J.R. RICHARDSON: Stronger than ever?

[PonyPride]

For SMU cornerback J.R. Richardson, the 2012 season ended before it started when he tore a knee ligament during preseason workouts. Richardson spent the season undergoing surgery and rehabilitating his knee, and visited with PonyFans.com to offer a progress report and his expectations for next season.

Stronger than ever?

[JoeKidd]

Great attitude and competitiveness shown by JR. Improved play in the secondary will be crucial for us next year especially in our OOC schedule against Baylor, A&M and Tech.

[ojaipony]

Hope he plays to his potential -- a highly touted recruit (offer from Michigan). We need all the swagger we can get. If he plays to his potential, we will have 2 very good corners with he and Acker. I like how Jay Scott played (he also has some size). Don't know who the other safety will end up being (Roundtree has the size, but don't know what's going on with him) but I think our defense on the backend could be pretty solid. The front end, I have no idea. (perhaps the weakest/most unknown of the entire 2013 team right now).

[Junior]

Glad he'll be back next year.

[SMUFan]

Great story. This guy was a big part of the plans for last year before he got hurt, and it's hard to argue the fact that he would have helped make the defense better. I'd forgotten how many guys we lost. We were thinnnnn back there.

I can't believe he never went home after the bowl game. How many of us would have skipped Christmas with our families at his age in order to rehab? I'd like to say I would have, but that's not true. Thanks for your dedication to the team, JR.

[JasonB]

I hope he is ready to go. He was a stud in the fall before he got hurt. He was playing the right side against the speed receiver while Acker played the left.

[Grant Carter]

I can't believe he never went home after the bowl game. How many of us would have skipped Christmas with our families at his age in order to rehab? I'd like to say I would have, but that's not true. Thanks for your dedication to the team, JR.

That impressed me too.

[mrydel]

I never went home for the holidays and my folks were in Richardson at the time. Sometimes other things keep you around campus. Friends, women, better things to do. Hopefully is is getting in full rehab but there could also be other things keeping him in Dallas.

[Pony4Life]

The story makes it sound like he was doing work on that knee. Add me to the list of the impressed fans here.

Love reading this kind of story about one of our own. Get healthy, JR.

[#1PONYUP]

We will need him for sure, looking forward to having a guy that wants to compete as badly as he does. Thanks for the great story!

[HorsePower]

Can't wait to see JR play next year.
Hopefully the secondary will be healthy in 2013.