🏈 Potential 2015 sleeper: Mississippi State

[BAMANEWSBOT]

Dan Mullen has made a habit of turning potential sleepers into stars. Let's see how he does in 2015.

MISSISSIPPI STATE

Sleeper: Dontavian Lee, RB, RFr.

Why: The Bulldogs have to find a replacement for bowling ball running back Josh Robinson, who rushed for more than 1,200 yards and had 11 touchdowns last year. While Mullen has done a pretty solid job of churning out running backs, Robinson was a special talent with his ability to bounce off or away from tacklers, so replacing him won't be easy. As for now, nothing is official in terms of naming that replacement, but keep an eye on Lee, who sat out last season. Word out of Starkville is that he was the best looking running back this spring. Practices began with Ashton Shumpert and Aeris Williams getting most of the attention, but Lee shook things up by pushing his name right in the thick of the running backs race. We can't place too much stock into spring games, but Lee led all of Mississippi State's backs with 53 yards and a touchdown. He also combined to rush for more than 200 total yards in the Bulldogs' three scrimmages. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound bruiser had a knack for running over opponents this spring, and if he keeps that up, he'll definitely be a running back to watch this fall.

ESPN's SEC Blog—Continue reading...

 

[TerryP]

Why not: The Bulldogs have to find a replacement for their LT, LG, C, RG, RT, TE, and RB. (I won't go into losing 80% of their DL today.)

Why Dak returned is a question I still wonder about. Don't misunderstand me; Dak did a pretty good job last year. However, it's important to note that Dak's success rushing came only after Robinson had something going in the run game as well.

Geez, I guess I am going to say something about their defense.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound bruiser had a knack for running over opponents this spring,

Opponents? Err...opponents?

Perhaps this is just me. We'll see.

If a team loses four of its top five defensive lineman and their best linebacker it seems pretty safe to say if there's a frosh running over defenders it's likely due to the defenders.

 

[BamaFan334]

Man, that's a lot of turnover at major positions. May be a rough year in Starkvegas.

 

[riz]

Yeah, I'ma fall asleep when they trot out on the field.

 

[UAgrad93]

Don't see the Bullies being much better than a 7-8 win team tops. Too many components to replace just on the offensive side. Dak coming back was a definite head scratcher! His success did come as a result of the success of Robinson. You don't replace the entire offensive line and a 1,200 yd rusher is going to contend for a conference title. Defensively, their front was their life source and their secondary their Achilles. Don't see them improving there either.