How many kids have we had invited to combine and or senior bowl in the last ten years compared to WKU, Marshall ect..... those schools have two a year while we have one every decade.
FB RECRUITING Signing Day (Regular Period) Wednesday, February 7, 2018
- Thread starter SpaceRaider
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We have lower expectations.
Wasn't Stock supposed to be a great recruiter when he was named HC? I haven't seen a really big fish get signed his entire time with the program. Several good players, but nobody coming in is considered a highly touted recruit. So yes, we can dismiss the star rankings (which we all know are a little questionable), but when you finish 7-6 with no titles, maybe there is some merit.
Ross is in!
Grate is in!
And Dawson Bragg just signed with MT over WKU!
Grate is in!
And Dawson Bragg just signed with MT over WKU!
Yep.
It's frustrating because we finally did something good - win a bowl game and have some momentum, and then we get blasted on the recruiting trail.
Why can't this program follow up a forward step with another one?
Maybe our dudes weren't evaluated properly. Maybe. Well, WKU, and USM, and Marshall didn't wait around for rivals and 247 to evaluate their guys - they went out and got straight ballers that can play anywhere in g5.
Meanwhile we're like "Who's this dude? Lehigh? Had an offer from Coastal Carolina? Who?".
Maybe.
I'm still waiting for guys like Rickey Blair, Jermel Walker, and Remy Wasserbach - other guys who were supposed to be instant impact WR transfers - to do something of note.
Someone else mentioned it, but I like to look at other schools that made offers to get an idea what the real experts think of a player. I'll trust a position coach at Louisville over a beat writer in Tullahoma's grade. Not knocking, just saying other programs offering means a lot to me when I'm thinking of the talent level.
You'll be waiting a while. Lol. I believe Blair already graduated, Walker moved to DB and Wasserbach left the team but I get your point. We waste scholarships on these guys (JUCO's) and do absolutely nothing during their time here. JUCO's are supposed to be brought in for immediate impact.
Well, if this is it, we can finish no better since we're not expected to add anyone. We can still drop depending on what teams below us add.
247 has us 9th out of 14 teams. We have 8 3-star guys. WKU has 21! Marshall has 14. FIU leads the conference - they have 2 4 stars and 14 3-star guys.
Rivals has us 9th as well. We have 4 3-star guys. WKU has 14. Marshall has 9. If you look by average ranking of the player, we finish 11th in a 14 team league.
247 has us 9th out of 14 teams. We have 8 3-star guys. WKU has 21! Marshall has 14. FIU leads the conference - they have 2 4 stars and 14 3-star guys.
Rivals has us 9th as well. We have 4 3-star guys. WKU has 14. Marshall has 9. If you look by average ranking of the player, we finish 11th in a 14 team league.
Yeah so the class is complete. Parker Buillon will come off of the board soon as well since he was only offered a preferred walk-on spot.
So...yeah. 2018 has a bow on it.
So...yeah. 2018 has a bow on it.
I said this elsewhere. Does anybody in the football program or athletic department think this class will MT help get to a conference championship? To say I'm surprised how disappointed I am in this class in terms of quality overall would be a lie. Have not been impressed with this staff's recruiting efforts for several years now...
The class definately ended with a thud. Losing Norwood really sucked. Why couldn't Butch Jones be a better coach? Guarantee we would have kept Norwood if their new coach wasn't trying to string together a last minute class. We can thank MT Alumnus Pruitt for dicking us over on that one. I don't blame the kid for taking the offer, who wouldn't?
There are some positives about the class, but everything is relative these days. 5 years ago I'd be OK with this class, but when I look at others around the conference, it becomes a major, major concern. In fact, I cannot overstate how concerning it is. Yes, we got some good players, but we also got way too many fringe players in my opinion that will likely not pan out.
There are some positives about the class, but everything is relative these days. 5 years ago I'd be OK with this class, but when I look at others around the conference, it becomes a major, major concern. In fact, I cannot overstate how concerning it is. Yes, we got some good players, but we also got way too many fringe players in my opinion that will likely not pan out.
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Like I said earlier, I love college football recruiting. A week before signing day I am usually glued to my computer seeing what surprises could be in store. Pretty early on, it became apparent that there were going to be 0 surprises. It seemed like the staff took a half-assed approach this year and said "hopefully it'll all work out in the end". Well, it didn't.
