Perkins has ZERO vision...

[HotDiggityDog]

and I don't think that is something you can learn. It seems you either have "it" or you don't. Just finished watching and couldn't believe how bad his reads were during the game. Soooo many wide open spaces...

 

[jwbigcreek]

I haven't rewatched the game, but it appeared the back was waiting on the 3 OL in front of him, instead of sliding around them and getting the 1st down. A defender came in from the other side and tackled him just short.

 

[Todd4State]

I'd like to see us use him on some screen passes and try to get him one on one with someone in space on the outside, and running plays that go to the outside of the tackle box- like an option pitch or something like that. I'd like to see us line him up in the slot some at WR as well as running back.

He's only a RS freshman, so maybe as he develops, he can become more of an in-between the tackles runner, but that's just not him right now.

 

[FlabLoser]

Right now the game is a lot faster than what he's used to playing in high school. As the game slows down for his mind, he could better.

 

[mstatefan88]

In high school, all Perkins had to do was break to the outside, use his speed, and he would be gone. He needs game time to figure out how to hit holes, how to read blocks, and how to read a defense. He used to be able to just outrun everybody. He won't be able to do that in the SEC, and it's going to take him some time to learn that.

 

[FlabLoser]

...said he could get by on ability in high school. But in college needs to learn how to read a seam and sprint through it. Can't just run, juke, and get into the open.

 

[mstatefan88]

He has been terrible in the punt return game because the just sits there and tries to juke and run to the outside. Until he becomes a north south runner on the field, he will continue his problems returning the ball. He does a pretty good jobof making guys miss and staying up when in the open field after a catch, but you have to have a different mentality in the return game. Find the seam, trust it, and explode to it. Perfect example was the Leon Berry kickoff return for a TD. He never broke stride. Found his seam, exploded to it, and once it got to a one on one with the kicker, then he made his juke move to finish the run.

 

[BoDawg.sixpack]

When Croom used to say he left a lot of yards on the field he and I were in full agreement. I think Perkins will come around with experience.

 

[mstatefan88]

We could never get a push off the line, so Dixon just got used to running around the edge because that was his only option for gaining yards. His senior year, the O line finally got him some better running lanes and he was very productive. Now he did leave yards on the field thosefirst few years, but our blocking was beyond piss poor. I would say that if Dixon had the O line from last year his 1st 2 years at State, he could have gotten another 500 or 750 careerrushing yards.

 

[Mr Meoff]

*

 

[MSUCosmo]

There was one play later in the game where he gained about 5 yards, but if he had made one move back to the left he would have run for a 75 yard TD.

 

[kired]

Our best recent o-line was no doubt 2007, his sophomore year. Mike Brown at LT, JD Hamilton, Blackledge plus some quality TEs. Had a ton of experience and fairly decent talent up front that year.

 

[mstatefan88]

He rushed for over 1,000 yards in '07, but onlyaveraged 3.7 yards a carry, as compared to 5.4 yards per carry last year.And to show you that it'snot just the change to Mullen's offense, he had 4.4 yards per carry in Croom's last year in '08.He may have had decent names on the line, but they didn't block well for him. He had to run the ball 280 times that year. That is a ton of carries compared to the number of plays we ran on offense per game in '07, which under Croom was not a lot of offensive plays per game.

 

[Todd4State]

where some of our better players were as freshmen and sophomores like Dixon and tend to remember what they did as juniors and seniors.

Also, I think a lot of people forget or don't realize just how many freshmen and sophomores we are playing right now. In a way, I think it says that for the most part they are at worst functional as players, which is a good thing because people like Perkins are going to be really good when they become juniors and seniors. In a couple of years, we are going to have a very experienced and talented team, which is pretty exciting for us.

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

He got over most of it.
Also, early on, due to our line, he had a reason to dance.

 

[mstatefan88]

The level at which the freshmen and sophomore are playing at right now compared to the freshman and sophomore of 4 or 5 years ago is staggering.

From the '06-'07 roster, here are a few guys that were freshmen or sophomores that were getting playing time:
Trae Rutland, Marcus Washington, Michael Henig, Aubrey Bell, Jamayel Smith, Cortez McCraney, Kyle Love,Keith Fitzhugh.

Now compare that to some freshmen and sophomores getting playing time at those same positions:
Chad Bumphis, Brandon Heavens, Corey Broomfield, Nickoe Whitley, Tyler Russell, Johnthan Banks, Fletcher Cox, Arceto Clark.

The talent difference between the guys playing or starting from 06-07 compared to the talent we have now at those same positions is insane. We are so much better talent-wise now than 4 years ago in terms of impact underclassmen.Just imagine ifthose guys from 4 years ago were the ones getting the playing time of the guys now.We have upgraded our young talentsubstantially over the last 4 years.