FB RECRUITING Lets talk about our class...

[MTsumner92]

On defense I noticed that we didn't sign one DE. Obviously we think we are ok there? I don't know. I was not impressed with our pass rush from the DE position. Scratching head here. DT's couldn't get off blocks last year. I'll give Manciel some slack due to only one year in the weight program but this year he should be ready. He is very talented. The Juco DT will be a huge help and has the potential to be better than anyone we had last year. crossing fingers.... We still needed more immediate help. Maybe Poydras is that good? I didn't hear much about him last season. I would say Tommy will be heavily evaluated this year. We cannot afford to have a defensive line class like this brought in ever again. Am I missing something?

We are very heavy at DB. Remember two years ago when the cupboard was bare and we were crying? Does this mean we will be using more nickel backs vs. a 3rd linebacker? This would make sense when you play WKU and that is who our DC should model as far as talent and scheme to beat them. I feel great about incoming DB's.... best set I have seen. Octavious is a wild card. Great talent but did he even play last year? He is an interesting story. Originally committed to South Carolina as a 4 star two years ago but didn't make grades. Hope he has his head on straight.

Offense is obviously going to pass like a son of a bitch in the future! Franklin isn't going anywhere and I sense he will be here at least 2 to 3 more years. My sense is he wants 10 wr's ready to go in a season while at the same time redshirting 2 or 3. He platoons 8 in a game. We were kind of limited last year in play calling due to inexperience at wr but this year it will be full bore.

I love the juco kid at RB we are bringing in. Kind of reminds me of Cunningham in how he hits the hole quickly and can explode for a big gain. I love the Juco OL we picked up. He is talented but at 6-2...not sure he is a tackle. The kid from Oakland is a baller as well. The other OL seemed ok . The Mt. Juliet kid looked kind of slow but he is 6-7 so that may have been why.

I loved the film on Turner. powerful arm that can scramble well. I think he can be better that Stock. H certainly has the right coach in place to make it happen. Very happy with Turner. Yeah baby.

By the way. Have we hired a WR coach yet?

Next season is going to be interesting. Spring is a great time to evaluate our new defense. Can't wait!!!

 

[Blueraider_Mike]

Don't forget we have a DE from Mizzou who you can go ahead and pencil in as a strarter.

Our new DC I think runs more of a 3-4 D which might be good for us from a recruiting perspective...I think we need to give up trying to have 320 lb DT, the athltetic ones simply don't come to schools like MT. However, we can get bigger LBs and athletic ends so as a unit we play better.

 

[MTsumner92]

Didn't know about Mizzou DE. Who is he? Is he on campus?

 

[FranklinRaider315]

Walter Brady. Originally committed to MT and flipped to Missouri at the 11th hour.

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/02/florence_de_walter_brady_flips.html

 

[blueraiderJT]

Yep, he's a student and he's ready to play. Hopefully, he keeps his nose clean and makes it to fall camp. If he does, we will have a major upgrade on the DE side.

 

[MTsumner92]

Oh yeah. I forgot about him.

 

[MTBig Blue]

He was a freshman all-American at Mizzou.

We signed a few DE's last year that the coaches seemed really high on. The one that comes to mind is Jordan Gonzalez.

 

[MTTim]

I'm lost. Brady is going to Mizzou. Who is this other DE you guys are excited about?

 

[sWiley]

Walter Brady went to Mizzou 2 years ago. He was kicked off the team after his freshman season (He was a freshman All American I believe) and then came to MT. He's eligible to play for us this year now.

 

[MTTim]

Walter Brady went to Mizzou 2 years ago. He was kicked off the team after his freshman season (He was a freshman All American I believe) and then came to MT. He's eligible to play for us this year now.

Thanks Wiley. I'm remembering this now.

 

[sWiley]

I always get excited for signing day, but this signing day in particular really has me stoked. I don't remember being this excited about a class for some time. Really maybe all the way going back to the Malcolm Beyah class which I remember super stoked for.

