...this is my very early assessment of where we stand as a football team by position couched in terms of positives and negatives.
Although it is much too early to make any kind of predictions for next football season, but I don't think it is too early to take a look at units and compare them to last year. Here are my thoughts and if anyone else wants to chime in, please do.
++ QB: Tyson Lee and Chris Relf are more experienced, plus Tyler Russell is coming. We lost no one significant. I think the position is stronger, especially with Russell coming in.
++ RB: Anthony Dixon and Christian Ducre' are both in much better shape than last year. Arnil Stallworth has looked good. Robert Elliot may be ready to go this fall, and Montrell Conner and Ladarius Perkins are due in. This is a stronger position.
- FB: We lost Brandon Hart and Eric Hoskins, both journeymen. The position wasn't a strength last year, but there are no lettermen returning this year. Walkons are doing okay, and Shumpert is due in. Right now it is a slight negative.
+ H-Back: Ducre', Marcus Green, and Stallworth have looked good, plus Green isn't at full speed. Brandon Henderson has also helped here. This is a positive.
--- WR: We lost Jamayel Smith, CoEric Riley, and Aubrey Bell. McRae broke his leg and Wilder has knee cap problems. We only have Delmon Robinson and Arceto Clark healthy and with any experience. Terrance Davis has been added to the group and has looked good. We also added Juco Leon Perry, who has looked pretty solid, and have Chad Bumphis, Chris Smith, and Brandon Heavens due in. This is the current greatest need area of the team and the has to be the biggest negative on offense.
++ OL: We have Derek Sherrod, J.C. Brignone, Quentin Saulsberry back. Craig Jenkins also has started games. Moving Saulsberry inside to guard, plus Addison Lawrence putting on enough weight and doing well at RT has stabilized the line. The new simpler blocking schemes can't do anything but help. There is a lot of young, good looking linemen, but little experience. I think the O-Line will be much better. It couldn't get worse. This is a positive area.
++ TE: Everyone is back, and most are looking pretty good. Kendric Cook has been a positive surprise. Brandon Henderson has done well. Nelson Hurst and Thomas Webb are coming on. The experience here is a positive, even though it is a "young position."
If we can find WR's who are SEC calibre, this offense should be much better. The team practices in a "no huddle" fast paced scheme.
Defense:
+ DL: We lost Cortez McCraney and Jesse Bowman, arguably our two best defensive tackles last year. Fortunately, we added Pernell McPhee, a couple of good redshirt freshmen, and others got bigger and added experience. We also add more speed to the D-Line with the expected newcomers Josh Boyd and Fletcher Cox. This D-Line will be much faster. This is a positive and will be an improvement over last season, when we had little pass rush.
++ LB: We lost Dominic Douglas, who was the best healthy LB we had last year, but return Jamar Chaney, an All SEC, to the team. We also added Chris White, plus K.J. Wright is now 240. Our LB's will be big, fast and strong. The backups are a year older and more experienced. This will be the strength of the defense and a big positive.
- Secondary: We lost Derek Pegues, Keith Fitzhugh, Demond Glanton and Jasper O'Quinn. That is 3 starters and a key reserve who will have to be replaced. Marcus Washington is the only returning starter. We have some good athletes, but we will be much less experienced. Charles Mitchell will make folks forget about Pegues. Zach Smith and Wade Bonner are both solid. We add Dennis Thames, so the safeties will be at least as good. Maurice Langston would have really helped this unit at CB, but his future with MSU is very uncertain. Having a much better pass rush will help. This has to be a big negative until game experience proves otherwise. Anthony Johnson will NOT be back, he will be playing at Jackson State next season.
+++ Special Teams: Our coaching staff is spending a lot of time in practice on special teams. Both Sean Brauchle and Heath Hutchins have been very bright spots in practice. From limited exposure, Brauchle is the best FG kicker I have seen at State in years. Hutchins may be the best punter as well. This is a huge positive. It could be worth 5-10 yards in field position with every punt or kickoff and 3-6 points per game.
I see two areas of real concern. We need game breakers at WR very bad and need good cover corners equally as bad. Otherwise, at this point, I think we are overall a better team than last year. Both are key skill areas, and that has been what Coach Mullen has said all along. The one area I would say we are vastly improved is the coaching, leadership and direction of the program. That one variable can make up for areas we think are problems today.
