Improvements coming.

[Terryproy]

The Hogs will be vastly improved on Offense and defense. Williams and Whaley will both gain 1200 yards and the defense will be the best in the SEC West. Whaley is about to explode, look out.

[Muskliketusk]

Don't know if you is gonna bat a thousand but I only see one that might not happen. Bama and the cheating midget will probably have the best D in the West. We are number two and prolly the top offense in the SEC. we will have the best QB best TE best two running backs and the best OL.  :razorback:

[Torqued pork]

Don't know if you is gonna bat a thousand but I only see one that might not happen. Bama and the cheating midget will probably have the best D in the West. We are number two and prolly the top offense in the SEC. we will have the best QB best TE best two running backs and the best OL.  :razorback:

We will have the #2 defense in the division? Did I hear you right?

[Al Boarland]

The Hogs will be vastly improved on Offense and defense. Williams and Whaley will both gain 1200 yards and the defense will be the best in the SEC West. Whaley is about to explode, look out.

How do you know? Did we vastly improve our talent?

[ChitownHawg]

The Hogs will be vastly improved on Offense and defense. Williams and Whaley will both gain 1200 yards and the defense will be the best in the SEC West. Whaley is about to explode, look out.

I hope you are right. But I do want to say I'm proud of your nephew. When you go from being the top dog your whole life to being a seldom used role early in the season - your ego takes a hit.

Young men can allow their ego to act out badly or they can accept it by working harder to earn the playing time. From everything I could see Devwah did the latter. He was a teammate and seems to have gained the coaches confidence to be in the field in critical times. Very proud of that young Hog.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

I hope you are right. But I do want to say I'm proud of your nephew. When you go from being the top dog your whole life to being a seldom used role early in the season - your ego takes a hit.

Young men can allow their ego to act out badly or they can accept it by working harder to earn the playing time. From everything I could see Devwah did the latter. He was a teammate and seems to have gained the coaches confidence to be in the field in critical times. Very proud of that young Hog.

Good post and I agree. We haven't seen the best of this young man yet. Good showing as a true freshman. I hope he eclipses 1,000 yards this coming season.

[Arthur pigby sellers.]

Whaley played like an upperclassman last year and at times made us forget he was just a freshman. RBs generally make a big improvement from freshman to sophomore year and I wouldn't be surprised to see Whaley in the discussion for All SEC.

[King Kong]

If we can get 1,000 yards for both. Surely the TOP will help the defense improve

[Biggus Piggus]

How do you know? Did we vastly improve our talent?

Quite a bit of improved talent redshirted last two seasons. More coming in vs. going out.

[Piggfoot]

Is there poster in this thread with inside information?

[Oklahawg]

Is there poster in this thread with inside information?

lol

YES!

[Oklahawg]

Quite a bit of improved talent redshirted last two seasons. More coming in vs. going out.

Most certainly.

Leadership internally will improve, if for no other reason it is a focus.

Renewed focus on coaches being on the same page philosophically.

[1highhog]

Don't know if you is gonna bat a thousand but I only see one that might not happen. Bama and the cheating midget will probably have the best D in the West. We are number two and prolly the top offense in the SEC. we will have the best QB best TE best two running backs and the best OL.  :razorback:

What are you and the OP smoking?  Best offense you say?  Where do you see this?  Where is this best OLine coming from?  Yes we have a good QB coming back with two very good RB's back as well.  If our new receivers mesh well early with our QB, we'll be fine,,,,that is, as long as Austin Allen can stay on his feet.  If he's running for his life or if our RB's have difficulty finding lanes to run through, it'll be this past season all over again.

Defense, whoa is me.  I can't fathom it being worse because we were basically at the bottom last year.  But I'm not thinking we're going to be an SEC defense by any measure either which will doom next years team.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

What are you and the OP smoking?  Best offense you say?  Where do you see this?  Where is this best OLine coming from?  Yes we have a good QB coming back with two very good RB's back as well.  If our new receivers mesh well early with our QB, we'll be fine,,,,that is, as long as Austin Allen can stay on his feet.  If he's running for his life or if our RB's have difficulty finding lanes to run through, it'll be this past season all over again.

Defense, whoa is me.  I can't fathom it being worse because we were basically at the bottom last year.  But I'm not thinking we're going to be an SEC defense by any measure either which will doom next years team.

I'm in "wait and see" mode after thinking that our O-Line blocking would better than it was, though I didn't expect it to be great, and after seeing a defense that we expected to be our strength, fall flat on its face most of the time.

