Curtis Harper

[bigmike]

Really excited to see him on the 2 deep. That said, I'm wondering if he is really coming along and ready for prime time (which I suspect), or it is primarily because Bear had a setback.

If he is ready, the board's depth fears could be a thing of the past.

 

[orangemass]

I’m concerned he’s a stop gap. Hope I’m wrong

 

[OttoinGrotto]

How high are our expectations for a redshirt freshman?

 

[TheHaze315]

Let’s hope it’s because he’s coming along, if so that’ll give us 4 capable bodies on the inside (when bear comes back) which would certainly make me feel better about that position from a depth perspective

 

[TheHaze315]

How high are our expectations for a redshirt freshman?

If I’m not mistaken, he’s a redshirt sophomore

 

[Dino-saur]

He's a redshirt sophomore that is correct. I think he will be fine. He is a stop gap as orangemass mentions. Everyone was worried when Bear went down that we weren't deep at DT. Williams, Black, and Ruff are all acc caliber starting DTs. When you have older players behind them (Harper 3rd year and Grovesnor 5th year) who both have the meat to play the position then it's not that worrisome. I hope Harper excels (I personally don't think he will) but I think he should be an average player hidden as a rotational piece on a stacked defense.

The DEs will be as good as advertised, the LBs will be better than anticipated (Armstrong looks to be very very solid, Lakiem Williams looks like a thumper, and Mikel Jones has me thinking Marquis Spruill 2.0), and the Secondary will be very very good but still going to give up some big plays. DT is not a glaring weakness. With Williams hurt some name had to go on the two deep I wouldn't read too much into this and the surrounding defense will be amazing. A warm, capable body to plug holes inside is sufficient (again would love him to prove me wrong). We need Williams back by Clemson because we need a lot to go right and one component is healthy starters but Liberty & Maryland while respectable opponents should not be games where Williams moves the needle. Nothing would suck the life out of this season more than a Liberty loss as they rally for freeze or a loss to Maryland before the much anticipated Clemson game (if we thump both we likely come in ranked ~18th/19th (TAMU should lose to Clemson, LSU or Texas will lose to each other, Oregon and Auburn one of those will lose to each other, and Washington could lose to Cal or another marginal upset).

The thing I'm reading into is Scoop Bradshaw going from starter to off the two deep. Cordy should play over him in the secondary but slotting Cordy at two spots on the 2 deep and Bradshaw nowhere felt a little curious.

Another note on the OL: I love Servais at LT and think that's the right move by Dino, but I would have loved to keep Adams at RG. Having two knowns on one side of the line and two unknowns on the other has me a little worried. Davis is a road grader and Vettorrello could be a beast, but if we plan to shuffle the OL around then I would have loved to keep it more balanced at least to start.

 

[Rocco]

With Bear injured, Harper is really the 5th DT in the rotation. He should get some good run until he comes back, though. Staff really liked him coming out of HS in Western PA. Had all the accolades. A few B1G schools tried poaching him at the end.

Kids have to take advantage of these playing opportunities. Can't think of a position in need of players ready to go on this team than DT, especially for next year. There's some good, younger talent as true frosh this year, but they need time to bulk up. Harper could lock up a starting spot next to Black in 2020 with a good performance this year.

 

[shu 49]

I don’t know about Cordy at DB. Bad, bad, memories here. I see at nickel or backup safety but we have over recruited him although he is a tough sob. Sorry but scoop should still be 3 rd man in on either side of ball.

 

[Nahson]

He's a redshirt sophomore that is correct. I think he will be fine. He is a stop gap as orangemass mentions. Everyone was worried when Bear went down that we weren't deep at DT. Williams, Black, and Ruff are all acc caliber starting DTs. When you have older players behind them (Harper 3rd year and Grovesnor 5th year) who both have the meat to play the position then it's not that worrisome. I hope Harper excels (I personally don't think he will) but I think he should be an average player hidden as a rotational piece on a stacked defense.

