David White

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July 19, 2013

Price victorious, Rays, other stuff…

July 19, 2013

Wil Myers: an emerging star for the Rays
Dave had a rocky start giving up four solo shots, but fought hard and got better as the game wore. He even admitted after the game he made a couple of bad pitches on the long balls, but the Blue Jays have good power. Of course, Jose Bautista hit one. He kills us and gets David a pretty good bit, but Dave kept getting better and went seven, gave up four runs, threw 98 pitches 68 for strikes with 30 balls, which is another excellent ratio. He gave up seven hits, walked one and K’d five. Rays down 4-1 after three, but scored two in sixth, two in eighth and two in ninth. Longo, Zorilla, Kelly Johnson and awesome new right fielder Wil (way his first name is spelled). Myers went deep, Wil was three-for-five with a homer, a double and a single. He came up from the minors in late June, and has been a highly touted prospect we got  from the KC Royals in the offseason, and he’s going to be a stud in right field. He already is playing pretty very well. Longo (Evan Longoria) hit a monster bomb; looked like 450 feet in the upper deck of the Skydome or whatever they call it up there.. Evan worked on his game during the All-Star break. He’s had plantar fasciitis, which is like having a rock lodged in your foot all the time and is very painful, but Evan seems to be a lot better and that’s a good sign. His hard work during the break in Tampa will probably pay off because he’s one of the premier players in the majors, if he can stay healthy. We had a couple of players out tonight. Shortstop Yuni Escobar was out with a thigh strain and first baseman James Loney was at home in Tampa with his wife and new born baby. Love this win. Came back and showed resilience and Dave showed a lot of resilience. Play Blue Jays tomorrow in Toronto at 1:07 PM ET/12:07 CT. Rays at 56-41 two and a half back of BoSox which are 58-38.

Bucs lost to the Reds at Cincy tonight, 5-3, Just struck out too much. We K’d t0 times. Starling Marte, who’s hitting .292 and is a good player for us but strikes out way too much for a leadoff hitter, had two hits but K’d three times. Pedro was o-for-4 with a K. We were down 5-0 and made a game of it, but lost 5-3. Hope my fear of Pedro’s hitting being hurt by the home run derby won’t come to fruition.
Braves beat White Sox, 6-4. Braves 55-42, six games up on Nats, which lost tonight to the resurgent Dodgers, 3-2. Mike Minor pitches Sunday vs. White Sox at 2:10 PM ET/1:10 CT on Fox Sports South which is not the same network as Sportsouth. Mike goes against Jose Quintana of ChiSox, who is 4-2 with a 3.72 ERA. Mike now 9-4 with a 3.02 ERA with 26 walks and 115 strikeouts. Excellent numbers there.
Prates two back of Cards, which beat the Padres tonight, 9-6. Picked the Rays over the Nationals in the series on my blog in April, so there’s no looking back. Really like the Rays, the Bosox, the Rangers and the A’s right now in the AL, and like the Cards, Braves, Bucs and Reds in NL. Starting to think the Nats aren’t going to get it together.
Brandt with a rough day today at the Open. Shot 79 (+8) and is five over for the tourney after shooting 69 yesterday on the Par-71 Muirfield course. The Mechanic leads it. That would be 49-year old Miguel Angel Jimenez, He’s @-3. It’s interesting because Darren Clarke, then 42, won in 2011, and Ernie Els, a 42-year old last year, won last year’s Open. Maybe the late 40-something player can win it. Some big names in the mix. I picked Phil because of his preparation for the tournament and his victory last week at the Scottish Open. He’s @ +1. This course has been brutalizing a lot of players. Rory finished +12 for two days. He’s done. Tiger at -2 and right there.
The greens are as hard as a 20-year old blacktop, and the winds make hitting shots and putting problematic. Ian Poulter tweeted that all 18 needed was a windmill and a clown nose. Kind of funny, but these guys are pretty frustrated. 15 was very tough today. Phil had some comments that the course should be set up so the best players can win. That may happen anyway. Should be fun the next two days.
Nothing happening in bball recruiting. We’ve got some four-stars and a five-star interested. Really need to close some deals. Freshman class set for baseball. Good class. Not number one class in the country, but that’s pretty hard to do three years in a row. Solid, talented class though. Should be pretty stellar in baseball. We should be very good in bball too this upcoming season led by Kedren, Rod, Kyle and Dai-Jon. And we need to recruit well for ’14. Will keep you posted on any hardcourt developments.
Will get you an update on our key minor guys and Sonny next week. Just checked on Sonny. Went two innings tonight in middle relief, gave up one hit, no runs with one walk and three K’s. Excellent. Unfortunately for Sonny and his team, they’re losing to the Angels 4-0 in the bottom of the 8th. The A’s may want to seriously think about making Sonny a starter. He’s ready. Ryan Flaherty didn’t play for the O’s tonight. Will keep tabs on him.
Gotta start thinking about the Bears as well coming up. I’m looking for a big season from Jay this year. Think he’s settled down in his personal life, he’s focused and looking for the Lombardi Trophy. Hope Earl can play a big part too.