Now is the potential there to be very improved over last season? Absolutely. We could be as improved on both sides of the ball this coming season as we seemed to digress last season.

I'm hopeful, but we will see. A lot of moving parts on both sides of the ball are going to have to move successfully and in unison with a singular team focus and better leadership.

[PonderinHog]

Does this come with a guarantee that I can book and take to the bank?   :razorback:

[farmhawg]

I'll play along, so how many wins does the best sec offense and defense have next year? We talking 12-0 regular? Let's set that damn bar as high as the op's expectations.

[Biggus Piggus]

I'm in "wait and see" mode after thinking that our O-Line blocking would better than it was, though I didn't expect it to be great, and after seeing a defense that we expected to be our strength, fall flat on its face most of the time.

Well, the spring revealed that the Oline was a disaster, and the post-spring Oline depth chart was ridiculous. The coaches knew what was going on and put a brave face on it, but they were racing against time to get seven players in the right positions and ready for the season.

This go-round will be much better. Main question is who plays left tackle. That pursuit is going to be much easier this season. The Hogs have at least a couple of players who can handle the position. Last spring, they had none. Our Oline coach knows what he has to work with, and several have stepped up. Players who redshirted are getting close to being ready.

On defense, here's the spring roster:

DT - Capps, Guidry, Jackson, Marshall, Smith, Watts
DE - Agim, Beanum, Roesler, Taylor
LB - Eugene, Fisher, Harris, Jean-Baptiste, LaFrance, Ramsey, Walker + walk-ons
CB - Hernandez, Keaton, Pulley, Toliver - fill in with walk-ons
S - Coley, Dalton, Edwards, Miller, Ramirez, Smith

Out injured - Greenlaw, Richardson, Tutt

I don't know how to divide the 10 defensive linemen between tackle and end. If Arkansas changes to a 3-4, some of the tackles above will be ends. If the Razorbacks go to the 3-4, they will be well set for the spring. In the 4-3, they might be a little light on ends.

Arkansas would need a walk-on to fill out a LB two-deep, if it goes 3-4. You'll probably see some players at more than one position.

The CB positions have the least depth for spring, with a midterm freshman stepping right into the depth chart. Freshmen Curtis, McClellion and possibly others will have a chance to play come August.

At safety, not everyone listed is a serious contender. Arkansas's also bringing in a couple who should be immediate contenders for PT.

[menace_hawg3]

Guys like Brown, Curl, and Stewart have the potential to make everyone at that position better. They have to earn that playing time now!

I also think that Edwards will be a good one as well. I don't know much about Micah Smith. Who knows? The kid might have a big chip on his shoulder and surprise us all.

[MS_HogFan]

Out injured - Greenlaw, Richardson, Tutt

What are their injuries? Expected return date?

[Biggus Piggus]

Greenlaw just had surgery on his reinjured foot, surely will miss spring.

Tutt tore an ACL in August, surely will miss spring.

Richardson tore a pectoral muscle in September, might be able to go in spring, might be limited.

[hawgfan4life]

LB was our Achilles heel this year.  We had issues all over the field on defense but they were all magnified because of the issues at LB.  We were weak against the run and the pass at LB and therefore were exposed everywhere else throughout the season.  If we make the move to the 3-4, I doubt that the players coming in and coming off of redshirts will add enough high level play to make this position be a strength.  We need some things to happen next year.

1.  Offense MUST improve and keep the defense on the sideline.  The best cure for an average defense is a great offense that eats up the clock and scores points.  Limits the other teams possessions and forces them to pass playing catch up.  Even an average defense is better when they have a strong idea the other team is passing. 

2.  DL and DBs need to make modest improvements.  Despite the perceptions, our DBs didn't give up the big play at an alarming rate and the DL didn't do as badly as fans believe.  If our DL knows it is pass, they will be able to tee off on the offense and improve our pass rush.  When our DBs aren't asked to play run support so hard and defend the pass, they will play better.  The key is going to be the overall improvement of the LBs being able to fill on the run, force on the edges, and play sound against underneath coverages. 

3.  Win the field position battles.  We must be able to flip the field on the possessions when we aren't scoring and force the opponent to go 80 or more yards every possession.  Doing this makes an average defense have great statistics in points allowed which is the overall stat on defense.  The farther they have to go, the less likelihood of them scoring. 

[RebelW]

How do you know? Did we vastly improve our talent?

I don't believe our problem is talent. Our problem has been preparation and scheme.. We have plenty talent

[azhog10]

Seeing how our two Senior DL are performing in the Shrine practices I don't know that it overly matters. Especially on defense. We still have the same guy coaching the DLine, and I just don't see CBB or CPR changing their bend but don't break mindset. We aren't going to put pressure on the QB with just rushing 3 or 4, and I don't see us being a team that blitzes much at all.

