With Spring Football Coming to An End...
- Thread starter Dinkle
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without a close second. The Offensive line might not be great but we have enough bodies to be okay. If Smith returns and by some miracle stays heathly for the year then we can be very strong up the middle with Smith, Day and Jackson. I am concerned though that noone was able to takeeither of the tackle positionsoutright.
captaindawg said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Quay going against the 1st team OL? If so how can you feel comfortable about the interior OL when a DT that should still be in HS gets 3 sacks?
You know, when the red and blue talking heads were comparing him to the next Powe. Also, our first team OL was split up between the two teams.
first, I realize that the Rebels are still in disbelief that Quay is actually here and not in high school but he has already gone through strength training, spring practices and is doing very well. He was the best high school defensive tackle in the nation and it shows.
second, Smith was not playing but is rehabbing this spring. However when he has been able to play, he has been one of our best, if not our best offensive lineman.
third,the squads were split. Day was onQuay's team.
fourth, sacks were kept differently for the spring gameso that the quarterbacks were not truly tackled.
fifth, its a spring game and thus a controlledsituation. The coaches are going to mix and match players.
However, we greatly appreciate your concern and questions regarding the MSU football team.
second, Smith was not playing but is rehabbing this spring. However when he has been able to play, he has been one of our best, if not our best offensive lineman.
third,the squads were split. Day was onQuay's team.
fourth, sacks were kept differently for the spring gameso that the quarterbacks were not truly tackled.
fifth, its a spring game and thus a controlledsituation. The coaches are going to mix and match players.
However, we greatly appreciate your concern and questions regarding the MSU football team.
The center was Dylan Holley and the guard was Ben Beckwith. Both of which are less than a year older than Quay.
So, considering neither OL had an SEC offer out of high school, I would expect the number one DT in the country to be ahead of both of them.
So, considering neither OL had an SEC offer out of high school, I would expect the number one DT in the country to be ahead of both of them.
I am not that worried about safety. Maybe I should be, but I believe with Nickoe, hopefully coming back, and the extra DB between Banks, Slay, and Broomfield, we are going to find a way to be OK there. Plus you can can design schemes and offer the safety help if they are not up to par. You can still have a productive defense with a below average defense. However, if your offensive line is not good you can't get a damn first down. If we can't protect Tyler and open a few holes for our running game it will sabotage our entire offense, and we won't care if Jim Varney is playing safety because it won't matter.
Arrington was on the cusp of being a 5-star out of high school. I know he doesn't have any experience what-so-ever but I feel like for the first time in maybe forever we're going to feel the luxury that LSU and Bama have with reloading, at least at safety this season. Not at any other position, unfortunately. A healthy Whitley and a blue chip SEC rFr next to him is going to be ok at worst. I'm not sure where Arrington is on the chart though. I image with his size and linebacker background he'll be a SS and take Mitchell's spot, but maybe someone is #1 in that spot right now or maybe Whitley took the strong spot. After killing it last season I wouldn't be surprised if the latter is true. SS - Whitley FS - .... Watson? My point is we've recruited well there. Assuming a healthy Whitley return we'll be fine. OL is my only concern. And if they're really that bad maybe we can Croom one of our 5584346 hardnose running backs up the middle. Didn't that get Dixon 1000 yards one season behind a lackluster OL?
The O-line has got to step up and protect him. My concern is that I feel like we are 1 injury away from our O-line being about a ****** as they were last year.
Dak look ok during the Spring game but if Tyler goes down it is going to be a very very long season.
Dak look ok during the Spring game but if Tyler goes down it is going to be a very very long season.
My mistake. It was my understanding that Quayzus was running with the first team DL and I thought the first team lines were going against either other is where I got that assumption.
whereisomaha said:
Quay got a few 1st team reps- but Quay is shuffling in with the 2nd group of DT's...Boyd and Virges are the starting DT's
and we mixed the OL's up- I dont like doing that because it takes away from cohesion, but they did it so you have to live with it
The play of our offensive line could be the difference between 6 wins or 9-10 wins. They should be pretty good in 2013, but this year is questionable. We've got the bodies, but many are young and inexperienced. The soft schedule early on could help us gain experience and cohesion. We need Tobias to stay healthy, and we need Clausell, Siddoway, and Robinson to perform well at tackle.
O-Line--- first string should be serviceable assuming Smith is healthy, but if anyone one goes down things could get ugly. I think we've got 3 guys who are fairly even at tackle so I don't feel one injury there will kill us, but we badly need to find a backup for the interior.
Kicker --- needa miracle here
Safety --- I'm not convinced Watson is an SEC caliber player. Whitley needs to not only be healthy, but back in playing shape by this fall. I have not heard a lot of buzz about Arrington or Market. Sounds like Hughes is the other starter here - jury is still out on him.
Depth at QB --- I think Dak will be good, but I don't want him starting. Russell must stay healthy.
