Recruiting Forum Football Talk [RIP 9.3.2019]

[jakez4ut]

Pretty boom worthy imo to have a five star wr visit unofficially st same time as a top qb

typically i'd agree, but we've seen how RJ has trolled before. and it's been posted in his thread for a while now that he wasn't done taking visits, including one to TN. so i just failed to see how that was "huge" news.

i'm honestly more excited about King at this point.

that's not to say i wouldn't take RJ in a heartbeat....cause i would........lol. just not exactly fawning over the fact that he's taking a visit everyone expected him to take.....

 

[LA Vol]

Rak jarret is visiting. boom worthy apparently. meh.

Well, he announced that he was taking his visits and said UT was getting one earlier in the week. Big camp weekend, so the date makes sense. Jarrett's "commitment" is one of those in-name-only deals. Schools will be recruiting him until the paper is in.

Edit: I see you just said this in the post above, so ditto.

 

[VolinArizona]

JG might have filled out on top, but I saw him on campus last Thursday and that bro needs to squat. Legs are thin. I know QBs don't usually have big legs, but dang.

 

[Sleegro]

JG might have filled out on top, but I saw him on campus last Thursday and that bro needs to squat. Legs are thin. I know QBs don't usually have big legs, but dang.

UTKnate would be proud of you.

 

[drvenner]

Price comments were just about visitors this weekend. Should find out who in war room.

He needs a butt-whoopin'

 

[drvenner]

Doubt it. He's probably saying that to cover his butte.

Maybe he's trying to cover his Billings or his Missoula.

 

[Rishvol]

Maybe he's trying to cover his Billings or his Missoula.

I thought mine was bad

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Man I love hearing about how driven Roman & Simmons are also Means was my dark horse skill player to impact this season as a Freshman. Hoping he gets a chance to showcase his speed.

Love that the QBs are bulking up, I don't think any QB in the SEC should ever be a sub 205 guy. Just can't handle the punishment long term.

 

[drvenner]

I thought mine was bad

It was. Mine was just worse.

 

[jakez4ut]

 

[Kingston Vol]

Man I love hearing about how driven Roman & Simmons are also Means was my dark horse skill player to impact this season as a Freshman. Hoping he gets a chance to showcase his speed.

Love that the QBs are bulking up, I don't think any QB in the SEC should ever be a sub 205 guy. Just can't handle the punishment long term.

There is no better staff in the country for finding camp sleepers.

 

[jakez4ut]

There is no better staff in the country for finding camp sleepers.

sure seems that way doesn't it? i do think that may lend itself to more "development" than instant impact. and is another reason why i think this rebuild takes a little longer than a lot of folks want, or think it should.

we've got some really nice pieces added in this last class, that probably will make a relatively instant impact. OL, LB in particular.

just not sure it's enough to swing the pendulum far enough, fast enough for some.

i still say get to the end of 2021 and let's see what we got.

 

[ChismsHeadband]

On paper, the 2019 class is probably most similar to the 2016 class. Similar blue-chip ratio and conference and national rankings.

I'm probably being revisionist, but with the 2016 class, I was stoked for all of the 4*'s we signed-- Warrior, JG, Bituli, Kongbo, CFA, Byrd-- but everyone else just seemed like class fillers.

The 2019 class has me excited from the top of the list to the bottom. Burrell, Simmons, Beasley, Means, hell now they're even talking about how Sean Brown is surprisingly athletic for his size?? Middleton came in looking like he's ready to do a tractor-pull?? Nevermind the 5* T's and nearly 5* LB's we pulled. This class is stout.

 

[jakez4ut]

On paper, the 2019 class is probably most similar to the 2016 class. Similar blue-chip ratio and conference and national rankings.

I'm probably being revisionist, but with the 2016 class, I was stoked for all of the 4*'s we signed-- Warrior, JG, Bituli, Kongbo, CFA, Byrd-- but everyone else just seemed like class fillers.

The 2019 class has me excited from the top of the list to the bottom. Burrell, Simmons, Beasley, Means, hell now they're even talking about how Sean Brown is surprisingly athletic for his size?? Middleton came in looking like he's ready to do a tractor-pull?? Nevermind the 5* T's and nearly 5* LB's we pulled. This class is stout.

yeah, i've kinda been saying since February that this class is a really good foundational class because of the needs it addressed on the OL and LB, with some really excellent talent. and the middle of the class is no slouch either. there's some projects in there, but if you get production, good production, from those juco DL, then you really have to say this class was really, really good.

it's all if's and but's until then tho. but i get what you're saying.

as for the 16 class, i definitley get what you're saying. i remember being really excited about Warrior, Sapp, JG, Byrd, Kongbo etc....was really hoping some more of the kids in that class would flourish a bit more under the new staff. still am.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I think the next 2 or 3 season need to be 7/8 win seasons. If he does that consistently and is still able to recruit top 15-20 classes then entering his 4th or 5th year as a HC we'll see the next step up in the rebuild.

Will all fans be happy with just 7 and 8 win seasons for another 2 or 3 years? Probably not. Fulmer as AD though understanding what sort of foundation Pruitt is building will be content I think and I expect it long term to pay off.

Biggest concern for me is him and other staff getting poached before he "finishes" the job.

 

[ChismsHeadband]

we've got some really nice pieces added in this last class, that probably will make a relatively instant impact. OL, LB in particular.

Getting pretty optimistic about DL, too. I know we have some unknowns, but this staff was able to convert an underperforming/terrible upperclassman-filled 4-3 DL unit to a marginally serviceable 3-4 unit in a year. I don't mean to toot their horn, because we still gave up 200+ rush yards to five opponents last year.. But we went from giving up 250+ rypg in 2017 to 154 in 2018.

