Rating the SEC- LB'ers

[Coach34]

1. Auburn- All 3 starters return led by Craig Stevens

2. Alabama- best coached group in the SEC and lots of talent. Hightower returns from injury to lead this talented but inexperienced group

3. Georgia- experienced group led by Justin Houston switches to a 3-4.

4. State- may be a little sheepish here, but this group is going to be damn good. KJ Wright is going to make an All-SEC list and and Chris White can run like a safety. Cam Lawrence will be key to this group being great

5. LSU- Kelvin Sheppard is the best MLB in the SEC. He will have some good players around him.

6. Florida- AJ Jones leads a talented, but inexperienced group in Gainesville.

7. SC- lost their best LB in Norwood, but will be well-coached and return leading tackler Shaq Wilson

8. Mississippi- pretty good group led by Allen Walker

9. Tennessee- Lost best LB in McCoy, but return an experienced group

10. Arkansas- only decent part of their defense that returns their #1 and #3 tacklers

11. Vandy- Chris Marve is a pretty good SEC LB

12. Kentucky- Lost their 2 best LB'ers

 

[Coach34]

1. Auburn- All 3 starters return led by Craig Stevens

2. Alabama- best coached group in the SEC and lots of talent. Hightower returns from injury to lead this talented but inexperienced group

3. Georgia- experienced group led by Justin Houston switches to a 3-4.

4. State- may be a little sheepish here, but this group is going to be damn good. KJ Wright is going to make an All-SEC list and and Chris White can run like a safety. Cam Lawrence will be key to this group being great

5. LSU- Kelvin Sheppard is the best MLB in the SEC. He will have some good players around him.

6. Florida- AJ Jones leads a talented, but inexperienced group in Gainesville.

7. SC- lost their best LB in Norwood, but will be well-coached and return leading tackler Shaq Wilson

8. Mississippi- pretty good group led by Allen Walker

9. Tennessee- Lost best LB in McCoy, but return an experienced group

10. Arkansas- only decent part of their defense that returns their #1 and #3 tacklers

11. Vandy- Chris Marve is a pretty good SEC LB

12. Kentucky- Lost their 2 best LB'ers

 

[Coach34]

1. Auburn- All 3 starters return led by Craig Stevens

2. Alabama- best coached group in the SEC and lots of talent. Hightower returns from injury to lead this talented but inexperienced group

3. Georgia- experienced group led by Justin Houston switches to a 3-4.

4. State- may be a little sheepish here, but this group is going to be damn good. KJ Wright is going to make an All-SEC list and and Chris White can run like a safety. Cam Lawrence will be key to this group being great

5. LSU- Kelvin Sheppard is the best MLB in the SEC. He will have some good players around him.

6. Florida- AJ Jones leads a talented, but inexperienced group in Gainesville.

7. SC- lost their best LB in Norwood, but will be well-coached and return leading tackler Shaq Wilson

8. Mississippi- pretty good group led by Allen Walker

9. Tennessee- Lost best LB in McCoy, but return an experienced group

10. Arkansas- only decent part of their defense that returns their #1 and #3 tacklers

11. Vandy- Chris Marve is a pretty good SEC LB

12. Kentucky- Lost their 2 best LB'ers

 

[tenureplan]

White is good but hasn't proved he can play middle in the SEC and KJ is a beast; but Toast Jr has a lot to prove.</p>

 

[rebelrouseri]

than 8 games this year since you are top half of the SEC in virtually every category.

 

[therightway]

I really thought that he would have jumped into the mix. I have not seen Lawarence play other than getting knocked around on special teams last year. Did Lawarence improve in the spring?

 

[Coach34]

Florida? They lost Spikes, Doe, and Stamper and only return their #9 and #11 tacklers on the team

LSU? they return Sheppard and a bunch of guys that haven't played

SC? Lost Norwood and Sinclair, return Wilson

Mississippi? got a good group but not quite as good as ours

 

[RobbieRandolph]

**** happens.

 

[Coach34]

than 8 games this year since you are top half of the SEC in virtually every category.

except at QB and WR, which happen to be pretty damn important positions...and should we get good play there, we just might win 8


**edited to add**- make no mistake Rebel- this is the best team we have had since 2000...if we had your schedule, we would win 9-10 this year

 

[jackstefano]

Florida and OM clearly have better LB personnel. I couldrate LSU ahead of y'all based on talent alone, but I won't. I agree with the other reb poster that this is probably about as wooly as you've gotten.</p>

 

[Coach34]

Fla is one thing, but they are still unproven

Mississippi doesnt have anybody as good as KJ Wright, and White's speed is going to make him a very good MLB...and with a more aggressive, blitzing scheme, Lawrence will be just fine

 

[JohnnyAppleseed]

is currently second string behind Gatling.

