Your Best 11 Mailbag: Spring Camp Is Close so We Wrap Up Offseason Chatter

Every Thursday we bring you the Your Best 11 Mailbag. Thanks to you people not responding a day ago, we revoked your Mailbag privileges. But, because I am a very lenient leader, I only suspended you for one day and then re-opened the Mailbag. You all learned your lesson and contributed questions. That's street justice. So, here we go folks, talking offseason and all that jazz!

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@InTheBleachers will Marcus Lattimore be healthy for the start of the season? What do you expect from him in 2012?

— IHJJR (@iHateJJRedick) July 19, 2012"

Lattimore spent the spring and summer rehabbing that knee injury and all signs out of Columbia point to him being ready to pick up where he left off in the Mississippi State game. Head Coach Steve Spurrier expects to have Marcus Lattimore back at full strength and given the fact that it's been nine months since his injury, there is no reason to doubt that. The miracles of modern science have pushed the recovery time shorter and the big time running back has made sure to dedicate himself to not only rehab, but working to improve his game.

That means I expect a lot out of Lattimore entering this offseason. For a gamer like the South Carolina running back, spending all your time sitting around, riding a bike, jogging, doing tests is torture in and of itself. Expect him to come back with a vengeance and make a push to win the Doak Walker award as he and Knile Davis battle to be the SEC's best running back.

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@InTheBleachers what would be your top 3 transfers that you're most psyched to see in action?

— Danny V (@fiveboroball) July 19, 2012"

Transfers are a pretty interesting animal. There are FBS to FBS kids. FBS to FCS guys. And of course the Junior College transfers that help bring immediate talent to the programs. So, what I'm going to do is hit one of each because they are all pretty interesting this year. 

On the FBS to FBS tip; I'm going with a tie and both reside in the Big Ten. Danny O'Brien from Maryland, headed to Wisconsin is going to be fun to watch. So is DeAnthony Arnett, the Tennessee wide receiver who went to Michigan State to be closer to his father. O'Brien is going to be leading another potent Badgers offense and he brings so many real skills to the table he should be a huge plus for their scheme. Arnett is a quality receiver and Michigan State is hurting at that position, so he has an opportunity to make a big impact early.

On an FBS to FCS note, I am taking Isaiah Crowell. Not just because he gets to play in the Magic City Classic, but because I'm interested to see how the young man's maturation process works. He is going to be more "on his own" now, than he ever was at Georgia. If he's truly got that fire in his heart to get to the NFL, a lot of his progress has to come from intrinsic motivation now. He has to push himself in weight training. He has to handle his own diet. He has to handle doing the little things to achieve his goal because, simply put, the resources are not there at Alabama State.

With respect to JUCO guys, I'm going to Knoxville. Cordarrelle Patterson gets the nod. He's a wide receiver who will be adding to the mix for the Volunteers. We know Justin Hunter and Da'Rick Rogers are going to be studs in this scheme, adding Patterson is giving Tyler Bray another weapon to stretch defenses out. Patterson as the third guy will be a problem and should make things fun for Tennessee.

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@InTheBleachers bigger preseason crush Vols NC State or Lville?

— Rhett (@rsl52) July 19, 2012"

Honestly, I cannot pick one of these teams. I'm the most excited about all three of them for the 2012 season. I think NC State will be the best of these three. However, with Florida State and Clemson on the schedule they may not have the ceiling that Louisville has. For that reason, I think Louisville is the team I like to have the highest ceiling. As for Tennessee; love the offense and Sal Sunseri is one of the guys I've been rooting for a promotion for, for quite some time. 

All three teams have quarterbacks I think will be great this season. Tennesee has to win to keep my guy Derek Dooley employed. NC State finally has their ducks in a row and that is a big deal as Tom O'Brien pushes towards that sustained success he's known for. Charlie Strong and Louisville get me giddy because they should be in a BCS Bowl this year, that way the world gets to watch Teddy Bridgewater embarrass someone.

"

@InTheBleachers My Q - how badly would you fare if you had to go back to camp and do two-a-days this August?

— ACC Sports (@ACCSports) July 20, 2012"

Ah, Jim Young, editor of ACC Sports, you folks should really follow him on twitter. He is great. There are some things that I would do great if I was at camp right now, in my current state: sitting around in a film room, chalk talk, being on time to meetings, going to meals and making it to the training table. That's about it, though. Because while I could line up in the right spots on the field, to say I'm a step slow would be a massive understatement. Especially for a guy who was a step too slow in his prime.

Conditioning would be an exercise in futility, even if they let me run with linemen instead of skill guys. Weight lifting would be a waste of everyone's time. I took special care to dedicate my life to repaying my debt to my body. After over a decade of football, I'm nicely nestled in the middle of spending a decade of not working out. It would not work great.

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@InTheBleachers On serious note, I'd like your take on TOB's current recruiting haul. Seems like you like it more than the analysts.

— ACC Sports (@ACCSports) July 20, 2012"

After he makes me reveal how bad of shape I am in, he follows up with serious talk. Tom O'Brien has 15 commitments as it stands on July 20, 2012. Yesterday, I said that he's doing a good job and I am impressed with his push. Plenty of folks; UNC fans, general recruiting enthusiasts and even NC State fans tried to tell me I was wrong to praise him. I am not wrong. Last year at this time the man had eight commits. The year before he had just three. So fifteen is a big plus for him, and proof that his message is getting out there.

Spare me the "but they're not highly rated" rhetoric because I never said they were elite kids or that he was going to push for the Recruiting National Title. Rather, I'm saying that he's getting more of the kids he wants into the boat earlier and that's a good thing. The family, hard work and lunch pail mentality that Tom O'Brien sells to the middle tier recruit is working now, better than ever.

That success, and acknowledgement of the progress is not absolving Tom O'Brien of shortcomings. The head coach still has to work on his spiel to top recruits in the state. While the middle guys are jumping in the boat quickly, if O'Brien wants to land some of North Carolina's more prized prospects, he is going to have to adjust to get those kids on board.

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@InTheBleachers Your take on Sammy Watkins missing very little to no playing time?

— Paul Geddings (@SraGeddings) July 20, 2012"

I really hate the idea that a suspension is the only form of punishment for a college athlete. If he is doing his Pre-Trial Intervention, doing community service and finished whatever physical punishment Dabo and the strength staff could come up with then I am fully behind him getting back on the field to play Auburn.