[hogcam]

Seeing how our two Senior DL are performing in the Shrine practices I don't know that it overly matters. Especially on defense. We still have the same guy coaching the DLine, and I just don't see CBB or CPR changing their bend but don't break mindset. We aren't going to put pressure on the QB with just rushing 3 or 4, and I don't see us being a team that blitzes much at all.

The same guy will not be coaching the DL

[Pork Twain]

Quite a bit of improved talent redshirted last two seasons. More coming in vs. going out.

This coupled with only LSU and Bama being better than us year in and year out, I think we are #2/3 in the SECW in total D next year.  I think we are really going to start seeing that low miss-rate and solid RS/WO program take hold and start to pay off.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Well, the spring revealed that the Oline was a disaster, and the post-spring Oline depth chart was ridiculous. The coaches knew what was going on and put a brave face on it, but they were racing against time to get seven players in the right positions and ready for the season.

This go-round will be much better. Main question is who plays left tackle. That pursuit is going to be much easier this season. The Hogs have at least a couple of players who can handle the position. Last spring, they had none. Our Oline coach knows what he has to work with, and several have stepped up. Players who redshirted are getting close to being ready.

On defense, here's the spring roster:

DT - Capps, Guidry, Jackson, Marshall, Smith, Watts
DE - Agim, Beanum, Roesler, Taylor
LB - Eugene, Fisher, Harris, Jean-Baptiste, LaFrance, Ramsey, Walker + walk-ons
CB - Hernandez, Keaton, Pulley, Toliver - fill in with walk-ons
S - Coley, Dalton, Edwards, Miller, Ramirez, Smith

Out injured - Greenlaw, Richardson, Tutt

I don't know how to divide the 10 defensive linemen between tackle and end. If Arkansas changes to a 3-4, some of the tackles above will be ends. If the Razorbacks go to the 3-4, they will be well set for the spring. In the 4-3, they might be a little light on ends.

Arkansas would need a walk-on to fill out a LB two-deep, if it goes 3-4. You'll probably see some players at more than one position.

The CB positions have the least depth for spring, with a midterm freshman stepping right into the depth chart. Freshmen Curtis, McClellion and possibly others will have a chance to play come August.

At safety, not everyone listed is a serious contender. Arkansas's also bringing in a couple who should be immediate contenders for PT.

Like I said, we could be vastly improved, which by the way is what I am hoping for by fall. We probably should be. But then we might not be vastly improved. There are too many head, heart, talent and scheme questions that need to be answered right now for me to be overly optimistic, so I'm waiting and seeing.

[Dominicanhog]

I'm in "wait and see" mode after thinking that our O-Line blocking would better than it was, though I didn't expect it to be great, and after seeing a defense that we expected to be our strength, fall flat on its face most of the time.

Now is the potential there to be very improved over last season? Absolutely. We could be as improved on both sides of the ball this coming season as we seemed to digress last season.

I'm hopeful, but we will see. A lot of moving parts on both sides of the ball are going to have to move successfully and in unison with a singular team focus and better leadership.

Yeah, with expectations for last year not being meet (even regressing) and things we were told would be better, yet we continued to see the same thing, it causes one to step back and observe before predicting.. Strengths became weakness to easy, and things you thought should be fixed, weren't... it's hard to have blind faith until you see some finished product..

[tophawg19]

Quite a bit of improved talent redshirted last two seasons. More coming in vs. going out.

i disagree with this on the defensive side . look at the shrine game and other SR games . Wise , Ledbetter and a couple more are really standing out . Morgan and Sprinkle have had some good moments too . This should be a surprisingly good draft for us

[The Hawg Marshal]

The Hogs will be vastly improved on Offense and defense. Williams and Whaley will both gain 1200 yards and the defense will be the best in the SEC West. Whaley is about to explode, look out.

Sounds good to me!

[Biggus Piggus]

i disagree with this on the defensive side . look at the shrine game and other SR games . Wise , Ledbetter and a couple more are really standing out . Morgan and Sprinkle have had some good moments too . This should be a surprisingly good draft for us

Wise, Ledbetter and that's all. Who are your "couple more?" Not on defense. More coming in than going out.

[1highhog]

The Hogs will be vastly improved on Offense and defense. Williams and Whaley will both gain 1200 yards and the defense will be the best in the SEC West. Whaley is about to explode, look out.

