Denico Autry to Mississippi State

Again, it's your opinion that he wouldn't be anything better than a servicable DT. I feel otherwise and also agree with the other folks that serviceable is better than what we have now regardless. I'm sure there are some folks out there that wanted him yesterday due to it being in the news, but those type of people generally are not found on this board. There are of course some other kids out there that would help ease the sting of D.Jacobs going to Florida, but that's only the case if we get them. McCullers would be a huge pickup no doubt, but I would take both D.Jacobs and McCullers if I could.

 

Regarding the earlier discussion concerning recruiting class rankings: we all know they are inherently flawed. I am not going to sweat the exact ranking, as long as we are in the discussion for a top 10 class. The real measuring of a class has to come 4 years later. I am thinking about taking the time and doing a top 10 ranking for 2008, and then doing that every year here.

 

"Serviceable" JUCOs have a tendency to become "useless". Either you get quality out of JUCOs or you pass.

 

OK, fair enough, but we're talking about a guy who was nothing special amongst the JUCOs. To think he would be of value in this conference, which is a significant step up in competition; I just don't see it.

 

I don't see how you think Hood is anything better than bad

 

And again, we wanted Jacobs and would have made immediate use of him. What his exact skill level is doesn't matter, he would have been seeing the field immediately to some degree. It is why the staff wanted him. One can repeat over and over that you only take immediate impact type of players at JUCO, but it doesn't change the fact that the staff thought he would be so and then weren't able to land him.

Unimane, the coaches clearly had a different evaluation of Jacobs' abilities vs. the current DT's than you did. I think you might be right about Jacobs, but you are over-estimating our current DT's. I am not sure what we have left is "serviceable." Not in this conference.

 

I can't say they would be serviceable in MAC

 

Exactly. And, how is it even debatable that Jacobs is better than what we're trotting out there? I mean, we're talking about [uck fay]ing Hood, Tugboat, and Saulsberry. It's not like it's a real dominant group.

 

I thought you were referencing what hat said about a post of mine. It's not that big of a deal with me honestly.

That's fine if you think that way about our DT's. I agree that Mo can be a good DT. I will disagree with your view on Hood. Been around DT's for a while. The guy isn't good. At all. Good guy- bad DT. Not saying it's his fault. He was moved there from the OL to fill a spot because the staff hadn't been able to bring in legit DT's at that point. Jacobs is not the key to the class; however, he was a step in the right direction in addressing the issue. I agree that I prefer a 4 year guy, but at this point, we need to look at all avenues to fix the massive DT problem.

 

Our current DTs are OK, nothing special, as I've said, although I think we are in better shape there than at DE, which is why I really wanted Autry. We've been so bad at DT for so long I think people are prone to focus on the missing DT rather than the real killer loss here, which is Autry.

Anyway, back to the DTs, I think we are in a position where we have enough "serviceable" DTs and don't need to bring in another one. We do need quality DTs. We need a guy like McCullars, not Jacobs. But, I'm a broken record right now.

 

Maybe we have different working definitions of "serviceable." In my mind, we have guys who simply take up space there.

 

Right. I don't consider guys who suck and couldn't play for virtually any other SEC program "serviceable." I am obviously excluding Couch. I think he's pretty good.

 

My opinion as well.

 

Yes, Couch probably is on the upper end of "serviceable." But the rest are not even close.

 

Right now, I see our top 4 as Couch, Walls, Miller (whom I think will be moved inside as a Jackson clone) and Saulsberry. That's serviceable as all those guys could play at a number of schools.

I'm telling you, the DTs aren't terrible, the DEs are.

 

By the way, Volquest is going apeshit for a DT in W. Tennessee names Tevin Bryson. I tried to tell them a no-name in bum[uck fay] Tennessee wasn't really appealing, but they are adamant. Anyone seen the kid play?

 

Im almost certain Damien Jacobs would have been a better option than Daniel Hood. Who I might add is a converted offensive lineman. What speaks wonders about our current depth at that position is that he started several games this season, and to be honest, I cannot remember calling Hood's name at any point this season really. Jacobs would have been a huge addition, just as Sentimore and O'brien were, and McCullers can be. Defensive line is the most important unit in football, and we are not competitive because other teams have better d-lineman than we do. Bama, and LSU ring a bell. If he had signed his LOI to UT yesterday this convo would not be taking place.

 

What year is Bryson?

 

The other teams are a more talented than we are at a majority of positions.

Dooley worries me when he gives projects like Blanc a scholarship. Im sure he thinks he can coach them up, but to be honest he has not shown that ability.

 

And he started out as a TE before being an OL.