Question for the people thinking we have good RB's....

[Coach34]

Let me start of by giving you guys a few facts from 2007:

Rushing offense- 10th in SEC
Rush per play- 3.5 12th in SEC
First Downs- 12th
Passing offense- 12th

Anthony Dixon-
2nd in the SEC in attempts
7th in total yards (took him 100 more attempts to beat out Little from Ky by 30 yards)
Longest run was 30 yards

1. We lost 3 of our 5 starters from last year, including All-SEC candidate Mike Brown
2. We have nobody returning as good as Mike Brown
3. We lost our best WR
4. We have the same ****** WR's we had last year (yes, Smith is decent)
5. 6 of our top 10 lineman are Soph's or Freshmens

Knowing all this...

Other than just saying it, what evidence is there that we have good RB's and a decent OL?? I'm not seeing any evidence of how anybody can say our RB's should be a B or an A-....help me here....nothing I see supports that...

 

[Coach34]

Let me start of by giving you guys a few facts from 2007:

Rushing offense- 10th in SEC
Rush per play- 3.5 12th in SEC
First Downs- 12th
Passing offense- 12th

Anthony Dixon-
2nd in the SEC in attempts
7th in total yards (took him 100 more attempts to beat out Little from Ky by 30 yards)
Longest run was 30 yards

1. We lost 3 of our 5 starters from last year, including All-SEC candidate Mike Brown
2. We have nobody returning as good as Mike Brown
3. We lost our best WR
4. We have the same ****** WR's we had last year (yes, Smith is decent)
5. 6 of our top 10 lineman are Soph's or Freshmens

Knowing all this...

Other than just saying it, what evidence is there that we have good RB's and a decent OL?? I'm not seeing any evidence of how anybody can say our RB's should be a B or an A-....help me here....nothing I see supports that...

 

[Coach34]

Let me start of by giving you guys a few facts from 2007:

Rushing offense- 10th in SEC
Rush per play- 3.5 12th in SEC
First Downs- 12th
Passing offense- 12th

Anthony Dixon-
2nd in the SEC in attempts
7th in total yards (took him 100 more attempts to beat out Little from Ky by 30 yards)
Longest run was 30 yards

1. We lost 3 of our 5 starters from last year, including All-SEC candidate Mike Brown
2. We have nobody returning as good as Mike Brown
3. We lost our best WR
4. We have the same ****** WR's we had last year (yes, Smith is decent)
5. 6 of our top 10 lineman are Soph's or Freshmens

Knowing all this...

Other than just saying it, what evidence is there that we have good RB's and a decent OL?? I'm not seeing any evidence of how anybody can say our RB's should be a B or an A-....help me here....nothing I see supports that...

 

[Coach34]

Let me start of by giving you guys a few facts from 2007:

Rushing offense- 10th in SEC
Rush per play- 3.5 12th in SEC
First Downs- 12th
Passing offense- 12th

Anthony Dixon-
2nd in the SEC in attempts
7th in total yards (took him 100 more attempts to beat out Little from Ky by 30 yards)
Longest run was 30 yards

1. We lost 3 of our 5 starters from last year, including All-SEC candidate Mike Brown
2. We have nobody returning as good as Mike Brown
3. We lost our best WR
4. We have the same ****** WR's we had last year (yes, Smith is decent)
5. 6 of our top 10 lineman are Soph's or Freshmens

Knowing all this...

Other than just saying it, what evidence is there that we have good RB's and a decent OL?? I'm not seeing any evidence of how anybody can say our RB's should be a B or an A-....help me here....nothing I see supports that...

 

[Coach34]

Let me start of by giving you guys a few facts from 2007:

Rushing offense- 10th in SEC
Rush per play- 3.5 12th in SEC
First Downs- 12th
Passing offense- 12th

Anthony Dixon-
2nd in the SEC in attempts
7th in total yards (took him 100 more attempts to beat out Little from Ky by 30 yards)
Longest run was 30 yards

1. We lost 3 of our 5 starters from last year, including All-SEC candidate Mike Brown
2. We have nobody returning as good as Mike Brown
3. We lost our best WR
4. We have the same ****** WR's we had last year (yes, Smith is decent)
5. 6 of our top 10 lineman are Soph's or Freshmens

Knowing all this...

