Hatter pre-2004
posted 2:07p, 4/13/2004
Hey ags,
KState fan here reading a little bit on your predictions. A few of you aren't sure what we have returning.
Here's what I'll say to that...the Offense returns a lot of experience other than QB and Leckey.
QB- Should be Dylan Meier...he's a good athlete and throws a very nice, catchable ball. He's got some size @ 6'4 205. He doesn't have Roberson's arm or open field moves but he's faster than Roberson and is more of a passer. He has good genes as his older bro Shad Meier's a TE for the Tennessee Titans and there's a ton of recruiting interest in his little bro who's an '05 prospect including from aTm.
RB- Sproles...good depth(Florida State transfer Thomas Clayton) and 2 2 year letterwinners @ fullback in Victor Mann and Ayo Saba. Mann played in the U.S. Army All-Star game and is a real specimen...Saba was considered one of the top two fullbacks in the '01 class w/ offers reaching from Miami to Washington.
WR- We lost James Terry but he's the only departing receiver. We return over 1,100 yards an 80 receptions amongst Davin Dennis, Antoin Polite, Jermaine Moreira, and Joe Lawson. Tony Madison is one of the starters though he's yet to play. He's a stud @ 6'3 205 and clocked a 4.37 on pro timing day...he would've been the go to guy last year for KSU but sat out last year on suspension. Toney Coleman's a RS FR drawing comparisons to Quincy Morgan from the KSU coaahing staff...he's big @ 6'2 200-plus and has that electric change of direction ability. And KSU added Yamon Figurs...he's a soph. juco transfer who was one of the top prep sprinters in Florida a few years back...he ran a 4.28 on pro timing day recently. KSU's coaching staff has said this will be the most talented receiving corps in KSU history.
TE- Return Brian Casey who was one of the Big 12's top TE's.
OL- Returns 3 starters w/ 58 career starts between them. We lost Nick Leckey which hurts but we're moving 2 year starting RG Mike Johnson to Center. This will be one of the bigger OL's in college football. The starters from LT-RT will be 6'8 310, 6'6 315, 6'4 290, 6'2 330, 6'7 300.
Defensively KState lost some very experienced players in DEs Andrew Shull and Thomas Houchin, LBs Bryan Hickman and Josh Buhl, Safety Rashad Washington, and corner Randy Jordan but there's plenty of experience returning.
DL- 5 DL who registered a combined 24 sacks return up front. Three DEs w/ considerable experience return as do 4 DTs. All 3 DEs have started and are talented. The two starters are Kevin Huntley(6'8 270) and Scott Edmonds(6'4 260). Huntley had 6 sacks last year and was a starter for 5 games until he got injured in the Texas game where he was completely handling UT's Jonathan Scott. Edmonds is one of KState's better athletes as he possesses a 39" vertical @ his size and is an oustanding speed rusher. Alax Carrier's the other DE and one who sat out last season w/ injury despite being the starter @ RDE going into the season. Carrier started two games way back in '01 as a freshman and played a lot in '02...he's the fastest DE @ KSU clocking a 4.65 @ 6'4 265. DT returns Jermaine Berry who started all 15 games in '03 and welcomes back Andrew Bulman who sat out '03 w/ an injury...Bulman was a starter going into '03 when he went down w/ a season ending stress fracture in pre-season camp. Berry's short and quick @ 5'11 285 and Bulman's a very strong man @ 6'3 290. I say strong w/ Bulman because he benches over 600....he owns a lot of prep weighlifting records in Massachusetts. Quintin Echols and Derek Marso are two 310lb DTs who each registered 3 sacks last season. Echols has one of the best bull rushes around.
LB- We lose a lot in Hickman and Buhl and we're not as talented here as we were in the last 90's or w/ Pierce and Leber in '00-'01. We moved Matt Butler from Mike to Sam...Butler started the first 6 games @ Mike in '03 before breaking his arm. Ted Sims returns @ Mike LB where he took over for Butler in '03 and started the remaining 9 games and performed very well. Sims and Butler are both very tough football players but not as talented as the LBs we're used to having. Will LB should be manned by Marvin Simmons who was one of the most highly recruited LBs in the '01 class when he signed w/ USC. Simmons would've started last season @ Mike but he suffered a hamstring injury that lingered for much of the season. He's very powerful and fast @ 6' 240...he's certainly every bit as talented as any we've had.
secondary- We lost SS Rashad Washington and corner Randy Jordan but we do return FS Jesse Tetuan who's started 18 games in his career and two corners w/ at least 6 starts in Louis Lavender and Cedrick Williams. This will be one of KSU's deepest units on the team in terms of talent w/ the addition of some jucos and some youth w/ little experience but we don't know what to expect beyond the 3 already mentioned because of the experience factor.
The way I see the KSU '04 season taking shape is that we'll be pretty damn tough to stop offensively by mid-season as we have a lot of weapons and some experience up front w/ returning 3 OL and the TE.
Defensively our front 4 should be stout and our secondary should be really tough @ some point during the season but I have a lot of concerns w/ both OLB positions, particularly SAM LB.
Losing Roberson hurts in the sense that he could keep a defense honest w/ his running ability...but we really didn't have a great vertical threat @ receiver nor did we have a lot of experience @ receiver last year....this year we'll have a lot of experience @ receiver and a great deal of ability to stretch the field vertically....oh, and it always helps to have a RB like Sproles.
Hopefully some of this info gets you a little more familiar w/ what we have.
