FB RECRUITING National Signing Day, Wednesday, February 1, 2017
- Thread starter SpaceRaider
- Start date
Looks like that Calder Marria DE target that we were following ended up at WKU. He would have been a good add as a true DE prospect with a big frame.
This is a good class, but it seems to have some balance issues. Not a single high school d-lineman and only 1 overall (I know some of those linebackers might move into DE's), yet 5 WRs and 7 defensive backs.
This makes 18 'ships dedicated to Wide Receivers possibly heading into fall camp - looks like 13 returning on the roster and 5 added. That doesn't make any sense to me.
This is a good class, but it seems to have some balance issues. Not a single high school d-lineman and only 1 overall (I know some of those linebackers might move into DE's), yet 5 WRs and 7 defensive backs.
This makes 18 'ships dedicated to Wide Receivers possibly heading into fall camp - looks like 13 returning on the roster and 5 added. That doesn't make any sense to me.
They may not have grasped the fact that defense wins championships, especially in the trenches. I think its a good class but being heavy with WR's is concerning. Hopefully there are some that can play DB.
Had some targets at DE/DT....Tyler Stepney, Ron Freeman, Calder Marria & Demetrice Lofton. They just didn't come through. Stepney might still be in the mix. Marria to WKU, Lofton went to Ga. Southern and Freeman went to Charleston Southern for some reason.
We still got some space for a late signee/qualifier.
We still got some space for a late signee/qualifier.
Decatur Daily:
Blankenship sticks with Middle Tennessee
excerpt:
...when the West Limestone High star signed his National Letter of Intent on Wednesday morning, there was no last-minute drama.
Even though a few programs made late sales pitches, Blankenship stuck with his original commitment, signing with Middle Tennessee State.
“MTSU offered me early,” Blankenship said. “They liked me, and I liked them. Middle Tennessee is where I need to be.”
Blankenship gave Middle Tennessee a commitment last fall, but during the past week, his recruitment gained steam. Illinois coach Lovie Smith and defensive coordinator Hardy Nickerson visited Blankenship last week on West Limestone’s campus, and asked him to make a last-minute official visit.
Blankenship opted not to take the visit. He picked Middle Tennessee over offers from Illinois, Minnesota and Wake Forest.
Blankenship was picked in January by the Alabama Sports Writers Association as the Class 4A Back of the Year. At West Limestone, the 6-foot-2 standout starred at quarterback, but he is projected to play safety in college.....
Blankenship sticks with Middle Tennessee
excerpt:
...when the West Limestone High star signed his National Letter of Intent on Wednesday morning, there was no last-minute drama.
Even though a few programs made late sales pitches, Blankenship stuck with his original commitment, signing with Middle Tennessee State.
“MTSU offered me early,” Blankenship said. “They liked me, and I liked them. Middle Tennessee is where I need to be.”
Blankenship gave Middle Tennessee a commitment last fall, but during the past week, his recruitment gained steam. Illinois coach Lovie Smith and defensive coordinator Hardy Nickerson visited Blankenship last week on West Limestone’s campus, and asked him to make a last-minute official visit.
Blankenship opted not to take the visit. He picked Middle Tennessee over offers from Illinois, Minnesota and Wake Forest.
Blankenship was picked in January by the Alabama Sports Writers Association as the Class 4A Back of the Year. At West Limestone, the 6-foot-2 standout starred at quarterback, but he is projected to play safety in college.....
long snapper:
The Gazette:
Gray to play for Middle Tennessee
excerpt:
...One of the most sought-after long snappers in the country is headed to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as Buckeye senior Hunter Gray committed to Division I Middle Tennessee State.
The three-time All-Gazette and two-time D-III All-Ohio selection will receive preferred walk-on status, which is customary for long snappers, after selecting the Conference USA school over Marshall and Ashland.
“First off, it’s a great academic school,” Gray said. “They have an amazing athletic training program, and the facilities, football team and coaching staff in general are amazing.
“I really love it down there. It’s a winning, growing program, and I’m very close to my siblings down there — my brother, sisters and my niece.”
Ranked 11th in the nation by Kohl’s Kicking Camps, the 6-foot-2, 240-pounder will join a Blue Raiders program that has made three bowl appearances in the last four seasons....
The Gazette:
Gray to play for Middle Tennessee
excerpt:
...One of the most sought-after long snappers in the country is headed to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as Buckeye senior Hunter Gray committed to Division I Middle Tennessee State.
The three-time All-Gazette and two-time D-III All-Ohio selection will receive preferred walk-on status, which is customary for long snappers, after selecting the Conference USA school over Marshall and Ashland.
“First off, it’s a great academic school,” Gray said. “They have an amazing athletic training program, and the facilities, football team and coaching staff in general are amazing.
