Matt Womack

[Bully13]

your confidence begs a question as well. why couldn't we open any meaningful holes against quality DL'S last year? do you think the number of 0, 1, & 2 yrd gaines on 1st and 2nd downs against quality competition was acceptable last year?

[Coach34]

I hope you are right Coach. but this shit is getting 17ing ridiculous. year after 17ing year. what the 17 is up? the question demands an answer. but I'm not an idiot for questioning our lack of OL recruitment since Mullen's arrival.

4 of our 5 starters in 2014 will be in an NFL training camp- thats pretty strong and I dont see a lack of OL recruitment

People have been bitching about our lack of recruiting for awhile now- yet here we are in 2014 with people saying we are one of the most talented in the SEC.

[Coach34]

your confidence begs a question as well. why couldn't we open any meaningful holes against quality DL'S last year? do you think the number of 0, 1, & 2 yrd gaines on 1st and 2nd downs against quality competition was acceptable last year?

The same reason we had 40 yards rushing in the 1st half with Perkins vs UPig but over 100 in the 2nd half with JRob carrying the ball. Not to mention the problem of having Russell at QB the last 2 years.

Our running attack in 2014 will be much improved

[Bully13]

4 of our 5 starters in 2014 will be in an NFL training camp- thats pretty strong and I dont see a lack of OL recruitment

if that is true, then you win. and I hope your assessment is accurate. who are these 4 you speak of? I know of 2 who have a chance. AND, were you satisfied with our ability to run on 1st and 2nd down against legit D'S last year?

[Bully13]

The same reason we had 40 yards rushing in the 1st half with Perkins vs UPig but over 100 in the 2nd half with JRob carrying the ball. Not to mention the problem of having Russell at QB the last 2 years.

Our running attack in 2014 will be much improved

that is a legit statement. concur. having less predictability can open some holes. more options makes the D less likely to "T Off" on the offense. I just want to see us open some holes up on D's other than Arky. we will see soon. no?

but we still can't seem to sign any elite OL's. we need improvement there.

[DudyDawg]

Gabe wasn't a stud signing. He was a two star right? Now he's a high draft pick. I think that is a good enough example to tell you to give our coaches a bit of leeway as far as OL recruits go. I trust them

[Coach34]

Gabe wasn't a stud signing. He was a two star right? Now he's a high draft pick. I think that is a good enough example to tell you to give our coaches a bit of leeway as far as OL recruits go. I trust them

Gabe was a 3-star nobody special signing...

[DudyDawg]

Gabe was a 3-star nobody special signing...

3*. Y'all get the point

[Bully13]

we sure seem to miss out on a lot though. it seems we are not selling these examples good enough right now and in the last 5 years.

[HoopsDawg]

3*. Y'all get the point

3 star with an AU offer. Also, he was an early commit not a last second signee out of nowhere.

[mic]

It's not like Womack is a 5*.... If he was in the 2013 class he wouldn't been in the top 6 of OL taken.. He may turn out to be an All -American , but some of you all just want to bitch to be bitching..
And the run game will be much better because of Dak. Surely everyone knows that..

[NCDawg]

we sure seem to miss out on a lot though. it seems we are not selling these examples good enough right now and in the last 5 years.

I agree we do miss out on just about all the top OL we go after. Something is obviously wrong with our OL recruiting somewhere.

[Todd4State]

what the 17 happened with Womack? Hevesy and Co need to be kicked in the balls for losing this guy. I'm growing real tired of this pussified OL recruiting that's been going on since Mullen's arrival. never have we sucked this bad. croom did a better job for 17's sake. being in the lower tier of SEC recruitment of OL is one thing, but doing it on a MTSU level is another. what is the excuse of not even being on a lower tier SEC level of OL recruitment with where we are now? hevesy needs to be fired so he can go jack off elsewhere like memphis of hattisburgh.

Womack's Mom being an Ole Miss fan is what the 17 happened. We're going to offer the top guys in the state even if it's Archie's son that was adopted by Sean Tuohy. Private school kids in general are a little different than most public school kids because they are typically loyal to their allegiances that they had growing up whereas a larger percentage of public school prospects are neutral.

