Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

[Todd4State]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

Eli was the very first pick of the draft. Perhaps out of spite by the Chargers, but the first pick nonetheless.

He was clearly better as a QB than Romaro Miller was, or was going to be. If you have the first pick of the entire draft on your team as a freshman, why wouldn't you play him according to your logic? I would assume, according to your logic, that Cutcliffe made a mistake in not playing him.

My point is this- Eli didn't play because he wasn't ready. This is a guy who is now an NFL starter who led his team to a Super Bowl win. And yet, he RS behind a QB that he was ultimately better than. Why? Because the SEC is a darn tough league to play QB in. It wasn't because he wasn't "worth a ****". Matthew Stafford, last years first pick struggled as a freshman. Tebow, the second coming, was only a role player even though he would turn out better than Leak.

To say that we RS Russell because he wasn't better than Lee is just not right. He didn't play because he wasn't ready. I wish he was, but he wasn't. If he had gone through spring practice, maybe, but I'm also not going to knock a guy who wanted to be a high school kid in high school. There's no two ways around it.

And why do you think that Mullen wouldn't play him if he was ready? Of all of the MSU coaches we have ever had, as far as QB's go, I trust Dan more than anyone. We're talking about a guy who has developed a guy who was the first pick of the draft, a Heisman winner, and has had several other successful QB's. Do you really think that Dan wouldn't play someone that would help him win right now? I don't. And I bet if you asked him, he would say the same thing.

And based on what others have said, that with all due respect to them probably aren't as good at developing QB's as Dan, and I will freely admit that I fall in that category as well, who have actually gone to practice and seen him play are saying that Tyler wasn't ready, that tells me that it was pretty darn obvious that he wasn't ready.

And furthermore, we had Chris Relf emerge as a guy who could move the offense. I probably should have more of a beef with him for smoking pot and not taking the reigns sooner than the Egg Bowl than I should with Tyson Lee.

 

[HippyDawg]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

You better hope that we never have an opportunity to see Chris Relf as an every down QB at MSU. Tray Rutland 2.0.

If we do not get Cameron Newton you will see first hand why Mullen made a mistake when we go into next year with a STILL inexperienced Tyler Russell and an extremely limited Chris Relf. Will be better than last year but not by much. And I never said Mullen should have started or played Russell the whole season. But, he should have worked him in slowly at the beginning of the year.

As to the Eli comparison, Ole Miss had the luxury of redshirting a green Eli because they had a pretty good SEC QB that could play. That condition did not exist at MSU this year. Tyler may not have been ready but neither was Tyson. His mental mistakes were as bad as his lack of ability.

 

[HippyDawg]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

His physical limitations and mistakes were equalled by his mental mistakes.

 

[Todd4State]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

why would you play him? That would be great. Then we would get 3 and a half years out of him at best.

You're not making any sense because if Russell is as good as you insinuate, he should have no trouble stepping in and starting next year with a year of learning the offense under his belt. You're essentially saying that he could have stepped in or eased in with even less experience this year and done better than he would next year with a year of being in our system and a year in the weightroom under his belt, not to mention a better team overall.

We're also starting off with Memphis at home next year- not exactly a BCS contender.

And for the 50th time- Mullen did NOT make a mistake when he RS Tyler Russell. You will see why in three years, and probably thank him.

Tyson's problem wasn't preparation- it was talent.

Oh, and Chris Relf >>>>>>>than Tray Rutland. I guess you were abducted from the UK game on. Relf scored more times in the Egg Bowl than Rutland scored in his life.

And as far as the Eli comparison, you obviously didn't get it.

 

[mabtsdawg]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

were games 4 (LSU), 5 (GT), and 6 (Houston). If Russell was only ready after, then would he have made a difference in losses to UF, Bama, and Ark on the road? There would have been some benefit for getting experience this year, but it could have been confidence-killing type of experience. Without knowing the inside situation on how much Relf could actually handle, I do question why he wasn't used more in short-yardage/goal-line situations (see LSU game). But, at this point, I am pleased that Russell has 4 years left instead of 3. You're talking like Mullen has committed an unforgivable mistake regarding something obvious. Most people I've talked to are glad Russell still has 4 years.