Experience at RB --- ton of talent here, but very little experience. I'm mostly concerned with them aiding in pass protection since our OL will likely need all the help they can get.
Kicker --- needa miracle here
Safety --- I'm not convinced Watson is an SEC caliber player. Whitley needs to not only be healthy, but back in playing shape by this fall. I have not heard a lot of buzz about Arrington or Market. Sounds like Hughes is the other starter here - jury is still out on him.
Depth at QB --- I think Dak will be good, but I don't want him starting. Russell must stay healthy.
Experience at RB --- ton of talent here, but very little experience. I'm mostly concerned with them aiding in pass protection since our OL will likely need all the help they can get.
it seems like our incoming punters, PKs, and kickoff guys have big expectations and never meet them. Don't all of our guys routinely boom their kickoffs through the endzone before they get to campus?
Special teams scare the crap out of me this year...
Special teams scare the crap out of me this year...
if we have to play our 3rd QB, then it's just going to be a ****** thing to watch. But hell, would you want to watch Tenn, Vandy, Mississippi, Kentucky, or any other schools like us if they were down to their 3rd QB? You think they want to play their 3rd guy?
but I honestly think it's neck & neck between both spots everybody's mentioning. But an injury situation looms as to which'll be the difference. Tobias is a good O-lineman & Nikoe is equally as good at saftey. Both are game changing type players. But I have to agree w/ something someone else said earlier. Louis Watson is going to have a good bit on his shoulders this year!
Based on the spring game I am most concerned about:
1) Place kicking -- we were missing chip shot field goal.
2) O-line -- still a carryover from last year. Hopefully we have more depth now.
3) Quarterbacks -- Russell looks good. I think the jury is still out on Prescott, he looked very
underwhelming in the first half last saturday. That said, he has plenty of time to develop.
1) Place kicking -- we were missing chip shot field goal.
2) O-line -- still a carryover from last year. Hopefully we have more depth now.
3) Quarterbacks -- Russell looks good. I think the jury is still out on Prescott, he looked very
underwhelming in the first half last saturday. That said, he has plenty of time to develop.
especially relative to consistently making FGs inside of 45 yards. You HAVE to be able to do that to win close games in the SEC. We beat SC last year if we had made the FGs we should have. I hope either Bell or Sobiesk can do that for us because I don't believe Egan will get that done for us on a consistent basis. We need a guy with a strong KO leg but we can't be consistently missing short to mid-range FGs.
My other primary concern is Russell staying healthy because Prescott may be ready to take a few snaps here and there but he is in NO way ready to take the reigns. In my mind he certainly didn't live up to the hype he has been given on this board anyway or even the hype I had heard after some of the bowl scrimmages. A number of his passes were right into the teeth of coverage and were either picked off or should have been picked off. Of course one issue may be that running is a strength with him and from what I saw the QBs really either didn't or weren't allowed to run during the spring game to any degree.
My other primary concern is Russell staying healthy because Prescott may be ready to take a few snaps here and there but he is in NO way ready to take the reigns. In my mind he certainly didn't live up to the hype he has been given on this board anyway or even the hype I had heard after some of the bowl scrimmages. A number of his passes were right into the teeth of coverage and were either picked off or should have been picked off. Of course one issue may be that running is a strength with him and from what I saw the QBs really either didn't or weren't allowed to run during the spring game to any degree.
AustinDawg said:
You comment about Dak being "underwhelming". Would you say he is (at this point) BETTER, WORSE or EVEN w/ where Tyler WAS at the same point (RSfrosh)? My friend & I think he's a little better than where Tyler was 2 yrs ago. I've watched a decent amount of practices this spring & he (by my account) does & has looked slightly better. He's FAR more atheletic than Relf was, and already is a better passer than Relf was or is now. But they ARE changing some stuff on offense this year. Less shotgun and replacing it w/ a "pitlstol" formation. Apparently it's helped Tyler's maturation. But Dak was better in the shotgun than Tyler was. But I didn't go to the spring game, did they run alot of "pistol" formation? Because they have run the hell out of it this spring prior to the game. Almost ALL the plays they ran in the scrimmage on the 13th @ DWS were in pistol.
I'm not sure spring games tell you that much unless somebody is really bad or really, really good. Aside from the obvious differences from game time, it's a pretty small sample.hulkbuster said:
And I also think Russell was better than people realized as a redshirt freshman. This year he spent a lot of the time he played without adequate protection and no standout receivers. Plus the offense wasn't tailored to him. I think if we had been forced to go to him as a redshirt freshman, he would have looked as good as he did this year simply because the protection would have been so much better, even if he would have been worse.
He makes it real easy to make a break and get an interception. He reminds me of Relf during his Junior year. Big time arm and not so great instincts.
Dak looked a whole lot more impressive then. He has thrown some pretty good deep balls, but I think his main problems occur when he tries to go through his progressions. If that first receiver isn't there he seems to panic and rush his throws.