Look Grasshopper, I like your enthusiasm but our defense will never ever be best in the SEC, the day it does I'll run wind sprints around the Alma Sonic buck naked. 

[BOAR_N2BWILD]

Our offense is not getting much better until we get a new OL coach. We went from a good OL to an invisible OL.

[SRV]

Like I said, we could be vastly improved, which by the way is what I am hoping for by fall. We probably should be. But then we might not be vastly improved. There are too many head, heart, talent and scheme questions that need to be answered right now for me to be overly optimistic, so I'm waiting and seeing.

Agreed. I tend to always be optimistic, and I'm not pessimistic about next season, but there are certainly a lot of questions to answer. I believe that we have a ton of potential next year, but we also had lots of potential this year. I think this staff will figure it out and the players are hungry for more than they achieved this year. Time will tell.

Woo pig!

[Dominicanhog]

On defense, here's the spring roster:

DT - Capps, Guidry, Jackson, Marshall, Smith, Watts
DE - Agim, Beanum, Roesler, Taylor
LB - Eugene, Fisher, Harris, Jean-Baptiste, LaFrance, Ramsey, Walker + walk-ons
CB - Hernandez, Keaton, Pulley, Toliver - fill in with walk-ons
S - Coley, Dalton, Edwards, Miller, Ramirez, Smith

Out injured - Greenlaw, Richardson, Tutt

That looks awfully young and not very deep.. it's hard to imagine we couldn't improve over last year, how could you not, but we'll be counting on young guys to step up quick or we could be in for a long year...

I think coaching could help, but we need more bodies and they need experience.. we'll be counting on the offense much more next year, imo...

Hard to believe we could actually be worse on D this year than last but...

[SRV]

The Hogs will be vastly improved on Offense and defense. Williams and Whaley will both gain 1200 yards and the defense will be the best in the SEC West. Whaley is about to explode, look out.

I love the optimism. Devwah is an exciting young player, and I look forward to seeing him on the field next year. We seem to have 2 outstanding young men leading our running backs. I'm very glad that they are both Hogs.

Woo pig!

[farmhawg]

Look Grasshopper, I like your enthusiasm but our defense will never ever be best in the SEC, the day it does I'll run wind sprints around the Alma Sonic buck naked. 

On corn dog day?

[MuskogeeHogFan]

That looks awfully young and not very deep.. it's hard to imagine we couldn't improve over last year, how could you not, but we'll be counting on young guys to step up quick or we could be in for a long year...

I think coaching could help, but we need more bodies and they need experience.. we'll be counting on the offense much more next year, imo...

Hard to believe we could actually be worse on D this year than last but...

The bar for improvement should be fairly easy to reach this coming season but I don't think it is the signs of tremendous improvement that we need to look for as much as it is "improvement" that translates to more disciplined play that actually puts people in the right position to make a play. Not necessarily a phenomenal athletic play, just don't miss the tackle when the guy is right there in front of you, that would allow him to pick up another 3-5 yards.

I think that a lot can be accomplished in small steps, small, very basic improvements that go back to the fundamentals of the game. If you don't embrace those it can lead to a lot of bigger plays/3rd down conversions/continuance of a an opponents drive, that perhaps result in scores and wearing down a defense mentally and physically.

This is what I will be looking for in terms of improvement on defense next season. That and a more aggressive, pressure style of defense up front. But let's keep in mind that blitzing and stunts can be a double edged sword. If they work the DC looks like a genius. If they don't and a big play results, the DC ends up being blamed. Still, we need to apply more pressure up front and I think that if we can get that done, it will serve us better overall.

[Dominicanhog]

That and a more aggressive, pressure style of defense up front. But let's keep in mind that blitzing and stunts can be a double edged sword. If they work the DC looks like a genius. If they don't and a big play results, the DC ends up being blamed. Still, we need to apply more pressure up front and I think that if we can get that done, it will serve us better overall.

I agree on fundamentals completely.. we improved a lot when we put Ledbetter at DE because he played more fundamental.. think we'll see this from the start... I also think this lack of fundamentals and/or putting the wrong person on the edge, was the straw that broke the Pigs back for CBB..

As for blitzing, I think we see more than we've seen in a while.. If memory serves, CPR has a history of blitzing quite a bit.. because of our youth, it may be later in the year before it develops though..

last thought about blitzing, it is a double edge sword but when you can't stop them not blitzing....

[Bacons Rebellion]

... We were weak against the run and the pass at LB  ...

Other than that, the linebackers were pretty solid.