 

[HippyDawg]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

Romero Miller played on an NFL roster for 3 years, set Ole Miss passing records, led them to 3 bowl wins in a row and you want to compare that situation to Tyler Russell having to beat out Tyson Lee? If you do not see the difference in the two situations then I should not be surprised that you also do not recognize Chris Relf knows about 4 plays and is in no way, shape or form anything close to a guy that can play every down in the SEC. Thankfully, Mullen understands that perfectly.

 

[Stormrider81]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

That worked out fantastic. We should have gotten 3 great years out of Norwood being the feature back, but because of that waste of a season in 2002 we didn't. Or how about Omarr Conner? Remember us playing him at a stinking WR his freshmen season? Boy, that was great wasn't it.

MSU has historically mishandled RSing and, as a result, many of our fans don't get RS. We as fans are pretty impatient. Tyler Russell was billed as the next big thing, thus we want to see him ASAP. What makes it even harder is we had pretty bad QB play this year. However, one has to look at the big picture. The bottom line is Russell wasn't ready. Lee wasn't very good, but at least he could read an SEC defense and make some right decisions. Russell would have been way over his head until at least midseason, by which point you've essentially wasted half a year and perhaps his confidence is shot if you played him from day one. If you didn't, but eased him in as the season wore on, it would have been even more of a waste. Relf was also way over his head for most of the season. It was frustrating watching Lee/Relf play, but Russell wouldn't have won more games than Lee/Relf did.

By the way, it is nice to see someone argue that we will be hurt next year by Russell's inexperience, but then to claim that his inexperience wouldn't have hurt us this year, and that we would have won 2 more games with him. Nothing like an inconsistent argument.

 

[HippyDawg]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

Now he gets to make his rookie playing mistakes next year. Hope it does not happen in one of the winnable early games or we will be sitting at home again next bowl season while patting ourselves on the back that if we can just wait a couple more years for his big senior year. Typical MSU fan - wait until next year.

 

[Stormrider81]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

His rookie mistakes might cost us a bowl game next season, but his rookie mistakes would have taken us to a bowl game this season with an absolutely brutal schedule? That's some great logic right there.

When did I say wait until next year? I was just as frustrated as anyone else this year when Lee would throw picks and we lost games, but I also could see the big picture and I trust our coach, who obviously abhors losing and knows a few things about quarterbacks. Mullen wanted to go to a bowl game this year badly, but wasn't willing to essentially waste a year of eligibility for the only good QB we had on roster this season when that still wouldn't have gotten us there.

By the time we could have maybe worked in Russell, the winnable games on the schedule were gone. We weren't beating Bama with Vince Young at QB. Arkansas couldn't stop our running game but we still lost to them by double digits. We hammered Ole Miss with Lee/Relf. Explain to me how working in Russell, who, according to those who have observed practice, wouldn't have been ready until midseason at best, was going to add in two wins. That was a bad argument.

 

[HippyDawg]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

Not to mention in at least one of those games his taking of a sack cost us potential 3 points. If Tyler Russell could not do better than that by the 4th or 5th game of the year then he is not anyone to be excited about 4 years now.

 

[Todd4State]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

aGAIN the point wasn't that Miller was a bad QB. You're trying to dig yourself out of a losing arguement, and your failling miserably.

YOU said that if Tyler Russell (more talented QB) wasn't worth a **** if he couldn't beat out Lee (Less talented QB).

I said that's not necessarilly the case BECAUSE

Eli (more talented QB- LIKE TYLER RUSSELL, and who is STILL on an NFL roster AND was a first round pick in the NFL draft) must not be worth a **** if he couldn't beat out Romaro Miller (Good, yes, but STILL LESS TALENTED QB). And I even remember Ole Miss fans that wanted to put Eli in when Romaro was playing, even though it wasn't what was best for them. I bet if you ask them now that they would say that they are thankful that they did.

Play psychedelic music or whatever else you have to do to get it.

And by the way- I didn't say that Relf was an every down SEC QB. I said that he was better than Tray Rutland. Which aGAIN is true. I have said that at the end of the year (bolded because I know you have issues) that he was better than Lee, and the last three games, he proved me right. And the fact that you can't see that aGAIN proves that you know jack **** about quarterbacks.

