The Blue Board

Marvin Robinson did not redshirt (sadly). He is a true soph.

I was more saying that 2-4 of your DBs aren't going to red shirt this year (2011 class). Too early to speculate about 2012. MSU usually plays 4-7 true frosh each year, even if just on special teams. I'd expect for you to use several frosh in the secondary, even if it's just to dress for games and be in on special teams. One injury to a CB and you're left with a true freshman as 2nd string by default. I'd anticipate you guys trying to get that player ready by playing them a bit during the early part of the year.

I just found this thread.

I must say, kudos to probably the most civil discussion on UM/MSU I have ever witnessed.

carry on

Whoopsy. Missed that. Thanks.

I'm glad you asked. I know it may be surprising, but MSU is really set to reload at LB. We lost Greg Jones and Eric Gordon; no doubt a big loss. Coming out of the spring, you heard little to no concern amongst the fans regarding their replacements.

With 4 former 4-star prospects, including 2nd year starter Chris Norman on our roster, MSU really looks to extend its years of solid LB play. Max Bullough showed some flashes last year at MLB, with an INT and a TFL (on Shoelaces, no less) to go along with 20 tackles. At 6'3 240, he's much more of the prototypical brick wall Big 10 MLB than Jones was. Jones, for all intents and purposes, was a WILL playing the MIKE because of his instincts and tackling ability. It's no surprise that once he bulked up to 240 this past year to play MLB, that his production dropped off.

We're replacing Eric Gordon at the SAM by moving Chris Norman over there. Norman had a solid year last year with 59 tackles, an INT, a few TFL, etc. SAM is his natural position, and he should be able to fill in admirably as a JR this season.

That leaves the 3rd position, called STAR in our system (really a WILL), which has been won by Denicos Allen. At 5'10 218, the kid's a brick wall and had a fantastic spring.

Now, this along isn't enough to support my "strong up the middle" proposition; I concede that I don't expect to get the exact same production from this line-up as last years. I am expecting about 90% or so, there is a ton of talent here and we do have 1 returning starter (Norman) and 2 guys who did see PT last year in Bullough and Allen. It's not like we're putting in scrubs; Bullough was the #5 MLB nationally out of HS and Norman the #9 OLB; Allen was a high 3-star guy. We also add All-American Lawerence Thomas to our 2 deeps. I know that stars are far from everything, but MSU is certainly not using MAC left-overs at LB.

The bigger deal is the development of Anthony Rashad White (ARW) at NT to go along with Jerel Worthy. White, in his 2nd year out of JUCO (JR eligibility this year), is just a freak. He's 6'2 323 and can just flat out move. When he got on campus last year, he passed the conditioning test, according to Dantonio, "without breathing". It's fairly common to see JUCOs take a big step between years 1 and 2, and ARW did just that this spring. He and Worthy (6'3 305) were placed on opposite teams for the spring game, and both played great. The fact that they're now going to be playing next to each other in the middle of our D is what gives me a lot of hope that we'll be stout against the run. That's a lot of beef up the gut; 2 300-plus pound DTs, one of which is a projected top 12 NFL draft pick for 2012 (Worthy) with a highly touted 6'3 240 pound MLB.

Factor in that our DEs have finally grown into their 6'7 frames (Hoover is 6'7 274 and Gholston 6'7 272) and I think MSU fans have plenty of reasons to be hopeful for the front 4, and by extension, the front 7, in 2011.

You have an in-depth analysis on the entire line-up and lofty expectations for a number of returners but there's nothing that can replace 2 or 3 years of starting experience. The 2 new ILBs, Gholstons inexperience, a shaky O-line, a much tougher schedule, and a new OC and Treadwell's departure leads me to believe MSU 2011 will have a tough time duplicating 2010s success. Of course you have to factor in my bias as well.

Then they're starting a new QB, lose an experienced TE is Linthicum, along with some receiver. Their RBs should be the best in the conference and their line will be better, that's for sure.

Well, we'll be starting a RS JR at QB; that's about the best you can hope for when replacing a QB in terms of experience; he'll get a lot of looks this year, especially in blowouts.

We're losing Linthicum, but keeping Dion Sims; TE is not a position to be worried about at MSU. We do lose 3 SR WRs, but have Bennie Fowler, Keith Mumphery and "2-way Tony" Lippett in the rotation this year. We'll return our K and P; can't underestimate the role of special teams, the one area that MSU truly excelled in nationally last year.

So, factor that in with very strong RBs, a returning OL and a ton of returning defenders, plus our toughest games at home (Boise, ND, tOSU, Nebraska, Iowa) and I think MSU is set up nicely for 2012.

Of course, knowing that, the world will end on Dec. 21, 2012, right after we clinch our first Rose Bowl in 25 years.

Well, we've had 3 very solid years of recruiting ('09-'11) and I think that raised our floor from a 4-8 team to a 6-6 team. We've got athletes and stability. It's pretty much all we can hope for at this point, save for the OL, which is my biggest knock on the coaching staff.

Put it this way, I think if MSU goes 10-2 this year, people aren't going to look at it as a WTF, where did they come from type year. 10-2 would surprise me, but I wouldn't be floored if it happened. Schedule is tougher, but there's much more stability. For all the talk of a coach getting "his players" in, MSU is finally at this point; first time since George Perles that a coach has seen his first class make it to their RS Sr year all the way through (Saban left before graduation/bowl game).

I'm really expecting more of a 9-3 type year, with 8-4 or 10-2 possibilities if things break wrong or right. I think something major would have to happen to drop us to 7-5 or 11-1. Still, there are pretty good reasons for MSU fans to be optimistic this coming year.

I am not sure what is going on with Thompson so I would either replace him with Dunn (If he switches to us) or Garmon at running back. Other than that I can live with this list barring a few 5 star players wanting to jump aboard.

I think I would much rather have Morris than Kiel (besides Kiel has a much cooler name).

Morris is near even with Kiel and the rest of the five stars in camps already (won MVP over him, won multiple awards at them also), and he still has a few years to even NSD for him.

Barring an injury, I would say he has an legitimate chance to be top 10 in the nation, plus he is going to be a great recruiter for us, especially at the WR position which we are going to be needing soon.

I don't think Morris stays committed if Kiel commits, and vice versa.

Obviously.

I thought everyone knew this.