The House of Blue

We have some guys that could be pretty exciting to watch. Both on offense and defense but we are really young so we might be another year away. Regardless it makes as much sense to be excited right now then not.

Skill guys returning: Smith, (Newton), Coshik Williams (his skill level is just fine, healthy); George (solid backup, with experience, healthy), Ray Sanders (as far as I know, healthy, experienced RB); Clemons (only RB who may not be 100%);

At WR you have King (he's obviously good); McCaskill (healthy unless I'm missing some news lately); Robinson (looked good in spring game, had good spring practice; healthy), Collins (had a solid spring, will be counted on heavliy this year; healthy).

Yes, we will be able to develop a passing game - did you see the Spring game? Yes, we will have an established QB - his name is Maxwell Smith. Get used to hearing his name in the headlines. (Look at Ole Miss game last year as a true freshman to see this kid's potential). I don't get why more people aren't excited about this kid - he has the moxie that you want in a starting QB and he is a natural leader!

Finally, my comment, and I'll stand by it, was that our offense will be more productive than last year. Pass first, to set up the run. 60/40 Pass/Run ratio per Joker. Further, we were horrible on offense last year. A lot of it was poor Oline play and WRs not being able to catch the ball (per Spring Game we do not have that problem anymore), and there was also the QB position where we got zero production from Newton, and only flashes of a high ceiling for Smith. Sorry you don't see it the way I do....

BigCat65 - you are probably right about being another year away. But beyond this year, and next, it does seem that there is some quality depth being built at all positions - offense and defense. Hopefully the light goes on for some of these young guys this year. If so, we could be in for a nice surprise this season.

Sanders has had knee issues in the past, that's always a concern for me especially given his size. Along with Clemons, who I think healthy can be one of the better backs in the conference, I just know what our stable of backs have looked like health wise in the past down the stretch. It's just a nature of the SEC but I do feel comfortable about the depth at that position if we can open up our passing game enough to get them off the line of scrimmage.

As far as WR, King needs to step up into that leadership role. I know there's been some concerns about that. Saying the corp has had some drop issues is the understatement of the year and is at least good portion of our offensive woes from last season. I'm hoping that improves with some stability at QB. I do think Smith throws a more catchable ball which should help remedy that to a degree. I also think the addition of Collins will help give us a big play guy which we're lacking at the moment.

FTR, I like Maxwell Smith at QB. But his experience is still pretty limited in the larger scheme of things. It's not often that a Sophomore QB steps in and performs really well because it takes time to adjust to the speed of SEC defenses. It can happen but it's admittedly rare. Ole Miss is arguably the worst team in the conference right now, so I feel like we need to see how he stacks up against some of the other SEC guys before making a solid judgement on his abilities.

Like I said, I really hope we can do well with what we have on the roster. I'm not trying to be a pessimist and I sincerely hope that Joker can buy himself some more time with how well they've been recruiting as of late.

But I'm not going to apologize for tempering my expectations either. I'm certainly not in the bash everything UK FB crowd but I'm not prepared to put this team in that over 6 win range until we see how the pieces will come together against outside competition.

I stand by what I said hop. Our guys have continually come out not only flat & disinterested, they most times have that "I'd rather be somewhere else" look on their faces to match.
Did it appear we were improving last season toward the end? Yes, absolutely. But I want more.......much more. At least 6 wins and a bowl berth would be nice to start.

I agree with you for the most part, Chiuk. I think there is a slight misunderstanding about what I have said though............ year before last against U of L we looked decent. My beef is with last year's team. FWIW, I stated it in my post. I miss stuff all the time, I hope that is what happened with this post.
Look, I have no ill feelings towards our players, but I am just damned sick & tired of watching them UNDERACHIEVE as badly as they seem to do. At some point they need to start producing.

I think its very possible that we do just that. Hell we should have beaten them last year and we were terrible offensively last year. Someone on the radio said they're opening up as a 13 point favorite. I'm about to go check and see if that line exists cause I'll be planning to make some money on it.