I think we should be middle-of-the-pack up front at the minimum. If Hank To'oto'o and Quavo Crouch can come in and lock s*** down, and Shanon Reid is the tackling machine that he's proven to be this spring.. whoooof we could be surprising.

 

[jakez4ut]

Getting pretty optimistic about DL, too. I know we have some unknowns, but this staff was able to convert an underperforming/terrible upperclassman-filled 4-3 DL unit to a marginally serviceable 3-4 unit in a year. I don't mean to toot their horn, because we still gave up 200+ rush yards to five opponents last year.. But we went from giving up 250+ rypg in 2017 to 154 in 2018.

I think we should be middle-of-the-pack up front at the minimum. If Hank To'oto'o and Quavo Crouch can come in and lock s*** down, and Shanon Reid is the tackling machine that he's proven to be this spring.. whoooof we could be surprising.

eh, there's not much to write home about that DL last year imo. they weren't very good....and we lost all of that production basically.

i like this DL class, and i'll like it a lot more of AS is eligible at some point. but Gooden, SImmons and Williams all look the part, and Simmons and Williams certainly don't lack for confidence.

the key is all the guys that are coming back....Emmerson, Garland, Mincey etc....and if you get Middleton to be a contributor....

it's all if's right now. but there's some good reason to hope.

 

[ChismsHeadband]

Will all fans be happy with just 7 and 8 win seasons for another 2 or 3 years?

I'm embracing the rebuild. We bottomed out in 2017, on the field and administratively. I hope I'm not the only one who would be content with 7-5 in 2019 and 8-4 in 2020.

Of course, it's always going to come down to "how did we lose those 5/4" which will have people pissing and moaning. You lose close, and people are going to get vitriolic and nitpick individual players and playcalls. You lose handily, people are going to be discouraged and nihilistic, if not completely numb.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I'm optimistic about the DL because I think Rocker gets the most out of who he has, how great of a recruiter he is I'm not sure. Will feel even better if we get the transfer eligible. If Savion and Middleton have any real fire/talent then we might even see improvements in that unit. Especially with what I consider to be some good returning size/talent.

Gooden(Sr), Emerson (RS-Fr), Butler (Jr), Bumphus (Jr), Harris (RS-Fr), Garland (RS-Fr), Mincey (So) all returning could be very productive. Best part is the youth of this unit Gooden being the only one to graduate after this season.

I guess some attrition could happen if any of the Juniors have amazing seasons, but I think that'd mean we really had a stellar year if Junior DL are heading to the draft.

 

[ChismsHeadband]

the key is all the guys that are coming back....Emmerson, Garland, Mincey etc....and if you get Middleton to be a contributor....

Definitely agree.. those guys will be the glue that keeps the culture and churn for improvement going. That can be hard to replace when you basically wipe the slate clean, graduating 4 of your top 5 DL.

 

[bignewt]

I'm optimistic about the DL because I think Rocker gets the most out of who he has, how great of a recruiter he is I'm not sure. Will feel even better if we get the transfer eligible. If Savion and Middleton have any real fire/talent then we might even see improvements in that unit. Especially with what I consider to be some good returning size/talent.

Gooden(Sr), Emerson (RS-Fr), Butler (Jr), Bumphus (Jr), Harris (RS-Fr), Garland (RS-Fr), Mincey (So) all returning could be very productive. Best part is the youth of this unit Gooden being the only one to graduate after this season.

I guess some attrition could happen if any of the Juniors have amazing seasons, but I think that'd mean we really had a stellar year if Junior DL are heading to the draft.

gotta have Solomon. Gotta.

 

[Sleegro]

eh, there's not much to write home about that DL last year imo. they weren't very good....and we lost all of that production basically.

i like this DL class, and i'll like it a lot more of AS is eligible at some point. but Gooden, SImmons and Williams all look the part, and Simmons and Williams certainly don't lack for confidence.

the key is all the guys that are coming back....Emmerson, Garland, Mincey etc....and if you get Middleton to be a contributor....

it's all if's right now. but there's some good reason to hope.

Other than possibly Tuttle though they were all way better last year than any of their other years.

 

[Sleegro]

I'm embracing the rebuild. We bottomed out in 2017, on the field and administratively. I hope I'm not the only one who would be content with 7-5 in 2019 and 8-4 in 2020.

Of course, it's always going to come down to "how did we lose those 5/4" which will have people pissing and moaning. You lose close, and people are going to get vitriolic and nitpick individual players and playcalls. You lose handily, people are going to be discouraged and nihilistic, if not completely numb.

I think most people would be content with that. I would. I still think we'll be better than that though.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

gotta have Solomon. Gotta.

Gooden & Solomon take this year's line to a different level if both are playing. If just one of them I still think there's some optimism to be had just because so many of the younger guys have had the chance to be in the system a year already.

I am really high on Butler & Harris this year. Think they both could see lots more snaps and if they are tuned in may turn into beast.

 

[MrVolton]

Getting pretty optimistic about DL, too. I know we have some unknowns, but this staff was able to convert an underperforming/terrible upperclassman-filled 4-3 DL unit to a marginally serviceable 3-4 unit in a year. I don't mean to toot their horn, because we still gave up 200+ rush yards to five opponents last year.. But we went from giving up 250+ rypg in 2017 to 154 in 2018.

I think we should be middle-of-the-pack up front at the minimum. If Hank To'oto'o and Quavo Crouch can come in and lock s*** down, and Shanon Reid is the tackling machine that he's proven to be this spring.. whoooof we could be surprising.

I think another year in Pruitt’s system will be good for Bituli as well. There were a few games during Jones’s last season that Biuli looked like the best defensive player out there for us.