Spring football must be taken with a large grain of salt. Last year I said I was very concerned about our defensive backfield and was promptly told not to worry about it, that Fran said it was the most improved aspect of our team. Well it was clearly the weakest link in our D last year.

Well yeah, when you're REALLY bad it's easy to improve the most. That doesn't mean it's all of a sudden a strength. Saying individual players in the defensive secondary were surprises is just coachspeak to me until they show it on the field. The surprise could be "I was expecting to bench this guy in favor of a true fish, but he's showing me he may be decent enough to hold on to his starting job". In the end that may not be saying much.

Or maybe it is. Time will tell. Regardless of how close we are to getting a dominant Wrecking Crew back, the defensive secondary is still our biggest hole, and that includes our lack of depth at LB.

-Rob

Biggest surprises according to Fran interview:
Brandon Leone
Bryant Singleton
Ronald Jones


Yeah, spring surprises never turn into much. It's just coachspeak:
Red Bryant
Chris Yoder
Japhus Brown

[This message has been edited by deuceswild (edited 7/20/2005 5:08p).]

How many springs is Singleton eligible to be a "surprise"...hasn't he used up his "surprise eligibility"??

Top 3...No Major Impact

Bottom 3...improved play

I am pretty sure he is saying the bottom three were the surprises from the year before, and it translated into good on field production last year.

ah, I see...thanks brandon.

Still don't expect much from Singleton & Leone. I can see Ray Jones playing more and playing better.

Possibly, Dixon, Coffman, or Gregg have a chance to contribute on Defense.

ljhookem, you are only here to get your rocks off on Aggies that sing the "Oh, woe is us" tune. I'm not into that since RC left. Franchione has been bringing in some real talent, and I'll take his assessment of who is good over yours.

REALITY is that the Ags have more depth and talent at your "need" positions than they have had in several years. You are hoping against your orange colored bevo that these guys will play down to your level of comment.

Our LB starters will be the best since Dat left seven years ago, even though depth may be an issue. Our OL will be one of the best we have had in several years. This year in the secondary, our SECOND TEAM will be better and more talented than the starting secondary we fielded two years ago.

Go ahead and keep fueling the fires of woe among the Aggies that will listen to your drivel, but T+1 is going to be a real tough day for you and your brethren for the next several years.

It matters not which players I believe can play well as fish, because you will just offer up your sip agenda professional opinion that they aren't any good. You are running scared because you know the sips are going to start the season with losses at Ohio St. and ou. You are only over here to build up your confidence.

Gig'em<BR>Outrigger<BR>

I just love it when sips come over here and tell us that our freshmen suck and cannot possibly contribute, yet they have thrown fish into the fire in the past and so have we.

Frankly, DB is one of the few positions where a kid can come in and play from day one if he's physically talented enough. I expect we'll see two CB's play this season and i project that Gregg will be one of them.

lj your MO is getting old. Trying to come across as objective, giving analysis on our players and then ripping them at every opportunity, what's up with that.

Then any A&M fan who tries to explain their reasons for believing otherwise is basically described as a sunshine pumper..... That is weak if not pathetic. Go pick a fight elsewhere.

This is an A&M fan's site, what are you expecting to find here.I still am trying to figure out why you are even posting here..........

You know, we will have a lack of experience at corner but I think the talent will make up for it. Also I expect by the time the big 3 at the end of the season hit they will be ready. I'm suprised I have not heard anyone mention that although Byron Jones and Jonte Buhl had their moments, they were AWFUL coverage guys. They were tacklers but in terms of pure coverage we will be much better. They had experience sure but they still got burnt without biting on a fake, I expect slightly improved corner back play this season but highly improved safety play. The defensive backfield for TAMU will be better but more as a result of the D-line causing mayhem. IMO our season will be determined by how well we get pressure on the QB (not worried about run D) and how we run the ball on the offense (primarily an O-line concern).

quote:

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lj your MO is getting old. Trying to come across as objective, giving analysis on our players and then ripping them at every opportunity, what's up with that.

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See, Zorba. It's not just me.

Its funny that it seems more often than not these days that its a sip who starts a thread like this. About a player that Aggie fans have been talking about as a possibility, that now looks to be headed elsewhere.

The reason for doing this is clear, its not to inform, but more a subtle attempt to rub our noses in the fact that a recruit we were looking at is probably not coming our way.

There's a sip poster on AgTimes that does the same thing. Makes me wonder if lj and that guy are the same person.

What's amazing is the amount of effort they expend to do this.

I guess everyone needs a purpose.

Solid 1st team:
CB Gorrer
FS Appel
SS Japhus
CB Newton

Solid 2nd team:
CB Carpenter (possible starter)
SS Bullitt (has seen the field plenty already)
FS Singleton, Chambliss or even -Coffman(lots of depth at S)
CB RJones or one of the 4 Fish.


We don't exactly start off with Utah or OhioSt this year, so we have time to get the new guys familiar with the defense.

lj,

As I recall, Tarell Brown made an immediate impact as a true freshmen for your secondary. Marcus Walker did the same for OU last year. Why can't Gregg or Dixon make an impact on ours?

lj, if you don't expect much from Leone then you didn't see him in the spring game (don't figure you were there being a sip). He was very impressive and I myself expect a very good season from him. Was one of if not the best runningback in the game that day, IMHO.