On top of that, the star rankings are by far the least accurate for o-linemen. I wouldn't even pay attention to them. Case in point? Who is our highest rated o-lineman? Damien Robinson. In the meantime, we're starting a 2 star center who will be up for the Rimington Award, a 2 star guard from a private school who was able to hold his own as a true freshman last year, a walk-on at the other guard spot who is solid and will be the only one not in a NFL camp next year, a 2 star left tackle who will be in the NFL, and a RT who was also a 2 star private school kid that will be in the NFL in a couple of years.

And don't get down on guys like Cole Carter, Devon Desper, Jake Thomas, Kent Flowers, etc. because they haven't played a lot. O-line is a developmental position group probably moreso than any of the others except for possibly QB. At this point, those guys have only been in our program for a year or two. By this time next year, they will have another year and another spring under their belt, and that's going to make a HUGE difference. I remember Dan and Hevesey cussing Clausell out so bad against UAB that people had to scatter their kids from behind the sideline. Beckwith was a blocking TE for us at one point. A couple of years ago, we had fans that were wondering if Day was going to be able to put enough weight on to play in the SEC even though we all liked his nastiness.

I don't know why the recruiting web site evaluators have so much trouble evaluating o-linemen. I know you look for them having a mean streak and athleticism ("good feet"). I guess they have a hard time seeing a guy like Addison Lawrence go from 250 to 300 during the course of his career or something.

[Todd4State]

we sure seem to miss out on a lot though. it seems we are not selling these examples good enough right now and in the last 5 years.

What do you want Dan to do? Trust his evaluation skills and take a 3 star guy like Gabe or take a 4 star guy that isn't as good in their professional opinion to make our recruiting class look better?

I just don't understand how you can say we are "missing" when Hevesey has recruited every o-lineman we have and as Coach said- 4 of them are going to the NFL and the other guy is a quality SEC player. That's the recruiting people missing- not us.

Dak was a three star too. Should we be mad at Dan for not getting Ryan Buchanan who was a four star guy?

[Johnson85]

Last I heard was Danley won't have to take some extra classes for the Big 12 and that'll allow him to go there in January. But the SEC requires that extra class or two and that'd push him to another semester of JUCO. Total bull crap considering he was academically eligible out of high school, but SEC's JUCO rules are the rules we're stuck with.

How is that even possible? If somebody was eligible after high school but sat around for two years, they could play immediately as a true freshman, but if they attend JUCO, they somehow lose their eligibility? That seems crazy. I could understand if their GPA made them ineligible, but it seems 17ing crazy to say somebody was academically qualified to come to a four year school after high school but to assume that attending JUCO makes them less qualified.

[maroonmania]

What do you want Dan to do? Trust his evaluation skills and take a 3 star guy like Gabe or take a 4 star guy that isn't as good in their professional opinion to make our recruiting class look better?

I just don't understand how you can say we are "missing" when Hevesey has recruited every o-lineman we have and as Coach said- 4 of them are going to the NFL and the other guy is a quality SEC player. That's the recruiting people missing- not us.

Dak was a three star too. Should we be mad at Dan for not getting Ryan Buchanan who was a four star guy?

Its apples and oranges you are talking. Yes, we have done well developing a number of guys (including what looks to be 3 starters this year from MS private schools). No question about that and I give props to Hevesy for that. However, we are still offering and not getting a high percentage of what appears to be our top targets on our own recruiting board during the recruiting phase specifically for OL. THAT is the concern here. I mean our OL is pretty decent but how much better would it be if we were getting a few guys that could be developed a little more quickly and who might have higher ceilings. YES, Clausell is a pretty dang good LT now but he was a big liability in his RFR and SO years. A Tunsil type comes in and he doesn't take 3 years to be a solid SEC OL. So we are doing well with the OL recruiting we are doing but if we could just have added 1 or 2 more highly touted guys to put into the mix (that had other legit big time SEC offers) with what we already have we could be a good bit better. And as we are seeing, if getting good JUCO OL into school is going to continue to be an issue, its even that much more important on HS OL recruiting.