The DEs will be as good as advertised, the LBs will be better than anticipated (Armstrong looks to be very very solid, Lakiem Williams looks like a thumper, and Mikel Jones has me thinking Marquis Spruill 2.0), and the Secondary will be very very good but still going to give up some big plays. DT is not a glaring weakness. With Williams hurt some name had to go on the two deep I wouldn't read too much into this and the surrounding defense will be amazing. A warm, capable body to plug holes inside is sufficient (again would love him to prove me wrong). We need Williams back by Clemson because we need a lot to go right and one component is healthy starters but Liberty & Maryland while respectable opponents should not be games where Williams moves the needle. Nothing would suck the life out of this season more than a Liberty loss as they rally for freeze or a loss to Maryland before the much anticipated Clemson game (if we thump both we likely come in ranked ~18th/19th (TAMU should lose to Clemson, LSU or Texas will lose to each other, Oregon and Auburn one of those will lose to each other, and Washington could lose to Cal or another marginal upset).

The thing I'm reading into is Scoop Bradshaw going from starter to off the two deep. Cordy should play over him in the secondary but slotting Cordy at two spots on the 2 deep and Bradshaw nowhere felt a little curious.

Another note on the OL: I love Servais at LT and think that's the right move by Dino, but I would have loved to keep Adams at RG. Having two knowns on one side of the line and two unknowns on the other has me a little worried. Davis is a road grader and Vettorrello could be a beast, but if we plan to shuffle the OL around then I would have loved to keep it more balanced at least to start.

Get out of my head.

 

[javadoc]

With Bear injured, Harper is really the 5th DT in the rotation. He should get some good run until he comes back, though. Staff really liked him coming out of HS in Western PA. Had all the accolades. A few B1G schools tried poaching him at the end.

Kids have to take advantage of these playing opportunities. Can't think of a position in need of players ready to go on this team than DT, especially for next year. There's some good, younger talent as true frosh this year, but they need time to bulk up. Harper could lock up a starting spot next to Black in 2020 with a good performance this year.

Big 33 kid. I’m not worried.

 

[PhatOrange]

He's a redshirt sophomore that is correct. I think he will be fine. He is a stop gap as orangemass mentions. Everyone was worried when Bear went down that we weren't deep at DT. Williams, Black, and Ruff are all acc caliber starting DTs. When you have older players behind them (Harper 3rd year and Grovesnor 5th year) who both have the meat to play the position then it's not that worrisome. I hope Harper excels (I personally don't think he will) but I think he should be an average player hidden as a rotational piece on a stacked defense.

The DEs will be as good as advertised, the LBs will be better than anticipated (Armstrong looks to be very very solid, Lakiem Williams looks like a thumper, and Mikel Jones has me thinking Marquis Spruill 2.0), and the Secondary will be very very good but still going to give up some big plays. DT is not a glaring weakness. With Williams hurt some name had to go on the two deep I wouldn't read too much into this and the surrounding defense will be amazing. A warm, capable body to plug holes inside is sufficient (again would love him to prove me wrong). We need Williams back by Clemson because we need a lot to go right and one component is healthy starters but Liberty & Maryland while respectable opponents should not be games where Williams moves the needle. Nothing would suck the life out of this season more than a Liberty loss as they rally for freeze or a loss to Maryland before the much anticipated Clemson game (if we thump both we likely come in ranked ~18th/19th (TAMU should lose to Clemson, LSU or Texas will lose to each other, Oregon and Auburn one of those will lose to each other, and Washington could lose to Cal or another marginal upset).

The thing I'm reading into is Scoop Bradshaw going from starter to off the two deep. Cordy should play over him in the secondary but slotting Cordy at two spots on the 2 deep and Bradshaw nowhere felt a little curious.

