what's up with spring football?

[Uncle Ruckus]

Basketball is making the headlines and baseball has been not shitting the bed, but after eating Chipotle explosive diarrhea bombing the bed, but seriously there is no new from spring practice. WT17? We have a Heisman qb, #11 finish, played in a new years 6 bowl, and I can't find anything on practices. I'm really interested in how the transfers and red shirts are performing. WT17 is going on?

 

[DamnGoodDawg]

Cohen is working with Dak on the drop back bunt, working with our RBs on running directly into contact by avoiding the hole and instructing our safeties and DBs on the art of playing out of position.

 

[msstate7]

Matt Wyatt was very complimentary of fitz yesterday. Said he thinks fitz is 2nd team qb this fall

 

[uptowndawg]

I heard we were still using those damn adidas

footballs that don't throw as far**

 

[BiscuitEater]

Hopefully ..

We will start to get more football news .. now that we have a new basketball coach in place. But then .. BB recruiting will bring more news.

In Spring .. it's hard to tell from the 'depth charts' and reps players are getting; 1st team .. 2nd team etc.. May or may not be able to tell 'how' players are doing compared to others. New positions come into play.

That said, some items ..

Last practice .. Rufus Warren was #1 LT .. #2 Cole Carter; #3 Elgton Jenkins
#1 RT Justin Senior; #2 Ronald Cochran; #3 Martinas Rankin
Lawrence Brown (walk-on) was #3 at one DT position
Tolando Cleveland was #1 CB; Will Redmond #1 at other CB
Jamoral Graham was #2 at one CB; Cedric Jiles #2
Kareem Vance got reps as #2 WR

 

[aTotal360]

Fitz looks good. Kickers are meh. The OL depth chart is frustrating because we have a former TE playing LT and our stud JUCO LT is running 3rd team. Yes, that is subject to change at any point, but frustrating nonetheless. Donald Gray is impressive. Fred Ross is playing slot and is showing out. Gerri Green is a beast. Will Redmond is killing it. Gus "Oh Geez" Walley is the starting TE. Calhoun is now practicing. We don't have a ton of injuries which is a first (jixed it, I know). Dontavian Lee might be showing more than Aeries Williams. Holloway is getting waaaay too many snaps at RB. Malik Dear is running mostly with the WRs (slot).

 

[Seinfeld]

Kickers are meh

I got a chuckle out of this since it's the norm these days, but then I remembered that Sobiesk left the team. We're gonna have to have someone really step up here

 

[Hammer Down]

The OL depth chart is frustrating because we have a former TE playing LT and our stud JUCO LT is running 3rd team. Yes, that is subject to change at any point, but frustrating nonetheless.

Why? I would think the coaches know if Rankin is ready to play the most important position on the line or not.

Speaking of that, is Damien Robinson out there at all? Still hurt?

ETA: After looking at our roster, I am not nearly as concerned about offensive line as you would think we should be after losing 3 starters. Robinson is back, and from all accounts the light has clicked on and he was going to start before he got hurt. We have 2 seniors and a junior slated to start now. All of the other guys vying for PT are also juniors and above. At the very least we have some seniority. Where are Flowers, Thomas and those guys? Surely they are prepped to play. It is also time for Desper and Carter to step up and contribute meaningfully. We have the numbers at the very least.

 

[AFDawg]

+1. Gave me a chuckle.

 

[msstate7]

Why? I would think the coaches know if Rankin is ready to play the most important position on the line or not.

Speaking of that, is Damien Robinson out there at all? Still hurt?

Pretty sure Robinson is practicing

 

[Hammer Down]

Chipotle gives you explosive diarrhea? Something is wrong with your guts, or your local Chipotle.

 

[aTotal360]

Because I would hope that the #1 rated JUCO OT in the wountry could step in immediately. Especially since our starters aren't world beaters. That's probably wishful thinking though. And this isn't a dig at our coaches. I know there are more USM fans than Hevesy fans. I'm 1 of the 10. In Hevesy I trust. And I'm aware Spring practice depth charts don't mean **** either. Just stating opinion.

 

[bulldogbaja]

Last spring I thought fitz looked almost as good as dak. Mullen had also supposedly said that staley is the most talented qb he's ever had. I expect them to battle it out for #2. I guess Williams has the experience but those are two extremely talented guys.

 

[Hammer Down]

Unrealistic expectations for JUCOs, in my opinion. I do not expect any of them to contribute until they are seniors. That is why I got concerned with the baseball team when JUCOs seemingly came in and took over every position.

