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Sounds like Taylor Thompson 2.0 IMO. Potential to match that 7 sack 2011 or the 5.5 sacks the two prior years if he develops.

I hope he is here Friday. I hope he gets to reshirt this year to get stronger in the weight room and learn the system. We will need him for 4 years in the Big East more than we will in CUSA this year.

Big Easy Pony wrote:Holloway might be the player we hope he will -- a dominant stud DE in Coach Mason's defense. But there's no way he starts now. After sitting out spring ball, he has too much ground to make up. In addition to Hunt and Grenier, there's also Zach Wood, Beau Barnes, Cameron Smith, etc. Let's just get Holloway back so he can practice and learn the defense as a redshirt in 2012.

As Jimmy Johnson has said (and I'm paraphrasing), you win because you have the most talent. Talent trumps experience in my view. Comparing Grenier, just because he's played some, isn't really strong IMHO. Forget about Beau Barnes (a skinny walk on?). Zach Wood seems decent and Cameron Smith is pretty good. But Holloway is BCS caliber talent (he was all ready to go to UCLA who really wanted him) whereas these other guys are not.

OK, enough with me promoting my Cali guy.

Grenier when he was healthy was pretty solid. He played part time with 3.5 sacks (more than Markus in fact) a bunch of TFL and 3 blocked kicks. Its a good thing you have experienced Seniors ready to step in like this. It would be a sign of weakness to expect a guy like Holloway to come in and start based on his obstacles

Just my opinion, we won't see this kid until 2013 earliest. Hard to get on the field if you don't practice. I know he is an out of town kid, but it shows a bit of his dedication level that he was not here for the second summer session. I know he didn't participate in the spring, but I also remember hearing reports about showing up way out of shape after taking the previous year off.

Writing off Grenier and/or Barnes is a mistake. I'm not making any statements about how they compare to Taylor Thompson or Marquis Frazier, or Luke Johnson or Justin Rogers or Ricky Bolden, or whoever your favorite SMU defensive end is. But in a limited role, Grenier has been pretty effective, and Barnes is just scratching the surface and seems to have coaches and teammates saying good things about him -- he looks a lot bigger than when he got to SMU, too. Anyone know what he weighs these days?

PonyPlayer4 wrote:Just my opinion, we won't see this kid until 2013 earliest. Hard to get on the field if you don't practice. I know he is an out of town kid, but it shows a bit of his dedication level that he was not here for the second summer session. I know he didn't participate in the spring, but I also remember hearing reports about showing up way out of shape after taking the previous year off.

There was a reason he was not here for the second summer session and it had nothing to do with his dedication. Let's not slander the him before he gets here. From my understanding they were still trying to get his transfer credit issue taken care of. I understand he is a low key nice Christian young man. He will be fine. A redshirt year would do him well IMO.

Islam Holloway

SMU 86 wrote:

PonyPlayer4 wrote:Just my opinion, we won't see this kid until 2013 earliest. Hard to get on the field if you don't practice. I know he is an out of town kid, but it shows a bit of his dedication level that he was not here for the second summer session. I know he didn't participate in the spring, but I also remember hearing reports about showing up way out of shape after taking the previous year off.

There was a reason he was not here for the second summer session and it had nothing to do with his dedication. Let's not slander the him before he gets here. From my understanding they were still trying to get his transfer credit issue taken care of. I understand he is a low key nice Christian young man. He will be fine. A redshirt year would do him well IMO.

That's what I hear as well, 86. I know nothing about his conditioning but from all accounts I've seen he seems to be a pretty good kid ... with ahelluvalot of upside.

I hope that a positive sighting is made today - perhaps it has already happened - and that it will be reported on this thread.

Barnes weighs 255 now.

Don't think he's coming...Hasn't mentioned a thing about it on his twitter

If the credit issue it not straightened put he will not be here but if it is I am sure he will be here. I guess we will all find out today.

SMU 86 wrote:If the credit issue it not straightened put he will not be here but if it is I am sure he will be here. I guess we will all find out today.

Wait...WHAT????

It was more than just a "credit issue". The guy was a non-qualifier last year. Remember he should have reported last year in August. I think the NCAA lets you to clean up 1( or is it 2) courses in the following year AFTER high school year of graduation. Otherwise, if you still can't qualify you head to JUCO. So the "credit issues" was really a last ditch effort to qualify. BTW I've never heard a thing about whatever happened to Davon Moreland who was in the same position last year. Did he quit football because the internet has lost track of him-can't find anything on him at either another NCAA, JUCO or prep school. These are important examples of how SMU is going the extra mile to let kids try to get admitted to school under minimum NCAA standards. If they were truly qualified they'd end up some where else other than SMU without sitting out a year