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Friday July 21, 2006

Friday Mail Bag

Hey Mickey,
Hearing Gilchrist will give the Tigers the go-head this Thursday; His commitment for the Tigers would be huge. On film, reminds me a little of Justin Miller, what?s your take? On another note, do you expect the more talented Tribble Reese to close the gap early in the 2006 season between Harper.....maybe even Procter ;)
Thanks.
Wayne

Wayne,
Gilchrist might be the top ranked player in North Carolina. He is a terrific cover corner and an excellent return man. He is not as big as Justin Miller but I believe might have better cover skills. Harper has worked harder than Reese in their first couple of years. He has earned his spot as the backup. If Reese wants to make up the ground he will only do it through hard work.

Hey, Mickey
This blog thing is great. Thanks. I watched Paul Macko in the O and W game and I was impressed with his running. Where did he come from? I know RB is not where we need a lot of help this year, but he is a tough runner. Please tell us a little more about this guy and what you think will happen to him as a player.
Jay

Jay
Macko is a junior walk-on from Ohio. He is a very hard worker. Running backs coach Burton Burns really likes Macko. However, James Davis, Reggie Merriweather, Demerick Chancellor and C.J. Spiller are better athletes and the fifth tailback does not get a lot of touches.

Mickey,
My memory may be playing tricks on me and I deleted your previous e-mail, but I seem to remember that you wrote me once that you didn't understand why Ole Miss fired David Cutcliffe.

The SEC position rankings on your blog tell the story. Bottom of the SEC in 5 of 7 categories.

QB 3
RB 11
WR 11
OL 12

DL 10
LB 3
DB 10

I generally agree with the offensive rankings. QB is probably too high and I think that the RB situation is not so bleak. Green-Ellis is pretty good and Bruce Hall (Wake transfer via NE Miss CC) will get some playing time. By the way, McSwain is being moved to WR. I think that the offense in general will be better. The three headed monster -- Mazzone/DeLeone/Orgeron -- with their widely differing opinions are gone. Orgeron has turned the offense over to Dan Werner, and Werner and Art Kehoe seem to be on the same page, which is a big change from the last years OC and OL coach.

I agree with the LB ranking. Willis, Gary Pack and Quentin Taylor should be pretty good if Willis is healthy. The depth though inexperienced is not bad.

Even though I don't agree with the DL ranking, I understand it. There is talent at the tackles. Even though Jerrell Powe (pronounced jur-ELL PO) was a 5* recruit, he has never played a snap. Brandon Jenkins has underachieved, but the light may have come on in the spring. Hayward Howard will compete with Jenkins and Jeremy Garrett, who started some last year, is not a star, but he is an experienced DT. The DEs will surprise, in my opinion. Peria Jerry made a big move in the spring and has NFL potential. Chris Bowers and LaMark Armour both started some last year.

I confess that I was shocked by the DB ranking. Lower than South Carolina?? Trumaine McBride (CB) and Jamarca Sanford (SS) have NFL potential, in my opinion. Charles Clark is a steady safety. Nate Banks and Terrell Jackson are the leading candidates for the other corner and both were top 12 players in Mississippi. This group is not the top of the league, but they are not #10 either.

We will know better by the end of September. In order to get to a bowl, Ole Miss needs three wins in September from Memphis, @Missouri, @Kentucky, Wake Forest and Georgia. Three in September (Memphis, Kentucky and Wake or Missouri) plus Vanderbilt, Northwestern St. and Mississippi State makes six.

I enjoy your show.

Jim

Jim,
I probably underrated your DBs and RBs. I did not realize McSwain had moved. Hopefully, Brent Schaffer will be eligible and get the Rebels on a roll. Your recruiting has been incredible. Thanks for writing.

Mickey,

About Clemson's DB situation, I know they are less experienced but looking back to the O&W game, Coleman & Gaddis seem big and a lot more physical then previous CBs that Clemson has had. I personally think this secondary lineup will be MORE sucessful than last years group b/c they're more comfortable playing all zone and you don't need Hill/Miller man cover CBs as much in this system. It seems like the secondary will punish some WR's pretty soon.

Also, before Spiller committed to CU, you said that he would bring the program to another level, do you still believe this? Can you give any update on how he's/other freshmen are doing?

Thank You,

Richard

Richard,
The secondary could be a lot better than I rated them. I think the talent is there but I want to see it on the field first. Spiller is special. He is an incredible athlete and person. I was shocked when he showed up as the best-conditioned freshman. I think they have been impressed with almost all of the freshmen so far. We will learn a lot more about them when camp starts in a couple of weeks.

Hey Mickey,

I am getting stoked for football season, as you and your listeners are!

I am a Florida State fan and I am excited about the upcoming year. I hope to get some revenge on the Tigers on September 16. It will be a challenge, as I feel the winner of that game will represent the Atlantic Division in Jacksonville.

I keep hearing about James Davis and how great he is. He did have a good year as a freshman for the Tigers, even though he missed two games. However, I am hard pressed to believe he should have been named the ACC Rookie of the Year. This will sound rather biased coming from a Seminole fan, but I have to plead the case of Drew Weatherford.

He broke the ACC passing record for a freshman. He led the league in passing yards, touchdown passes (tied with Wright from Miami), and he is the first freshman in the history of the ACC to lead the league in total offense! Not to mention he led his team to win the ACC Championship and went toe-to-toe with Penn State who was one second away from being undefeated! He did all of this with the seventh worst rushing attack in the nation! Not to mention, out of the 13 FSU games, they started 7 different offensive lines!

He did all of this as a true freshman, and under the shackles of Jeff Bowden's right wing conservative offense.

Could you please tell me how he was not the unanimous choice for ACC Rookie of the Year?

Thanks,
Chris

Chris,
I think Weatherford had a nice freshman season. James Davis meant more to his team though. Look at the Clemson offense when he was healthy and when he was hurt. Also, head-to-head Davis played much better than Weatherford.

Mickey a quick question. Do you think Nelson Faerber will see the filed this year? At one time I thought he had a future at Clemson.
Thanks.
AJ

AJ,
I think he is talented. The problem is as a walk-on he has some scholarship players ahead of him. The Tigers have pretty good depth at receiver, which hurts Nelson?s chances.

Mickey,
We'll start a new QB this year (although he is a senior) and have the defensive backfield that you have written about the past couple of days.

Playing the game of what ifs... what if we are prone to giving up a couple of quick scores each game on D but yet we'll be more of a running team and keep playing the game close to the vest based on what I've seen us do in the past? Should there really be so many people that are so optimistic for a 10+ win season?

Thanks,
Michael M

Michael,

I think every team has question marks and concerns. This team is no different. The thing that might hold this team from 10 wins is a difficult schedule. I have faith in Proctor and think the secondary will be OK when they gain experience.

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Posted by admin @ 10:06 AM EDT [ Comments [3] ]