S takes his typical shot at the media; looks ahead to 2013

July 19, 2013

Refresh my memory. Who is this again?
S started off his press conference at media days with his usual S-like feelings about the media. S said he had a great vacation, he felt great, and he loved getting a chance to talk to his “1,200 closest friends.” S may, and I want to emphasize may, like a few media members. He probably likes Herbie, thinks Fowler’s OK, Corso– probably thinks he’s a clown like everybody else does, but he probably finds him acceptable. Probably likes Des. Likes the Wolf. He probably thinks Gold is OK, but doesn’t think about him too much. Stallings used to call Gold a fat blank. It was pretty funny. Probably finds Chris Stewart tolerable, but probably hardly notices him before or after his show. He basically doesn’t care about the Fourth Estate. We get on his nerves for the most part. His first statement was that he noticed in the last 21 years, the media members were 4-17 in picking the SEC winner. That is pretty bad I have to admit. But my record was pretty good and I’ll take exception with S. I was 152-44 (78%) during the regular season (gotta get to 80 or better this year), and 25-10 in bowls (71%; needs improvement as some of my English teachers used to say).

But back to S and the team. Here are some remarkable stats. In the last four years, S’s teams are 49-5, 19-0 in non conference games, two SEC titles, three national championships, and his defense allowed just 241 yards per game, best in the FBS in those four years. Phenomenal. In 2012, the Tide allowed only 10.9 points per game, best in the FBS. Since 1936, the Bear had six national titles (though there are some others that could be counted), S has four, John McKay has four and Frank Leahy, who coached at Notre Dame a long time ago, had four. The media asked S to compare himself to the Bear. S just said the Bear was the greatest coach of all time and he’s not at that level yet. But he could be within 8 to 10 years, or more, however he wants to do this. Before it’s over S could be the greatest coach of all time along with Coach Bryant. Certainly could happen. And this year looks extemely promising.

Have ‘Bama in the SEC title game playing South Carolina. Ball Coach is certainly one of the best ever as well. Like the Tide to win there and take down Ohio State by a wide margin in the national championship game if they play them, but if they play Stanford, it would be closer. Think South Carolina and Stanford would be tough. Maybe Oregon too. Think S would pummel Urb. Now to the current players.

A.J. is awesome without a doubt. He’s not a game manager, he’s a game changer. He might have been more a manager a couple of years ago, which is a good thing in a lot of ways, but last year he was a total leader and winner along with Barrett Jones. A.J. threw for 30 TDs and three interceptions. That’s awesome. He completed 67% of his passes and he has Amari Cooper, Kenny Bell, Chris Black, Christion Jones, DeAndrew White and a corral-full of receivers including incoming freshman Raheem Falkinsm, who is apparently a stud, returning. S calls his receivers the strongest part of the team. The o line lost Barrett, Chance and D.J., who all have highly promising pro careers ahead of them; D.J. with San Diego, Chance with the Titans and Barrett with the Rams. But Cyrus Kouandijo is back at left tackle and he could win the Outland. His brother Arie will join him on the left side at guard most likely. Cyrus is 6’6″, 310, and it’s all muscle and power. Arie is 6″5″,315, and has been injured for most all of his time in Tuscaloosa, but is loaded with power and talent. They will bury people on the left side. On the right side maybe the most underrated player in the country, Anthony Steen, will man the right guard position for the third season in a row. Anthony is 6’3″, 309 and is stellar. He just hadn’t been talked about over the last three years because of Barrett, Chance and D.J., but he is a dominant lineman. Austin Shepherd looks like the favorite at right tackle and he’s going to be good. Austin is 6’5″, 315. Ryan Kelly (6’5′, 290) looks like the favorite at center. There’s good depth. The line, to me, looks like they may not get out of the blocks as quickly as well as last year’s group, but the potential is unlimited. Of course last year’s group was epic. This group should be very good too.