Stormrider mentioned Omarr Conner. And that's exactly what this would be all over again with the exception of fewer cameo appearances as a WR. We did the same thing to Don Smith as well back in the 80's.

Then you have Jason Campbell at Auburn. Again, RS, actually struggled a little bit, and then finally by the time he was a fifth year senior he develops into a first round draft pick.

 

[Todd4State]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

Not to mention in at least one of those games his taking of a sack cost us potential 3 points. If Tyler Russell could not do better than that by the 4th or 5th
game of the year then he is not anyone to be excited about 4 years now.

because we all know that Dan has no idea how to develop a QB.

Welcome to the board Woody.

 

[HippyDawg]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

is not the same thing as a (potential) great player beating out a good player. Eli's inexperience may have prevented him from initially being good enough to beat out a player that made an NFL roster even if he ultimately proved to be a better player. He had a higher bar to reach. Contrast that with MSU this year. Even factoring in Russell's inexperience, he had a lot lower hurdle to overcome. Either he is not that good, because it would not take much to do better than Tyson Lee, or Mullen couldn't get Russell ready by the middle of the year to not be GOOD but just not as BAD as Tyson Lee. In 3 key games in the middle of the year having a QB not commit ELEVEN turnovers could have been the difference in winning and one or more of those games. Not exactly a high standard is it? It is the difference between needing to be good versus not being that bad. Eli had to be good to beat out Romero. Russell just had to not be ****** to beat out Lee. Then again, maybe Russell was good enough to do better than Tyson Lee but Mullen chose not to play him. This is what I believe and think it was a mistake. I bet he does as well.

 

[HippyDawg]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

So Miles at LSU can get Jefferson ready by the middle of a season but Mullen (the great QB developer) cannot get Russell ready to do better than 11 turnovers in 3 games by that time?

 

[studentdawg87]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

NT.

 

[Todd4State]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

how difficult the SEC is. BIG difference from playing Madison Central and South Panola.

And from reading articles, no Dan doesn't regret RS Russell. Nor should he.

It's more than just talent- it's learning the playbook- it's not uncommon for a spread playbook to have hundred's of pages and many are actually longer than some WCO playbooks, it's getting physically ready, and it's getting maturity. If you throw a freshman out there, it better be for a darn good reason. Like a last resort situation because of injuries.

 

[HippyDawg]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

Isn't that the whole point?

 

[Todd4State]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

So Miles at LSU can get Jefferson ready by the middle of a season but Mullen (the great QB developer) cannot get Russell ready to do better than 11 turnovers
in 3 games by that time?

and that was after Miles was forced to throw Jarret Lee out there as a freshman because Ryan Perriloux was a dumbass. We all saw how well throwing Lee out there worked out. Lee's career is basically ruined.

And we don't have a Jefferson as a back-up plan.

 

[Stormrider81]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

in what, the 6th or so game of the season, he wasn't anything to be excited about down the road? Russell, according to all we've heard, wasn't as ready as Stafford. Stafford is obviously a great talent, but struggled far into his freshman season. I man, he threw 3 picks against us nearly costing them the game. If we had a coach with any sense at all, or a QB with any sense at all, that game would have gone into OT.

The point is, even eventually great QBs struggle as freshmen in the SEC.

 

[Stormrider81]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

and LSU has slightly more experienced talent than MSU. LSU got absolutely hammered at home by Ole Miss and lost a game to an Arkansas team we beat the week before for goodness sake.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

 

[HippyDawg]

Does anyone think we're gonna finish strong in FB recruiting? I sure hope so.........If not,

Or, if Russell is the player you all hope he is to warrant the warm and fuzzies about his senior year then even with his true freshmen struggles he should have been better than Tyson Lee. We did not need a big improvement in QB play to win one or possibly two more games this year. And that is not an improvement on decent QB play but an improvement on bad QB play. I don't think that is asking too much of a 4 star QB with a coach that has a reputation of working with QB's - getting a high school All-American QB ready by the middle of the season to not be good . . . but just not suck.