Another note on the OL: I love Servais at LT and think that's the right move by Dino, but I would have loved to keep Adams at RG. Having two knowns on one side of the line and two unknowns on the other has me a little worried. Davis is a road grader and Vettorrello could be a beast, but if we plan to shuffle the OL around then I would have loved to keep it more balanced at least to start.

Scoop is #2 behind Fredrick

 

[orangepassion]

I don't know if Harper will be good or not, but somebody had to be on the 2 deep at DT. Who else could you put there?

 

[GoSU96]

I don’t know about Cordy at DB. Bad, bad, memories here. I see at nickel or backup safety but we have over recruited him although he is a tough sob. Sorry but scoop should still be 3 rd man in on either side of ball.

Cordy made a large number of important plays in big spots last year in multiple games. Fact is that Scoop has been as subject to injury. Given both of their histories being key back ups will be best to increase the likelihood that they will be available all year. Having a veteran like Cordy is huge for program that is still in development

 

[shu 49]

Cordy made a large number of important plays in big spots last year in multiple games. Fact is that Scoop has been as subject to injury. Given both of their histories being key back ups will be best to increase the likelihood that they will be available all year. Having a veteran like Cordy is huge for program that is still in development

I don’t disagree I just have flashbacks of years ago. I love the kid. Hope it works well for him, I really do.

 

[RandomGuy]

He's a redshirt sophomore that is correct. I think he will be fine. He is a stop gap as orangemass mentions. Everyone was worried when Bear went down that we weren't deep at DT. Williams, Black, and Ruff are all acc caliber starting DTs. When you have older players behind them (Harper 3rd year and Grovesnor 5th year) who both have the meat to play the position then it's not that worrisome. I hope Harper excels (I personally don't think he will) but I think he should be an average player hidden as a rotational piece on a stacked defense.

The DEs will be as good as advertised, the LBs will be better than anticipated (Armstrong looks to be very very solid, Lakiem Williams looks like a thumper, and Mikel Jones has me thinking Marquis Spruill 2.0), and the Secondary will be very very good but still going to give up some big plays. DT is not a glaring weakness. With Williams hurt some name had to go on the two deep I wouldn't read too much into this and the surrounding defense will be amazing. A warm, capable body to plug holes inside is sufficient (again would love him to prove me wrong). We need Williams back by Clemson because we need a lot to go right and one component is healthy starters but Liberty & Maryland while respectable opponents should not be games where Williams moves the needle. Nothing would suck the life out of this season more than a Liberty loss as they rally for freeze or a loss to Maryland before the much anticipated Clemson game (if we thump both we likely come in ranked ~18th/19th (TAMU should lose to Clemson, LSU or Texas will lose to each other, Oregon and Auburn one of those will lose to each other, and Washington could lose to Cal or another marginal upset).

The thing I'm reading into is Scoop Bradshaw going from starter to off the two deep. Cordy should play over him in the secondary but slotting Cordy at two spots on the 2 deep and Bradshaw nowhere felt a little curious.

Another note on the OL: I love Servais at LT and think that's the right move by Dino, but I would have loved to keep Adams at RG. Having two knowns on one side of the line and two unknowns on the other has me a little worried. Davis is a road grader and Vettorrello could be a beast, but if we plan to shuffle the OL around then I would have loved to keep it more balanced at least to start.

I like watching the depth, when we get a chance. Watched quite a bit of Harper at the Spring game. He's aight, with a few more years to improve. More importantly, Dino has him on the 2 deep. Each spot is earned.

Servais at LT? YES. He's our best. Privately, I've been adamant about this. I LIKE it. Adams at LG? He's our best guard. If they want him there, there is a reason. Vett? He's coming along, and should be a good one. I think his conditioning helps out here, to start this off. HCDB explicitly mentioned Koda in regards to having to call a time out for him, early on. For now, I think he's our best combo of technique/conditioning. I expect Alexander(working up to insanity pace) to wind up there. It'll be earned, either way.