Talent on our 1st string

[Seinfeld]

Offense

QB - One 4-star
OL - Two 2-star, three 3-star
RB/FB - One 3-star, one unrated
WR - Two 3-star, one 4-star
TE - One 3 -star

Defense

DL - One 3-star, three 4-star
LB - One 2-star, two 3-star
Secondary - Two 2-star, two 3-star

This may not come as much of a shock to anyone else, but I was a little surprised to see the makeup of our starting lineup from a recruiting ranking standpoint. I guess that due to the fact that Mullen has clearly picked up his recruiting game during the last couple years, it's easy to forget that many of those highly rated guys are still working their way up through the depth chart. I wonder how many other SEC teams have 75% of their starting 22 guys made up of 2 and 3 star kids. Not to mention that this data came from Scout which tends to be a little kinder to us than Rivals most years.

Anyway, I still don't feel like there's much reason to give up hope on this program. The talent gap between ourselves and the upper tier is clear, but it's being gradually closed by good recruiting, coaching, and smart red-shirting. We're not going to get many kids that are ready to play right out of HS, but the coaching staff has proven that it can get kids ready after a year or two when given time.

On a slightly sour note, there is NO excuse for our D-line to be struggling like this. That either needs to get fixed or someone's head needs to roll.

 

[Railin Jemmye]

I still don't feel like there's much reason to give up hope on this program.

Any MSU fan who is even close to this level needs to blow their brains out.

Give up hope? Seriously? I can't be any more happier about where our program is.

 

[AlSwearengen]

half of these 17ers around here will just respond with something like "stars are overrated" or some other odd ****. I think the collective dumbassery of our fanbase is taking a bigger toll on me than any of our losses have. I just don't have the energy to finish this post.

 

[esplanade91]

I agree with the DL, but a lot of that is not getting any run support from the second level. Mitchell, preinjury Whitley, and Wilson were huge when it came to stuffing the box. Then you lose the best DT in school history and don't have an immediate replacement because the two guys you brought in aren't in good enough shape.

Not making any excuses, but I think a lot of people are over stressing.

If Coach Wilson would quit playing the best cover corner in college football 20 feet off his receiver and plug the right personnel instead of starting Cherrington against aTm we'd be a lot better.

Bring on the two Browns!

 

[TUSK.sixpack]

I'll finish it for you buddy... "stars" matter.... a lot.

they don't guarantee success, but a lack of em almost certainly brings mediocrity....

 

[Coach34]

half of these 17ers around here will just respond with something like "stars are overrated" or some other odd ****. I think the collective dumbassery of our fanbase is taking a bigger toll on me than any of our losses have. I just don't have the energy to finish this post.

no ****...we have a chance to win 5 SEC games for the 1st time since 1999- and people here act like we are 5-5 or some ****

SEC teams we beat in 1998 to go to Atlanta:

South Carolina 1-10 (0-8)
Vandy 2-9 (1-7)
Auburn 3-8 (1-7)
Bammer 7-5 (4-4)
Mississippi- 7-5 (3-5)
UPig 9-3 (6-2)

We lost to 4-7 LSU and 7-5 Kentucky

We won the West and we were probably the 4th best team in the SEC that year with a record of 8-4. Now? 6 SEC teams are in the top 10- never happened before

What Mullen faces and what previous coaches have faced aren't even close

 

[Coach 57]

See this is that dumb **** I keep talking about. Espalande91 why the 17 would you do that when you yourself JUST mentioned poor play from the DL? How long do expect JB to man-press an SEC WR on the boundary side when the QB is still standing and doesn't have pressure? Do you know how hard that is? Any 17ing clue at all? No CB including Revis can stay with a almost equally talented WR for more than 5 seconds. When sacks don't occur then the play breaks down then film that JB has studied goes out of the window. I mean some of you "defensive genius'" need to pick up a 17ing clue! And the problem right now with the interior of our DL is Quay is outplaying Cherrington but he doesn't know what he's doing in his assignment! There's more to being a 2 technique DT than just going straight but I wouldn't expect you dumb 17s to know that hell you act like we can play bump & run and man 17ing press all day! GTFO!

 

[AlSwearengen]

hell, half of them can't understand why a rb coach is recruiting a linebacker. You are really getting above their heads with this one.

 

[Coach 57]

Lol this ^^^^^^^^

 

[Coach34]

hell, half of them can't understand why a rb coach is recruiting a linebacker. You are really getting above their heads with this one.

I laughed out loud at that...no kidding

 

[KurtRambis4]

Great post**

*

 

[CookieMonster.sixpack]

I'll finish it for you buddy... "stars" matter.... a lot.

they don't guarantee success, but a lack of em almost certainly brings mediocrity....

Johnny Manziel...3 Star...looked pretty good last week. Just sayin'

 

[esplanade91]

Reading comprehension. I stated IN my post that our DL is the most under performing unit on the field.

We've played one game with "equally talented WR's" all season, but Banks played off receivers from the powerhouses of MTSU, USA, and Troy. And it's not just him. Our secondary all together has been in Bum17, Egypt.

When aTm subs like that and you don't make any substitutions and you insist on starting a stereotypical 3-4 NT, it's a scheme issue. Going back to the red zone pass TD to Cooper in the Alabama game, what the hell was that? Where was Cam? In the first 6 games against teams we easily outmanned I thought it was by design so no one would have any game film. Against Tennessee I started to question it. Alabama exposed it. I thought we were giving Cherrington PT as a "thanks for walking on, we'll give you some starts your senior year".

I think when you have two defensive line classes like we've had the last two seasons and have them available and we've had the lack of success in the trenches we've thoroughly enjoying, yeah, it's frustrating. But it's deeper than "they suck". Last year would have looked a lot like this year if we didn't have a DT who could start for the Eagles purely just manhandling opposing linemen.

To boot the DL has been the victim of the SPS hype machine.

Have a great day.

 

[kired]

Interesting way to look at things. Just for comparison I looked up Bama & LSU rankings.

If you add up the stars of current starters on offense & defense, they are both on average about 0.75 - 1 star better per starter than we are. I know it's not surprising... just the way it is.

Texas A&M is about 5 stars better on offense but 5 stars worse on defense. That's considering Manzeil was a 3-star and starting DT Spencer Nealy was apparently a nobody out of highschool, not even ranked by scout. So overall we're equal as whole teams.

Might be interesting to see how we compare to UM but don't have time to look it up.