We really did get some talented players in this class, and while I would have liked one more DE/DT, I don't think it's the end of the world. I'll talk more about the 2017 DL concerns at a later time. I expect to see a lot of players from this class contributing early & often. I wanted to comment individually on some of the players that I really think can make the difference in this class.

I wanna start with Wayne Parks. This kid really flew under the radar in my opinion because his brother was receiving all the praise (Jarez Parks, 4 star Alabama commit) and there isn't much film out there on him. With that being said, Wayne was arguably one of the best players on one of the best defenses in the State of Florida. That's right, the entire state of Florida. Sebastian River just SUFFOCATED teams this year. Of the 13 games they played this year, their opponents DID NOT SCORE A SINGLE POINT in EIGHT of those games. That's right, they shut out their opponents 8 times this year. This was a lock down defense anchored by Jarez Parks, Ron Freeman, and Wayne Parks. Wayne, IMO, was arguably the best player on the field for them (I really prefer him to his brother) as he finished with 81 tackles, 7 INT's, and 5 defensive touchdowns while just terrorizing offenses. The cherry on top here is that he already appears well developed from a physical stand point so he could theoretically step in and play right away if needed. Really, really excited about this signing.

Zeke Cobb - Just watch his film, it really says it all. If this kid didn't injure his knee and get in some minor legal troubles, he would without question have went Power 5. In 2017, WR was the deepest position in the country and MT took total advantage of this by going out there and signing some really good prospects, starting with Cobb. Again, just watch his film. There's not much more to say after that. He's clearly a very talented player who's going to be on the field sooner rather than later. His size is going to be a welcome addition to our current unit which really lacks it. He has an interesting frame IMO because he could add some weight and move to the TE spot and present huge match up problems, or he could stay slim and stay at WR. Will be interesting to see what the staff does with him.

Reed Blankenship - This is another kid whose film just really pops. It's one of the more enjoyable films to watch too because the kid literally plays every position. From watching his film you can tell he has a high IQ for the game and has been well coached. He understands containment, proper angles, and consistently demonstrates good fundamentals at every position he plays. He's going to be a welcome addition to our defense which really has had problems with basic fundamentals such as wrapping up and outside shoulder containment. It'll be interesting to see if Franklin works him in for some offensive packages (Remember he played QB so he can throw the ball too) with something like a WR end-around with an RPO go-route. I do expect him to red-shirt as he needs to develop a little more from a physical standpoint, but overall the future is very bright with this one.

Cain McWilliams - This gentlemen has a chance to be an absolute superstar here at MT. Wouldn't surprise me at all if he ended up at DE due to his size and speed and our desperate need at the position. In fact, I think he would be better served there, but we'll see what the coaches do with him. As Casey noted in his "Getting to know the recruits" segment, this guy only played 1 year of football at Marshall County but absolutely killed it for that 1 year. He was a Class 4A Mr. Football Finalist for good reason as he finished the year with 101 tackles and 12 QB sacks (Production machine). This guy is already a man and already strong enough and developed enough to play right away at the Division 1 level so it wouldn't surprise me if he's on the field in 2017. If he continues to develop and get better this kid really could be a special one here.

Tavares Thomas - Should step in and contribute right away and wouldn't surprise me if he pushed for a starting spot. I'm very, very excited about our LB unit for 2017 and really think they will anchor our defense and be a big reason for a huge defensive improvement (I'm expecting a top 50 defense for 2017). We've got tons of talent and depth at the position with D.J. Sanders, Darius Harris, Myles Harges, & Chris Melton but I just don't see how they can keep Tavares Thomas off the field. Very interested to see what the staff does with him. They could move him to DE with his size and speed and give that a try.

Cody Smith - Don't sleep on this guy. Hard hitting safety with a ton of upside. Expect to see him redshirt but 2-3 years from now it's very likely he'll be your starting Strong Safety.

 

[Hop45]

You are very critical and hard to please at times, so I am excited that you are excited about these guys. If our defense can make a rapid improvement under the new DC, we can have something special. I am also very high on the QB from Smyrna. I was at the Oakland game when he was injured, but before the injury, he was slinging it. Very strong arm with accuracy and mobile enough to buy time and scramble when needed. He should be a more than adequate successor to Brent.

