Individual Player Expectations Discussion

[FreeDawg]

Feel free to add any I leave off or discuss mine. Most of my opinion is based on seeing these guys practice multiple times in the spring and how they are performing now.

Living up to expectations
QB- Tyler and Dak are playing up to and over expectations. Very pleased here
LDP- Was the best RB by far in the spring and is showing it. The young guys playing well too. (149 total yards a game average, 8 td)
Bumphis- Finally playing the way we thought he should (30 rec 486 yards 6 td)
Malcolm Johnson- in limited time back from injury he is showing why we were excited. Needs to finish strong (in 3 games- 3 catches 47 yards and 1 circus td)
Dillion Day- looking like we are set at center for 2 1/2 more years
Blaine Clausell- Put him here because he looked improve then and is showing better this year. Took his lumps last week but his trajectory is encouraging
Gabe Jackson- Living up to the hype so far. Our best lineman
Benardrick McKinney- he looked the part in spring and gets better every week. Very excited about this kid

Been disappointing so far
Chris Smith- no doubt our most physical receiver and has played better of late but ball security has been suspect (29 catches 366 yards 2 td. Decent stats but the fumbles)
Jameon Lewis- looked poised for a breakout but seems like the same problems: ball security and some drops (8 catches 88 yards)
Joe Morrow- in the spring he looked like our missing piece on offense but has resembled a deer in the head lights this fall (4 catches 40 yards 0 td)
Damien Robinson- was hyped as had made a "big jump". Didnt see it then and routinely gets beat in limited action
Denico Autry- looked decent in the spring and doesnt appear to have caught up yet. Dont think we have to worry about him going pro at all (2 sack 5.5 TFL)
Kaleb Eulls- 12 tackles and 1 TFL. Good lord he makes zero impact on a game
Josh Boyd- not very active/not much disruption in his sr year (15 tacles 1.5 TFL 1 sack)


Dewayne Cherrington situation
A lot on this board have been very critical on Cherrington. I will say this. As a senior walkon, he is performing in games up to the expectations I had after spring: hard working space eater but not a game changer. The DT situation perplexes me. PJ Jones and Curtis Virges both seem poised for a big year. Dewayne isnt playing because he's the most talented, he's doing what is asked of him. I divert most of my frustration to Virges and Jones. What the 17 are you 2 doing that is allowing Dewayne to get all the reps. They need to get their talented asses in gear and relegate Dewayne to where he needs to be, a rotation player.

 

[cheewgumm]

All players - to eat lightning and crap thunder.

Thanks rock.

 

[FlabLoser]

I think Autry is doing fine. He is following the McPhee path. Takes half a season for a Juco to catch on then he gets better and better quick. I think he has done ok the last 2-3 games and I expect him to be leaps and bounds better as the season goes on,

 

[Todd4State]

Autry was so hyped

It was going to be hard for him to live up to expectations. Morrow is my biggest disappointment as well. Robert Johnson looks like he is emerging and is improving as well. I'm really pleased with Quay Evans and I think he should start over Cherrington. McKinney has been a very pleasant surprise to me- I thought he would be good, but not leading SEC freshmen in tackles good.

 

[FlabLoser]

I also think Quay should start over Cherrington.

And I'd like to see Nick James get a carry at the goal line.

 

[FreeDawg]

I also think Quay should start over Cherrington.

And I'd like to see Nick James get a carry at the goal line.

With Quay its got to be a deal where he doesnt always know where to line up or something. But seriously, what is Virges problem? He looked like the guy in the spring and has been nonexistent this fall. Major dissafpointment

 

[FreeDawg]

We use the "Pernell took a while to get going" a lot. Here are his stats his first year in 09'

TFL= first 4 games(1.5), games 5 thru 8(6), games 9 thru 12(4.5). Thats a total of 12 TFL. It is slightly skewed toward the end of the year but he made over half of his TFL in 2 games. In game 5 vs GT he had 3.5 TFL and in game 11 vs Arky he had 3 TFL. Denico could catch up but its gonna take a hell of a turn around. Pernell was better after a few games under his belt but he was relatively steady in his first year. I agree with Flab for the most part but I dont think Denico is Pernell's caliber to this point

 

[Lawdawg.sixpack]

And I'd like to see Nick James get a carry at the goal line.