And then you go to running back. Wow. T.J. Yeldon and A.J are in serious Heisman discussions along with rb Todd Gurley and qb Aaron Murray of Georgia and Jadeveon Clowney SC.  What else can you say about T.J. Ran for 1,108 yards last year and 12 TDs splitting time with Eddie, who ran for 1,322 and 17. Eddie was dominant at the end of the year. T.J. made the huge catch and TD against LSU. He is totally clutch. Awesome. Then you have the returners Kenyan Drake, who shows good promise,  Jalston Fowler, returning from a knee injury but is powerful when he’s healthy, and Dee Hart, who was highly acclaimed (five-star) out of high school, but has had tough luck with injuries. Then there’s this amazing group of freshmen. You start with Derrick Henry (five-star, 6’3″, 238) who was awesome as an early enrollee in spring ball. Could be an amazing player here. I’m looking, if Henry is good to go from an injury in the spring, at T.J. and Henry as the one-two punch this year. Then you’ve got 6.0 four-stars Altee Tenpenny , Tyren Jones and Alvin Kamara. Amazing. It just keeps getting better. This may be the best backfield of all time in the next two years.

The only question mark I have on offense is if A.J. gets hurt. He’s tough, so he’ll still play effectively through some nagging injuries. But if he were to go down for a game, I’d go with Alec Morris. Morris looks pretty good to me. Freshman Cooper Bateman didn’t look that great in the spring, but he has a lot of time to improve. Luke Del Rio looks like he could be pretty good. Blake Sims, he just can’t pass. He’s a great athlete, it would be nice to get the ball in his hands, but he just doesn’t seem to have the accuracy to get it done via the air. Maybe he’ll develop.

Offense looks to be stellar.

On defense, C.J. Mosley (6’2″, 232) will be the leader at linebacker along with Vinnie Sunseri and Ha Ha at safeties. Deione Belue should have a big year at corner. Geno Smith looks like he’ll be the other corner. Landon Collins at safety has a stellar career ahead and he will be a player this year. John Fulton, Jarrick Williams and Nick Perry are other key players in the secondary. Can somebody step up like Dee Milliner at corner? Think Belue will have a big year and so will Geno. Love Vinnie and Ha Ha at safeties. Ha Ha going to be a top 10 pick in my opinion. Other key defensive players are Jeoffrey Pagan (6’4″, 290, a man at d end), linebacker Xzavier Dickcon (6’3″, 265, all world dominator, looks as good as anybody in the country, like a Clowney), and linebacker Denzel Devall (6’2″, 250, love him). Then there’s Trey DePriest at inside lb (6’2″, 245). Trey should have a big year. I see a lot of first rounders here when they come out. D line will be big and physical. Pagan, Ed Stinson (6’4″, 292) and company will be powerful.

I don’t study the kicking game very closely, but I know it’s important. Cade Foster is back to kick and Cody Mandell will punt. There could be some others. Kickers just need to get it done, and get out of the way. Christion will most likely return punts. He’s explosive. Kickoffs unclear about. There are plenty of options.

The schedule looks favorable. Va Tech in Chick Fil-A Classic at 4:30 PM CT on Saturday, August 31 on ESPN. That first week of the season is going to be awesome. Don’t know a lot about Va. Tech. Going to look at their spring game early next week and get a better grasp. Beamer is a very solid football coach, but they have some offensive line issues, so it may be a long afternoon for the Hokies’ offense. Will know more about them early next week and will report. ‘Bama gets a week off then heads to College Station for a 2:30 PM CT kickoff on CBS, Saturday, Sept. 14  against A&M and Johnny “Justin Bieber” Manziel. The Tide defense is going to throw Manziel around like he’s that 16-year old wimp that he compared himself to. I like the Tide by 14 in that one. Then former offensive coordinator Jim McElwain comes to Tuscaloosa in week 3 with his Colorado State team, followed by Ole Miss @ home, Georgia State (Whatever happened to Curry?) @ home, @ Kentucky, Arkansas @ home, UT @ home, LSU in a classic @ home on Nov.9, @ State, Chattanooga @ home and the War Eagles at Auburn on Saturday, Nov.30, probably a 2:30 CT game on CBS.