Other than just saying it, what evidence is there that we have good RB's and a decent OL?? I'm not seeing any evidence of how anybody can say our RB's should be a B or an A-....help me here....nothing I see supports that...

 

[GBryne4Heisman]

He rushed for 1,000 yards last year as a true soph last year.
He's 2nd team all SEC (and personally think he's better than Adrian Foster).
Wasn't he 2nd in TDs in the SEC last year behind Tebow?
Dixon has a chance to be the all team leading rusher in MSU history in yards and TDs
Dixon has a chance to break Herschel Walker's SEC TD record.
I think Ducre is a better RB than Dixon, though not nearly as talented.

Dixon's ypc is always gonna be low. It was low in HS, but thats just what type of RB he is. Croom said 'he left about 500 yards on the field'.

 

[dawgatUSM]

Let me start of by giving you guys a few facts from 2007:

Rushing offense- 10th in SEC
Rush per play- 3.5 12th in SEC
First Downs- 12th
Passing offense- 12th

Anthony Dixon-
2nd in the SEC in attempts
7th in total yards (took him 100 more attempts to beat out Little from Ky by 30 yards)
Longest run was 30 yards

1. We lost 3 of our 5 starters from last year, including All-SEC candidate Mike Brown
2. We have nobody returning as good as Mike Brown
3. We lost our best WR
4. We have the same ****** WR's we had last year (yes, Smith is decent)
5. 6 of our top 10 lineman are Soph's or Freshmens

Knowing all this...

Other than just saying it, what evidence is there that we have good RB's and a decent OL?? I'm not seeing any evidence of how anybody can say our RB's should be a B or an A-....help me here....nothing I see supports that...

You make a compelling argument, but I feel there are several factors you're not considering. If you watched any of our games last year you saw that most teams stacked the box with 7 or 8 people depending on our formations. We didn't have a threatening passing game. Thus, the lack of YPC. Everybody knew what we were going to do, but when we did it, as long as Anthony didn't miss where he was supposed to go (which he did on a few occasions), they couldn't stop it. AD is not a breakaway back, and I'm sure even he would tell you that. 30 to 40 yards probably will continue to be his longest carry until he graduates. He's not built like a Jerious Norwood or a Robert Elliot. In many of his carries the purpose was to get 1-5 yards in most cases because we just weren't explosive anywhere on offense so we had to do what we were good at and that was a power running game.</p>
Secondly, you're not considering the fact that Robert Elliot supposedly has improved dramatically, while we have Ducre as a nice back up. If I had to give us a grade I probably wouldn't give us an A, but I think we're a pretty solid B. They do they job they're intended to do...

 

[Gene Swindoll]

anthony dixon is a beast</p>

 

[Todd4State]

I think a lot of people are basing their potential to be good off of the fact that Dixon and Ducre are going to be juniors. You have to admit that Dixon has all the potential in the world, for example- the play where he leaped over the guy for Bama to get a first down, having a 100 yard receiving game against Ole Miss- but at the same time he has some work to do, I think your stats bear that out plus the fact that he had some problems with fumbles. Typically, the more experienced players are, the better they get, so both Dixon and Ducre will likely be better.

A lot of people are basing it off of the fact that Croom has a reputation for developing good RB's- the latest being Norwood. I do think that he will help Dixon, Ducre, and Elliott immensely.

Speaking of Elliott, I'm leaving the jury out on him until he actually goes up against some SEC competition. Same with Bonner. Both may turn out to be pretty good, but I'm going to take the pleasantly surprised angle if that happens.

I think one thing that might help our running game would be Carroll developing a deep passing game, because that will take some people out of the box. But that also remains to be seen as well. I'd also like Carroll to get his completion percentage up into the 60's.

 

[Coach34]

"He rushed for 1,000 yards last year as a true soph last year."

