rebmus

Eh, Stone's recruiting. MSU didn't bother to offer Stone a football scholarship (only a baseball) and he slow played Ole Miss and didn't get an offer after Ole Miss got a commit from another LB they felt was better. I lean Lane would have signed Stone had he took the OM offer a few months ago. Stone played the game and it backfired on him, it happens. He ended up signing an offer and has every chance to prove OM and MSU wrong for not signing him. Best of luck to him.

I think you're correct, I hope we're both wrong... I also question how hard Lane worked in high school recruiting this year at Ole Miss thinking he would get a bigger offer and be gone anyway. Lane is obviously a very good game day coach. He really needs to hire a well organized recruiting coordinator.

The transfer portal has certainly changed the landscape of CFB and recruiting. The Ole Miss defense was definitely improved from 2020 and a lot of that came from transfers. It's certainly fair to question how well it will work long term. Jackie Sherrill got too wrapped up into Juco players instead of building depth long term, and it backfired at MSU. Lane may well be headed down the same road at Ole Miss... we'll see.

I lean no. JRP could put up some great numbers playing QB for the right team. If Sanders' son is a Senior, Jackson State would be a great fit for JRP. Going to a Sun Belt team would also make a ton of sense.

I think we're close to that point, ha. Well, unless JRP goes back under center? I suspect JRP will be transferring soon, unless there is a discussion with him about moving back to QB.

I don't have any doubt Ole Miss (and MSU also) could have signed Blanton had they wanted to. It appears both coaches decided he wasn't a priority. It happens, best of luck to him.

Most know Davis as OC for the Seahawks. Around here, he's also known for being USM's QB in college. Good for him and I wish him well, other than when Auburn is playing Ole Miss of course.

I think you are correct on that. Playing time isn't a guarantee, and these players THINK NIL offers are a guarantee... I lean towards there are a lot of promises and few actual signed contracts on these NIL deals which makes those far from a guarantee also.

That's my impression also, schools can't have anything to do with it. Where is the line though? I graduated from Ole Miss, does that mean I can't offer an athlete some NIL money to sign with Ole Miss? I suspect it's fine for me to do that, it just can't be offered from the coaching staff at Ole Miss or any other Ole Miss employee?

Kids can't be offered a NIL to sign with any certain school (wink wink). I mean, how does anyone really prove that? It's pretty obvious this young man was offered a huge NIL to sign with JSU, but I'm sure the wording is good enough to get around the rules. The NFL has a proven model that has worked for years... free agency and salary caps. I've always been for the players getting paid in college, the NCAA drug their feet too long on how to do it and now have been forced to allow it by the SCOTUS. So far, it's been entertaining to watch unfold.

This was talked about at lunch today, no idea how much truth to it and haven't looked around online to verify. Supposedly Sanders has some connection with Barstool Sports and this kid was offered a NIL over $1 million. Either way, I figure Sanders will be a P5 coach the next hiring cycle. Imagine if he's hired by Auburn... would him and/or Saban stop doing the Aflac commercials together because of the rivalry? The obvious first guess is he waits on the FSU job... as long as it's open within the next 2 years.

Well done.

The portal has drastically changed things. Look at South Carolina that had a GA playing QB this year, now they have Rattler coming in to start next year.

It appears MSU and OM both felt they had better prospects at LB already "in the boat" as they say. Stone has a great opportunity ahead of him to make both schools regret that, we'll see how it plays out.

Stone Blanton. That one is just such a weird story with crazy online talk. As I understand the story: Stone was committed to MSU in baseball, no football offer a year (maybe 2?) ago. Stone rose up the football rankings at LB this past year and had football offers from multiple schools including Ole Miss (not sure if MSU ever offered him in football). Stone kept sticking with his baseball commit to MSU and slow played everyone in football offers. Ole Miss feels pretty good about another LB supposedly committing so they basically "ghosted" Stone since he never had committed verbally for football. It appears OM and MSU both felt a football offer was better spent elsewhere. Shane Blanton (Stone's brother, I think?) blew up on twitter this weekend about Ole Miss not sticking with the original offer to Stone. It's quite possible I'm missing something, but it appears OM was interested and Stone slow played them so they kept looking around. MSU wanted him for baseball but didn't want him enough to offer a football scholarship (this part is more unclear, but how I heard the story). Whatever happened, best of luck to the young man at USCe. We'll see if he makes Ole Miss and/or MSU regret not going after him harder.

Spencer Rattler transfers to South Carolina. That's a big get for USCe.

Bigsby will be a great addition to some team. Nix is an interesting transfer. He showed flashes of being pretty good, just too inconsistent at times. In an offense like Leach's, with mainly short passes, he could end up with some really good numbers. I don't think MSU is looking at Nix, or even should be... just an offense similar to MSU's could be a really good fit for Nix. Nix may end up at Ole Miss if other potential transfer QBs don't land in Oxford.

I'm wondering how high Corral goes in the draft. Honestly, while it's less money on the front end but it's better to fall in the draft and go to a good organization. While Dak has done a great job taking advantage of his situation, imagine if he had been drafted by the Jags or Lions? I've never really been a fan of Pittsburgh, but they're a well run organization over the years. I'd like to see Corral land somewhere like that.

Picking bowl games is probably the hardest picks all season. As mentioned, you have players ending up sitting out. MSU should easily beat Texas Tech IMO, but IF Cross decides to sit out... the game gets more interesting. Who coaches the LSU bowl game? Is it Orgeron and the players want to send him out with a bowl win? Is it their new coach and how do the players respond this quickly to a new staff along with the new staff coaching a bunch of players they don't know? Notre Dame is another example. Change in coaching staff AND you have the angle of getting just left out of the top 4. Outside of the coaching, will the players go all out with a chip on their shoulders due to not being top 4 or just have a lazy effort because it's not a playoff bowl? We've certainly seen that happen with teams in a NY6 bowl that missed out on the top 4, just a lazy effort. 8-9 feels like the right number, but I sure wouldn't put money on that.

I'm not sure about Corral, I lean he'd be playing no matter what bowl OM was in. He's just wired to play and give it his all... a damn the torpedoes type of guy. Heck, it took him being pretty injured before he FINALLY started sliding before hitting LBs trying to get an extra yard. He's fun to watch like that, at the same time he takes too many risks playing like that. I agree overall with what you said, MANY players are good examples of it... Corral is more of an exception to sitting out I think.

I get what you're saying B4, I'm not a fan of players sitting out bowl games. At the same time, I get it... especially with players set to play in a middle tier and lower bowls... maybe even NY6 bowls that aren't playoff bowls. An injury in a bowl game can drop you from first round money to a much much lower draft pick with much much less money in the contract. In recent history, NFL teams sure don't seem to drop off players that sit out bowl games but sure drop off players that get injured in bowl games.

Yep, Corral didn't even hesitate. Of course, he could change his mind... but I doubt he sits out. I've seen/heard no rumors of any OM players sitting out.

Not just QB, Kiffin loves him some portal transfers. With all due credit to Durkin, the OM Defense was also changed a lot by some transfers... Chance Campbell is a great example. It's ironic, Tom Mars opened the door for this with players leaving Ole Miss wanting to play immediately and now Ole Miss is taking advantage of the new rules. Reports have a TON of LSU players entering the portal. Allegedly LSU is burning the redshirt on Nussmeier because they don't have a QB left to play in the bowl game. Johnson entered the portal.

Gosh knows that's correct, I remember well how Ole Miss folded after the last Sugar Bowl.

I have quite a few MSU fans in the family and would like to serve them something at Christmas that seem normal to them. TYIA.