Vlad praised after Tuesday's practice performance
behind a paywall at Rivals so I won't link or quote much, but, “Emilien was 100 percent the practice MVP..." Goes on to discuss how great the D looked on Tuesday and how they "made a statement", with practice being very heated at times. just one day, just a few observers opinion, but it's incredibly encouraging to hear Vlad is 1) healthy and b) pushing to takeover at the FS spot allowing him and Cam to both be on the field and also create some viable depth at the position.
also notes that Tate should be able to go on saturday, minor sprain of the ankle and not a big deal.
go blue!
April 15th, 2010 at 11:09 AM ^
Is it true becuase I heard he was seen in a boot and crutches???
PANIC!
April 15th, 2010 at 12:37 PM ^
... with a boot and crutches. It's easy to see how he sprained it with limited mobility and all.
April 15th, 2010 at 11:09 AM ^
...thanks for sharing.
April 15th, 2010 at 11:10 AM ^
The IMPALER!
April 15th, 2010 at 11:13 AM ^
Vlad has a ton of potential if he can stay healthy. I am very excited to see what him and Cam are able to do in the Spring game...Here's to know more 3rd and 35 conversions.
April 15th, 2010 at 11:21 AM ^
Why would you ever want to know more 3rd and 35 conversions? Are you a glutton for punishment?
April 15th, 2010 at 11:47 AM ^
butt Howe does won not knowtice typing the wrong ward their?
April 15th, 2010 at 12:19 PM ^
But the (no homo) made it. Epic.
On Topic: Eeexcellent news. If our D can be even HALFWAY competent this year, we're talking 9 wins, baby!
April 15th, 2010 at 12:22 PM ^
mist spelt werds rok. I be know gramer natzee but I be noe in to be spellin good fo shizzle...its the internizzle bizzle (Snoop)
April 15th, 2010 at 12:36 PM ^
substituting 'know' and 'no' changes the entire meaning of the post.
April 15th, 2010 at 12:18 PM ^
is more difficult to type "know".
April 15th, 2010 at 12:46 PM ^
Please tell me you're 12.
you cursed Bo's memory or something. This was a pretty funny slip, unfortunately for you.
I don't see cause for such a huge negbang for something like this. It was a little funny and made you sound a bit masochistic, but to each his own I guess.
Freud would say this is because you are in love with your mother or something.
April 16th, 2010 at 10:29 AM ^
luckily people have seen this and adjusted accordingly. He's received enough upvotes (+2 up, -1 down) on that post to keep his points mostly steady at where they were when it was posted.
April 15th, 2010 at 11:14 AM ^
Good to hear. Hopefully he can stay healthy. I've had high hopes since he signed.
April 15th, 2010 at 12:15 PM ^
I've liked him ever since I saw the picture of him during his OSU recruiting visit. All the other recruits in the picture were wearing scarlet and grey. Vlad was wearing maize and blue.
Gotta like that guy.
Link please? I would love to see this picture
Only missed one game at the Big House since 1979.That's impressive. Something tells me that you had a pretty good reason to miss that one game.
April 15th, 2010 at 11:15 AM ^
I love to hear Vlad is doing well. Was worried that his knees were going to become too big of an issue to overcome, so this is very encouraging. Hopefully we get to see Vlad playing well this year, and personally I hope he is playing well enough to start!
April 15th, 2010 at 12:28 PM ^
The guy had a major injury and may have been a little tentative because of the fear of re-injury.
Getting high praise for a fantastic practice can only help push the memories of that injury farther into the past.
Go Vlad!
April 15th, 2010 at 11:27 AM ^
Vlad actually had a few nice plays in last years spring game, with the exception of getting burned badly by Brown on a long run. It will be interesting to see his development despite having relatively little time on the practice field.
April 15th, 2010 at 11:48 AM ^
I remember lots of people faulting Vlad on that play, but honestly?
speedy senior RB vs freshman safety in the spring, who do you expect to win?
April 15th, 2010 at 11:51 AM ^
I expected the WILL (Leach) to maintain his gap responsibility, step up into the hole, and make the tackle.
Emilien just failed to make up for Leach's mistake.
April 15th, 2010 at 11:59 AM ^
I believe in the literary world, they call this phenomenon "foreshadowing."
that Magnus remembers the blown assignment on last year's spring practice play? Dedication.
Because you were at 19,999 points when I arrived.
April 15th, 2010 at 11:38 AM ^
Great news! Love his name!
April 15th, 2010 at 11:48 AM ^
but wasn't this the case last Spring too?
April 15th, 2010 at 12:39 PM ^
Since Vlad the third (the Impaler) is the historical origin for Dracula, I think this would be a great moniker for a member of the secondary.
April 15th, 2010 at 12:49 PM ^
"The Impaler" isn't good enough? It seems tougher than the name of a guy that creeps around biting chicks and is afraid of garlic and religion........................
April 15th, 2010 at 12:55 PM ^
I'm headed over to Wikipedia to add this description to the entry for Marv Albert.
I'm going with Vlad A-Million.
And that article gave me a much-needed MGoBoner...
I prefer Vlad "One In" Emilien.