Marquis Carpenter was a JC AA, and one of the top handfull of Corners in the JC ranks. His video shows excellent coverage skills, and loads of speed. His surgery was described in a recent article as one to correct an old injury to the leg. It sounds as if he will be good to go. He will push for a starting position. Newton showed promise last season, and has a year under his belt. Gorrer was the best looking prospect on last years Highlight videos. He could become our best CB since Davis. Of course he hasn't played a down of College ball yet, so he will have a period to adjust to the game. I feel the talent we are adding- Gorrer, Gregg, Dixon, Coffman, Pugh, Williams, etc. will fast help to restore a WC style defense.

Agree with some of the above. Leone was very surprising at the Spring Game. I thought he looked good as well, even though he was dinged up a bit.
Second team safeties will likely be Chambliss and Coffman. Don't know if Bullit sees any more meaningful time.

Don't count out Peterson for competing for playing time this year. He may be the one corner to take the shirt off. We'll see.

Oh well, my premise was that True Fr DB's can contribute but I wouldn't say they would make an impact.

Tarrell Brown was 2nd team all year his true Fr. year and made little impact.

Walker played sparingly and then started towards the end of the year and was consistently abused.


Outrigger, I'm not saying to have negative feelings...I mean just have a little objectivity! It's ok to discuss where your team has question marks. Hell, we have them at UT also (LB, RB, & WR) and I discuss them all the time.


I think some are overreacting to my comments.

We can take care of things on the field the next few years and not have to listen to folks such as ljhookem run down our players. For example, can you imagine how absurd lj would look saying such things on an OU forum. But until then I suppose we are going to have to eat a few more **** sandwiches.

The good news is it is only Yr. 3 of Fran's tenure (really Yr. 2 because in my opinion Yr.1 was a total throw away) and we are not having to listen to Tech and OSU.

Look, it is plain as the nose on anyone's face that Fran has recruited far, far better than RC was. On paper it is equally clear Fran has not recruited as well as Stoops (which is cause for major concern not only in College Station but Austin as well). Has Fran recruited as well as Mack since he arrived? Maybe, maybe not. But at least we do not look stupid making that suggestion. Thus, over the next 4 years we should really in truly, for the first time in a long time, have a chance to go toe to toe with the Horns. And in any rivalry that is fun, fun, fun!



[This message has been edited by Kellypo88 (edited 7/21/2005 3:59p).]

lj,

In our case, able to contribute is making an impact. Our secondary has very little depth with the departure of Mayes and Davis, so if Bryson/Dixon/Gregg can play the 4th or 5th
CB without giving up too many big plays, I call that a success. I am not ready to proclaim Gorrer the next Deion Sanders, but I have hope that he will play solid and won't make too many mistakes. At this point, hope is all that we have.

quote:

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I think some are overreacting to my comments.

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That's EXACTLY what Zorba would have said.

Walker did fine for OU except in the Championship game where no one did well.

Gorrer is RS fish as well and has a year of the system maturity and has been covering some D-1 caliber receivers for year now. (Our receivers are pretty good and so is our QBs, we can give our CBs a legitmate look at a division 1 passing attack unlike you the sips.)

Gorrer will be fine and by Tech one or two of the fish will be able to help out adequately in nickle and dime sets. That's all we need from our fish.

Hey sip, how's your TE situation looking in depth department. How about your QB situation in Depth. I would rather have CB problems than depth problems then QB depth problems! HEHEHE

"only one thing is important!"

85AustinAg
posted 9:42a, 7/21/2005



lj your MO is getting old. Trying to come across as objective, giving analysis on our players and then ripping them at every opportunity, what's up with that.

Then any A&M fan who tries to explain their reasons for believing otherwise is basically described as a sunshine pumper..... That is weak if not pathetic. Go pick a fight elsewhere.

This is an A&M fan's site, what are you expecting to find here.I still am trying to figure out why you are even posting here..........

I have been saying this about all the sips on here and I get the "bad bull" thing from some.All they do is give back handed compliments,hijack threads and start crap.

where was I bad mouthing aTm players. Some I give an opinion but I try to support that opinion.

Opag, our TE is not a problem and although losing VY would be a huge loss (just like losing Reggie) Nordgren would not look inadequate back there.

I know people will call bull on this but some of the players actually think Colt McCoy will compete for 2nd string this year. He's looked better than expected early on.


I won't please many here simply because I'm a sip. Then there are some here that just won't agree with me....it's easier to deal with the latter!


On me ripping outrigger, I think most can see where he's not objective and doesn't want to address the true concerns for aTm football. I just want once where he talks intelligently about aTm's question marks for this upcoming season. I could care less if people have a different opinion and can discuss and articulate that opinion.

Young can't throw.

Nordgren is a scrub.

McCoy is a toothpick who will NEVER see the field at tu.



BTW - I'm not bagging on any of your players. I'm just offering an objective analysis with which you might happen to disagree.

looks like I need to take a break from here...plus I'm heading to S. Padre for a week.

Nice, AgLaw.

quote:

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I could care less if people have a different opinion and can discuss and articulate that opinion.

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How much less could you care?

If you want lessons on how to post on an Ag forum and not get your head bit off, follow Faustus's lead.


[This message has been edited by _mpaul (edited 7/21/2005 11:35p).]

ljhookem
posted 5:34p, 7/21/2005



"looks like I need to take a break from here...plus I'm heading to S. Padre for a week."



PRAISE JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!