Brown and Wesley Kicked Off Team

The outlook for next year just got a little less sunny. Five football players were involved in an incident involving the firing of a gun on a campus. They are Michael Brown, Quinton Wesley, Anthony Johnson, Rodney Prince, and Jamon Hughes. None of the five will be playing for MSU next year.

You can read more in detail about what happened here, and a little on the sentencing here. Here is the Reader's Digest version. A gun was shown in a threatening manner to two football players. Later on the same day, the same guy returned to the dormitories where, I assume, the players live. Michael Brown and Quinton Wesley both fired a single shot into the air to scare the guy away. Knowing what they had just done, they panicked and tried to hide the gun with the assistance of Anthony Johnson, Jamon Hughes, and Rodney Prince. Soon after they were cooperative and revealed the location of the gun/guns and so on and so forth.

Neither Brown nor Wesley face jail time but both will pay fines and have been expelled from school as well as kicked off the team (obviously). Brown was given two years probation and Wesley 3 years probation.

It looks like Anthony Johnson, Jamon Hughes, and Rodney Prince will not have charges pressed against them, but all three withdrew from school during the spring semester.

I'm actually somewhat sympathetic. I do believe they weren't trying to hurt anyone and when someone shows a gun, I can understand panicking and doing something stupid. However, you just can't fire a gun on campus, even just up in the air. Not after VT and NIU. You can read about it and draw your own conclusions.



Now as far as how this affects things on the football field. Michael Brown and Quinton Wesley are done for good as far as playing for MSU goes. The Johnson, Hughes, and Prince situation is a little more complicated. I don't know why exactly they withdrew from school, but the fact is they did. Now, they can re-enroll during the summer or fall semesters if they choose. However, according to NCAA rules, since they didn't complete the spring semester, they cannot be eligible for the 2008 season. It is entirely possible for them to come back and be eligible for the 2009 season though. Jamon Hughes has decided he is going to transfer instead of sitting out a year and seeing what happens from there. I haven't heard anything on Johnson or Prince, so until I hear otherwise, I'll assume they will both be re-enrolling this summer or fall.

So, to recap: Michael Brown, Quinton Wesley, and Jamon Hughes will not be suiting up for MSU again. Anthony Johnson and Rodney Prince will sit out the 2008 season due to eligibility and will be back in 2009. Follow all that? Good.

Alright now the impact we're looking at for next year:

RS Sr. OT Michael Brown- Has started at LT the last 2 years and was going to start there again this year. Brown was the best OL on the team and had a very real chance of getting drafted next year. So. Derek Sherrod was going to start at RT, but will now be moved to LT. RS So. Mark Melichar will be competing with incoming JUCO Phillip Freeman for the RT spot. Sherrod shared time at RT with Hamilton last year and looked pretty good. There is a decent chance he'll be able to hold down the LT spot with out too much of a drop off. It would have been nice to wait until he was a Jr. though.

The real problem comes at the RT spot, which almost certainly just got worse. Freeman was a highly regarded JUCO, but even so, JUCO's tend to be extremely hit or miss. As far as Melichar, he does have some experience and was probably looking at being the starter at RT in 2009. Cross your fingers that he is ready a year early.

Bottomline, you don't lose an NFL quality LT and get better. The OL which looked to be, dare I say, a strength of the offense just became a pretty big question mark.

RS Jr DT Quinton Wesley- Wesley was 2nd string last year and was looking at the same spot on the depth chart this year. Mississippi State rotates their DTs alot though, so the backups at that spot are important. Wesley had 19 tackles and 2 TFL last year, not bad for a backup DT. LaMarcus Williams was ok as a true freshman last year and should be able to fill Wesley's role. Also, with all the D-lineman MSU brought in last year, everything should be fine for the future. You'd certainly rather have him than not, but far from a crippling loss.

Jr CB Anthony Johnson- This one hurts, maybe not as much as the loss of Brown but its close. It was too early to say for certain, and I'm no talent scout, but I thought Johnson was on track to being a mid rounder in the draft. Again, you just don't lose an NFL quality CB and get better. Last year he was sixth on the team in tackles with 52 and 2nd in interceptions with 3, two returned for touchdowns. That's alot of production. Marcus Washington will be looking to replace him. I'm not thrilled with that. Though he is good on special teams, he has had a tendency to get beat deep. Washington was just a Sophomore last year so he could be better this year just with the time and experience. With Johnson this was a top 3 secondary in the SEC, maybe even the best. Without him, its still good but has a big question mark at the vacated CB spot.

Jr LB Jamon Hughes- As the reserve MLB last year, Hughes was still 4th on the team with 65 tackles. He was going to be backing up Jamar Chaney again this year, but coaches had the luxury of giving Chaney a breather with no drop off at MLB. Not so much anymore. RS Fr Jamie Jones will probably replace him. The starting 3 will still be good, but this is a major blow to depth.

RS So. DE Rodney Prince- Rarely saw the field last year and was looking at being 2nd string at best. Again, MSU rotates the D-line alot, so depth is important. Even so, one of the incoming freshman should be able to take over his spot.


Not exactly building on the momentum of that 8-5 season. There are still alot of significant starters returning though, and this shouldn't be enough to derail the season. Still, not good.