Looks like Tide should be pretty heavy favorite to make a three-peat and four in five years. If you like to use the word dynasty, that’s a pretty accurate way to describe this football program.

Other Notes:

The Gus Bus rolled into the Wynfrey on Wednesday and I liked what Gus had to say. Solid coach. Good Auburn man. He’ll do a good job on the Plains. Like Jonathan Wallace at quarterback. Jeremy Johnson is probably the quarterback of the future unless Sean White, the four-star commit, can be stellar, but it’s very difficult to play quarterback as a freshman in the SEC. Running back and wide receiver are doable as freshmen, but quarterback is more than likely not. Cam’s first year was out of junior college. Like Wallace over Kiehl Frazier and Nick Marshall. Marshall threw 17 interceptions against 21 TDs last year. That throws up red flags to me. Wallace, to me, gives them the best chance of winning. Looking at the schedule, the Tigers open up in a tough one at home against Washington State and Mike Leach @ 6 PM Saturday, Aug. 31 on ESPNU. That should be an interesting game. Leach always has dynamic offenses, and Washington State has been good on offense. Mike Price before the waitresses, did a good job at Washington State. Will be a tough one for the Tigers. The pivotal games for me for the Tigers are Ole Miss and State at home and Arkansas and UT on the road. If AU can get three or four of those  this could be an eight or maybe even a nine win season. If they get one, it may be six. None of them and it may be five. But there’s a lot of hope with Gus taking over. He’s a dynamic offensive coach, Ellis Johnson is an excellent defensive coordinator. Rhett Lashlee looks like he can be a stellar offensive coordinator in the future along with co-oc Dameyune Craig, who is a first class person, very good coach, and one of the best recruiters in the country. There are a lot of good coaches and recruiters on this staff. That’s what it’s going to take for AU to get back in the hunt for SEC titles. Cameron Artis-Payne looks like he’ll be a very good running back and he’ll join Tre Mason and Corey Grant back there. Four-star Jonathan Ford and 5.7 three-star Peyton Barber, both incoming freshmen,  should be in the mix. They’ll be good players, maybe this year. The o line is solid and could be exceptional led by center Reese Dismukes. There is a lot of size and talent, which is somewhat young, but is ready. Wide receiver a little thin, though Sammy Coates should have a good year. Jay Prosch (6’0″, 247) brings toughness and leadership at fullback. He could make more of a positive  impact this year. Tight end is pretty good with C.J. Uzomah as the starter. Depth not great there though. The best player on defense it looked like in the spring was Justin Garrett (6’1″, 214). Justin is an excellent player. They may even move him over to safety. Not a ton of depth on defense. Of course it’s hard to build a ton of quality depth anywhere with scholarship limits at 85. Alabama does the best job of that. Carl Lawson, the five-star  defensive end from Georgia, could make an immediate impact as a freshman. He’s got the size (6’2″,253) and ability to make an impressive impact. AU just needs to build. It might take another year, maybe two. Seven wins and a bowl game is realistic if AU can get by three of those four teams I listed above. Gotta go to A&M and LSU, which is tough, though I don’t know with the way Manziel is acting, if  he’sgoing to mess it up this year. So may not be out of the question @ College Station either. The future looks bright. Twelve recruits committed right now for ’14, and it’s shaping up to be a good class so far. Five-star defensive tackle Montravius Adams is coming in at defensive tackle this August, so he could make a push for playing time. Could be quite a dominator there in the future.

South Carolina is my pick in the East, but Georgia-South Carolina is shaping up to be a blockbuster in week 2 at Athens. Clowney is absolutely a Heisman candidate. Love Ball Coach. The only coach that would ever talk about Obama and Metta World Peace in a press conference. Great stuff.

