Sucks that spring ball is over, but we have good things to look forward to for the upcoming football season. I went to several practices and the spring game. Position break-down for the offense:
QB - Relf has showed steady improvement under Mullen. He should be one of the better QBs in the SEC this year. Never thought I would say that. There is a battle for that number two spot between Lil Favre and Russell. Favre has more mobility and seems to have the respect of the team. Russell has the measurables and a good arm, but things seem to click slowly for him. Prescott has a similar build to Relf, but is way ahead of where Relf was as a true freshman. Thanks Croom. Prescott is our future QB for our spread system. This is the best group of QBs that we have had at State in a looooong time. I cant remember the last time we had four (SEC caliber) scholarship QBs on one team.
RB - We will have the same running back rotation as we had last year, just with more experience for each player. Ballard will be the horse again and put up nice rushing numbers. Perkins will be more involved this year. He is a great scat back type but has power to go with speed, and he catches the ball well out of the backfield. Elliot will do fine spelling Perk and VB. I am disappointed that Griffin had the torn ACL, was looking forward to seeing him get some carries this season. He's ripped and you can tell Balis is working wonders with him. Who knows maybe he can contribute towards the end of the season if need be.
WR - The entire WR group looks good and much improved this spring. We should see way more production out of this unit this year. You know what your going to get out of Bumphis and Heavens in the slot. Lewis will add depth at the slot with a whole lot of quickness. On the outside Smith has a good blend of size, speed, blocking and route running ability. R. Johnson had a huge spring game and also has good size and speed. Sanders looked the most improved from last year and I expect good things from ol Ricco this year. He can play outside and in the slot. Clark has the best ball skills of all the WRs and shows consistent hands catching the ball. Dont forget Carr, he has some experience under his belt and possibly has the most natural athletic ability of the group. No seniors so they will all be here for two more seasons.
TE - Hopefully Green can remain healthy this year and be a big contributor to our offense this year. Hill has looked good in practice and is a perfect fit for a spread TE. M. Johnson is a guy who can play WR and TE. He had some very nice catches in practices and I look for him to take advantage of match-ups against LBs. Cook returns and will be effective blocking in our running game. A mix of experience and youth but very talented group.
OL - No question this is the position group on offense with the most question marks. I share this concern with most State fans. We have four starters that have played a lot of football in Lawrence, Smith, Jackson, and Saulsberry. The experience of those four big guys will help ease the loss of Sherrod and Brignone. It looks like Carmon and Clausell will battle it out for the LT spot. The practices I observed Carmon looked a little better, but he would do very well on one play and very bad on the next one. He would looked lost on some of the plays. Hopefully he will learn the playbook over the summer and be ready to step up and be the starter in the fall. If not Clausell would be serviceable at LT but either way there will be some drop off from this position with Sherrod gone. Depth is OK along the OL. Hardy has finally settled into one position and has emerged as a good back up at either guard spot. Day can play center or guard and will see some snaps this year. Beckwith has looked solid at G. Muniz looked very good backing up the RT spot in spring practice. Would like to see Robinson step up and play better, he has definitely got the size to play, but needs to put it all together.
I have been a SPS lurker for years and decided it was time to post. I know it is a little long, but I love talking MSU football.
QB - Relf has showed steady improvement under Mullen. He should be one of the better QBs in the SEC this year. Never thought I would say that. There is a battle for that number two spot between Lil Favre and Russell. Favre has more mobility and seems to have the respect of the team. Russell has the measurables and a good arm, but things seem to click slowly for him. Prescott has a similar build to Relf, but is way ahead of where Relf was as a true freshman. Thanks Croom. Prescott is our future QB for our spread system. This is the best group of QBs that we have had at State in a looooong time. I cant remember the last time we had four (SEC caliber) scholarship QBs on one team.
RB - We will have the same running back rotation as we had last year, just with more experience for each player. Ballard will be the horse again and put up nice rushing numbers. Perkins will be more involved this year. He is a great scat back type but has power to go with speed, and he catches the ball well out of the backfield. Elliot will do fine spelling Perk and VB. I am disappointed that Griffin had the torn ACL, was looking forward to seeing him get some carries this season. He's ripped and you can tell Balis is working wonders with him. Who knows maybe he can contribute towards the end of the season if need be.
WR - The entire WR group looks good and much improved this spring. We should see way more production out of this unit this year. You know what your going to get out of Bumphis and Heavens in the slot. Lewis will add depth at the slot with a whole lot of quickness. On the outside Smith has a good blend of size, speed, blocking and route running ability. R. Johnson had a huge spring game and also has good size and speed. Sanders looked the most improved from last year and I expect good things from ol Ricco this year. He can play outside and in the slot. Clark has the best ball skills of all the WRs and shows consistent hands catching the ball. Dont forget Carr, he has some experience under his belt and possibly has the most natural athletic ability of the group. No seniors so they will all be here for two more seasons.
TE - Hopefully Green can remain healthy this year and be a big contributor to our offense this year. Hill has looked good in practice and is a perfect fit for a spread TE. M. Johnson is a guy who can play WR and TE. He had some very nice catches in practices and I look for him to take advantage of match-ups against LBs. Cook returns and will be effective blocking in our running game. A mix of experience and youth but very talented group.
OL - No question this is the position group on offense with the most question marks. I share this concern with most State fans. We have four starters that have played a lot of football in Lawrence, Smith, Jackson, and Saulsberry. The experience of those four big guys will help ease the loss of Sherrod and Brignone. It looks like Carmon and Clausell will battle it out for the LT spot. The practices I observed Carmon looked a little better, but he would do very well on one play and very bad on the next one. He would looked lost on some of the plays. Hopefully he will learn the playbook over the summer and be ready to step up and be the starter in the fall. If not Clausell would be serviceable at LT but either way there will be some drop off from this position with Sherrod gone. Depth is OK along the OL. Hardy has finally settled into one position and has emerged as a good back up at either guard spot. Day can play center or guard and will see some snaps this year. Beckwith has looked solid at G. Muniz looked very good backing up the RT spot in spring practice. Would like to see Robinson step up and play better, he has definitely got the size to play, but needs to put it all together.
I have been a SPS lurker for years and decided it was time to post. I know it is a little long, but I love talking MSU football.