This is our refrigerator. I wholeheartedly agree. At least put him at fullback and send LDP or whoever right behind his big *** on the goalline. Or JBanks and tell him to fly over the pile. Use what you have to create options. Those plays don't take much practice time.

 

[AT4 Dawg]

Preston Smith has gone beyond my expectations. He has gone from being a 3rd string DE to leading the team in sacks. Honestly, I would not be surprised to see him as the starter soon.

Jamerson Love has stepped up his game a lot, and I think he was a big reason for us beating UT.

Also, Josh Robinson has been a very solid number 2 RB. I know his numbers arent gaudy, but he has been very dependable.

 

[studentdawg87]

Smith will end up being the best pass-rushing DE we've had since Titus. He needs to continue to add weight, but he's been our our threat off the edge this year.

RoJo and Malcolm Johnson are both going to be really good players for us.

Tubby is the most explosive player on the team, but he is a huge disappointment up 'till this point. Morrow is as well. He put on a show at times in the spring.

Love is average. Very average. Jiles was playing well before getting hurt. He will be good.

Siddoway, considering he was on down the list of JUCO guys we wanted, has performed admirably. Bama game aside, I've been pleased with Clausell. He has a ton of upside.

Day is good. No problems there. Same for Gabe. And Tobias, when he is healthy.

RBs have all been fine. We're set here for the next few years.

Nickoe still isn't 100%. He'll be better next year. Broomfield, with the exception of his freshman year, has been underwhelming.

Arrington needs to start showing something, as does Jay Hughes.

Eulls sucks. It's too early to tell on Autry. Virges and P.J. have been disappointing. Quay has tons of talent. Nick is fat. Ryan Brown is going to be damn good.

Cam is Cam. Skinner has been up-and-down. McKinney is a beast. Wells has flashes of brilliance. Flashes.

We still don't really pass the "eye test", but we get more athletic with each passing year. We're going to need to see some young guys to step up next year. All of the guys redshirting along the DL will be given ample opportunities to earn playing time next year, as will everyone in the secondary. There will finally be some serious competition along the OL.

 

[CadaverDawg]

Smith will end up being the best pass-rushing DE we've had since Titus. He needs to continue to add weight, but he's been our our threat off the edge this year.

RoJo and Malcolm Johnson are both going to be really good players for us.

Tubby is the most explosive player on the team, but he is a huge disappointment up 'till this point. Morrow is as well. He put on a show at times in the spring.

Love is average. Very average. Jiles was playing well before getting hurt. He will be good.

Siddoway, considering he was on down the list of JUCO guys we wanted, has performed admirably. Bama game aside, I've been pleased with Clausell. He has a ton of upside.

Day is good. No problems there. Same for Gabe. And Tobias, when he is healthy.

RBs have all been fine. We're set here for the next few years.

Nickoe still isn't 100%. He'll be better next year. Broomfield, with the exception of his freshman year, has been underwhelming.

Arrington needs to start showing something, as does Jay Hughes.

Eulls sucks. It's too early to tell on Autry. Virges and P.J. have been disappointing. Quay has tons of talent. Nick is fat. Ryan Brown is going to be damn good.

Cam is Cam. Skinner has been up-and-down. McKinney is a beast. Wells has flashes of brilliance. Flashes.

We still don't really pass the "eye test", but we get more athletic with each passing year. We're going to need to see some young guys to step up next year. All of the guys redshirting along the DL will be given ample opportunities to earn playing time next year, as will everyone in the secondary. There will finally be some serious competition along the OL.

Is Eulls a Soph or Junior? I thought he is a sophomore, and I would say saying he "sucks" may be a little over the top.

 

[MSUDawg4Life]

Is Eulls a Soph or Junior? I thought he is a sophomore, and I would say saying he "sucks" may be a little over the top.

I believe Eulls is a sophomore. I agree that saying he sucks is over the top.

I also think Jamerson Love is better than average. He has played well of late. He's one of the backups that I don't worry about when they put him in the game.

 

[studentdawg87]

He's a sophomore. And he is a bust so far.

Fletcher freed up everyone on the DL last year, but Eulls had 27 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss and a sack as a redshirt freshman. So far, he as 17 tackles with 1 for a loss. I repeat: he has one tackle for a loss.