[ballz2thewall]

What are you and the OP smoking?  Best offense you say?  Where do you see this?  Where is this best OLine coming from?  Yes we have a good QB coming back with two very good RB's back as well.  If our new receivers mesh well early with our QB, we'll be fine,,,,that is, as long as Austin Allen can stay on his feet.  If he's running for his life or if our RB's have difficulty finding lanes to run through, it'll be this past season all over again.

Defense, whoa is me.  I can't fathom it being worse because we were basically at the bottom last year.  But I'm not thinking we're going to be an SEC defense by any measure either which will doom next years team.

someone is selling synthetic credit default swaps.

[Dominicanhog]

someone is selling synthetic credit default swaps.

real problem is, there are lot's of buyers

[gmarv]

The Hogs will be vastly improved on Offense and defense. Williams and Whaley will both gain 1200 yards and the defense will be the best in the SEC West. Whaley is about to explode, look out.

I think you are right about the offense. Our oline kids learned underfire this past year they will be much better i believe.We could be very good next year, like the offense of two years ago.

[ballz2thewall]

LB was our Achilles heel this year.  We had issues all over the field on defense but they were all magnified because of the issues at LB.  We were weak against the run and the pass at LB and therefore were exposed everywhere else throughout the season.  If we make the move to the 3-4, I doubt that the players coming in and coming off of redshirts will add enough high level play to make this position be a strength.  We need some things to happen next year.

1.  Offense MUST improve and keep the defense on the sideline.  The best cure for an average defense is a great offense that eats up the clock and scores points.  Limits the other teams possessions and forces them to pass playing catch up.  Even an average defense is better when they have a strong idea the other team is passing. 

2.  DL and DBs need to make modest improvements.  Despite the perceptions, our DBs didn't give up the big play at an alarming rate and the DL didn't do as badly as fans believe.  If our DL knows it is pass, they will be able to tee off on the offense and improve our pass rush.  When our DBs aren't asked to play run support so hard and defend the pass, they will play better.  The key is going to be the overall improvement of the LBs being able to fill on the run, force on the edges, and play sound against underneath coverages. 

3.  Win the field position battles.  We must be able to flip the field on the possessions when we aren't scoring and force the opponent to go 80 or more yards every possession.  Doing this makes an average defense have great statistics in points allowed which is the overall stat on defense.  The farther they have to go, the less likelihood of them scoring.

well said. the balance between offense and defense is critical; often the line is so fine that it's not visible in real time. it is ironic how the ability to score acutally puts a team in a position to lose, but it is a reality.

there were some times in 14 and 15 when we played that balance very well. usually we managed 150-175 yards on the ground. this allowed crucial extension of drives that kept our defense on the bench.

but defensive bench time isn't an absolute cure, as this year reveals. still; even this year, had we a more effective and dependable 4 yard ground game, the results may have been dramatically different on the score board.

[ballz2thewall]

real problem is, there are lot's of buyers

it seems so.

[(notOM)Rebel123]

Does this come with a guarantee that I can book and take to the bank?   :razorback:

"Of course, I can get a hell of a good look at a T-Bone steak by sticking my head up a bull's arse, but I'd rather take the butcher's word for it."-Big Tom Callahan

[lakecityhog]

If we go 3-4 I think that Roesler and Taylor become Linebackers. Ends will need to be a bit bigger and maybe not quite as mobile in the 3-4 set, right?

I think that if you really look at the roster we are losing a LOT on the D'Line.
Ledbetter-- Wise--Winston--Johnson--Lewis     That's 5 guys that started/played-a-lot/played.

But, you only need 3 full time players at DT and 5 at the DE spot. Sure we need some backups, but for the most part 2 guys will handle most of the load at DT (Capps and Jackson) and then 4 guys will play the most at DE ( Agim, Beanum, Guidry and Smith or Dean) Watts or Marshall could slide over to the DE spot which in my mind depends on a possible JUCO kid or a grad transfer coming in at either position.

[JIHawg]

The Hogs will be vastly improved on Offense and defense. Williams and Whaley will both gain 1200 yards and the defense will be the best in the SEC West. Whaley is about to explode, look out.

Preach it Bro.

[Philibuster]

The Hogs will be vastly improved on Offense and defense. Williams and Whaley will both gain 1200 yards and the defense will be the best in the SEC West. Whaley is about to explode, look out.

Vastly improved as in 8-4?

[sowmonella]

Vastly improved as in 8-4?

You are 9 for 9 with negative posts. I wouldn't make any long term plans.

[MTBrookHog]

Quite a bit of improved talent redshirted last two seasons. More coming in vs. going out.

My question to this is why didn't these talented redshirts help improve our starters during practice during the season?