Richt was good. Georgia goes to Clemson in week one in a war (7 PM CT ABC), then faces SC in game two. Wow. If they can get  through that gauntlet they’ve got a good shot to reach Atlanta. Aaron Murray looking to lead his team to an SEC and national title. Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall should be awesome in the backfield.

The Hatter was awesome. Just went on this rambling diatribe on the scheduling. He’s furious he has to play Florida and Georgia all the time. He has to go to Athens Sept. 28 and the Tigers host the Gators October 12. Les said LSU has played those two teams 17 times since 2000. Does seem a little unbalanced to me. Auburn’s played them even more. But Les has reloaded. Zach Mettenberger is the wild card. If he can come through at quarterback, a somewhat young, but loaded team could be dangerous.

I like Muschamp. He’s a solid coach. Gators will be good this year, possibly great. Have to go to South Carolina late in the season and of course play Georgia in Jacksonville and also play at LSU. They also got to go to Miami and have FSU at home. Miami’s going to be better and FSU should have a top 10 team, so the Gators schedule is brutal, but not undoable. Jeff Driskel will have to come through for them at qb. He’s got a lot of talent and there is a lot of talent around him.

I really like Kevin Sumlin. Great coach, great guy. He can’t help it that Manziel acts like an idiot at times. He’s doing a great job down there and building a program that can compete for SEC and national titles. Awesome recruiting class in ’13 and ’14 looks even better. Really like Kevin.

James Franklin is awesome. Love the guy. I know he’s a Vandy guy like I am, but he’s an excellent recruiter, coach and person. I know he’s embarrassed and disappointed by what happened with those four players, but it doesn’t take away from the job he’s doing in Nashville. The four players who committed the alleged assault on the young girl were rogues and not representative of the quality of kids in the program. There’s still an ongoing investigation so nothing’s been determined with the case. That won’t ever happen again.

Pinkel is fine at Mizzou. It’ll be tough for them to compete with the physicality of the SEC. I like Mark Stoops at Kentucky. Seems like he’ll bring a lot of passion there. I really liked Joker Phillips as a person; seemed like a first class guy, but just struggled. It’s hard to win more than seven games a year in good years at Kentucky, but Stoops is  recruiting really well for ’14. Top 10 class in Rivals rankings. That’s impressive. I don’t know about Butch Jones at Tennessee. He just doesn’t seem like the right fit for the SEC. He is recruiting very well for ’14. Rivals has his class number one in the rankings for next year. Bielema may be OK at Arkansas. Don’t think he can stick with Saban, Spurrier, Miles, Richt, Muschamp, Sumlin, Franklin or Freeze though. He needs to learn how to recruit playmakers to go along with that  size he likes. Not sure he’s adept at that. Mullen is fine too. He’s a good enough guy. Don’t think he can get it done in a very big way. It’s  hard at State

Do like Hugh Freeze at Ole Miss. He’s going to get the Black Bears in the upper echelon of the SEC before too long. He doesn’t have an overload of talent this year, but he has good players, and a very good incoming freshman class led by the No.1 player in the country in 2013, defensive end Robert Nkemdiche. Robert will be exceptional and has the build (6’5′, 260) to be stellar this year. Next superstar like Clowney on defense. His brother Denzel is an excellent linebacker for the Black Bears. Ole Miss-Vandy on Thursday Night, Aug. 29th, at 8:15 PM CT on ESPN should be a classic. LSU plays TCU @ 8 PM CT on ESPN, Saturday, 8-31, as well. South Carolina plays North Carolina at 5 PM CT on ESPN on Thursday, 8-29, right before Vandy-Ole Miss. Should be a stellar first weekend.

The Mechanic leading the Open (Miguel A. Jimenez) at -3. Tiger, Stenson, Westwood and Dustin in second, one shot back at -2. Phil at +1. Man it was hard out there today. Those guys in the afternoon had to battle strong winds, though it was sunny ,and hard as cement greens. A lot of guys had trouble putting. Tiger in position for No.15, but there are no guarantees.