And I'm all for finding diamond-in-the-rough type of players but it seems like our main competition with a lot of these guys were FCS schools and that's not going to end our C-USA championship drought.
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I agree. Nothing to get too excited about. I just feel like the program keeps slipping more and more each year. Now we are competing for lower tier schools for players.
Oh well - Wiley, I hope you'll be doing your usual breakdown of signees? I actually enjoy reading your thoughts on the players. Giving props were due and also being honest.
I'm not worried about WKU. They had a 4 star level QB and couldn't have a winning season with him. If they can't win with White and with what Brohm left them, I'm not too worried. There is very little difference in a 3 star and a 2 star. I mean it's a hair's difference most times plus it's entirely subjective. We needed O-line and we got some very good players there. We needed LB's and CB's and we got some really good options there. The 2 Wr's are good pickups and will help us. We will be fine. We now have the longest streak without a losing season in the conference. If we can block better at the start of the season and get some running yards early, we will be fine. More than fine actually.
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One more thing; why in the world have we not swooped in to pick up the Litaker kid from Riverdale? Here we have a high 3/low 4-star kid 10 miles away from campus who decomitted from UT 5 days ago and didn't sign with anyone today just sitting around.
It's my understanding from one of the other posters on here that him and Jarek Campbell are extremely close. Hell, he was even standing behind Campbell at his signing today.
On top of that, we only signed one DT this year and he is a project at that. Not sure if it's grades or what but this one is a head-scratcher.
It's my understanding from one of the other posters on here that him and Jarek Campbell are extremely close. Hell, he was even standing behind Campbell at his signing today.
On top of that, we only signed one DT this year and he is a project at that. Not sure if it's grades or what but this one is a head-scratcher.
So I'll say this. The plan for MT was 1 DT this year. That's it.
They were on Litaker early but obviously backed off when he committed to UT.
When he opened things back (even before as I think the writing was on the wall with UT for a while), he was reevaluated by the staff. Obviously with him coming off of two ACL surgeries there are some red flags there and I think there are some lingering concerns with what his road to recovery is really going to look like.
So they backed off again.
Now, do I agree with it? No. I think they absolutely should've taken a flyer on him.
Depending on who you talk to, he might not have even been considering MT. So there's that, too.
I can hit the highlights with a few that I think will be contributors for us.
Jarek Campbell - We all know the story about grade issues and Louisville. Hopefully all that gets sorted and I'm sure it will. What makes the kid such a great catch is his combination of size and speed. He's only listed at 6'0 and 194 lbs but he looks so much bigger and he's got plenty of speed to back that size up. There's obvious athleticism there. When a kid like him goes and camps at Power 5 schools or goes on OV's, they tend to get offers. Strength, size, and speed are obviously the most desired traits in a player, and he has them all in spades. Will be interesting to see how the staff uses him. He has the ability to grow and adapt to play a multitude of positions. Personally, I'd put some more weight on him and throw him at weakside DE. We need more DL anyway.
Greg Grate Jr. - Listed at 6'0 and 180 pounds. He's probably a true 180 pounder as he's a good looking prospect. Doesn't appear to have burning speed but could develop into a good possession receiver. The fact that he played in Miami is a plus as you know the competition is down there stiff and it can be difficult to stand out there. Does need to work on his catching mechanics if he plans to play WR. Traps way too many balls with his body.
Luke Shiflett - Again I like his size. Seems to be a reoccuring theme so far with this class. We've notoriously signed undersized guys (and done well with them) but it appears the staff is making a concerted effort to get bigger with the drawback being maybe a little less speed and athleticism. that isn't the case here though. Shiflett can be a true dual threat with his legs which should open up the offense with the constant threat of the QB run. Not the fastest kid in the world and won't remind anybody of Dwight Dasher, but he will force defenses to respect his legs. His arm is just fine too. Already has great arm strength coming out of high school and could probably play right away as a true freshman if needed. Does tend to stare down his receivers so he does have some things to work on, and his highlight video doesn't really show him going through many progressions, but it can be difficult to get a true read from a simple highlight video (and I don't have time to watch every high school snap unfortunately).