 

[FranklinRaider315]

I think Stock has finally gotten the message that mediocrity is no longer acceptable. If WKU can, "why not us?"

The road to a championship now runs through Bowling Green until he changes it.

 

[MTTim]

I think Stock has finally gotten the message that mediocrity is no longer acceptable. If WKU can, "why not us?"

The road to a championship now runs through Bowling Green until he changes it.

He probably sat in between Massaro and Mcphee on the ride back from Hawaii and received some guidance.

 

[blueraiderJT]

I definitely think a fire has been lit under Stock. Whenever that happens, he usually responds but this feels different. With the addition of Shafer and with this recruiting class, it shows the level of commitment that's there.

I also think pound for pound, this class will produce more for us faster than any class we've recruited. It's not childlike optimism either. This was a well thought out strategic recruiting season. We didn't just address needs, we went after some real talent too and got em.

It's also obvious that TF will also coach the WR's like he did in 09. He went in and had major input over who we brought in then and ran all of the evaluations of them in the spring and in fall camp that year. If you notice what he did then and it was simple. He went JUCO and went for size. McClover was 6'5, Garrett Andrews was 6'3, and Shane Blissard was 6'5 who was also a walk on. He already had Beyah and Sancho. He got to hand pick the Wr's in this crop and that means, we are gonna be even more dangerous because those guys will be playing out the gate. Reggie Henderson, Upton and Bruce will step their game up too. We should have an absolute arsenal if we can keep them healthy.

 

[SpaceRaider]

Call me a non-believer/agnostic/infidel on this class being much of an immediate upgrade to the defense. We may be better, but how much???

Can someone project a two deep for our defense and explain why this defense, even with a new DC, will be significantly improved and help MT win a conference championship?

 

[MTLynn]

Every single year you can find coaches around the nation who take over a unit with mostly the same players and see drastically different results (some are good and some are bad).

That said, if Shafer is the real deal then we should see a large improvement with the defense.

 

[sWiley]

Call me a non-believer/agnostic/infidel on this class being much of an immediate upgrade to the defense. We may be better, but how much???

Can someone project a two deep for our defense and explain why this defense, even with a new DC, will be significantly improved and help MT win a conference championship?

I don't truly believe the big problem last year was the players. It was the coach, specifically front 7 coaching. I am hopeful Shafer will throw Tommy West to the wind and get his guys ready to play. Depth will be an issue, especially on the defensive line, but if we can stay healthy, there's no reason we can't win a CUSA title or at least play for the title.

 

[SmithO1906]

Im wondering if we have some guys like Bailey and Manciel who have put on some weight and our d line will be better than we all anticipate and that's why we went the way we did as far recruiting on the defensive side of the ball.

 

[sWiley]

i thought Bailey was a senior?

 

[blueraiderJT]

I don't truly believe the big problem last year was the players. It was the coach, specifically front 7 coaching. I am hopeful Shafer will throw Tommy West to the wind and get his guys ready to play. Depth will be an issue, especially on the defensive line, but if we can stay healthy, there's no reason we can't win a CUSA title or at least play for the title.

Great post! I fully agree. We had talent. We had a terrible gameplan and bad coaching. Lining up LB's 6 yards off the LOS in an obvious run play let's you know why we got gashed a lot against the run. Fundamentals and tackling have not been stressed and that's not on the players, it's on the coaches to call it out and correct it. Shafer is known for doing that and he will do it here. He's a better strategist too. Put those 2 things together, we are instantly better.

Brady at DE will make a difference. He knows how to tackle and get disrupt a line. We will improve this year on D. No doubt.

 

[blueraiderJT]

i thought Bailey was a senior?

He got injured early last season. Applied for medical redshirt. i think he had a shirt to burn anyway.

 

[RaiderDoug]

This is an exciting class. Looks like plenty of guys with upside, especially on the defense. Where we needed it.

It's clear that the talent on the field keeps getting better and better.

It's time we start turning that talent into wins and championships. 8-5 is not good enough for this program.