What to look for on Defense...

[JasonB]

- At Defensive end, there is a lack of proven depth. Can Delay push Williams for a starting position? Stansbury is a playmaker, but someone needs to step up and make plays on the other end.

- Tackle, of course is a huge question mark. Does Denman get the second spot? If so, this is a VERY undersized position.

- How is Barnett as a corner? Moodley and Humphreys are solid, and Rutledge is a star. Is Barnett ready as a dime back? Gilmore probably isn't ready for significant action, and the frosh need to be redshirted.

- The Mustangs are going to struggle against balanced offenses. Against run-oriented offenses, the very solid core of linebackers can support the line. Against passing teams, even though they lost Garrett, the mustangs are deeper at corner. The saftey play should also improve with Nnabuife coming back and Harris maturing. Expect SMU to give up less big plays than last year (which was the achillies heel of the defense), but to struggle stopping teams that spread the field and then run the ball (Boise and Fresno come to mind). Unless of course the Frosh are ready to go and step in immediately at DT.

[hpfan]

I agree D will be a team effort. Speed has improved from last season. As to D-line,Denman and Delay were the slowest of the D-line in drills I saw this summer. Rogers will likely push the DE spot.

[JasonB]

Sorry, I meant Rogers, not Delay...

[FloridaMustang]

What's the deal with Gilmore, anyhow? Is he STILL recuperating from the knee injury?

[Dement-ed]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by JasonB:
<B> - At Defensive end, there is a lack of proven depth. Can Delay push Williams for a starting position? Stansbury is a playmaker, but someone needs to step up and make plays on the other end.

- Tackle, of course is a huge question mark. Does Denman get the second spot? If so, this is a VERY undersized position.

- How is Barnett as a corner? Moodley and Humphreys are solid, and Rutledge is a star. Is Barnett ready as a dime back? Gilmore probably isn't ready for significant action, and the frosh need to be redshirted.

- The Mustangs are going to struggle against balanced offenses. Against run-oriented offenses, the very solid core of linebackers can support the line. Against passing teams, even though they lost Garrett, the mustangs are deeper at corner. The saftey play should also improve with Nnabuife coming back and Harris maturing. Expect SMU to give up less big plays than last year (which was the achillies heel of the defense), but to struggle stopping teams that spread the field and then run the ball (Boise and Fresno come to mind). Unless of course the Frosh are ready to go and step in immediately at DT.</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Way too early to ask a true freshman to step in, especially on one of the lines. Your correction from DeLay to Rogers is right on - Coach Bennett loves Justin Rogers. If they can put some more meat on him, he might turn into one heck of a DE. In the meantime, I'd have to think Melvin Williams and Don Ieremia-Stansbury remain the starters at the DE spots.

At the moment, Denman is slated to start next to Adami on the inside. But you can expect a healthy rotation there. Brent Karrington has shown promise, and Coach Bennett has said the two big rookies (Brandon Bonds and Desmond Jones - who's up to close to 300 pounds already!) need to be ready to play this year, if called upon.

At CB, Barnett is raw. He's extremely athletic and fast, but he's always beena RB. He has some skills. But I bet he doesn't play major minutes this year, barring several injuries to the guys in front of him.

Rutledge was a star in 2001, and should be again. But he wasn't too great last year. In fact, coming out of the spring workouts, he wasn't even listed as a starter -- Moodley and Humphrey were listed as first-stringers. Of course, this might have been a coaching ploy to light a fire under Jonas. He got yanked from the starting lineup last year and came out the next week with his best game of the year (sorry - can't remember the opponent). And also, with the 3-WR alignments we'll see from almost everyone this year, all three will basically be starters. The names on the depth chart will be interchangable.

I totally agree with JasonB's analysis of the secondary - a healthy Nnabuife joining Rico Harris and Jamey Harper gives the Ponies a nice trio of safeties. If Moodley makes the switch to CB smoothly, thereby giving SMU three CBs with starting college experience, maybe Coach Bennett's vision of a defense anchored by its secondary isn't that far away.

[JasonB]

Yeah, I found it interesting that in the 5 with Phill, he mentioned the frosh corners playing a big part. That tells me that Gilmore isn't ready to go yet, and they don't have enough confidence in Barnett.

There also were more comments made that Williams is "steady". He just doesn't make plays. The coaches would be elated if Rogers beat him out at the end position.

At receiver, I was surprised at the comments that the frosh are going to play. I think that is more of an indication of how disappointed he is in the current stable of WRs. I think we are in a lot of trouble at that position.

[WildHorse]

I talked to a reporter who was at media day yesterday. He said the school made available a bunch of players for interviews, and that Gilmore was there. He said he didn't get a chance to talk to Gilmore, but clearly someone's getting ready to do a write-up about him.

He did play a little in the spring, didn't he? Surely he wouldn't have been out on the field if his knee couldn't take it, right? Or am I being naive?

[PonyTales]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by JasonB:
<B>At receiver, I was surprised at the comments that the frosh are going to play. I think that is more of an indication of how disappointed he is in the current stable of WRs. I think we are in a lot of trouble at that position.</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I've been a little leery about that, too. We're all glad to have Comet back, but the fact is he missed a whole year with the bad foot, and while we all hope he has an all-America year, we won't know until we see him on the field. Rushbrook looked great in the spring, but he was a DB and backup punter last year. Trey Griffin had one big game Ñ outside of the Rice game, all we really know is that he's extremely fast. Jay Taylor is tall, but how will that translate in terms of catches and yards and scores? Cedric Vinson showed some real ability last year on the few plays that went his way, and in practice. But can he be a reliable every-down threat? Our most reliable wideout target this year was supposed to be Daniel Francis .... and he's gone.

Don't misunderstand me - I support our receivers as much as I do any other players on the roster, and I hope they erase all doubts in the first game by catching everything Bartel throws their way. But I'm afraid JasonB brings up a good point. I'm not ready to echo his comment that we're in a lot of trouble at WR, but we sure have more questions than anyone has let on.

I hope we haven't given up on Donald Massey.