play. Look at Greenville Christian. They are essentially an All-Star team from the Delta which is mostly small schools and they are able to compete and beat most of their competition.

---

Yep. There are some kids playing on the D-Line at Brandon, or Pearl, or Germantown, or Gulfport that aren’t SEC caliber players. But they are facing much better competition than Chris Jones or Fletcher Cox faced. You should recruit the player, not the player’s competition. The irony is that people that want to discount Dalton simply because of competition are fine with offering Stone Blanton. And Blanton literally faces the same competition. That shows the stupidity of the argument.

Stone Blanton is not the example you are wanting to use. He is a two sport guy that will play baseball probably faster than he will on football field. Plus look at his offers. While I agree with you saying no to judge the competition but you do have to take it into your reasoning when it comes to stats. But the Stone Blanton example does not help your argument. Baseball in MAIS is heads and shoulders better than MHSAA school. Not even comparable overall.

Everyone was on board with offering the WR a PWO and hope he eventually earns his scholarship, but to just give them out when we are clearly going after bigger fish currently is just not going to work. If that were the case we would have offered the RB from Starkville high a couple years ago early. If they are offered late it is because we missed on someone that is viewed as higher talent.

I honestly hope we get the kid and he can contribute, just do believe that they have others in mind first.

Is Dayan Bilbo another High School phenom who isn't for the college game? I don't know much about him, other than he has crazy stats. I assume he's small or something, because he's not on anyone's radar. Maybe like the kid out of East Central a few years ago?

At this point I?d take some ?interviews? done by Fancy on MSU prospects.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by HancockCountyDog

At this point I?d take some ?interviews? done by Fancy on MSU prospects.

---

There's just rarely any commits during the season. We have a chance to really close well. It's just contingent on getting it done. The pieces & relationships are there for the taking. Get it done.

I hear we need to survive Blanton's trip to the bears this weekend - if we do, I hear we can hold on to him.

Trevion Williams from Crystal Springs just decommitted from FSU.

We are in this one I?m told.

I've also seen that we are in it with a DB transfer Kerry Martin from West Virginia.

Was a mid tier 3 star out of high school.

His host is Plumlee. Rebel fans feel real good about a commitment. All their coaches are regularly in contact with him...the only hesitation is his love for MSU baseball.