Chance Nolan - We really signed 2 legit QB's with this class. Both have their strengths and weaknesses that I know many of you have already heard about. Shiflett is the overall better athlete, Nolan has much experience running the system and amazing arm talent. Of the two, if I'm being completely honest, I do prefer Nolan of the two. Not sure how he didn't have more offers as he has incredible arm talent and comes from a high school system that tons of colleges already use. Great ability to move in the pocket and create with his feet. I really have no negatives with this one. One could point to his 5.24 40 time but he appears much quicker on film and has the ability to make people piss.
Jordan Branch - Risky signing IMO. The Jordan Ferguson experiment worked out but I'm not sure if it's something we should consistently try to pursue. I suppose the concept of getting a big athletic RB and turning him into a DT works on paper, but is it really a consistent model for developing bada$$ interior linemen? I guess we'll find out. The kid is athletic but will he remain athletic when he's 300lbs? He's never really played defensive line so will he even be any good at it? It's a gamble. Time will tell. Tough to judge his skill set as a DT when there's no film of him playing the position.
Avery Jones - I'm excited about this one. His lack of offers is an obvious concern, but junior college players can be notoriously overlooked, especially if they have grade issues or anything of the sort. Something stinks here because his film screams D1 player. He can step in and play MLB for us or go to DE if needed. Always nice having that versatility. Great signing here.
The OL I'll discuss as a group. The ones that really stand out to me are Jahlil Ryles and Will Gilchrist. Wouldn't surprise me to see Gilchrist kid playing immediately, while Ryles will probably red-shirt and develop a bit more. Ryles will easily be a 3 or 4 year starter. I know the staff was real excited about getting Dawson Bragg but if they're planning on him playing on the OL he's got a ton of weight and muscle to put on. Hope he can do it. Dude looks way undersized to me, thus I'm forced to view him as a project. Great upside though at 6'5 and could, one day, be an elite tackle for us. He's got a long way to go though.
The rest of the class, unfortunately, just bores me. It's a nuts and bolts glass. The DB's are solid, but nobody that just wow you. Stamps & Gladney will push for PT and maybe even start, but I don't see them as huge upgrades to what we had before. At best, they will give us what we had with Minter & Ward. Losing Joseph Norwood on signing day to in-state UTK was a huge blow. He's one fast dude with a mountain of potential and high upside. He's going to Tennessee as nothing but a contingency plan but it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see him starting one day. Or maybe not, and he'll transfer back and sit out a year and only have 2 years playing time like Brady did. Was a shame he just didn't sign here.
With regards to the rest of the players, nobody really stands out as a game changer. We got some nice possession style receivers with good size, but there's no way great speed accompanies that size or they would have been highly recruited. With Richie gone we really don't have anyone anymore who can take the top off the defense. Hope they can find somebody because making teams respect your vertical game is a must if you want all that horizontal passing to be successful. I know that Tyrese Johnson was signed last year for his speed and athleticism so hopefully that pans out or I have no idea what we're gonna do for a deep threat.
His knees are wrecked.
UTk offered to sign him and keep him on medical - they don't think he'll ever be able to play again.
He thinks otherwise. I think it would be worth a shot here at MT.
Nice wrap up.
In short - do you think this class gets us closer to a CUSA crown, or considering what our rivals in CUSA East did, are we farther away?
I do think we'll finally have one of the top OL's in the league in 2-3 years, however; will we have all the skilled players then? This staff always seems to find a way to be missing that one piece to get us over the hump.
But to answer your question, if I'm being completely honest, this class keeps us where we are in the league right now, at best. I've honestly resigned myself to the fact that we just don't have what it takes here at MT. We don't have the vision, the money, the facility, the coaches, the leadership, we just don't have it. In order to be elite, you've gotta truly strive for it and make every sacrifice possible, often throwing caution to the wind. You have to swing for the fences, you have to take risks (Like taking the Litaker kid), you have to be bold. You might even have to break the rules sometimes. There is none of that in Murfreesboro, TN. Our program couldn't be more Vanilla even if it rained liquid Vanilla from the sky for a week. I don't even know why we have a compliance office to be honest.
We are a good program that consistently finishes upper middle of the pack, but we are just not elite and never really have been. Even in our best years we couldn't ever explicitly prove we were the best team in the conference and I don't see this class changing that. Not even close. It's great to be hopeful I guess, but I just don't see much here to get excited about.....and that sucks because I was really hoping we'd parlay our bowl game win momentum into a great recruiting class and try to move this program out of neutral and into overdrive. Didn't happen.
