Devoe Torrence will probably not be in this class.
I'm not sold on Saine as well.
We need another Beanie in the pipeline.
Devoe Torrence will probably not be in this class.
I'm not sold on Saine as well.
We need another Beanie in the pipeline.
Not only haven't they lost anyone but now three recruits that comminted elsewhere (Texas A&M and UCLA) have announced visits in january.
That is along with Trevor Robinson, OL who is attending the ND Football banquet this weekend along with 12 of ND's commits (which means there is a real strong chance he commits next week).
And Deion Walker, WR, who is going to announce before the Army Navy All-American game and I think he will commit. ND could not only not lose anyone, but add another 4 or 5 4-stars to the haul.
"I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum... and I'm all out of bubble gum."
- - Rowdy Roddy Piper
"It takes a big man to admit when he is wrong. I am not a big man"
- - Fletch
I spoke to my former boss a couple of weeks ago who's an alum and is now a big donor and he isn't worried one bit about Weis. He said that even Weis made jokes in his first year that he knew he was going to be in trouble in his third year.
Also, he says that from what he's heard, Weis has gone into recruiting visits and has been EXTREMELY honest about what's going on in the program. He's sharing information that normally isn't shared during the process and the recruits are totally buying into what he's saying. He thinks next year's team is going to be pretty good (about 8 wins), but the 2009 team could be a contender. This could be the best recruiting class ND has had in a decade, or even more.
Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David
Grape works as a soda. Sort of as a gum. I wonder why it doesn't work as a pie. Grape pie? There's no grape pie. - Larry David
Something I don't understand.
Why did Dayne Crist committ to Notre Dame with Jimmy Clausen in the mix. Unless Clausen gets injured or just flat out falls on his face, Crist won't start until his senior season more than likely.
The only major back left uncommitted is Darrell Scott, and Ohio State is not on his list. Oklahoma has a pretty good two headed monster at RB for the future in Justin Gilmer and Jerime Calhoun as well.
Part of me struggles to believe the hype of blue chip prospects in any sport.
Justin Zwick was highly touted, and we know how that ended up.
Ohio State is easily in the Top 5 of biggest programs in the country, and I'm not sure Pryor (or any kid, for that matter) could immediately step in and handle the pressure.
Even Florida didn't give the keys of the program to Tebow as a freshman. They put him in situations to succeed, and accordingly, he'll most likely win the Heisman this year, as a Sophomore.
It would be different to see a highly touted QB go to tOSU and succeed.
To their credit, they've done one heck of a job getting the most out of that position since Craig Krenzel.
Although not necessarily "highly touted", Troy Smith was invited to the same Elite 11 QB camp that Zwick was invited to. Zwick had the talent. He just didn't have the heart. Pryor is the real deal and has more Troy Smith in him than Zwick.
The kid is a freak. Watch some film on him. He is the real deal and better than Tebow when he came out. Think a more polished Vince Young with better mechanics.
I agree with you about blue chip prospects. The job isn't only getting the blue chips to come to your school but also coaching them up. Most of OSU's better players over the past few years havn't been the 5 star recruit. Hawk was a 3 star while D'Andria was a future stud when he entered OSU. Zwick was the golden boy and Smith was a kick returner his frosh year. Laurianitis was a three star recruit along with Jenikins. Its not the stud recruits that you get, its the ability to coach up talent and turn talent into a good player.
"I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum... and I'm all out of bubble gum."
- - Rowdy Roddy Piper
"It takes a big man to admit when he is wrong. I am not a big man"
- - Fletch
"I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum... and I'm all out of bubble gum."
- - Rowdy Roddy Piper
"It takes a big man to admit when he is wrong. I am not a big man"
- - Fletch
I agree with your point that JT does a great job evaluating talent based on his rating system and not some internet geek that's never seen the kid in person, however, AJ Hawk is always used as an example of a lower rated recruit that flew under the radar and I think that is slightly overblown.
Hawk was a 3-star simply because he missed most of his Sr. year in HS due to an injury. He had been rated higher before the injury and was one of our early offers of that year. He was never considered a reach by any of the Ohio recruiting guru's (Duane Long, Bill Kurelic). Even with his injury both Rivals and Scout had him as a top 30 LB nationally and back then Scout and Rivals gave fewer kids 4 and 5 star ratings. As the internet recruiting business has grown, the "experts" realized that they sold more subscriptions when they gave out more 4 and 5 star ratings as the amount has nearly doubled in each category over the last 5 or so years.
D'Andrea is a great example of not getting too excited about the hype of some kids, but he battled injuries his entire career and even "retired" because of them. I think Jim Laurinaitis, Malcolm Jenkins, and Brian Robiskie are great examples of JT's ability to see something where the experts don't. Those three all came out of the '05 class, along with two other potential lower rated studs Anderson Russell and Donald Washington. Never has there been a year where so many kids that flew under the radar have made such an impact. Another potential diamond in the rough could be Chimdi Chekwa from the 2006 class. We'll see how he handles taking over for Jenkins next year.
Higher rated disappointments would be: Jamario O'Neal ('05), Kyle Mitchum, Albert Dukes, and Devon Lyons ('04), Louis Irizarry, Darius Hiley, and Brandon Maupin ('03), Mike D'Andrea, Justin Zwick, and Derek Morris ('02), and Mo Hall and Lydell Ross ('01).
I had a chance to see a few of these guys in the state title games last weekend. I'm not an OSU fan, but:
Storm Klein - Real deal, kid is a stud. hell of a RB, but I hear a LB at the next level. had a kidney injury in the state game.
Studlien - looks the part, minus the god awful jerseys his team wears. good size and closing speed. AJ Hawk-esque
Simon - Passed the looks test for sure. double teamed all night long. but has a good motor
Mason - didnt look great as a RB, was keyed on all day. had like 10 yards rushing. probably a S at the next level
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