 

[Dollabillz]

can come here, tell us how bad MSU sucks, and sit behind a fake wall of "objectiveness". It'd be OK if they EVER gave MSU credit for anything. And the few instances they do, they imply that Ole Miss is still a step ahead. Whether it be recruiting, schedule, coaching, etc.

It's really insane that they are allowed to do this daily, yet anyone who calls ********, is called a sheep or stupid or whatever.</p> ETA: I know I'll get accused of ruining the thread by one of the self proclaimed objectivists while again it was another guy who started the derailment with an extreme viewpoint of MSU's biggest rival.

 

[Dollabillz]

whether it be about State or Ole Miss or whoever.

I may not agree with him about what MSU's stance should be about Stansbury, or whether or not we'll miss Anthony Dixon, but I can certainly see the basis behind his arguments. Point being, I don't think his analyses are as far off base as you'd like them to be.

 

[babbleBrebel]

State has basically no proven skill position players coming back this year. You lost the only real NFL talent you have produced in awhile at two of the most important positions on the field. Your defense might be solid, but it will still be about 7th best in the SEC even if everything goes to plan.

Just for the record I've got ya'll at6-6 if you beat Auburn andOMat 7-5 for the year, but we could easily be 6-6 as well. And yes, I realize our schedule is much easier than ya'lls. But things like that are cyclical and our schedules in 2011 and 2012 are absolutely ridiculous.</p>

 

[rebelrouseri]

is in the upper echelon of the SEC in every category.

 

[jackstefano]

Totally agree that he's not a homer, or at least generally controls his tendencies pretty well in that regard. And I've actually commented on some of his other position rating threads that I agreed with his analysis. I just think it's a stretch to rate the LB corps ahead of Florida, LSU and Ole Miss. As I mentioned earlier, there might be an argument that LSU's LB'ers have some things to prove before getting rated higher. I guess I could be wrong, but I've not read any positional analyses which places your LB's that high.

 

[Coach34]

we aren't at QB, WR, or in the Secondary

 

[Dollabillz]

and they've been starting for awhile. Are they as good as White and Wright? I don't know, I didn't watch your LBers that close. I don't really know who the 3rd backer is for either team.

All I know is Wright seems to get hyped up by alot of people and White can fly (not for a white guy, he's just fast as hell in general).

 

[coach66]

**

 

[Dollabillz]

you and Extremedog should party.

 

[thunderclap]

and that is also your season preview. And do you even know what a Rosebowl prediction really is, because nothing on this board comes close.

 

[jackstefano]

I'll trade secondaries with you. I actually think the strength of your secondary and DL makes up for what I perceive to be an average LB group. I think statistically y'all could easily have a better defense than OM because of your secondary, even though OM's DL and LB'ers are in my opinion a little better than y'alls.</p>

 

[patdog]

I think our DL isn't far behind yours and our LBs are equal to yours. Our secondary is a good bit better. For what it's worth, the coaches All-SEC team is out. UM devense has Powe on 1st team, MSU's has McPhee and Wright on 2nd team.

 

[olemissbydamn]

If both of your were to go back to the pasture (a place where an OM poster got banned for an article he wrote despite having never posted there), you could fluff each other all day. And nobody would miss you.

 

[Coach34]

no Rosebowl-type predictions going on.

1. We are simply better on the OL and DL than we have been in 10 years. And anybody that knows football knows how important that is.

2. While we don't scare anyone with our skill players, they are used extremely well. Much like Paul Johnson at GaTech, Mullen does a great job with his system. We don't run a few "wild-whatever" plays like other teams do- we make a committment to the offense. And just like GaTech, Air Force, and Navy, it allows less talented players to succeed on the college level. Relf is a workhorse running the option, we have solid RB's (name the last time State hasnt had a good RB in the backfield??), and Bumphis caught 32 passes as a true Freshman. Green is a good TE....simply, the offense will be improved

3. Much like the Rebels, our defensive front will be good. There are questions in the Secondary. But even that group, which was terrible to start last season- made some huge plays the 2nd half of the season with TD's against Tebow and Snead.

4. Realistically, State should be a 6-6 team due to schedule, but could win as many as 8 in 2010. That's not being sheepish at all for a team that won 5 games last season and will be improved this season.

 

[patdog]

We will be a much better team than we have been in the past decade. The schedule is a killer though. I think we go into the Egg Bowl 6-5, with that game being close to a tossup. Gotta go with the home team in this rivalry, so that puts us at 6-6, same as Mississippi finishes. Swap the schedules and we're 8-4 while they're 4-8. Thankfully, Byrne knew how to put a non-conference schedule together and he left us set through 2016 there.

