Sun Belt talk

June 12, 2008

By Drew Champlin

I got my Phil Steele’s magazine today at work. It’s obviously my favorite since he does so much research and isn’t afraid to take chances on picking newcomers to make splashes.

He’s got Troy picked 2nd behind Florida Atlantic. No-brainer there for early picks. Now, it’s time to analyze some all-conference selections. He hit on some Troy picks, missed on others.

FIRST TEAM

OT - Dion Small - HIT - Could be best OL in the conference
OG - Wes Potter - MISS - Potter started every game last season at RG, but has yet to claim that spot this year for the Trojans.
DE - Kenny Mainor - HIT - Assuming he stays out of trouble. He’s on strike two and a half.
DT - Dion Gales - HIT - He’s probably the most talented defensive tackle in the conference but he’s also got to keep his head on straight.
LB - Boris Lee - HIT - I predicted him to be on the SBC first team at preseason while no one else did. I was right. I may pick him to be the Preseason SBC Player of the Year (no one else will). I may be right there, too.

SECOND TEAM

RB - Maurice Greer - JURY’S STILL OUT - He’s got to prove he’s 100 percent recovered from cancer. He’s also still got to beat out DuJuan Harris, who is a lot better than some people think.
CB - Trevor Ford - MISS - Just because he was at Florida State early in his career doesn’t mean anything yet. He sure enough wasn’t singled out for any praise this spring and I don’t see him as a starter this fall.
LB - Terence Moore - HIT - The new nickel back is in line for a big year and could be Troy’s first draft pick next year.
FS - Sherrod Martin - HIT - Probably Troy’s most valuable defender last year. Look at how well the defense played after he returned from his injury (he missed most of the UF game and all of OSU and ULL)

THIRD TEAM

C - Danny Franks - HIT - Coaches say Franks’ worst day this spring was better than his best day last fall, and he was pretty decent last fall. The junior is in line for a big year.
OT - Chris Jamison - MISS - I say miss because he should be higher. I think he will at the end of the year.
DE - Brandon Lang - HIT - Could be higher, but he’s only a third-teamer because of his season-ending ACL injury last year.
SS - Tavares Williams - HIT - Sounds about right for the steady third-year starter.

FOURTH TEAM

WR - Jerrel Jernigan - MISS - I say miss because I think he’ll be ranked much higher at the end of the year. He’s better than third-teamers Jake Gaebler (WKU), Anthony Jones (MTSU) and Jason Chery (ULL).

Phil calls for a third straight winning season for the Trojans and says that since a loaded FAU team is hosting Troy, it gives the Owls the edge. It’s hard to pick against Troy on national television and it’s not like FAU will have more than 10K on a Tuesday night.

My sleeper pick to win it is UL-Monroe, though. If I’m still feeling it later this summer around Media Days (July 21-22), I’ll explain it then.

Tuesday link

June 10, 2008

By Drew Champlin

I told you yesterday that Beau Brooks was signing with the Angels. Here’s the story on it. It details next year’s catching situation and has a few notes at the end.

Update on Beau Brooks

June 09, 2008

By Drew Champlin

Just talked to Troy catcher Beau Brooks, who said he will sign professionally with the Los Angeles Angels. He was picked in the 20th round, but said he was offered around 9th-10th round money to sign, and it was too good to pass up.

That leaves JUCO transfer Brett Chamberlain and redshirt freshman Blake Martz as the top two catchers for next year. Chamberlain is advanced defensively and surprisingly didn’t get drafted last week. Martz has a big-time bat and from what I’ve seen in two AAU games this summer, a pretty good arm too.

More on this later.

EDIT - Got the update that he’ll sign Tuesday morning.

Signee updates

By Drew Champlin

The following signees, as you know if you’ve read this blog, are on campus.

OFFENSE - QB Dan Parker, RB Maurice Greer, RB T.J. Mitchell and WR Chip Reeves

DEFENSE - DE Mario Addison, DL Chigozie Nwankwo, DT Tim Lamb, DT Anthony Shaw, DB Kedric Manning, DB Michael Ricks, DB Jorrick Calvin, DB Daniel Sheffield

QB Corey Robinson should be here later this summer. RB Chris Anderson was waiting on a grade from a high school class (he has graduated, so he could retake the class this summer) and should be here by the start of fall camp at the latest. WR Tebiarus Gill is on campus now and working out, but must pass a math class to be eligible. Supposedly, that should be no problem. DE James Searcy should be here later this summer. DE Tony Davis should be here later this summer. LB Jacoby Thomas should be here later this summer. LB Kanorris Davis should be here later this summer. CB Bryan Willis should be here later this summer. CB Demarcus Robertson is finishing up a class in JUCO and should be here at the start of fall camp.

The reason some of these guys aren’t here yet is because they didn’t graduate high school until after the summer session started.

These guys are slated to grayshirt and enroll in Jan. 2009, but obviously anything can change between now and then and some could start their eligibility this fall - WR Gavin Ellis, WR Felton Payton, OL Jimbo Arnold, OL Kyle Wilborn and LB Johnny Thompson.

DL Brandon Boudreaux, OL Jacob Creech and DB KeJuan Phillips were 2007 grayshirts and were here for spring practice.

The rest of the signees will likely start off in junior college.

The numbers above (signees already here + signees coming + last year’s grayshirts = 24) are one below the reporting 25, so it’s possible I’m leaving out someone since Troy should, by my count, have enough room to enroll 25 new guys.

Rivals preseason rankings

June 08, 2008

By Drew Champlin

Rivals.com is releasing preseason rankings at this time of year. Find out where Troy is ranked. I’m not sure if it’s subscription-based or not, but they’ve got the Trojans ranked No. 89 if you want to try the link. (EDIT - Oops, saw where ULM was in the bottom 10. That I also disagree with, so only FAU is ranked higher than Troy).

Being at No. 89 surprised me. I thought they’d have them around 70ish. I feel like they’re better than 89th in the country. Let’s analyze some of the points. My comments are in italics.

Weaknesses:

The Trojans lack experienced skill-position talent (Not true. Jerrel Jernigan, Kennard Burton, Gerald Tate, Cornelius Williams, Austin Silvoy, Andrew Davis have all shown the ability to make plays. DuJuan Harris played a lot last year. It’s there, but it doesn’t look like it’s there because Gary Banks is gone.). Quarterback is a huge concern. Star Omar Haugabook is gone, and there isn’t anyone on the roster who can remotely come close to matching his talent (It’s a concern, but Jamie Hampton is remotely close to matching his talent. He’s taller and projects better. But it’s not unfair to say that QB is a concern, so give them that. It’s like two years ago, nobody thought the Trojans would have a good year at QB but that’s just because Omar Haugabook hadn’t played yet.). The Trojans also need to find a feature back and a go-to receiver (Good points, the talent is there but it will have to step up). Outside of Lee, linebacker is a big-time concern (Only a big concern if Lee goes down because Troy plays just two linebackers. The third, aka the nickel back, is in good hands. Also, look for Bear Woods, the other LB starter, to fit the mold of former walk-ons Brannon Condren, Ryan Babb and Frankie Lloyd on the 2006 championship team). Five of the first six games are on the road, including four contests with bowl teams and a matchup with league favorite Florida Atlantic (That FAU game’s on ESPN, and FAU won’t have a good crowd. It’s tough to pick against Troy on national television, but you can go further and say 8 of Troy’s first 10 games are on the road, with the only home games against pitiful teams in Alcorn State and Fla. International).

I agree with everything else on the writeup. What do you guys think? Feel free to leave some comments. Me, personally, I’m just ready for some football to start.