So did 7 other guys on less carries except McFadden

"He's 2nd team all SEC (and personally think he's better than Adrian Foster). "

preseason SEC doesnt mean ****...lets see if he ends up there in December

"Wasn't he 2nd in TDs in the SEC last year behind Tebow?"

wrong aGAIN...he was 3rd...but lets dont forget how many times he carried the ball- 287 times

"Dixon has a chance to be the all team leading rusher in MSU history in yards and TDs"

Good grief man...let some of our other backs in history get it 287 times a year and see what they would do...3.5 yards a carry- thats not good at all

"Dixon has a chance to break Herschel Walker's SEC TD record."

****, every back in the conference has a chance...we'll see how it turns out...and Herschel did it in 3 years btw...

"Dixon's ypc is always gonna be low"

Because he is not a top level RB...JJ was...Norwood was...Hell, Micheal Davis was...

our RB's are not B or A- backs...

 

[Gene Swindoll]

coach, with all due respect......and i mean with all due respect.....your evaluation of running backs ain't worth ****.....dixon will make you eat your words. bank it

 

[GBryne4Heisman]

if you dont think Dixon is a good back.

 

[Todd4State]

"Wasn't he 2nd in TDs in the SEC last year behind Tebow?"

wrong aGAIN...he was 3rd...but lets dont forget how many times he carried the ball- 287 times

Are you saying that is a bad thing? Who cares how many carries he gets as long as he scores once or twice a game?</p>

 

[Coach34]

for some type of proof that he should be considered in the top half of the conference as a RB. You cant support your side with any facts- its just what you "think"

Heres my proof:

Felix Jones outrushed him on less than half the carries 287-133- Felix 2X> Dixon
Mississippi's RB outrushed him on 50 less carries- if our backs are a B, what does that make Benjarvus-Green Ellis?
Rafeal Little from Kentucky almost caught him on 100 less carries
Jacob Hester outrushed him on 50 less carries

He is tough..he is durable...but he is an average back that gets a shitload of carries and produces decent numbers...plain and simple

 

[Coach34]

How many SEC teams have RB's that would gain 1,000 yards and score 14 TD's if they got the ball 287 times? I think it would be all 12. Hell, Tebow averaged more yards per carry from the QB position.</p>

Basically, his durability is what makes him decent. Because if the other teams in the SEC gave it to one back that much, he would finish 12th in rushing</p>

 

[biguglyjoe]

facing 8 in the box nearly every time he touched the ball.

 

[Todd4State]

To be fair to Dixon, you're also comparing him to guys who are upperclassmen as well- and some with better o-lines, like Hester.

Let's wait and see what Dixon does this year and next year, because I have a feeling that if you compared, let's say BJGE So. year with Dixon's So. year, Dixon is going to have better numbers- "shitload of carries" or not.

And you may think that he's below average or whatever, but I've heard Mel Kiper, Jr. mention AD as a player to watch the next couple of years. That has to be worth something as Kiper usually knows who the NFL scouts are looking at.

 

[Coach34]

they led the SEC in rushing with 8-9 in the box every single 17'ing play

 

[GBryne4Heisman]

Doesn't the fact that we have "****** WRs" only make what AD did last that much more impressive? And the freshman QB to go along with those WRs?

I wouldn't trade Dixon/Ducre for any 2 rbs in the SEC, expect for UGA's Moreno/Caleb King.

I ask you "Coach", if Dixon isn't in the top half of the SEC, what RBs are ahead of him?

 

[skb124]

for some type of proof that he should be considered in the top half of the conference as a RB. You cant support your side with any facts- its just what you "think"

Heres my proof:

Felix Jones outrushed him on less than half the carries 287-133- Felix 2X> Dixon
Jones benefitted from playing alongside D-Mac. Teams had to focus on Macfadden, not Jones.
Mississippi's RB outrushed him on 50 less carries- if our backs are a B, what does that make Benjarvus-Green Ellis?
Ole Miss had a running quarterback. You cant commit as much to the middle to respect a QB keeper.
Rafeal Little from Kentucky almost caught him on 100 less carries
Kentucky had one of the best passing attacks in the SEC. Teams could not stack the box at all.
Jacob Hester outrushed him on 50 less carries
Hester is a better back in my opinion. Plust he profitted from being surrounded by the best team in the nation.

