'20 GA ATH Arik Gilbert (LSU commit)

#1,184
#1,184
Gilbert made our Dream Team following the event and for me, is a five-star prospect, potentially on both sides of the ball. At 6-5, 253 pounds, Gilbert is big for a tight end and although the recent NFL Draft measurable’s show the tight ends that go high are closer to 220 pounds then 250 out of high school, he could be the rare exception. Gilbert went 4.73-40, 4.44 shuttle and jumped 33” in the vertical. He caught the ball effortlessly, many times through contact, can run after the catch and make plays down the field as well as in the possession game.
Click to expand...
 
  • Like
Reactions: GoVolsDR, AaronUT and wrangler
#1,185
#1,185

JJ Watt started as a tight end...then Butch had the foresight to move him to offensive tackle...luckily for Watt he realized early on Butch wasn’t a real coach and he moved on to Wisconsin...fast forward to now when he is one of the most dominant DE in the NFL.

With him I think you are recruiting the elite athlete he is and not the position. He could contribute in a lot of different areas.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TennMan101 and SweetasSoda
#1,186
#1,186
UpstateVol613 said:
JJ Watt started as a tight end...then Butch had the foresight to move him to offensive tackle...luckily for Watt he realized early on Butch wasn’t a real coach and he moved on to Wisconsin...fast forward to now when he is one of the most dominant DE in the NFL.

With Gilbert I think you are recruiting the elite athlete he is and not the position. He could contribute in a lot of different areas.
Click to expand...
 
#1,190
#1,190
KeyVol14 said:
Somebody enlighten me but how is Kirby getting 3/4 of all these 5 stars? You can't tell me he's not doing something fishy
Click to expand...
Some of it can be explained by the fact that Georgia is the flagship school of a more than ever talent loaded state. The Gilbert's of the world (their highly rated in-state players) don't surprise me when they go there, UGA when they are winning is going to win more of those battles than not, neither do the 5 star running backs from all over, considering their history at the position. What is somewhat surprising is the fact that Kirby is taking them national at so many positions. I think last year they had the No.1 player out of 7 or 8 states. Success breeds success I guess, they are a definitely a trendy team right now with a lot of these kids. I think we'll get there, we just need to show improvement this year to sustain momentum. Kirby had a much easier road to hoe taking over for Richt than Pruitt did for Botch.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Brillovol, Beagle Bill, BucksnortVol and 2 others
#1,192
#1,192
unfrozencvmanvol said:
Some of it can be explained by the fact that Georgia is the flagship school of a more than ever talent loaded state. The Gilbert's of the world (their highly rated in-state players) don't surprise me when they go there, UGA when they are winning is going to win more of those battles than not, neither do the 5 star running backs from all over, considering their history at the position. What is somewhat surprising is the fact that Kirby is taking them national at so many positions. I think last year they had the No.1 player out of 7 or 8 states. Success breeds success I guess, they are a definitely a trendy team right now with a lot of these kids. I think we'll get there, we just need to show improvement this year to sustain momentum. Kirby had a much easier road to hoe taking over for Richt than Pruitt did for Botch.
Click to expand...
I think they have so much talent in Ga alone, they're able to create their own momentum. Kids really do get excited when they see talent piling up, they want to be a part of it.
And that's the only reason I "care about stars", etc.. We get word that Bailey is recruiting nonstop, followed shortly by that Powers guy sucking the oxygen out of the room.
 
  • Like
Reactions: unfrozencvmanvol and SweetasSoda
#1,193
#1,193
Georgia has always had superior high school football talent than Tennessee. It’s probably one of the very top high school football states (Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, and California) and Georgia and Louisiana likely have the highest per capita talent of that group. UGA has also had very strong seasons as of late, whether you think Kirby is responsible for the performances or not. Winning paired with great local talent is a recipe for success. That doesn’t mean teams outside of the geographic hotbeds can’t get their fair share of talent (see Clemson and OU) but it takes winning and a great recruiting staff. The issue is to get to the winning part you have to have a staff that can identify underrated talent while also winning some key head-to-head battles for major players from other states and hopefully protecting the homegrown players that are legit SEC caliber guys. For us, if Pruitt and Co. can start winning and recruiting above, then UT can once again go into Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, etc., with confidence and recruiting will start building its own momentum. The key will be to get it moving in the right direction and I think recruiting is moving in the right direction but that will need to be paired with on-field results. I’m hope for 7 wins (+/- 1) and a bowl win this year with hope for better the next year and maybe a SEC title contender in 2021.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GoVolsDR, unfrozencvmanvol, Beagle Bill and 1 other person
#1,194
#1,194
chargervol said:
I think they have so much talent in Ga alone, they're able to create their own momentum. Kids really do get excited when they see talent piling up, they want to be a part of it.
And that's the only reason I "care about stars", etc.. We get word that Bailey is recruiting nonstop, followed shortly by that Powers guy sucking the oxygen out of the room.
Click to expand...
The State of Georgia has always been talent rich, but it's like the State of Florida now, only there are fewer in-state schools to split talent among. Georgia can't reasonably sign them all. This is great for programs like UT because even if Georgia kills it in recruiting, there is still enough talent left to power a championship team, we just need to get our share, or rather Clemson's share.
 