“I really love it down there. It’s a winning, growing program, and I’m very close to my siblings down there — my brother, sisters and my niece.”
Ranked 11th in the nation by Kohl’s Kicking Camps, the 6-foot-2, 240-pounder will join a Blue Raiders program that has made three bowl appearances in the last four seasons....
Rivals 247 has our class ranked 6th in CUSA behind FAU, UTSA, FIU, USM and WKU.
College Football News has our class ranked 10th in CUSA behind UTSA, USM, FIU, LaTech, FAU, UAB, Charlotte, North Texas and WKU. But look at the bright side. We're still ahead of Marshall, ODU, Rice and UTEP!!!
College Football News has our class ranked 10th in CUSA behind UTSA, USM, FIU, LaTech, FAU, UAB, Charlotte, North Texas and WKU. But look at the bright side. We're still ahead of Marshall, ODU, Rice and UTEP!!!
Well 24/7 has an incomplete list (only 24 instead of 25) three recruits with no rating what so ever, to be fair we are still waiting on ratings from rivals for three signees as well, all of whom had other FBS offers, and one was a 4 star recruit and P5 commit out of HS before going juco.
247's CUSA rankings appear to be off. They have us behind WKU, yet we have more commits listed, more 3-star guys, and a higher average per player. They also only have us with 20 on their rankings, but 24 on the signee list. It's like it hasn't been updated.
Rivals has us at 4 behind UTSA, USM, and FAU. This one appears to be the most accurate list. We're really close to FAU who has 27 (we have 25), and there's a pretty big gap down to WKU at 5th with 25 as well.
Scout has us at 12th out of 14. This one is just weird all around.
ESPN is behind a paywall.
apparently there is some controversy with Jarez Parks signing or not signing with ALabama. Heck see if Wayne can convince him to come here
As far as rankings go, I expect MT to finish inside the top 3 of CUSA once the three remaining evaluations get done. Octavis Johnson should get some considerations for 3 stars, as should Tavares Thomas.
Rivals rankings will sort themselves out in the next day or so..
Rivals rankings will sort themselves out in the next day or so..
Madison Record:
http://www.themadisonrecord.com/201...s-player-to-sign-with-middle-tennessee-state/
...His nickname is The Little General. But he played a big role in Bob Jones football over the past three seasons. He led Bob Jones in receiving yards, receptions, touchdowns, and rushing as a senior.
At 5foot8, 170 pounds he is fast, shifty, and hard to tackle as Dorman, SC found out.
He holds a state record for two 99yard touchdown runs against Dorman to open the 2016 season.
On Wednesday Feb. 1 he made history again becoming the first Bob Jones football player to sign a scholarship with Middle Tennessee State University. It was an achievement his coach Kevin Rose has been wanting to see for all of his nine years.
“Its a new market for us. It’s only 85 miles from here. It’s a great school and they are similar to what we do offensively and Brad will be a great fit,” Rose said. “He had well over 1,000 all purpose yards for us. His asset is he can be a kick returner a running back, an inside receiver, and he catches the ball well. He will be a good player for MTSU.”
Anderson, who turns 18 Feb 15, knew right away he had found his home.
“When I visited Middle Tennessee I saw I was a perfect fit for their football team. I saw how well I was treated by their coaching staff and everyone on campus. It was a blessing when they offered me.....
http://www.themadisonrecord.com/201...s-player-to-sign-with-middle-tennessee-state/
...His nickname is The Little General. But he played a big role in Bob Jones football over the past three seasons. He led Bob Jones in receiving yards, receptions, touchdowns, and rushing as a senior.
At 5foot8, 170 pounds he is fast, shifty, and hard to tackle as Dorman, SC found out.
He holds a state record for two 99yard touchdown runs against Dorman to open the 2016 season.
On Wednesday Feb. 1 he made history again becoming the first Bob Jones football player to sign a scholarship with Middle Tennessee State University. It was an achievement his coach Kevin Rose has been wanting to see for all of his nine years.
“Its a new market for us. It’s only 85 miles from here. It’s a great school and they are similar to what we do offensively and Brad will be a great fit,” Rose said. “He had well over 1,000 all purpose yards for us. His asset is he can be a kick returner a running back, an inside receiver, and he catches the ball well. He will be a good player for MTSU.”
Anderson, who turns 18 Feb 15, knew right away he had found his home.
“When I visited Middle Tennessee I saw I was a perfect fit for their football team. I saw how well I was treated by their coaching staff and everyone on campus. It was a blessing when they offered me.....
Last edited:
Bob Jones is a school that MT has recruited in the past, but just came up short with signing players. This could open up a great pipeline in the years to come..
Last edited:
State Gazette:
http://www.stategazette.com/story/2382888.html
Halls senior Johnson commits to MT
...Wednesday morning’s signing was the first by a Halls football player to a major FBS college program since 1930...
http://www.stategazette.com/story/2382888.html
Halls senior Johnson commits to MT
...Wednesday morning’s signing was the first by a Halls football player to a major FBS college program since 1930...