He is tough..he is durable...but he is an average back that gets a shitload of carries and produces decent numbers...plain and simple
Once we develop some sort of passing attack, you will see Dixons numbers increase, and his carries decrease.

</p>

 

[Todd4State]

Then how is that a knock against him? He's obviously doing what he's supposed to be doing. If he was getting 287 carries and only getting 500 yards, I could maybe understand your arguement. As far as teams giving it to just one back, well Dixon's numbers would be better if we didn't have Ducre because he would get the ball more.

You can make a lot of contingencies here: What if Dixon was running behind Tennessee's o-line? Would Felix Jones numbers have been as good without McFadden? What about Tebow being a threat to throw the ball? I would imagine that a defender would at least have to respect that aspect of Tebow's game before attempting to make a tackle.

It is what it is. I'll take a guy rushing for a thousand yards and 14 TD's any day.

 

[skb124]

The fact that SEC coaches believe he is in the top four in the league is more credible than your opinions, as well, Coach.

What would yall think of us trying the Wildcat formation some like Arkansas did. Put Bonner and Elliot on the sides and have AD as the QB. It worked for Arkansas.

 

[biguglyjoe]

they led the SEC in rushing with 8-9 in the box every single 17'ing play

If all things excluding McFadden and Dixon were equal, your comparison would hold water. Unfortunately that's not the case. </p>

 

[Coach34]

they led the SEC in rushing with 8-9 in the box every single 17'ing play

If all things excluding McFadden and Dixon were equal, your comparison would hold water. Unfortunately that's not the case.</p>

</p>The question was posed about teams having 8-9 men in the box, and it was insinuated that Dixon's numbers were low because of that. I clearly show that the top rushing team in the SEC faced 8-9 fronts all year long, just as we did, yet they led the SEC in rushing. Why? Because they had backs that grade out as an "A"...our backs are more like a C+, thats why they ran for twice as many yards..

We have average backs people...the proof is all on my side

 

[biguglyjoe]

nm

 

[biguglyjoe]

The issue of our line of discussion is YPC. Is our offensive line as talented as Arkansas's? Does Dixon have a Felix Jones? Is Dixon a passing threat? Is there any other threat on the field to take the focus off Dixon? Do you not think these elements would help any back in that system have a better YPC than the same back in our system? You can compare Dixon/Ducre. You can compare McFadden/Jones, but to compare McFadden/Dixon is unreasonable.

Yes, they faced 8 in the box, but they also had more options to combat it than Dixon run left/Dixon run right.

 

[TDawg52]

Coach34... you need to go slide back into your avatar... obviously you're a "big prick" and have a hard-on for Dixon for some reason...

 

[slickdawg]

C34 - we didn't even remotely have a threat in the passing game, so we faced 8-9 in the box almost every snap. Most other backs had the luxury of a passing game to keep the defense honest. Until we develop a passing game (god bless the Woody Controlled Offense), that will continue to be true.

 

[RebelBruiser]

I compare Dixon to Green-Ellis for us the last two years. Both are between the tackles backs. Neither one has break away speed. Neither one is the type of back to have 60, 70, or 80 yard TD runs. Both can be a work horse for your rushing offense, and both are 1000 yard backs if you give them a lion's share of the carries.

Maybe Dixon will get much better, but I see him as a Green-Ellis type of back with little chance at an NFL future. He can be a decent SEC running back, but I don't ever see him being a game changer.

Edited to add: I really don't think the whole 1000 yard rusher thing means nearly as much anymore either. With the expansion of the schedule to 12 games and with them now counting bowl games as part of official stats, a lot of backs have two more games to pick up yards. There are a ton of backs in the past that finished with 850, 900, 950 yards or so that would've gotten to 1000 had they been given 2 more games.

If I remember correctly, Dixon didn't break the 1000 yard mark until the bowl game, so it took him 13 games. It's seasons like that that make me believe the 1000 yard mark has been cheapened. In a 12 game schedule, I'd say that the 1200 yard mark is more comparable to what the 1000 yard mark used to be.