And no offense, but your boner was "much needed?" That's funny. We can call this article MGoCialis.
After the ambivalence this blog has given me about the state of the team recently, yes, it was much needed.
split the difference on the Vlad the Impaler, and give a nod to the Dracula connection. And if he turns out to be a hitter, we could hear "Stake in the heart of Pryor!" as the call for a nice, clean chest tackle.
April 15th, 2010 at 11:54 AM ^
good news, I have also been excited about this kid. Hope he turns out to be a good one in the backfield. Will definitely add some much needed depth
April 15th, 2010 at 12:03 PM ^
I'm really excited to see Vlad and Gordon play on Saturday and, more importantly, next fall. I see Gordon walking around campus occasionally, and he is a large man. I am almost 6'4, and he is every bit of the 6'3 that he is listed at on mgoblue. A 6'3 safety who can run and hit patrolling the deep zones is an exciting possibility. Even better, playing (and being recruited) as a receiver out of Inkster, you know he has good ball skills.
Obviously, the more guys we hear big praise about, especially defensively, the better. But how do we see both of them being on the field at the same time? I haven't heard that they were getting reps at the Spur/Bandit spots, and we only run with one FS. Do people know how this is going to happen?
And maybe it won't happen this year, but those Spur/Bandit spots are going to be all kinds of sick for the next few years. The best 2 of MRob, Furman, Justin Turner and Carvin Johnson (and who knows, maybe Kovacs) will be an incredible tandem up there. The combination of size, speed, and pure nastiness of those guys will undoubtedly produce 2 starters who will light our opponents up.
What will our defense look like in 2011? Silly unbelievableness.
I don't want to hear praise for the D, I want stealth, sneakin up on teams, that kind of stuff. Let them all think we are gonna suck and come out and whip em, whip em good. That's right a little stealth combined with devolution.
He hasn't been practicing at Bandit/Spur, but even if they wanted to get him some reps at those spots, that would have left virtually nobody at FS with Emilien injured.
When it was announced that Gordon would play safety, I (and many others) assumed it would be box safety. Perhaps free safety was just a pit stop before moving down in the box. And if Emilien gets hurt again in the fall, at least Gordon will have had a tiny bit of experience at deep safety.
I'm with Magnus on this one. From what I've heard, Gordon will move down into the box (bandit or spur?) because of his ability to go downhill and his strength against the run. It's an ideal situation if it all works out, you've got a solid-sized guy with good speed in Emilien, and you're adding much more size up front with Gordon as opposed to Kovacs/Williams/Simmons or even T. Gordon.
Everybody likes to imagine a stud out of high school who will come in and immdiately dominate. While I like the enthusiasm about Marvin Robinson, Josh Furman and Carvin Johnson, don't forget we are stacked with safety linebacker tweeners. I know we haven't been hearing much abou them in practice, but I would suspect Bell, Hawthorne and others will get a shot at playing too.
I expect Furman to end up where Mouton is playing actually, or Furman where Ezeh is and MRob for Mouton. I think one of the reasons we are going to this d is that we have been getting a lot of these tweener types over the last three years. I think of Brian's lottery ticket analogy. The more the better.
I am one of the people who think that the only freshman that will impact this team and/or crack the starting lineup is Dorsey at cornerback. That is also one of the reasons I am optimistic about this season. Having 20 and 21 year olds who have been in a college weight program and have been taught by the current coaches for 1-2 years is a huge boost and way better than playing 18-19 year olds who haven't, no matter what their star rating.
Now, in the future, as you suggested, I expect Furman and MRob to be studs.
Aside from Demar Dorsey having a higher profile due to the negative comments about him from local reporters, why is Dorsey considered to be a better shot to start at cornerback than Cullen Christian? (not picking on you - the ESPN article on Woolfolk and the general consensus in the comments on this site are the same)
Christian was rated higher than Dorsey by both Scout and Rivals. Also, if I recall correctly, when Brian compared Dorsey to the other highly-rated DB recruit in consideration on signing day (whose name slips my mind), it was Dorsey who had a higher future upside, but was less ready to immediately contribute.
Christian's YMRMFSPA is/was Donovan Warren.
I would agree with Blazefire-well mostly, I'm going to go with totally "competent", bordering on 'good'- that if the defense is stout, 9 wins here we come!
I will also submit I am buzzing...I will also submit on prescription drugs and caffeine, totally legit. Toatally...
I am very relieved to hear about Vlad the "Impaler", he is going to be a star if he stays healthy. Making receivers keep their head on a swivel with him back there can make a difference. I wouldn't mind at all if he knocked out a couple chumps laying some "hat" in the secondary. We need that mentality on defense.
I also think two of the true freshmen will be complete naturals and ready to give added depth. Dorsey, Johnson, Robinson, Furman or Christian could have enough athletic ability to make a huge difference THIS season. I am ready for the season to start NOW!!! Go Blue!!!
April 16th, 2010 at 10:07 AM ^
I get excited whenever I hear good things about any of our players, but for some reason this really has me pumped!
I think it is because there was so much uncertainty with Vlad after that injury and how he would rebound from it. I look forward to seeing him patrolling the D-backfield for years to come!