The story on Alex Odiari makes me excited about

[Stallion]

I'm surprised whenever a true freshman can go from recruit to starter or even contributor in the 3 weeks or so prior to the regular season. Of course, there is a learning curve.

[gostangs]

He could not possibly be dimmer then the average OSU recruit.

[RedRiverPony]

I'll bet by this time next year he will be the starting MLB. May start at SLB this year but he belongs inside at least in this conference.

Based on what - the fact that he's big?
Smart is big, too, and maybe (none of us knows, I realize) Odiari runs better, or projects as a better blitzer off the edge.

What makes you say he "belongs" inside, other than his weight and the fact that he played at OSU?

thanks

Now I'm confused. First we're screwed because we had undersized linebackers like Wilton McCray, and now we're screwed because Smart's too big?

[Stallion]

I suggest you go buy a copy of Texas Football and go see the size of Division 1A LBs among Texas schools. This ain't the 1960s. Very few today look like Wilton McCray 6-0 205 and very few are in the 6-3 or 6-4, 240+ range. One of the few exceptions are guys like Sergio Kindle-one of the best athletes in the country on both offense and defense(ran for 2,000 yards as Senior RB). In college football today you got to be able to run with the RBs and Receivers. Odiari's playing weight is too much at 250 especially to play outside. I seriously doubt if he gained 45 pounds and still runs a 4.5 We'll see. I don't know if Smart is 6-4 6-3 or 6-2 -he's been listed at all these sizes in SMU publications-Most the time he is listed at 240+ Before we annoit him as the next [deleted] Butkis I want to first wait to see him play the position when they are actually playing "tackle-football". I predict he too will have to get his weight down from last year to really be effective. How he plays against Texas Tech should go along way in proving if he can excell at that position especially when facing wide-open passing offenses.

[Scoops]

Take a deep breath. RRP wasn't challenging your expert analysis (or at least it didn't come off that way to me) — just asking for where you got your ideas.
Or am I wrong RRP?

[LAPonyAir]

I met a football player from Ok. State a while ago. He said that Odiari was talented but he could never learn the plays and had to ask other teammates for his role all the time. I wonder if this is still true, or if Ok. State just had some complicated defensive schemes (June Jones' defensive philosophy seems pretty straightforward from what I've heard from the players).

Smart is going to be a beast on the field though, no doubt.

It may have been as simple as he wasn't motivated to know his stuff at Ok State. I'm sure that he'll take a more serious approach after having been dismissed from osu and seeing what has happened to Willis and a few others at SMU.

I hope, after I refused to watch last year's atrocious defense in the second half of the season.

[RedRiverPony]

I suggest you go buy a copy of Texas Football and go see the size of Division 1A LBs among Texas schools. This ain't the 1960s. Very few today look like Wilton McCray 6-0 205 and very few are in the 6-3 or 6-4, 240+ range. One of the few exceptions are guys like Sergio Kindle-one of the best athletes in the country on both offense and defense(ran for 2,000 yards as Senior RB). In college football today you got to be able to run with the RBs and Receivers. Odiari's playing weight is too much at 250 especially to play outside. I seriously doubt if he gained 45 pounds and still runs a 4.5 We'll see. I don't know if Smart is 6-4 6-3 or 6-2 -he's been listed at all these sizes in SMU publications-Most the time he is listed at 240+ Before we annoit him as the next [deleted] Butkis I want to first wait to see him play the position when they are actually playing "tackle-football". I predict he too will have to get his weight down from last year to really be effective. How he plays against Texas Tech should go along way in proving if he can excell at that position especially when facing wide-open passing offenses.

Wow, and I suggest you lighten up, Sparky (and I already have a copy of the Baylor View of the Football World magazine, and aside from the SMU coverage, it's as average as ever). Despite your approach of "volume and repitition equates to actual knowledge!", there are many on this site who seem to think you know something, so I was curious about why you said what you said. You have gone on at length in the past about how previous coaches recruited too many undersized diamond-in-the-rough types, and now that we have an apparent beast at middle linebacker (at least physically - haven't seen him play there yet), you wrote him off as too big. Maybe he will have to get his weight down, but from the little I saw of him at the Red/Blue game, he seemed to move pretty well. Quit attacking everyone who even questions your views. I didn't say it was wrong, I was just asking for reasoning. You call it finding evidence in your world, I gather. Why not just offer evidence and let your Darrow-esque legal-speak prove your point?

[RedRiverPony]

Besides, according to your aforementioned DCTF, last year's first-team All-Texas Team LBs went 234 (Phillips/TCU), 240 (Jones/UTEP) and 254 (Tupe/A&M). If DCTF is the bible we're expected to believe it is, Jones and Tupe were too big to be successful, and I guess Phillips is pushing maximum density.

[OC Mustang]

I suggest you go buy a copy of Texas Football and go see the size of Division 1A LBs among Texas schools. This ain't the 1960s. Very few today look like Wilton McCray 6-0 205 and very few are in the 6-3 or 6-4, 240+ range. One of the few exceptions are guys like Sergio Kindle-one of the best athletes in the country on both offense and defense(ran for 2,000 yards as Senior RB). In college football today you got to be able to run with the RBs and Receivers. Odiari's playing weight is too much at 250 especially to play outside. I seriously doubt if he gained 45 pounds and still runs a 4.5 We'll see. I don't know if Smart is 6-4 6-3 or 6-2 -he's been listed at all these sizes in SMU publications-Most the time he is listed at 240+ Before we annoit him as the next [deleted] Butkis I want to first wait to see him play the position when they are actually playing "tackle-football". I predict he too will have to get his weight down from last year to really be effective. How he plays against Texas Tech should go along way in proving if he can excell at that position especially when facing wide-open passing offenses.

Are you being a skeptic, or are you trying to "un-handicap" what the publications or folks like me say (I want him to do well for a variety of reasons, not simply b/c he plays for SMU) ? My point is, is there something that you see affirmatively that leads you to believe that he won't excel, or is the jury simply out on it, so you are gently (or not so) trying to get us to tone down our expectations?