'17 TN OT Obinna Eze (Memphis commit)

#3
#3
As bad as we need OL, I'd hate to turn someone down that has great potential. BUT.... "We" need OL that can contribute quickly. He would have to be hella special to come in and play at a high level right away.
 
#4
#4
As bad as we need OL, I'd hate to turn someone down that has great potential. BUT.... "We" need OL that can contribute quickly. He would have to be hella special to come in and play at a high level right away.

So would any other OL coming straight out of high school.
 
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#6
#6
Little different if you've only played football one year or all your life. I'm just saying he seemingly would be a long term project.

I understand that but by the time he gets here he would have 3 years of HS ball and most likely he redshirts(which a lot coming out of HS do), so he'd have 4 years of football. Not arguing. Just saying most true freshman linemen won't start or contribute a lot unless they're studs.
 
#7
#7
Started working with Tiny Richardson last spring to help get in shape and learn the position. Props to Buck Fitzgerald for getting him into football. Buck said this about the kid back in June;

When asked how good Eze could be, the coach who has had many four and five star recruits responded, "He can be in the Top Ten nationally. He can be a left tackle extraordinaire."
 
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#9
#9
Buck Fitzgerald. Just thought @ that guy this afternoon! He will forever be immortalized in Vol Football Lore for locking down Jabar Gaffney on the final UF offensive play of the game. Those were the days.
 
#10
#10
Big Of as we call him is very raw. He was a basketball athlete/ big man. He plays JV for Davidson Academy. When he got to us he was 240 lbs we got him on a diet and he worked extensively with Tiny. We absolutely can't wait to see him in 3 yes because he's a monster mentally right now but once he really gets it he will definitely be amazing. 6'8 long arms and nice feet.
 
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#12
#12
Big Of as we call him is very raw. He was a basketball athlete/ big man. He plays JV for Davidson Academy. When he got to us he was 240 lbs we got him on a diet and he worked extensively with Tiny. We absolutely can't wait to see him in 3 yes because he's a monster mentally right now but once he really gets it he will definitely be amazing. 6'8 long arms and nice feet.

Is he really on the JV squad? That almost seems unfair for the other guys
 
#13
#13
eze said he already has visited vanderbilt “a couple of times.” he also has been to auburn, alabama, tennessee, ole miss, kentucky and duke, among others, and he said he “wouldn’t doubt” that more offers could start rolling in soon.

Tennessee is among the teams currently keeping an eye on him. The vols hosted him on an unofficial visit last summer that allowed him to visit with coach butch jones’ staff, and eze said he returned to tennessee on sept. 12 to attend its double-overtime loss to oklahoma.

“being at tennessee, man, it was unbelievable,” he said. “the environment was crazy. I mean, it makes you want to come over there. The fans and the noise and everything, it was like a new experience for me. It all makes me want to play football even more. It makes me even more excited about playing college football.”

247
 
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#14
#14
As bad as we need OL, I'd hate to turn someone down that has great potential. BUT.... "We" need OL that can contribute quickly. He would have to be hella special to come in and play at a high level right away.

Ok so if tatum co.sz in iz.be voinv to ay tackle at 260 and the lineman from cincy he will be a redshirt then get reps as a ridshirt sophmore or junior
 
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#16
#16
Ok so if tatum co.sz in iz.be voinv to ay tackle at 260 and the lineman from cincy he will be a redshirt then get reps as a ridshirt sophmore or junior

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#19
#19
Interesting stuff on this prospect (from the 247 article quoted above) for those who didn't know:

Obinna Eze moved from Nigeria to the United States less than a year ago in hopes of playing basketball. It didn’t take long for him to shift his focus to football.

After playing for Davidson Academy’s junior-varsity team this season, the 6-foot-8, 270-pound Eze received his first three offers in November within a span of less than 10 days. And it might not be long before others follow suit.

Eze said he had made multiple trips to the United States for AAU basketball before moving to Tennessee last year. Basketball initially was his primary focus. But he said Buck Fitzgerald, a former Tennessee defensive back who runs the Nashville-based National Playmakers Academy, convinced him to give football a try.

“(Fitzgerald) was like, ‘Hey, man, I think you’ve got a great body for football,’” Eze said. “He told me to give it a try. I said, ‘OK, I’m going to trust you, man.’ Initially I picked football as a secondary sport because I was still taking basketball first. Along the line, I was like, ‘Oh, well, I’ll make a switch. Football is better for me.’

“I’m new. I try to work more than the rest of the guys do, because I know I’m a senior this summer, and then I haven’t been playing football for a long time, so I have a lot of things to cover. The rest of the guys have been playing since their eighth grade or freshman year.

“I’ve just got eight months, so I’ve got to get work in. That’s why you see me (working) every day.”

- 247
 
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