Looks like the Rebs might be losing more recruits...

We are getting our TE and we are recruiting several for next yr, so Epps staying with OM does not bother me at all. Speaks would be a great get so I hope he goes to LSU and we get Thomas. Everyone is back and forth on Taylor, so the question will be can OM develop his talent? So far they have not demo they can do that. We end up with some very good OL and they will develop. Pack would have been a good get but not to be. We have a very good class and next will be a great class when we win in Oxford again.

We aren't going to beat the bears in recruiting. They play the game, preach it, and close better than we do. However, we are recruiting better than we have and are building good depth. We just have to get solid player that fit our needs and let them develop with good coaching. I would love to have the star players, but we just do not get many of them here, so we need good hardworking kids.

Sean Rawlings' dad said it best...we aren't recruiting stars, we're recruiting players, people, and needs. How many OM players make their first decent tackle of the game in a blowout loss and jump up land sharking and dancing around the field like they just Ray Lewis'd a guy? It is all about "ME" with Ole miss. The reason we don't have a lot of hat ceremonies, flipping our own croots, and recruits talking it up on twitter, is because most of our recruits aren't all about themselves and anxious for attention. Keep giving me the hard working kids that know they are not bigger than the game or the program...and let OM take the kids that are insecure and have to feel constant attention.

Disagree with me? Well, 4 out 5 Egg Bowls agrees with me. I'll take that evidence that we're recruiting just fine. And by the looks of our player interviews, and the development of guys like Benny Brown, Calhoun, Chris Jones, etc, etc, etc,etc....we are getting high character guys with good talent and huge upside, that are willing to work and are turning in to 4 and 5 star talent by the time they are RS freshmen and Sophs

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Originally Posted by HancockCountyDog

I would take Hampton, Alvin Moore and the McDowell kid from LA off their hands in a heartbeat.

Other than that - I agree with you about the classes being fairly equal.

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Even Hampton is very overated . Looked bad at the All-star game, did not show at all at the Army Bowl and I have heard that Bama backed off because they wanted Hootie Jones more. Very over-rated.

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Originally Posted by HancockCountyDog

I would take Hampton, Alvin Moore and the McDowell kid from LA off their hands in a heartbeat.

Other than that - I agree with you about the classes being fairly equal.

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I forgot about Hampton. And I was very close to adding the Moore twins.

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Originally Posted by camsu

We are getting our TE and we are recruiting several for next yr, so Epps staying with OM does not bother me at all. Speaks would be a great get so I hope he goes to LSU and we get Thomas. Everyone is back and forth on Taylor, so the question will be can OM develop his talent? So far they have not demo they can do that. We end up with some very good OL and they will develop. Pack would have been a good get but not to be. We have a very good class and next will be a great class when we win in Oxford again.

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The big issue with Taylor is they aren't going to redshirt him. That means right off the bat he loses a year of development- and that's not good for him in the short or long run.

I'm happy with Hutcherson, but I always like guys that are going to be in the program 4-5 years.

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Originally Posted by quickstrike2

We aren't going to beat the bears in recruiting. They play the game, preach it, and close better than we do. However, we are recruiting better than we have and are building good depth. We just have to get solid player that fit our needs and let them develop with good coaching. I would love to have the star players, but we just do not get many of them here, so we need good hardworking kids.

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See- to me, developing players once they get to campus is part of recruiting. If you had Alabama's class but then they had a coach that just let them fart around because they were superstars in high school- there's no way that they are going to reach their full potential of their evaluation coming out of high school. I think roster evaluation is also part of it. What good are 10 five star slot WR's if you have 0 o-linemen?

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Originally Posted by dawgclub99

Even Hampton is very overated . Looked bad at the All-star game, did not show at all at the Army Bowl and I have heard that Bama backed off because they wanted Hootie Jones more. Very over-rated.

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Hampton doesn't have instincts. That is why he disappears on film.

Disagree with me? Well, 4 out 5 Egg Bowls agrees with me. I'll take that evidence that we're recruiting just fine. And by the looks of our player interviews, and the development of guys like Benny Brown, Calhoun, Chris Jones, etc, etc, etc,etc....we are getting high character guys with good talent and huge upside, that are willing to work and are turning in to 4 and 5 star talent by the time they are RS freshmen and Sophs[/QUOTE]

This.

