Major Burns to the portal

We flipped Daran Branch from OM. I don’t think we flipped Burns, though I could be wrong.

All positions are up for grabs and they leaving??? Something going on behind the scenes?

Wow, gonna have to hit the portal hard for some Secondary help.

I am a bit surprised, as Burns seemed like someone with good upside. But with Tykee Smith coming and David Daniel part of the entering class, his prospects for winning a job in the future declined substantially. The Malaki Starks commitment is also a factor at safety in the future.

I don't see much impact of Burns and Branch leaving. Our problem is lack of experience at CB. But seems we now have at least 3 or 4 slots below the 85 limit, so a "help wanted" ad is out for transfer CBs.

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if Cine or Smith miss any time

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We'll play Poole or move over Brini or Tykee Smith (figuring the latter two are going to focus on Star). Or we'll throw Daniel into the mix quickly. Daniel is an impact player at safety but will obviously be where Cine was when he showed up. There's also Bullard, who apparently Smart thinks highly of. It will be okay, especially as we get several games into the season.

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We'll play Poole or move over Brini

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You arent wrong.
But it should be understood that poole and brini have been leapfrogged by every talent that steps on campus for safety.

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Tykee Smith

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He has filled in at safety based on formation. So he has experience. But the film review i saw did not look good (could be better with different coaching maybe?)

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Or we'll throw Daniel into the mix quickly. Daniel is an impact player at safety but will obviously be where Cine was when he showed up. 

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Agreed

But my point was that Burns was expected to be plug and play without dropoff. A championship calibre team has different standards

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Webb called him "a better version of me." Smith was 3rd team All American at WVU and had 61 tackles last season. I mean, it wasn't the SEC but this guy seems well regarded and may very well take the starting job at STAR.

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Tykee seems to excel in zone coverage. I honestly dont think he is better than Webb or Stevenson in man coverage. In the past, we have been a man-heavy coverage team. With all of the new CBs, we very well my be changing to a more zone style of play. But in man coverage, i wouldnt expect an upgrade with Tykee. I definitely see him as the starter.

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Definitely true. For a long time, I didn't even know that Brini was still on the team. Then he stepped up in the bowl game and played well at STAR when were down a bunch of players. He's a 3-star guy that came in with no fanfare but he stuck around and provides experience (and at 6-2, 210, he's got good size).

He and Poole both seem like hard working, loyal depth players

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I dont know what to expect from Brini and Poole. I did like what i saw from Brini against Cincy. But they had tiny WRs, and Brini manhandled them.
My hope is that they come on like Sanders Commings. He impressed me with his senior season (you could say that he proved me wrong).
My fear is that they are like Branden Smith or Tyler Simmons at WR. They are who we thought they are, and havent been able to get over the hump to play at an average level in the SEC. And it is tough for a championship calibre team to hide a weakness in big games.