I am hopeful for 2018 though. The pieces are there. If we can avoid injuries and get some bounces our way in the big games, we do have a chance.
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I think we will see Brad Anderson play WR. Will he replace Richie James? I don't think so but he is fast.
Additionally, a lot of WR experience returns this fall. I expect the group to be much improved.
I completely agree. Plus, we have Dobson and Cobb ready to go. Cobb came in with an injury and took the redshirt. Dobson got here a year late but we got em and they are explosive players. I expect Marshall to play more. We are going taller. We now have a few 6'2's, 6'3's, and even a couple 6'5-6's. This is what Franklin wants. Also, as much as I loved Richie, we were one dimensional with him. Having a bunch of dependable WR's that can sub in and out is TF's bread and butter and we are getting to where we are able to do that.
I thought we were better without Richie as a team last year than we were with him. At the end of the season, we finally became a much better offense with different players catching TD's. That's why we did so well vs. ASU in the bowl game. They didn't know where to cover. CJ Windham finally played like he was supposed to. I think we'll be better at WR this season because we now will have at least 4 WR's that can run the slot and Ty Lee can play the outside with Dobson. Those 2 alone gives you speed. Cobb will create space. The Lehigh kid is a great pickup too.
Last year, our problem wasn't recruiting talent. It was staying healthy. If we keep Brent healthy, we will be right there for the title. If we don't block for him, we are screwed. The OL talent that we brought in was a must. Our 3-5 RB's are good and a good line will make us better there. I think we'll be fine.
Checked in today on the rankings:
We're still 9th in Rivals, we dropped to 10th in 247. Someone below us must have added a late recruit or so.
For comparison sake, this class would have ranked 5th in the Sunbelt per 247 and 6th in the belt per Rivals.
After doing some more research on this class, I think there's talent here in the class - QB's look good, Campbell if he gets in school, Grate looks good. There's just not enough of it.
I still don't see a coherent recruiting strategy. There's not a single DL of note (we're hoping to convert a RB and the DE is a guy with no other FBS offers). We signed 6 OL - that's a recipe for an unbalanced roster. There's no real skill guys to speak of - no RBs, the WR's are a grad transfer and a JUCO. One linebacker - and he's a nobody JUCO whose other best offer was an NAIA school.
It's like they just threw a bunch of offers out, and were like "meh, first 20 guys who want them can have them, hit us up on twitter and we're good. Here's a rasslin' gif for you".
We're still 9th in Rivals, we dropped to 10th in 247. Someone below us must have added a late recruit or so.
For comparison sake, this class would have ranked 5th in the Sunbelt per 247 and 6th in the belt per Rivals.
After doing some more research on this class, I think there's talent here in the class - QB's look good, Campbell if he gets in school, Grate looks good. There's just not enough of it.
I still don't see a coherent recruiting strategy. There's not a single DL of note (we're hoping to convert a RB and the DE is a guy with no other FBS offers). We signed 6 OL - that's a recipe for an unbalanced roster. There's no real skill guys to speak of - no RBs, the WR's are a grad transfer and a JUCO. One linebacker - and he's a nobody JUCO whose other best offer was an NAIA school.
It's like they just threw a bunch of offers out, and were like "meh, first 20 guys who want them can have them, hit us up on twitter and we're good. Here's a rasslin' gif for you".
We have 7 DTs coming back, they didn't need more than 1. Regarding the Oline, I think 3 of the 6 are second or third year players - We have 2 starters who will be SRs next year, so I think they were unbalanced and needed to over recruit here because we lost a few guys who had to quit FB. Lastly, we knew we needed some corners due to Mentor and Ward graduating and have young guys competing for those jobs.
While I would love us to win all the recruiting wars and get higher rated recruits I also know you have to fill in your holes...I also think the over recruiting Olinemen can impact your over all rating due to that position getting lower ratings.
I don't think the sky is quit falling here, just trying to look at this differently.
If the JUCO's pan out, it should be fine. We're hit or miss on those though.
It's just frustrating that we end up recruiting at the bottom of the conference, while WKU and Marshall and other conference schools are racking up the talent.
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