He was never expected to be a great pass rusher, but he has been underwhelming up to this point.

 

[CadaverDawg]

Fletcher freed up everyone on the DL last year, but Eulls had 27 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss and a sack as a redshirt freshman. So far, he as 17 tackles with 1 for a loss. I repeat: he has one tackle for a loss.

He was never expected to be a great pass rusher, but he has been underwhelming up to this point.

"bust"? He's a 17ing sophomore and you just answered your own question by saying Cox had a lot to do with his success as a freshman. I will agree that he has underperformed a little this year, but "bust" and "sucks" is completely unfair to call a sophomore DE in the SEC. Hell, he hasn't even finished his Soph year yet, and you decide to call him out after we play #1? Let's be realistic...he could still be a really good player for us. He's solid right now.

 

[MSUDawg4Life]

"bust"? He's a 17ing sophomore and you just answered your own question by saying Cox had a lot to do with his success as a freshman. I will agree that he has underperformed a little this year, but "bust" and "sucks" is completely unfair to call a sophomore DE in the SEC. Hell, he hasn't even finished his Soph year yet, and you decide to call him out after we play #1? Let's be realistic...he could still be a really good player for us. He's solid right now.

Not only that, but he's on schedule to match last year's numbers. Without Fletcher.

 

[biguglyjoe]

Best rush DE on the team.

 

[FreeDawg]

I'm gonna agree with studentdawg87. Once you have started 21 games, you are no longer "young" regardless of classification. He has never made an impact on any of those 21 games yet. My question to Cadaver is when does upside become a myth? 30 games? 40 games?

 

[Buford T. Justice]

Clausell is solid and getting better. Gabe Jackson and Tobias are really good. Siddoway performing well. Day getting it done. Malone has great potential and should play in the NFL one day. Damien Robinson is questionable to ever contribute. Lawson hasn't seen the field and I am writing him off.

I like the running backs, but wonder if Nick Griffin will be here next year. QB's look good.

Robert Johnson coming on strong. Morrow has great potential but hasn't put it together yet. Hopefully he will. Jameon Lewis runs around and does nothing except fumble. So far he looks like a flag football All-American. In two years, he has done nothing that I could not have done, he simply looks better than I would doing it.

Nick James has great potential but the key for him is strength and conditioning. Too fat and out of shape. Eulls and Boyd are simply solid, but we need to see more than solid from them. Autry has underachieved. Either we expected too much, or he just hasn't gotten into the speed of SEC ball yet. Ryan Brown and Quay are both showing great potential.

I like Jamerson Love, Calhoun, and Giles. Potential looks good. Arrington and Hughes need to step it up at safety. I worry that they will never be more than average players.

 

[baybulldogs]

What happened to Korvell Harrison-Gay? Didn't we burn his redshirt and start him against Houston two seasons ago. Guy is milk carton status now.

 

[bonedaddy401]

Mine..

Lived up to or exceeded:

Quay Evans: Every bit as good as billed. He is going to be one of the best we've watched at DT.
Benardrick McKinney: Easily our best Linebacker. Who would have thought that before the season. Scary this guy is only a R.Fresh.
Tyler Russell: Who hasnt been impressed. Are you not entertained?!
LDP: The guy has come into his own. Very reliable back who stays healthy and holds on to the football. Really fun to watch not only in space but running hard between the tackles.
D Milton: Surprise of the season. Ready for him to get more touches. Very "Ballard" like in the way he finishes runs.

Disappointed:

Receivers as a whole: Including Bump. Easy to make big catches against inferior opponents. Had it not been for Marcus Green and #6 I'm not sure we have anyone who is capable or scoring outside of the ever inconsistent Chad Bumphis.
Josh Boyd: As long as he has seen playing time its like he hasn't gotten any better. Just a serviceable DT. Maybe Fletch hurts by setting the bar so high but still.. very little production.
Cam Lawrence: Never been high on him but I think he has been exposed for what he is this year: A catch and drag down LB who can't get off blocks and has very limited athletic ability. Not sure about his "field general" skills after this year either.

We are who we thought we were. A 8 maybe 9 win team. Looking forward to next season already. Bringing back lots of good pieces as long as we can sure up our defensive backfield and get SOMEONE to step up at wide out we should be pretty damn solid again next year.