 

 

 

James, JMatt, Wes, Andre doin’ work

July 19, 2013

James awesome as always at Media Days
 

JMatt

I thought James was fantastic in his presentation yesterday at SEC Media Days. It was typical James. Serious, but personable. Excited about his football team and believing in his group. We’ve got the best group we’ve had maybe ever. I see us with five first team All-SEC players on this team by the end of the year in left tackle Wesley Johnson, wide receivers Jordan Matthews (JMatt), and Chris Boyd, cornerback Andre Hal and safety Kenny Ladler. Really think these guys are special players.

I see nine wins for us this year, possibly 10. Of course, James, the coaches and the players are in to win them all. I believe in’em. The first order of business in worrying about our football team for the first two weeks of training camp, according to James, and then digging in for Ole Miss, though I know we’ve been gearing up for the Ole Miss Black Bears (whatever happened to that nickname?) for a while. It’s going to be an epic. Thursday Night, August 29th, 9:15 PM ET/8:15 CT on ESPN. It’s a real showcase for Vanderbilt football. It’s perfect. People are home from work and ready for football to get started. South Carolina-North Carolina is the first game at 6PM ET/5 CT on ESPN and then we’re up. Can’t wait.

JMatt spoke about senior and first year quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels, who will in all likelihood be our starter this year. JMatt and Austyn will be rooming together this fall in JMatt’s last semester as a student-athlete. He’s getting his degree and with another stellar season this year, could be a top first or second round draft pick come next April in the NFL draft. I expect it from Jordan. Jordan and Austyn are rooming together this fall have been working together all summer and are very good friends. Like their chemistry. Jordan pointed to the fact that Austyn had a lot of success as a freshman quarterback at Wyoming four years ago. Austyn has leadership skills that are out of sight. He’s confident, poised and according to JMatt has a rocket for an arm. Austyn can make a lot happen with his legs too. Austyn reminds me a lot of Connor Shaw of South Carolina, but he’s a better passer. Expect big things from ACS. With Chris Boyd on the other side and five talented freshmen coming in along with some backup upperclassmen, wide receiver should be a good position for us. Really like four-star freshmen Carlos Burse (6’2″, 202), four-star Jordan Cunningham (6’1″, 175) and high three-star DeAndre Woods (6’3″, 212). Think they can be exceptional players for us in the future and could be pretty good for us this year.

Wes Johnson will anchor the line at left tackle. Total leader in Wes. Tough, smart, great guy. He’ll bury people. We’ve got around 15 guys on  the oline now, so we’re deep there. And according to James, for the first year ever, we have 300 pounders up front. That’s good. Wes Tate, BK (Brian Kimbrow) and Jerron Seymour will man the running back positions. I like the three of them. Freshman Ralph Webb is another back who can add depth and ability. Fitz Lassing will give us good work at fullback/hback.

Tight end is a little bit of a concern. Still trying to find the playmaker/dominant blocker there, but there is potential with Chris Kentera back for a second season, Dillon van der Wal (6’6″,260), Steven Scheu (6’5″, 255) and freshmen Mitch Parsons and Nathan Marcus. So tight end should be fine maybe a pretty effective position for us. Expect a couple of those guys to have good years.

Our defense will be anchored by Andre Hal at corner, Kenny Ladler at safety, Chase Garnham at middle linebacker (6’3″, 236) and Walker May at defensive end (6’5″, 250). I like our defensive line a lot. We don’t have a ton of depth, but defensive end Caleb Azubike (6’4″, 265) is going to be a beast. I love Vince Taylor (6’2″, 308) and Jared Morse (6’2″, 302) at tackle. Vince is awesome. Great kid, fun, and a tough, hard-nosed player. You’re gong to love the interviews with Vince if you catch them. He’s hilarious. And he’s quite a defensive tackle. Jared is tough and physical too. Adam Butler (6’4″, 305) has moved over from offense to defensive tackle, so he’ll give us a lot of help. Good, tough football player. Barron Dixon (6’4″, 305) and freshman Jay Woods (6″3″, 292) will also be key players. Barron is another beast and I’ve heard great things about Jay. Don’t think we can redshirt Jay. Need him immediately to help us. Barron could be a dominant player. Need to keep recruiting at defensive tackle. That position is at a premium in the SEC, and we’ve got a good group; just need to stay healthy. At defensive end Stephen Weatherly (6’5″, 252) had an incredible spring and looks like a dominant player. Some other guys are going to have to help us there like Jimmy Stewart, who looked good in the spring, and freshman Landon Stokes. Linebacker, besides Garnham, is not overly experienced, but tough and talented. Darreon Herring (6’2″, 228) got a lot of playing time last year and should be a very good player for us. Steady and reliable Karl Butler could be a starter on the outside. Larry Franklin (6’1″, 214) is a very good linebacker. And Harding Harper (6’2″, 240) and Ja’kari Thomas (6’1″, 225) are going to be excellent linebackers for us. Look for four-star freshman Nigel Bowden (6’1″,235) and high three-star Oren Burks (6’3″, 21o) to get some playing time. Those two are going to be excellent players for us and could give us immediate help at lb.

