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Spring ball starts in 2 days. To generate some discussion, what group do you see being the most improved come next fall? What group are you most worried about?
I'm just glad we get spring practice this year. We started to put some things together at the end of last season, so hopefully we carry some of that into this year. Exciting times ahead
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Most improved - wide receivers
Most worried - linebacker
Most improved - Qb
Most worried - interior DL (more quality depth )
Interesting take on DL. We return everyoneQuote:
Originally Posted by bulldawg28
Most improved WR and depth
Concern. Depth at LB
biggest concern by far is the O-line.
Biggest concern on offense: OL. Have some pieces just need to improve. I feel pretty good about our tackles, interior is my concern. The rest of the offense is gonna break records.
Most concerned on defense: ILB. Specifically the Mike. Nathaniel Watson better be a dawg bc we are in bad shape there if he is not. Deshawn Page has to play early and well. The other 2 spots will be a strength. I would not be surprised to see Brule play Mike if shit hits the fan
You will see a huge jump. Leach makes hay in the spring always has
Offense- Leach. We were a different team the last 2 games when we #RTGDF instead of throwing it 60 times. You can throw the FB- but you cant be reckless- which is what 55-70 passes in SEC Football is.
Defense- LB and Secondary depth. I think our frontline guys will be fine but I do worry about depth in 2021
We lost both or our starting ends. Not sure how that's everyone. And our depth was suspect at best at that spot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dawgfan77
Sorry I missed the interior. Your point is correct. We return everyone at that one spot. The other two spots could be a concern. Hope Davis helps and the transfer.
Dead on with Offense. We can be good if he has some balance.Quote:
Originally Posted by Coach34
DL depth is also a concern. It all starts up front. A good DL can make ave LB and secondary look good. We had some guys up front really step up last year. Crumedy is ready to become the next great DL if he can make another jump this year. He showed me some stuff last year. Can Pickens make a jump too? Need some more guys. Davis needs to show up and a few others.
Leach started trusting Will enough give him the keys and he checked to our run game (which I agree could be more versatile) when we got the look we wanted. Leach has probably called less than 100 runs himself in his career and majority of those are before he really trusts his QB. The rest are QB checksQuote:
Originally Posted by Coach34
Most improved Off Line.Quote:
Originally Posted by KOdawg1
Most worried Offensive Line.
Most improved- The offense
Most worried- Punter
QB- I think we will have a legit QB competition and I think Abraham will push Rogers in a positive way and Rogers ends up winning the job. But it's also going to be close enough where Abraham winning wouldn't shock me. I think Chance Lovertich is going to be a darkhorse in the QB race too. We need to cut down on our INT's especially in the red zone. I think Rogers takes care of the ball pretty well and Leach won't put up with Abraham turning it over a lot. So, I think we will improve there. We also need to develop our deep passing game a little more and I think we start to see that finally happen now that actually have some legit looking receivers for the first time since Fred Ross graduated.
RB- The running game improved in part because Marks and Johnson started to make plays and make adjustments late in the year. Late in the year we saw Marks starting to juke people and things like that. I think we see an improvement here as well.
WR- We have Walley, Heath, Tulu who emerged late, and then we have two consistent receivers that are reliable in Austin Williams and Javonta Payton. That in and of itself is a really solid core. And then we have Spivey and Cumbest who are former TE's who can be used in the red zone. But what will separate this group potentially are the three wild cards- Makai Polk, Caleb Ducking, and Rufus Harvey. Polk and Ducking will give us more length than we had last year. Harvey is another potential slot guy who had hamstring issues. And of course once the season starts Teddy Knox will play but we'll see how much of an adjustment he needs to make- hopefully it will be more like Walley than Tulu but there's no way to know at this point. Anyway lots of potential weapons to go along with the known ones.
OL- I think this group will improve a lot because they are now mostly juniors who have been in this system for a year. Cross is a NFL guy and he's the youngest. I think Cole Smith will improve his snapping- it has to or else he will sit. I think Dollar Bill and Kam Jones will improve as well. We'll see who emerges from the JUCO/transfer group out of Scott Lashley, Nick Jones, Reed Buys, and Carson Williams. I am also eager to see Albert Reese play this spring. I think he has the potential to win the RT spot. If he wasn't from Canada he would have easily been at least a 4 star recruit.