 

[Sutterkane]

I say with our system that by your junior redshirt year you should be playing at SEC level and at least be on par with your peers at the same position amongst the other teams. A 3 star recruit that is middle of the pack is above expectations and a 4 star or higher should be in the top 3-4 at their position in the conference. If we have that happen at every position we'll have Arkansas Petrino style sustained success.

 

[The Stache]

I would like to see Griffin get a few more carries per game. They gave him the ball one time against Bama, he ran up the middle for a gain of 9 yards and they never went back to him.

 

[kired]

Exceeded my expectations
Russell - I never believed he'd only have 2 INTs through 8 games
Bumphis - our best WR, hope it continues
Perkins - proving he can carry the load against most of the teams on our schedule
Green - who expected us to get the production we have from him?
entire OL - as a group they have performed well. I said we were in trouble if Malone had to play 50% of the time... I was wrong
backup RBs - all have been impressive, great depth here
Preston Smith - lots of potential here
Rojo - nice to see him performing, he will be a key piece of the offense next year
Jamerson Love - he's just now getting quality minutes, I think he'll be a decent CB next year

Have not met my expectations
Skinner - not bad, but not taking that next step many had predicted to being an elite SEC LB
Jameon Lewis - tons of potential but still makes very little impact
Morrow - I didn't have high expectations for Morrow as many did, but he has done almost nothing
Arrington - highly rated recruit from 2011, rarely even notice him on the field
second string LBs - there is a huge dropoff from 1st string to 2nd string

Guys I want to see more of
Evans - please give him more playing time with Boyd
Ryan Brown - good looking freshman
Milton - I'm very pleased with Perkins and have no desire to see anyone take reps away from him, but I think this guy has potential to be a Ballard type RB

 

[FutballinDawg]

Lived up to or exceeded:

Quay Evans: Every bit as good as billed. He is going to be one of the best we've watched at DT.
Benardrick McKinney: Easily our best Linebacker. Who would have thought that before the season. Scary this guy is only a R.Fresh.
Tyler Russell: Who hasnt been impressed. Are you not entertained?!
LDP: The guy has come into his own. Very reliable back who stays healthy and holds on to the football. Really fun to watch not only in space but running hard between the tackles.
D Milton: Surprise of the season. Ready for him to get more touches. Very "Ballard" like in the way he finishes runs.

Disappointed:

Receivers as a whole: Including Bump. Easy to make big catches against inferior opponents. Had it not been for Marcus Green and #6 I'm not sure we have anyone who is capable or scoring outside of the ever inconsistent Chad Bumphis.
Josh Boyd: As long as he has seen playing time its like he hasn't gotten any better. Just a serviceable DT. Maybe Fletch hurts by setting the bar so high but still.. very little production.
Cam Lawrence: Never been high on him but I think he has been exposed for what he is this year: A catch and drag down LB who can't get off blocks and has very limited athletic ability. Not sure about his "field general" skills after this year either.

We are who we thought we were. A 8 maybe 9 win team. Looking forward to next season already. Bringing back lots of good pieces as long as we can sure up our defensive backfield and get SOMEONE to step up at wide out we should be pretty damn solid again next year.

Cam Lawrence: Never been high on him but I think he has been exposed for what he is this year.

I agree, just look the The SEC just exposed him this week- as Outstanding performance Week 9 vs Alabama. game high 10 tackles ,sack another for a loss and a blocked pass. Tied for most tackles on team now and leads for tackles for loss, lead not only our team but 2nd in the SEC last year. Yeah, I agree the sooner he is gone the better the team will be, look at him here. Man , If only he could bleed truer Maroon and give all that has, sacrifise a little more . Na wouldnt help Haters gona Hate.

vs Middle TN- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scOUCsrciWo

vs (#1) Alabama- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGnfxd9YNQU

 

[RougeDawg]

Can't be that you see Cam in that light...

[
Cam Lawrence: Never been high on him but I think he has been exposed for what he is this year: A catch and drag down LB who can't get off blocks and has very limited athletic ability. Not sure about his "field general" skills after this year either.

Couldn't have said it any better myself.

I've been saying this since he got on the field but get hammered every time I bring it up.

