FB RECRUITING ***Signing Day Primer***

[Matt Dossett]

The early signing for football is this Wednesday. @Tyler Pellom and I will be bringing the coverage inside Lightning's Lounge...

Here is some general information to get you up to speed.
1. The Blue Raiders have five current commitments.

 

[Matt Dossett]

Norris is a guy to watch. He has received two big time offers recently, South Carolina along with Tennessee

 

[Matt Dossett]

Erick Smith Jr. was at one point a commit. It appears his top list is in no order: Memphis, FIU, Coastal Carolina and South Alabama

 

[Matt Dossett]

Nick Vattiato Film

 

[Matt Dossett]

Elijah Metcalf film

 

[Matt Dossett]

Norris....

 

[Matt Dossett]

Toney

 

[Matt Dossett]

Geeting...

 

[Matt Dossett]

Here is a recent offer....

 

[Matt Dossett]

McCray film

 

[Matt Dossett]

Blue Raiders have offered Corey Robinson II, a Kansas commit...

 

[Sommy]

Really hope we can get a solid QB that can start right away. Maybe Nick can be that guy. No offense to Asher, but I would like to see some competition for the spot.

and we need OL bad.

 

[C-Bow]

Really hope we can get a solid QB that can start right away. Maybe Nick can be that guy. No offense to Asher, but I would like to see some competition for the spot.

and we need OL bad.

You might be onto something there. I personally think Stick would welcome the thought of moving on from O’Hara. If you think about it, he tried multiple times to supplant him but nobody else on the roster currently can challenge for the spot. Maybe y’all saw those benchings a different way but that’s how I took it. That’s just my $0.02 no real insight there. Maybe Nick can be that guy.

The recent offer of the JUCO QB tells me perhaps Geeting may be out (he was Silvoys IIRC) as well. I do think 2 QB’s are needed this class, but personally I’d hit the portal for the second one.
Speaking of portal, any and every o-lineman in the queue should have a welcome committee meet them at the airport (are visits even a thing anymore lol?)

I’ll be shocked if Norris sticks but I’m also hopeful there’s a couple surprises out there.

 

[MTBig Blue]

At the end of the day, do any of these recruits matter if we have the same guys coaching them?

 

[BlueSioux]

I really have a hard time getting excited about high school recruits as the jump from H.S. to college is just tremendous. How many 5 star recruits end up 3rd string after two years? Scouting and predicting future success of 16-18 year olds is a job I would not want.

 

[Tyler Pellom]

It looks like things will be pretty uneventful tomorrow. MT currently has 5 commits, with Isaiah Norris guaranteed to come off the board due to bigger offers coming in late.

I've been talking to the other commits, and they all seem solid to this point. However, not all of them had planned to sign in the early window anyway. Geeting has yet to play his senior season due to COVID restrictions in California. They have a spring season scheduled at this point, so it is likely in his best interest to wait and see if more offers come with a good senior year.

So, maybe two or three sign tomorrow of the current commits, and there are a couple of uncommitted targets MT may get a surprise signature from.

In talking with some folks on campus, MT really doesn't have the full scholarship numbers worked out to this point due to the seniors getting an extra year of eligibility and the NCAA's new one time transfer rule. They are content to hold as many spots open as necessary to see who might fall to them either on the recruiting board or in the transfer window.

 

[Tyler Pellom]

You might be onto something there. I personally think Stick would welcome the thought of moving on from O’Hara. If you think about it, he tried multiple times to supplant him but nobody else on the roster currently can challenge for the spot. Maybe y’all saw those benchings a different way but that’s how I took it. That’s just my $0.02 no real insight there. Maybe Nick can be that guy.

The recent offer of the JUCO QB tells me perhaps Geeting may be out (he was Silvoys IIRC) as well. I do think 2 QB’s are needed this class, but personally I’d hit the portal for the second one.
Speaking of portal, any and every o-lineman in the queue should have a welcome committee meet them at the airport (are visits even a thing anymore lol?)

I’ll be shocked if Norris sticks but I’m also hopeful there’s a couple surprises out there.

To piggyback on Casey's post, Stock knows they really need to turn this thing around this upcoming season. I would not be surprised if MT goes heavy in the QB transfer market. Maybe a more traditional air-raid QB - tall with a strong arm.

I think we can all agree O'Hara isn't the problem with this team - the problem is the offensive and defensive lines. But it may be a quicker fix to find a QB capable of seeing over the pressure than fixing the offensive line in one offseason.

 

[Tyler Pellom]

Here's a guy they are targeting heavily but he's a February signee. I'll have an interview posted with him for subscribers at the end of the week.

 

[Tyler Pellom]

Here's another one, but again, it looks like he'll be a February signee too.

Arkansas State is the primary competition.

 

[MTBig Blue]

Is there a deadline for seniors to decide whether or not the are coming back for an extra year?

 

[AustinLewis]

You might be onto something there. I personally think Stick would welcome the thought of moving on from O’Hara. If you think about it, he tried multiple times to supplant him but nobody else on the roster currently can challenge for the spot. Maybe y’all saw those benchings a different way but that’s how I took it. That’s just my $0.02 no real insight there. Maybe Nick can be that guy.

The recent offer of the JUCO QB tells me perhaps Geeting may be out (he was Silvoys IIRC) as well. I do think 2 QB’s are needed this class, but personally I’d hit the portal for the second one.
Speaking of portal, any and every o-lineman in the queue should have a welcome committee meet them at the airport (are visits even a thing anymore lol?)

I’ll be shocked if Norris sticks but I’m also hopeful there’s a couple surprises out there.

I think it's hilarious that Stock has tried (a couple of times) to supplant O'Hara as starting QB. O'Hara's on-field performance contributed led MT 7 wins in the last two years. IMO, the Blue Raiders would probably be winless without O'Hara at QB.

 

[Matt Dossett]

Again, Tyler and I will be updating things in Lightning's Lounge...

 

[RaiderDawg78]

So at this point we have signed 2 people, a QB and WR.

Stock sure knowa how to target needs on the recruiting trail....

 

[C-Bow]

So at this point we have signed 2 people, a QB and WR.

Stock sure knowa how to target needs on the recruiting trail....

To be fair this may be the weirdest, wackiest year of recruiting in the history of it all. With the extra years being granted that has muddied the waters substantially. The transfer portal is as live as ever, too. And the early signing period isn’t proving to be as urgent as some would have thought. Lot of kids are waiting things out to February this year. Surprised to see so little JUCO activity but again, with the portal as full as it is that changes that landscape too.