Also, I'll add BJGE's stats:
Indiana:
2003 - 938 yards 4.2 ypc (long rush 39 yards)
2004 - 794 yards 3.4 ypc (long rush 53 yards)

Ole Miss:
2006 - 999 yards 4.3 ypc (long rush 31 yards)
2007 - 1137 yards 4.9 ypc (long rush 57 yards)

That's why I think they are very comparable backs, and I expect to see similar from Dixon in the next two years.

 

[muddawgs33]

they led the SEC in rushing with 8-9 in the box every single 17'ing play

Hell no. They were creative. Half the time, fans in the stands could tell you what play we were about to run, so I know the other teams coaches knew. At least Nutt would mix it up, so you couldn't just sell out on the run. Hell, I think McFadden had 4 or 5 TD passes last year. He almost had more than Carroll did. I think if the offense can show that we can pass the ball, then Dixon will have a breakout year and really show what he can do. If we can't, then I think you will see Dixon have another year like last year. Basically, Croom and Co. are going to have to do a better job of playcalling to keep the opposing defenses honest and off balance, so they can't just load up 9 or 10 in the box like they did last year. </p>

 

[slickdawg]

I compare Dixon to Green-Ellis for us the last two years. Both are between the tackles backs. Neither one has break away speed. Neither one is the type of back to have 60, 70, or 80 yard TD runs. Both can be a work horse for your rushing offense, and both are 1000 yard backs if you give them a lion's share of the carries.

Maybe Dixon will get much better, but I see him as a Green-Ellis type of back with little chance at an NFL future. He can be a decent SEC running back, but I don't ever see him being a game changer.

Can't argue with that.
</p>
Croom swears if AD pushed himself, he'd be an elite back. I don't know if I'd buy that.

 

[olemissbydamn]

Swiper, no swiping! Swiper, no swiping!

 

[Xenomorph]

...what detriment a ****** passing games does to the running game.

You're flat wrong on this one. I'd go to war with Dixon and Ducre any day.

 

[futaba.79]

that Dixon can be a very good back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia3_6R__90A

 

[TR.sixpack]

1. We lost 3 of our 5 starters from last year, including All-SEC candidate Mike Brown
2. We have nobody returning as good as Mike Brown
3. We lost our best WR
4. We have the same ****** WR's we had last year (yes, Smith is decent)
5. 6 of our top 10 lineman are Soph's or Freshmens

It will be a miracle if we win 6 games or more this season given those factors. Anyone expecting 8 wins or more in 2008 is obviously a dumbass.

 

[AgDawg]

I think the evidence is in what we were able to accomplish against what the opponent was giving us. Like what was posted earlier we made plays and found ways to win against defenses who's game plan was to stop of us from running the ball. It wasn't about throwing up gaudy stats last year. It was about winning no matter how ugly it was. Now I am hoping we become more balanced this year and bring out some type of passing game that will allow us to hang some points on people. If they can deliver what they are preaching then we should see an offense that puts up at minimum average SEC stats.

 

[DowntownDawg]

...a "I'm half bored, and in the mood to piss people off" post from you.

And the only thing that needs to be said, which you already know, is that Dixon got 1,000 yards in a terrible offense with no passing threat, an average offensive line, and very little creativity from his coaches as a <span style="font-weight: bold;">true sophomore</span>.

That makes him a good back.

 

[dawgman42]

Seriously, you know your mind is made up and that ANY stats or game evidence in favor of Dixon being a good back will be glazed over by you in the usually fashion.

Dixon is a good running back. He made things happen, be it in short yardage situations, or by forcing the other teams to stack the line. He is not a great running back, but he also has not fully developed in my opinion (not sure any more "coaching" from our staff would help, however).

But, again, you've lowered me to your level of idiocy even commenting on this story.

Next time Media Days roll around, just go ahead and man-knap Veazey or Ellis and YOU vote on the all SEC team.

 

[seshomoru]

if he promises to invite you to his bachelor party when the time comes?</p>

 

[Temple of the Dawg]

yuku