I'd really like the opinions of others, especially those of you who have been to practices.
Although it is much too early to make any kind of predictions for next football season, but I don't think it is too early to take a look at units and compare them to last year. Here are my thoughts and if anyone else wants to chime in, please do.
++ QB: Tyson Lee and Chris Relf are more experienced, plus Tyler Russell is coming. We lost no one significant. I think the position is stronger, especially with Russell coming in.
++ RB: Anthony Dixon and Christian Ducre' are both in much better shape than last year. Arnil Stallworth has looked good. Robert Elliot may be ready to go this fall, and Montrell Conner and Ladarius Perkins are due in. This is a stronger position.
- FB: We lost Brandon Hart and Eric Hoskins, both journeymen. The position wasn't a strength last year, but there are no lettermen returning this year. Walkons are doing okay, and Shumpert is due in. Right now it is a slight negative.
+ H-Back: Ducre', Marcus Green, and Stallworth have looked good, plus Green isn't at full speed. Brandon Henderson has also helped here. This is a positive.
--- WR: We lost Jamayel Smith, CoEric Riley, and Aubrey Bell. McRae broke his leg and Wilder has knee cap problems. We only have Delmon Robinson and Arceto Clark healthy and with any experience. Terrance Davis has been added to the group and has looked good. We also added Juco Leon Perry, who has looked pretty solid, and have Chad Bumphis, Chris Smith, and Brandon Heavens due in. This is the current greatest need area of the team and the has to be the biggest negative on offense.
++ OL: We have Derek Sherrod, J.C. Brignone, Quentin Saulsberry back. Craig Jenkins also has started games. Moving Saulsberry inside to guard, plus Addison Lawrence putting on enough weight and doing well at RT has stabilized the line. The new simpler blocking schemes can't do anything but help. There is a lot of young, good looking linemen, but little experience. I think the O-Line will be much better. It couldn't get worse. This is a positive area.
++ TE: Everyone is back, and most are looking pretty good. Kendric Cook has been a positive surprise. Brandon Henderson has done well. Nelson Hurst and Thomas Webb are coming on. The experience here is a positive, even though it is a "young position."
If we can find WR's who are SEC calibre, this offense should be much better. The team practices in a "no huddle" fast paced scheme.
Defense:
+ DL: We lost Cortez McCraney and Jesse Bowman, arguably our two best defensive tackles last year. Fortunately, we added Pernell McPhee, a couple of good redshirt freshmen, and others got bigger and added experience. We also add more speed to the D-Line with the expected newcomers Josh Boyd and Fletcher Cox. This D-Line will be much faster. This is a positive and will be an improvement over last season, when we had little pass rush.
++ LB: We lost Dominic Douglas, who was the best healthy LB we had last year, but return Jamar Chaney, an All SEC, to the team. We also added Chris White, plus K.J. Wright is now 240. Our LB's will be big, fast and strong. The backups are a year older and more experienced. This will be the strength of the defense and a big positive.
- Secondary: We lost Derek Pegues, Keith Fitzhugh, Demond Glanton and Jasper O'Quinn. That is 3 starters and a key reserve who will have to be replaced. Marcus Washington is the only returning starter. We have some good athletes, but we will be much less experienced. Charles Mitchell will make folks forget about Pegues. Zach Smith and Wade Bonner are both solid. We add Dennis Thames, so the safeties will be at least as good. Maurice Langston would have really helped this unit at CB, but his future with MSU is very uncertain. Having a much better pass rush will help. This has to be a big negative until game experience proves otherwise. Anthony Johnson will NOT be back, he will be playing at Jackson State next season.
+++ Special Teams: Our coaching staff is spending a lot of time in practice on special teams. Both Sean Brauchle and Heath Hutchins have been very bright spots in practice. From limited exposure, Brauchle is the best FG kicker I have seen at State in years. Hutchins may be the best punter as well. This is a huge positive. It could be worth 5-10 yards in field position with every punt or kickoff and 3-6 points per game.
I see two areas of real concern. We need game breakers at WR very bad and need good cover corners equally as bad. Otherwise, at this point, I think we are overall a better team than last year. Both are key skill areas, and that has been what Coach Mullen has said all along. The one area I would say we are vastly improved is the coaching, leadership and direction of the program. That one variable can make up for areas we think are problems today.
I'd really like the opinions of others, especially those of you who have been to practices.
