Are you seriously going to judge a corner by their interceptions? That is crazy. Prude was solid all year as the 3rd corner, hes the most physical of the bunch. Stevenson was supposed to be the 3rd corner last year, he beat out Prude, but like you said, he got injured. Jackson played excellent whenever he got some playing time. He did excellent against Florida when Corey Webster was injured, I remember him breaking up a few passes, he is also probably the fastest of the bunch. And with Joseph, first of all, he was not a backup at Colorado. He started as a redshirt freshman and make the All-Big 12 freshman team. Next, he came here and already beat out Stevenson and Jackson before playing one game as a Tiger, I think that says a lot about his ability and the confidence that the coaching staff has in him. I know that I would not trade our corners for any others in the SEC.
O-Line For the past 2 or 3 years we hear how they're going to be great and blow eveybody off the line. They have continued to start slow and taken to long to get going.
No, I wasn't judging them by their interceptions, just a little tidbit I threw in to show their greenness. The Florida game was one game...the Georgia game was also one game. Both had different results. But you are right about Joseph beating out the other two CB's. That's a good point, and very reassuring :thumb:
QB & the kicking game. JR has got to be more consistent for the offensive weapons we have in the arsenal to light up the scoreboard. The kicking game (all phases) has got to improve.
I'm not worried about special teams. Miles' special teams have always been quite good & he's really stressed that this off season, so I think we'll be in good shape. And it wasn't just field goal kicking - that improved alot through the course of last season & should be much better this year. It was punts, punt returns, defending punt returns... everything on special teams was a dissapointment last year & I think that's while Miles has had to stress it so much. As LSUweezie mentioned, O-line seems to always be a real strength going into the season & doesn't quite live up to the hype. Didn't we retain our O-line coach? I'm not sure if that will help, or if it will be a reason they aren't as good as hoped for. We will see. Something nobody is going to mention, our Wide Receivers. Last year, we suffered from poor QB play but our recievers were also very young & ran sloppy routes/made some mistakes. They all got valuable experience & they are very talented - but they still have to show that they can block downfield, run precise routes, & not drop balls. Alot of expectations are being put on this group that hasn't accomplished a whole lot yet.
CB... hands down... we lost virtually no one for a national power, but we got 2 new CBs... so it has to be that
I'm worried that this year's group of Goldengirls will be so hot that they won't show 'em on TV. Other than that, making FGs and extra points I guess.
I know it, damn it. But LSU was turning the game around and it cost us an opportunity for a victory. The point is that special teams were not up to the level of the offense and defense last year and it kept us out of the top tier.
No area worries me. We have a great team. I do believe we will be a great team. Not to say there will not be mistakes made. I just believe we will find ways to win. No last second heroics for the opposing teams.
QB and CB are the most unproven spots on the team. The QB situation is expected to continue to develop under Jimbo's continued tutelage. If the offense stays balanced (maybe 200 rushing / 200 passing per game) and the QBs play Mauck-type football where they just have to play within the offense, we should score 28+ per game this season. Its not like we don't have the RBs to do this. That brings up the OL. As long as we don't have any injuries, the OL should dominate every play. As for our young CBs, those guys got more PT last year than you might have thought. But if you add in the talent at the safeties, in Landry and Daniels, and the return of Prude, the secondary, overall, looks pretty tight. All the pre-season mags just look at the loss of 2 All-American's, and say they can't possibly replace that talent. But now we just reload. We have several guys who logged some minutes last year who will be ready to step in. Again, the CBs are just unproven. They should develop nicely. LBs don't worry me at all. We have a couple of nice returning LBs in Vaughn, Hollis, Kuale, and Highsmith. All logged good minutes last year, and will be interchangeable and dominant.