Finished lower in February 4/5 years, but won 4/5 in November. They had countless defections during the Nutt years. Their one stud in the 2012 class was 5-star Channing Ward. He's awesome on special teams**. They obviously got some talent last year, but already had one defection (4-star Christian Morgan), one that looks to be a bust (4-star JUCO Lavon Hooks - who Freeze cried over), one who should just stick with track (4-star Kailo Moore), and one who looks injury prone (5-star Laremy Tunsil). I'm not homeriffic enough to think that we don't have busts too (Damien Robinson, Quay - unless he can straighten up) or that we are the only team to develop 2-3 stars into studs (Banks, Calhoun, McKinney, etc.), but just seems like we find ways to do more with less and they do less with more. I'd like to see an updated ranking at the end of each season to factor in attrition, development, etc. Would be much different than the February ones.

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Originally Posted by CadaverDawg

Disagree with me? Well, 4 out 5 Egg Bowls agrees with me. I'll take that evidence that we're recruiting just fine.

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I agree with you in theory. But we do not need to forget 2012. The programs have comparable talent, so we need to take the next step to break away from them. We cannot have mishaps like C.J. Johnson and Jermaine Whitehead anymore. Coaches have to handle things better than that. And the next time we have a chance at a Cam Newton, we have to bring it home. MAJOR f*ck-ups in the Mullen tenure that often get overlooked for X and O shit.

We all know about Newton. I'd be willing to bet that there would have been a HUGE difference in the 2012 Egg Bowl had Johnson been on OUR roster. He kicked our ass all game. And he's an MSU type guy....a swagger guy that we've missed since Dixon left.

We got outbid for both Johnson and Newton. Newton especially wanted to be a Dawg.

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Originally Posted by Goat Holder

I agree with you in theory. But we do not need to forget 2012. The programs have comparable talent, so we need to take the next step to break away from them. We cannot have mishaps like C.J. Johnson and Jermaine Whitehead anymore. Coaches have to handle things better than that. And the next time we have a chance at a Cam Newton, we have to bring it home. MAJOR f*ck-ups in the Mullen tenure that often get overlooked for X and O shit.

We all know about Newton. I'd be willing to bet that there would have been a HUGE difference in the 2012 Egg Bowl had Johnson been on OUR roster. He kicked our ass all game. And he's an MSU type guy....a swagger guy that we've missed since Dixon left.

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2012 happened because we didnt have a QB to fit the system and a below par DL. That is it.
2013 we got Russell out of the QB position and the DL got better- and so did we.

I watched Taylor play basketball last night for Callaway. My impressions were is very athletic for his size, looks like he rarely if ever lifts weights, is bad out of shape, sloppy looking, seemed to have an outgoing personality (after making a basket and the foul, he flexed his arms like he was showing off muscles), constantly clapping and interacting with teammates. I believe he is in for a rude awakening when he gets in a college program b/c from looks alone it appears he has never worked really hard on his body and getting into shape.

Disagree on the Russell and QB deal, no need to re-hash that though. Johnson would have helped with that DL problem too. That's the point.

That's a simplistic way of looking at things.

Everybody is throwing a little money around, so saying 'we got outbid' is simply ignorant. We got out-recruited in general. We 'messed it up' per se and it got weird. So they both went their separate ways.

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Originally Posted by Goat Holder

Disagree on the Russell and QB deal, no need to re-hash that though. Johnson would have helped with that DL problem too. That's the point.

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You can disagree all you want about QB- but it's not even debatable at this point

Johnson would have helped some on the DL- but we had some serious problems at DT also.

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Originally Posted by Coach34

You can disagree all you want about QB- but it's not even debatable at this point

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You say this, but then say this:

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Originally Posted by Coach34

Johnson would have helped some on the DL- but we had some serious problems at DT also.

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...and you don't even realize your contradiction. Much of Russell's struggles that game were due to Johnson's disruption. Subtract him out of the Ole Miss equation and add him to ours and you help BOTH causes.

It is VERY debatable, but I realize you have to get the last word. Have at it. This thread isn't about that.

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Originally Posted by dawgclub99

We got outbid for both Johnson and Newton. Newton especially wanted to be a Dawg.

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Easy to outbid a non bidder.

I think Brandon Bryant is actually visiting us the weekend of the 24th....

chance of landing him...........