 

[Seinfeld]

Not to mention that it's not like many JUCOs are going to come in a redshirt(not even sure if they can?), so if you signed one that's not either going to start or at least play a significant backup role, then we've essentially wasted a scholarship and a roster spot.

It's WAY too early to be assuming anything about the roster at this point, but I agree that he either needs to be moving towards starting or else we did a very poor job in evaluations

 

[Hammer Down]

It might be time for Staley to go basketball full-time if he is any good. With Prescott as a senior, Williams as a junior, Fitzgerald as a freshman, and Nick Tiano coming in and likely being redshirted, I think we are good to go there for a while. We already dropped that Chason Vigil guy last year, obviously it is not as much of a priority. Just need to make sure we sign another one in 2016.

I never did like the problems that Staley had with attitude in high school. I guess Mullen was pretty high on him though but what do I know, I always thought Fitzgerald was the real steal.

 

[esplanade91]

Chipotle gives you explosive diarrhea? Something is wrong with your guts, or your local Chipotle.

It's a well known running gag that Chipolte gives you the *****. Sounds like you have the guts of a Viking.

SPRING FOOTBALL?! We're a basketball school!

 

[BiscuitEater]

It depends ..

Not to mention that it's not like many JUCOs are going to come in a redshirt(not even sure if they can?), so if you signed one that's not either going to start or at least play a significant backup role, then we've essentially wasted a scholarship and a roster spot.

JC Players 'can' definitely redshirt in College .. 'if' they have not had a previous RS year. Jocquell Johnson from Co-Lin redshirted at State this past year. Better to redshirt and get prepared .. than to play and not contribute.

 

[bulldogbaja]

Agree to disagree- I think Staley and fitz are 50/50 to be our starter next year. Why on earth would walk away now?

 

[msstate7]

JC Players 'can' definitely redshirt in College .. 'if' they have not had a previous RS year. Jocquell Johnson from Co-Lin redshirted at State this past year. Better to redshirt and get prepared .. than to play and not contribute.

I disagree. Jucos are signed for immediate impact. I would rather sign a HS player if we're gonna be patient with a player.

 

[kired]

Mullen typically does not sign them to redshirt - I'm pretty sure he's said that in the past. Johnson was injured last year, and I think actually had surgery on his shoulder. I don't think Will Coleman made it in until late in the summer. So both were sort of unique cases last year. The only other JUCO to redshirt under Mullen was the OL that never played - Joey Trapp.

If nothing else, Rankin gives us a somewhat experienced player on the depth chart. We'll begin the year with probably one of the least experienced offensive lines in MSU history. I don't expect the starting 5 to be settled anytime soon.

 

[BiscuitEater]

And, you would be wrong ..

I disagree. Jucos are signed for immediate impact. I would rather sign a HS player if we're gonna be patient with a player.

They may be signed to have 'immediate impact' .. but, sometimes they are injured (Jocquell Johnson) and sometimes they arrive too late to get prepared to contribute in the current year (Will Coleman) .. then, it makes sense to RS them. Instead of wasting a year.

In Mullen's philosophy .. we have to sign a couple of JC players every year & we redshirt 'most' Freshmen. He can't do the later without the former. Either that .. or he has to run off tons of players like Saban.

 

[Uncle Ruckus]

Goats can eat and digest anything, hence his name

 

[msstate7]

They may be signed to have 'immediate impact' .. but, sometimes they are injured (Jocquell Johnson) and sometimes they arrive too late to get prepared to contribute in the current year (Will Coleman) .. then, it makes sense to RS them. Instead of wasting a year.

In Mullen's philosophy .. we have to sign a couple of JC players every year & we redshirt 'most' Freshmen. He can't do the later without the former. Either that .. or he has to run off tons of players like Saban.

I doubt we would've got either if we knew they wevent gonna play last year.

 

[121Josey]

Your response added nothing to the previous post. That being said, we have redshirted JUCO players before but that is the exception to the rule. They are expected to come in and compete immediately. The JUCO player is a convenience to fill in a gap for a short period. They have a lower ceiling than a HS player, so as the earlier post stated, it's better to invest in a HS kid.

In my opinion, JUCO's who can't be here for spring practice should not be a priority and kept warm in case of an emergency.

 

[121Josey]

Agree to disagree- I think Staley and fitz are 50/50 to be our starter next year. Why on earth would walk away now?

More like 75/25 Fitz to be our starter next year. Fitz is now two spring practices ahead of Staley and is built closer to what Mullen wants his QB to be. Fitz throws a nice ball but has accuracy issues. He's got another year to correct that.

 

[Digging dog]

4 Solid quarterbacks.... No further comment.