As others have said, 247 is way off. Not only are they missing commits, but the rankings are currently still factoring in players like Javaris Steward who didn't sign with UTSA (Probably didn't qualify). As of this writing, UTSA has 5 "hard commits" still listed that didn't even appear to sign with the school. This is falsely elevating their rankings.
In reality, the only thing that matters on 247 is average star rating, and if you take away UTSA's 5 bogus "hard commits" that didn't sign, we have the second best averaging star rating in CUSA behind only FAU.
FAU had an amazing class this year led by Ahman Ross & Deandre Johnson. Ross had legit offers to Florida State, Miami, and Louisville but for some reason really wanted to commit to and play for Kiffin. (Little does he know Kiffin will be gone in a year or two if successful). Considering how late Kiffin came into the fold, it is quite concerning that FAU was still able to sign arguably the best class in the conference. I really hope that guy is gone soon.
UTSA's class was up there as well despite Javaris Steward not signing. Of all the classes though, I'm most jealous of Southern Miss's. They are bringing in some absolute studs on defense led by Emanuel Dabney along with 4 very nice looking DT's (Makes me so jealous.....4 freakin DT's!!!!!!). On the other side of the ball, RB Darius Maberry is the real frickin deal (We offered him) and will be a star in this conference. Really wish we could have stole him and his film is amazing.
Regardless, just looking around at the recruiting classes across the conference, I wouldn't trade ours for anybodies and I've watched everybody's classes develop over the last year. If I had to take anyone else's class, it would be Southern Miss, but I still like ours more. I give the staff a 9.5/10 on this class because not only did we get great players, we addressed pretty much every need (Would have liked to seen 1 more DL signed which I know the staff was trying for.....I still think we might see a late qualifier or transfer come in on the DL). We've still got at least 1 spot left so I'm hopeful we can bring in 1 more quality guy hopefully on the DL. Still trying to figure out what happened with Tyler Stepney.
If we could have counted Walter Brady, I wonder if we would have leap frogged at least 3 other teams. Getting an All American that can play now in a transfer is kinda worth 4 unknown players that end up redshirted.
I think this class is pretty badass. Zach Dobson is a friggin beast.
I think this class is pretty badass. Zach Dobson is a friggin beast.
Last edited:
I wouldn't be shocked if Dobson is our next Richie James.
Signing day radio in Knoxville had more than a few callers who were a bit upset that UT couldn't sneak him into their class at the last second.
You've got to think DL is going to be THE major focus of the 2018 class.
Signing day radio in Knoxville had more than a few callers who were a bit upset that UT couldn't sneak him into their class at the last second.
You've got to think DL is going to be THE major focus of the 2018 class.
Listening to stock and he's correct about facilities. I just don't know why our administration won't commit to having better facilities. We can't compete staying the way we are.
Totally agree about the facilities. What major facilities upgrades have we made over the last 10 years? Hardly any. Not acceptable when you look around the conference and see what everyone else is doing. Not acceptable at all.
If we don't have the money to build the new facilities and/or the commitment is not there from the administration, then why join CUSA? If we are going to masquerade around as one of the best programs in CUSA then we better start building the facilities to fit that narrative.
If we don't have the money to build the new facilities and/or the commitment is not there from the administration, then why join CUSA? If we are going to masquerade around as one of the best programs in CUSA then we better start building the facilities to fit that narrative.
$$$$
Need for facility upgrades and Cost of Attendance (CoA) is the reason we are playing 3 P5 schools this year IMO
TBH I'm ok playing these schools. If this is what it takes to financially build this program.
One thing I can't stand or accept is Troy or bottom feeders like F_U having better facilities than us.
Rivals has rated two of the three. What I found interesting is that the guy that was a 4 star recruit while in HS and a commit to a P5, Rivals decided to give two stars and a 5.2 rating after signing with MT.
https://middletennessee.rivals.com/commitments/football/2017
Last edited:
It's borderline crazy to only give two stars to DQ and OJ
Looks like they just gave them default 5.2's to me instead of actually evaluating the film.
Also, if FIU, FAU, and everyone else in the conference can find money for facilities, why can't we? Even crappy Sun Belt schools like Troy have (and have always had) better facilities than us.
Also, if FIU, FAU, and everyone else in the conference can find money for facilities, why can't we? Even crappy Sun Belt schools like Troy have (and have always had) better facilities than us.
The 2 they rated appear to have just received the default 5.2 rating - Lazy lazy lazy on rivals part. I know that back when I ran this website with Hutton, I could go in there and change the ratings myself, and this is a case where I would do exactly that. They should at least be 5.4's...
