The Wednesday Wrap: What is Will Rogers Legacy for Mississippi State football?
Today on The Wednesday Wrap, we’re looking at Will Rogers and what his legacy is for Mississippi State football.
It’s another Wednesday which means we are another week closer to college football and 10 days away from the start of the 2023 Mississippi State football season. And as we get ready for the start of a new year, we need to have a discussion about Will Rogers.
What I’ve been wondering…
Will Rogers will be a senior this season, a fourth year starter, and thanks to COVID, he could still come back for a fifth year if he wanted. Rogers has basically rewritten the Mississippi State football record book for passing statistics. But he has a real chance to do the same for the SEC record book as well.
Here is where he stands for the following passing stats for all time SEC records.
- Passing Yards: Second, he needs 2,477 yards to surpass Aaron Murray this season for the most all time.
- Passing Touchdowns: Eighth, he needs 39 to become the all time leader in passing touchdowns which would be three better than his career best.
- Completion Percentage: First, Rogers has completed 70.7% of his passes which is 2.2% better than Joe Burrow.
Regardless of what happens to the Mississippi State football team this year, Will Rogers is going to go down as one of the most accomplished passers in SEC history. And yet, almost every prognosticator has the Bulldogs pegged to finish last in the SEC West this season. So, the obvious question is, why?
It’s not a well kept secret that the quarterback is the most important position on the field for a football team. Will Rogers has been great, but even inside the Mississippi State football fan base, there are a lot of people who aren’t completely confident in him despite the accolades he has received.
There is certainly an argument to make that he is the second best quarterback to ever play the position for the Mississippi State football team. But there are many Bulldog fans and pundits who would rank him lower despite the things Will Rogers has accomplished.
Will Rogers has been labeled a system quarterback. And the Mississippi State football team is transitioning to a vastly different system this season, so there are plenty of doubters as to whether or not he will be successful in the new offense.
And this is where the rubber will meet the road for Will Rogers. His yardage and passing touchdown numbers should automatically be less than they have been in previous seasons because the Bulldogs won’t be passing the football 50 times a game anymore, but he should still be capable of putting up good numbers in the new system even if there is a renewed focus on the running game.
If Will Rogers can put up numbers that would be considered good by most standards, the Mississippi State football team wins around seven games, and he is in contention for first or second team All SEC, I think he cements his legacy as the second best quarterback all time for the Bulldogs. A mediocre or even worse season for Rogers will knock him further down the list in this blogger’s eyes.
What I’ve been watching…
Ryan Nelson and I were back at it this week on The Main Attraction Podcast. We reviewed a movie and a television show.
Up first, we both made our way to the movie theater to see the next to last DCEU film Blue Beetle, and might have been the only two to do so based on the the box office for the film. It’s a fun movie, despite the fact that it is pretty formulaic. You can listen to us discuss it here.
We continued our look at the third season of Hulu’s hit murder comedy Only Murders In The Building. New suspects were introduced, and there is a beautiful scene featuring Meryl Streep singing a lullaby. You can listen to us discuss it right over here.
What I’ve been whistling to…
One of my favorites of all time is Billy Joel. He has written some of the best songs I’ve ever heard, and his voice is so unique that it perfectly fits the songs that he writes. The one that has caught my ear recently has been “Piano Man”.
It’s an absolute banger of a song. I could listen to this one on loop for hours if given the option. Some of his other classics that have found their way to my playlists as of late are “Moving Out”, “Uptown Girl”, and “Big Shot”.
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That’s all for this week’s edition of The Wednesday Wrap. Next week, we get ready for the opening weekend of the Mississippi State football season!