Exceeded/Lived up to Expectations:
Tyler has exceeded
Dak has lived up to thus far
Perk has exceeded

The entire D Line has been a disappointment. Don't know of coaching is to blame for player groupings or conservative play calling. We seem to play more back on our heels this year, as opposed to downhill like we did the previous couple years.

 

[bonedaddy401]

Where was he on the Touchdown to Michael Williams in the second quarter?

Banks reaction after that TD tells you all you need to know about that play.....

Look... I'm sure you can cherry pick highlights from his games and talk yourself into him being the Steve Lattimer you want him to be but he isn't anything more than what I stated. His sack was basically during 21-0 garbage time, he had 1 pass break up.... 10 tackles against a team that JUST ran the ball the whole second half. Sell it somewhere else I ain't buying it. Its like he has on rollerblades if a blocker even lays a hand on him.

I hope he is the guy to hem up Johnny Football. Can't wait to watch and be proved wrong.

Not being a hater just being a football fan. Benardrick McKinney is by far our best LB and it's really not close.

 

[Irondawg]

Here's my list - excluding some obvious guys

OVERPERFORMING:

TR and LP are locks here but here are a few other guys:

BUMPHIS - he's come through in big games save last week and i have to thing that Bama made sure to take his stuff away.

ROJO - really starting to come into his own and make difficult catches

MALONE/SIDDOWAY/CLAUSELL - while not dominant, these guys have really held their own. Going into the year I was really worried about our play at tackle. Last week was tough but name me another game where you noticed them playing poorly consistently. Now compare that to the very few snaps Damien robinson has had.

MILTON - not a lot of carries,but everyone seems to see that this guy has some potential that most of us had no clue he had.

DAK - throwing the ball much better than I imagined.

PRESTON SMITH - single biggest jump by any player.

McKINNEY - he's a Redshirt freshman playing MLB in the best conference in the land and he's not getting embarrassed

QUAY - looking impressive as a true freshman on the DL which almost never happens

DISAPPOINTMENTS/UNDERPERFORMING


AUTRY -I know it's an adjustment but he was supposed to be a pass rushing specialist and how often have you seen him blow by anybody? He's not bad but he's not having the overall impact we hoped.

DL as whole - everyone sees it - we're not making plays and seem to get pushed around in the run game

LB as a whole- the DL situation isn't helping but we're not closing holes and laying the licks on ball carriers that we did last year. I just don't see the same type of attitude we've had the past few years out of this corps.


Everyone else is doing about as expected and that's why we're 7-1

 

[CookieMonster.sixpack]

Disappointments 1 & 1A:

Morrow & Lewis if they were even half of what we hoped, our offense would be one of the best in the conference. I seriously question whether we can trust Lewis at all anymore. His fumbles are just killer. Morrow has been MIA all year. Maybe it's unfair to place those kind of expectations on a young player, but we DESPERATELY need a big deep threat that can take the top off the defense. No secondary is threatened by our WRs and that tightens the window on all those curls, ins and drags we run.

Exceeding Expectations:

That said, how about Tyler 17ing Russell? No real deep threat and a mediocre line and this guy just keeps proving he's the real 17ing deal. He's not really exceeding my expectations but he's doing exactly what I'd hoped. Without him I wouldn't be confident that we'd win another game. With him, I think we can beat any or all of the four teams left on the schedule.

Darius Slay has answered the bell big time this year. The pressure was on him from the get-go because people were avoiding Banks' side and he's responded. Wish he would have held on to that pick against McCarron.

Meeting expectations:

Chad Bumphis has been really good. I think he'd be an All-SEC level player if we had a legitimate deep threat to occupy the safeties and open up the field a little.

Dak Prescott has been what I'd hoped Relf would be. A part-timer who can make our goal line package tough to stop. There's no question we should have used him at the tail end of the 98 yard drive and I'm still trying to figure out why we didn't. If he can continue to grow, it will be fun to see what he can do as the full time starter in '15 & '16. Hopefully he's learning a ton from Tyler about the passing game. They seem to have a great relationship.

 

[RobbieRandolph]

Tubby reminds me of McCluster w/ the fumbles.

Dexter always did that **** at OM, fumbling away the game vs SC i believe and maybe another one. Once (if) he learns to hold onto the ball, hopefully he'll become that same type of weapon.