DL- We have built some depth here. I like moving Jordan Davis to DE. We added Randy Charlton as a transfer. We have Pickering, Crumedy, and Young at NT and Crumedy may start at DE. Then we have Jevon Banks, Aaron Odom, and Jack Harris all at DE in the mix as well. We also have Armondous Cooley at NT too. It's not Simmons and Sweat good but there are a lot of veteran four star guys in that group which should be solid.
LB- Brule is really good, Wheat needs to lose some weight but made plays, and Nate Watson made a ton of tackles when Errol Thompson was out at Mike LB. We have to find some depth and DeShawn Page will help with that but the other two spots- not sure. I want to see how Demonte Russell looks- he looked pretty healthy in the brawl against Tulsa LOL. Assuming he wins a spot we'll see what Arnett does at the remaining spot as Page can play any of the three spots. The starting group is pretty good though even with the loss of Errol Thompson
CB- Depth is a concern and has been a topic all offseason but Forbes and Emerson are legit future NFL guys which is a very good thing. We'll see what we get out of Decamarion Richardson, Esias Furdger, Jay Jimison, Jaylon Reed, and Cameron Threatt. Really need one guy out of that group to emerge since Jalen Green will probably be the third CB.
SS/FS/DOG- This group was decimated with injuries and because MSU fans are notoriously believe it when I see it people I think this group will surprise a lot of people. Jalen Green, Collin Duncan, and CJ Morgan will all compete at FS. Fred Peters will start. Then the other spot will be between Londyn Craft, Shawn Preston, Janari Dean, and JP Purvis. Dylan Lawrence will be in the mix too. I'd like to see Morgan moved to DOG or SS where he doesn't have to cover as much ground so I'm interested to see if that happens or not.
K/P/KO/LS- Getting Brandon Ruiz back is huge for field goals and KO's. Punter- neither Tucker Day nor Reed Bowman stood out and I could see them losing the job to a freshman potentially. I think Paul Blackwell is coming back and he is a really good LS. If I'm wrong it may be Hayes Hammond getting a look.
KR/PR- I think the return game will be better. Tulu is legit. I'd like to see Knox return punts over Austin Williams because Austin is not a threat to return anything. I'd like to maybe see Harvey get a shot at returning kicks as well.
My reason for interior depth is no one stood out or near dominant. Hopefully Pickering starts to excel. I prefer we not have to continuously rely on the blitz for pressure.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dawgfan77
Crumedy and Young were really good last year IMO. Especially Young he really stepped up after Pickering left was one of our better playersQuote:
Originally Posted by bulldawg28
So, what kind of information will we hear coming from spring camp?
I agree they were solid. However, they haven't been what we're accustomed to at the position, yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by BuckyIsAB****
Some walk on is surprising the coaches and will never be heard from again once the fall starts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hot Rock
If Abraham pushes Rogers then we won't be any good.Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd4State
Read what you just wrote. So competition pushing a pretty good QB to become a better QB translates to ?we won?t be any good??Quote:
Originally Posted by Homedawg
What he means is there a huge talent between the two and if Abraham is pushing Will that much we have issueQuote:
Originally Posted by CaptainObvious
Abraham is a great backup, cannot blame any QB for wanting to play for Leach but if he beats will it is bc Will is hurtQuote:
Originally Posted by Homedawg
Ok let me re-phrase it, I've seen Abraham play and he's not an avg sec qb. So if he is truly pushing Rogers then Rogers isn't very good and we, therefore won't be either. Certainly, we've had worse backups but Abraham is my going to win many games for ya.Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainObvious
No. It means Will took for granted the job is his and there is no one on the roster who can beat him out. We need for Will to feel the pressure of the guys behind him, that if he underperforms, they ?could? be a series away from taking his job. If you guys think there is that much gap between Will Rogers and the next two QBs in line, we are screwed anyway with as much as a turf toe injury to Rogers. You ?better? hope Abraham is a really good back up, or you can write down 4-8 for next year if QB1 gets hurt.
We have two new freshmen coming in that will have a say. Sawyer kid will be a good one. I am not sure if he is on campus for spring though.