 

[Coach34]

Totally agree that he's not a homer, or at least generally controls his tendencies pretty well in that regard. And I've actually commented on some of his other position rating threads that I agreed with his analysis. I just think it's a stretch to rate the LB corps ahead of Florida, LSU and Ole Miss. As I mentioned earlier, there might be an argument that LSU's LB'ers have some things to prove before getting rated higher. I guess I could be wrong, but I've not read any positional analyses which places your LB's that high.

tied for 6th with Mississippi and LSU tied for 8th. He has Fla and SC ahead of us, and that may end up being true- but considering the talent that was lost last year for those 2 teams, I'm going to put us ahead of them to start the season.

 

[AlCoDog]

Beat it, Nerd!

 

[codeDawg]

You do realize that this is a MSU fan board right?

If you want to sit around and talk **** about State all day, there is this place called NAFOOM you can go to, but they are usually too busy figuring out how to not look like such a *** in the grove around there to talk about sports.

 

[olemissbydamn]

I think our DL isn't far behind yours and our LBs are equal to yours. Our secondary is a good bit better. For what it's worth, the coaches All-SEC team is out. UM devense has Powe on 1st team, MSU's has McPhee and Wright on 2nd team.

I realize that we are bringing in a new safety andnew CBs.

But let'slook athow we stacked up in the SEClast year...

Soring defense:
OM 4th
MSU11th

Total defense:
OM 4th
MSU 10th

Rushing defense:
OM 6th
MSU7th

Passing defense:
OM 6th
MSU 11th

Pass Defense Eff:
OM 3rd
MSU 10th

Interceptions:
OM 4th
MSU 7th

Sacks:
OM 2nd
MSU 11th

Opp First Downs:
OM 4th
MSU 5th

Opp 3rdDown Conv:
OM 1st
MSU 12th

I don't post all of this to makea stupid argument that our defense is better or worse.

I post it to say that even if your secondary is supposedly better (how do we know...we haven't played yet), you have a long way to go to close the gap in defense.

 

[olemissbydamn]

You do realize that this is a MSU fan board right?

If you want to sit around and talk **** about State all day, there is this place called NAFOOM you can go to, but they are usually too busy figuring out how to not look like such a *** in the grove around there to talk about sports.

I've been here for a little over 7 years now. So I kind of understand things around here.

 

[Tomas Smid]

I read an interesting post on another site wherein the poster pointed out that in his opinion State's schedule is very difficult every year. His research indicated that over the past 100 years, State has averaged 4 wins a season. Thus, his conclusion was there haven't been too many years when the schedule could be considered manageable.

 

[Dollabillz]

1) If you're bringing in new personnel,why do last year's stats matter?

2) MSU's stats are skewed by personnel who were benched halfway through the season.

3) MSU fans may be getting a little wooly about DBs because of a few long pick 6's last year. At the same time, players make plays, and our secondary got shored up in a hurry when Banks, Langston and Broomfield started playing more while Toast and Anderson sat the bench. Washington, who graduated, wasn't particularly good either - McCluster might disagree with that, though.

So what was your point again? Oh, I know, just call me a sheep, say it doesn't matter because I'm Goat, etc. etc. etc. You're still a douchebag homer 17-tard.

 

[Dollabillz]

and it goes back to how people say we've only been good when the SEC has been down. ****, let's face it, if we're going to be good, we're going to have to beat other SEC teams - whether it's Alabam, Florida, or Vanderbilt. Doesn't matter, you're going to have to win 4 or 5 SEC games to be considered "good".

So WTF, our schedule's hard because we play SEC teams? Well we have to beat them anyway, the SEC is what it is. The problem is, playing the Houston's and Georgia Tech's of the world. I think we should play 2 DAA's and Memphis and Tulane every year.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

[No message]

 

[Coach34]

it's not always as simple as viewing stats. Goat mentioned we made some changes on defense that helped us get a little better in the 2nd half of the season. But we also have made a scheme change that is going to help as well. Teams racked up some yardage on Torbush's sit back and react defense. Auburn racked up nearly 600 yards against what was the worst defensive gameplan I have ever seen.

Also, I think you are going to see a better 3rd down conversion rate from our offense- which of course leads to more TOP, which also helps the defense.

 

[Dollabillz]

Your boy said 8 games not me. We're talking about linebackers, fagboy.

But if you want to bet on something, let'sfind something that I myself have been talking **** about, not some made upgarbage that you're trying to pin on me.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

[No message]

 

[jbulldog]

nothing sheepish about it. Will we win 8 games....doubtful...unless we avoid injuries and get a high level of play from the QB position as well as WR.