  • Like
Reactions: volsagain and SweetasSoda
#1,195
#1,195
As far as getting talent from other states, recruits want a winning program plus playing in the SEC to be trained for the NFL. At the moment GA can sell going to the SEC championship almost every year because the east is easier than the west even though AL can sell Saban will get them there. So players from other states join the best recruits from GA to build an SEC team that will get to the SEC championship game which can get you in the playoffs even if you lose. The odds of winning a national championship there are as high as AL and Clemson if they are convinced Kirby is a good coach.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AaronUT
#1,196
#1,196
unfrozencvmanvol said:
The State of Georgia has always been talent rich, but it's like the State of Florida now, only there are fewer in-state schools to split talent among. Georgia can't reasonably sign them all. This is great for programs like UT because even if Georgia kills it in recruiting, there is still enough talent left to power a championship team, we just need to get our share, or rather Clemson's share.
Click to expand...
The problem with that is these players would rather play for USF, UCF, or Florida Atlantic than go to UT.

Ever notice how when FSU is good, Auburn and UGA are average and when FSU is average, UGA and Auburn are usually good. They all live in the same triangle and compete for the same players.

Same with UT and Bama. Our competitive area is middle and west Tennessee and Bama has been getting who they want for the last 15 years.
 
#1,197
#1,197
onevol74 said:
The problem with that is these players would rather play for USF, UCF, or Florida Atlantic than go to UT.

Ever notice how when FSU is good, Auburn and UGA are average and when FSU is average, UGA and Auburn are usually good. They all live in the same triangle and compete for the same players.

Same with UT and Bama. Our competitive area is middle and west Tennessee and Bama has been getting who they want for the last 15 years.
Click to expand...
Historically the same is often true of UGA and UT, our best success by far in the modern era (i.e. after the end of segregation) came between 1989-2001, roughly the years between the elder Dooley and Richt. It need not be that way going forward, the State of Georgia's talent level, quantity wise is much higher than the 90's now, it's a bigger pie now that we need to get a piece of.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SweetasSoda
#1,198
#1,198
KeyVol14 said:
Somebody enlighten me but how is Kirby getting 3/4 of all these 5 stars? You can't tell me he's not doing something fishy
Click to expand...
With the TEs, Smart has been buddies with Gilbert and his family since the 8th grade, they’ve asked him for recruiting advice and how to get noticed, so just a long relationship. With Washington, that is all Coach Hartley, but he has established recruiting grounds in NV, he gained the #1TE in the country for Miami (out of LV), same as where Washington is from. The Washington family knows Brevin Jordan and his family so they trust what he says about Hartley. Hartley has also put TEs in the NFL 1st round in his short college coaching career, he’s really good.

Which other one are you referencing?
 
#1,199
#1,199
SweetasSoda said:
As far as getting talent from other states, recruits want a winning program plus playing in the SEC to be trained for the NFL. At the moment GA can sell going to the SEC championship almost every year because the east is easier than the west even though AL can sell Saban will get them there. So players from other states join the best recruits from GA to build an SEC team that will get to the SEC championship game which can get you in the playoffs even if you lose. The odds of winning a national championship there are as high as AL and Clemson if they are convinced Kirby is a good coach.
Click to expand...
In football there are two types: the ones who want to jump with the train that’s rollin, and the ones that wanna knock the train off the tracks. I think people are getting tired of seeing Bama every year and Clemson and UGA are the ones taking shots at them. I believe that’s also appealing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: UTSuave’, BucksnortVol, Paper_Towel and 2 others
#1,200
#1,200
unfrozencvmanvol said:
Some of it can be explained by the fact that Georgia is the flagship school of a more than ever talent loaded state. The Gilbert's of the world (their highly rated in-state players) don't surprise me when they go there, UGA when they are winning is going to win more of those battles than not, neither do the 5 star running backs from all over, considering their history at the position. What is somewhat surprising is the fact that Kirby is taking them national at so many positions. I think last year they had the No.1 player out of 7 or 8 states. Success breeds success I guess, they are a definitely a trendy team right now with a lot of these kids. I think we'll get there, we just need to show improvement this year to sustain momentum. Kirby had a much easier road to hoe taking over for Richt than Pruitt did for Botch.
Click to expand...
I agree with some of that but he hits more than he strikes out with most 5 star recruits. In my honest opinion his just an average in game coach.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.
Advertisement



Back
Top