In the secondary Kenny and Dre are the staples and the leaders. Steven Clarke has a chance to man the other corner and Javon Marshall gives us another solid safety with Kenny. Need Torren McGaster, Paris Head and Taurean Ferguson to give us some depth in the secondary. Look for Andre to have Casey Hayward-like numbers this year. I’m looking at six or seven ints for Andre. Kenny will give us that playmaking/gamechanging ability also.

So we’ve got a lot of good football players. Need some more depth at certain positions. If the talented freshmen can give us some help at wide receiver to go along with JMatt and Chris, and that’ll he a huge lift.  The running backs should have good years, and Austyn should play well. Really like our guys up front with Wes leading the way and guys like center Spencer Pulley (6’4″,300), Joe Townsend (6’4″, 305), Kevo McCoy (6’5″, 295), Barrett Gouger (6’4″, 285) and Blake Fromang (6’7″,295) being key guys. Look for freshman Delando Crooks (6’5″, 290) to maybe make and impact early. This should be a potent offense because we have an excellent offensive line and very good skilled guys. I forgot to mention Jonathan Krause as our slot receiver. Jonathan can help us both in the passing game and in the punt return game. He took a couple to the house last year. BK will probably return kicks. Carey Spear will be an excellent kicker for us. Punter is to be determined. Need to figure that out this summer. I’m sure we will. Defense should be excellent. Need to stay healthy up front on defense. It’ll be good to stay healthy everywhere.

After Ole Miss, we play Austin Peay at home, then go to South Carolina, go to UMass, have UAB @ home, Mizzo @ home, Dawgs @home, @ A&M, @ Florida, Kentucky @home, @ UT and home against Wake Forest. Ole Miss is critical. @South Carolina, @Florida, home against Georgia and @ A&M are all tough. But if we can get two or three of those five games, nine or 10 wins is realistic. I think this team has it in’em. They of course, want to win every one, like we all do.

Will have more as August comes about.

Dave Price on the hill tonight @ Toronto. Dave and the Rays need to get started fast out of the gates in the second half. Two and a half back of Sox in AL East and leading the wild card race. Have three key series coming up @Toronto, @Boston and @Yanks. So critical stretch coming up. Like where Dave is right now. Big start tonight.

Pedro and Bucs @Cincy Reds tonight. Bucs a a game and a half behind Cards and lead wild card race. Key series for Bucs as Reds right behind them in NL Central. Pedro hit six homers in the home run derby contest Monday Night. Thought he availed himself very well. Got in in All-Star game and was the last batter in the game for the NL. Popped out but had some good cuts. Thought it was a great experience for him. Very proud of him. Now let’s go Rays and Bucs in this second half. Will keep you posted on Mike Minor as well. Mike trying to put together another strong half of pitching for Braves, who are in the World Series hunt like the Rays and Bucs are.

Recruiting going very well. Will have an update if anybody pops in the next couple of days.

Brandt tied for third at 142nd Open Championship at -3. Zach Johnson leads at -5. Brandt looks like he’s got his game back. Tees off at 9:12 AM ET/8;12 CT today. Pumped for B.

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Vanderbilt women’s tennis Astra Sharma 1 on 1. https://t.co/D0WS0rVnqG @astrasharma @markNwhitebluff @vandy_62 @warehouse1987 @dbc5361
May 18, 2017, 2:33 PM

Previewing 2017 Clemson Tigers football team. https://t.co/1JH1cPGQkp @markNwhitebluff @vandy_62 @clayphillips27 @warehouse1987 @dbc5361
May 15, 2017, 2:13 PM

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