 

[CadaverDawg]

I'm gonna agree with studentdawg87. Once you have started 21 games, you are no longer "young" regardless of classification. He has never made an impact on any of those 21 games yet. My question to Cadaver is when does upside become a myth? 30 games? 40 games?

FreeDawg, I would say you at least have to give him until the end of his sophomore season. Is that too much to ask? I'm not saying he's been a world beater, far from it....but to act like he hasn't been solid so far in his freshman and sophomore seasons is just not true. He's been the starting DE two years running on a team that is going to back to back bowl games in the SEC and is currently 7-1, so I would say that's a pretty solid player...especially for his first season and a half.

There's a lot of guys that haven't played that great on the D-line this season, but that doesn't mean they suck. Hell, Josh Boyd has played since was a freshman and he's not playing that well this season as a Senior....does that mean he sucks? The bottom line is, Eulls and Boyd benefitted from Cox more than any of us realized. We expected those two to fill in where Cox left off, but Boyd is not as good as Cox, so Eulls can't benefit from Boyd like he did Cox. In summary, Eulls is solid and he may never be more than solid. But it's possible that he finishes the year strong, gets stronger in the weight room in the offseason, and turns out to be a really good Interior D-lineman (where he belongs in my opinion).

 

[patdog]

The difference is McCluster was actually a reasonably productive player his first 2 seasons. Other than the 1st game of the season (against Memphis and Jackson St.), Lewis hasn't done much of anything for us.

 

[121Josey]

Agreed for the Most Part

Feel free to add any I leave off or discuss mine. Most of my opinion is based on seeing these guys practice multiple times in the spring and how they are performing now.

Living up to expectations
Benardrick McKinney- he looked the part in spring and gets better every week. Very excited about this kid

Been disappointing so far
Chris Smith- no doubt our most physical receiver and has played better of late but ball security has been suspect (29 catches 366 yards 2 td. Decent stats but the fumbles)
Jameon Lewis- looked poised for a breakout but seems like the same problems: ball security and some drops (8 catches 88 yards)

Dewayne Cherrington situation
A lot on this board have been very critical on Cherrington. I will say this. As a senior walkon, he is performing in games up to the expectations I had after spring

Long time reader, first time writer. Discussion sparked my interest. Watched the Bummer game again last night

McKinney - he's part of the problem that people get 5 yds every carry between the tackles. He appears to do a poor job filling the hole on a blitz. I also believe that the loss of production for Cam is his move to the outside - a la Mario Haggan in 2001.

Chris Smith gets better every week. He would have had a big night against Bama if he could stay off the sideline.
Jameon Lewis is on the right track. Everyone blames Lewis for the fumble in the 4th, but forgets that LDP fumbled in the EXACT same way on the opening kickoff. Lewis has made some key 3rd down catches of late to keep drives alive.

Cherrington - I was drinking the Cherrington hater-aid. But he's not what's holding up the defense - nor is he the star. It appears that the coaches have switched him (maybe for a game?) to Autry's side. He was actually in the backfield on multiple plays - as hard as it is to believe!

Missing in Action
The FAB Fr0sh - Our 2nd and 3rd team d-lines play look than the starters.
Ryan Brown looks great when he gets some reps. Slide Eulls inside and let Brown show what he can do against those Blind-side tackles.
Free QUAY! for crying out loud. If he doesn't know the playbook, just tell him to make a play. Against MTN he was double-teamed on one play. #25 - the scatback- came through the line and caught a pass in the middle of the field. Quay was 2 yards behind him and caught him before he could turn the corner on the sideline.

Nick Griffin - hopefully the plan is to keep his legs fresh

Offensive Line
As much as they missed assignments against Bama, the line held their own. Part of the problem with Russell getting hit so much was because we ran with an empty backfield too often or moved Russell out of the pocket and he he held the ball too long.
Line played well during the 97 yard drive. Perkins scored on 2nd & Goal! The line blew up their D-line even though they knew run was coming.

 

[Railin Jemmye]

I notice most of the disappointments listed are underclassmen.....

Morrow, Lewis, Robinson, Eulls. Autry is also a first year player coming from JUCO.

These guys are sophomores. Saying they are busts is unfair at best.