Darius Kelly Commits!

[Orangeyes]

i was excited when I saw his highlights the other day. Didnt want to comment and get you guys all pumped if he wasnt comin here. He is a player. Glad we were able to flip him. Makes you wonder why he didnt recieve more offers.

Can't wait to see him start to flip opponents, Shamarko's spot should be wide open.

 

[javadoc]

"I've never been around a team that close since my freshman year in high school."

Syracuse football's latest commitment was drawn by 'closeness' of players

Cue Sister Sledge.

 

[CaliCuse]

I know highlight videos can be very deceptive, but this was pretty impressive.

The 2 big take aways that I was impressed with was
1) He appears to take great angles when going for tackle/ball carrier which is a very underrated aspect that often leads to big plays for the offense when the safety/last line of defense takes bad angles.
I loved the play early in the highlight where he came up and basically broke down and watched as runner cut back across middle then Kelly went and attacked him and made the tackle. He easily could have went charging straight ahead to where the runner was at the time and it then probably gets taken to the house.

2) This is even more difficult to get the feel of after a highlight film, but he does appear to have good ball skills in either going and getting the ball (int) or for pass breakups. The whole story isn't shown because it's a highlight video but just by the sheer number of times he was getting his hand on the ball in highlights from 1 or 2 seasons shows that he appears to have a knack for it.

Bad angles on the field is a defensive lapse for sure we seem to be susceptible on the out pass to the defensive right and offensive left.Big plays agaist us with our secondary way off the mark in coverage there. Regardless of a kid's speed if you head in the wrong direction you are going to get beat.:bat:

 

[oldpinepoint]

i was excited when I saw his highlights the other day. Didnt want to comment and get you guys all pumped if he wasnt comin here. He is a player. Glad we were able to flip him. Makes you wonder why he didnt recieve more offers.

1 and 10 doesn't attract offers

 

[CaliCuse]

i was excited when I saw his highlights the other day. Didnt want to comment and get you guys all pumped if he wasnt comin here. He is a player. Glad we were able to flip him. Makes you wonder why he didnt recieve more offers.

I don't think that everyone is on the JUCO scene just yet.There are only a few sites that concentrate on those prospects.

 

[gocraz4dasu]

"I've never been around a team that close since my freshman year in high school."

Syracuse football's latest commitment was drawn by 'closeness' of players

And we did it without putting .A.M.I.L.Y on the back of our jerseys.

 

[sutomcat]

about all i can tell is that he wont be afraid to run single high safety as that looks like all they play

He says in the interview on syracuse.com that he was recruited to play strong safety. January enrollee.

The staff is on record that they don't recruit JUCOs unless they think they can win starting jobs. Based on all of this, I think he has a really good chance of coming in this spring and locking down the strong safety position.

 

[Crusty]

He says in the interview on syracuse.com that he was recruited to play strong safety. January enrollee.

The staff is on record that they don't recruit JUCOs unless they think they can win starting jobs. Based on all of this, I think he has a really good chance of coming in this spring and locking down the strong safety position.

That would be one need taken care of if he can play. Now where is the MLB?

 

[anomander]

with Kelly's commit I assume Elliot would be out of the picture now. But what about Page, and Hill? I was pretty high on them, especially Hill. Has there been any word? Also, did Hill visit on the 7th?

 

[OburgCuse]

with Kelly's commit I assume Elliot would be out of the picture now. But what about Page, and Hill? I was pretty high on them, especially Hill. Has there been any word? Also, did Hill visit on the 7th?

Hill supposed to visit in January I believe. Staff has told recruits that they want 2 safeties and 1 cb

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[GoSU96]

With Mungwa leaving there was a hole for safeties in that class. Same with OL with Curtis and Hillard on showing up. You don't want to have bunches of kids in the same class at a position if you can help it.

Juco's are being used to fill both numbers and class issues caused by early departures and if there are misses with prior recruits.

 

[gocraz4dasu]

I want the kid who was committed to Wisconsin, I don't remember his name but he would be my dream.

 

[Whitey23]

I want the kid who was committed to Wisconsin, I don't remember his name but he would be my dream.

DJ Singleton

http://syracusefan.com/threads/dj-singleton.38835/

 

[Cuseman78]

With Mungwa leaving there was a hole for safeties in that class. Same with OL with Curtis and Hillard on showing up. You don't want to have bunches of kids in the same class at a position if you can help it.

Juco's are being used to fill both numbers and class issues caused by early departures and if there are misses with prior recruits.

Judging by twitter, I think we may be seeing a bit more attrition at Safety than we expected. Anybody hear anything about Dontez Ford moving on?

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

Judging by twitter, I think we may be seeing a bit more attrition at Safety than we expected. Anybody hear anything about Dontez Ford moving on?

Just looked at his Twitter...not looking great...

 

[Cuseman78]

Just looked at his Twitter...not looking great...

Yea, I kinda thought the same thing. Didn't want to spook anybody but sure seems to me like he's heading out of dodge at the end of the semester.

 

[TexanMark]

The kid must be an Army Brat from reading the Syr.com article...Sounds like his family moved from (Fayetteville, NC) Fort Bragg to (Sierra Vista, AZ) Fort Huachuca...his Dad might be Special Forces...he'll eat up Ft Drum next August. Military Brats can handle Marrone's discipline.

 

[PhatOrange]

If ford leaves then dj singleton is huge priority. The jucos are fine but we'd lose all of our safeties over the next two years. That includes desir, esk and Wilkes. We need to add a frosh.

 

[TheSpaz]

What's up with Ford?

 

[TheSpaz]

What's up with Ford?

Just read, doesn't look good. Also an FYI SIngleton was at Rutgers yesterday morning apparently.

 

[money3189]

I would imagine Mcfarland would get moved back to strong safety if Dontez leaves

 

[PhatOrange]

Right now we head into spring/next season with 4 safeties (not including Kelly)

FS Wilkes - true senior (5-9 189)
SS Desir - true junior (5-11 180)
FS Eskridge - redshirt sophomore (6-3 198)
FS Ford - redshirt freshman (6-2 198)

If Ford leaves the position is woefully thin.

Kelly - Jan enrollee (3 to play 2) (5-11 200)

Could use another JUCO and a HS kid - Singleton or bust here.

Moving McFarlane back will help numbers but I wouldn't move him if he's a better RB.

 

[Cuseman78]

Right now we head into spring/next season with 4 safeties (not including Kelly)

FS Wilkes - true senior (5-9 189)
SS Desir - true junior (5-11 180)
FS Eskridge - redshirt sophomore (6-3 198)
FS Ford - redshirt freshman (6-2 198)

If Ford leaves the position is woefully thin.

Kelly - Jan enrollee (3 to play 2) (5-11 200)

Could use another JUCO and a HS kid - Singleton or bust here.

Moving McFarlane back will help numbers but I wouldn't move him if he's a better RB.

If we do lose Ford, how do we not move McFarlane back? I think that would pretty much leave the coaches with no choice, especially considering the ridiculous depth we have at RB. In a perfect world, I would like to keep McFarlane at RB, but I would think this loss would force our hand. Between Mungwa and potentially Ford (along with Phillip Thomas' early departure last year), we sure have had some crappy luck in the Safety dept the last year or so.

 

[JeremyCuse]

If we do lose Ford, how do we not move McFarlane back? I think that would pretty much leave the coaches with no choice, especially considering the ridiculous depth we have at RB. In a perfect world, I would like to keep McFarlane at RB, but I would think this loss would force our hand. Between Mungwa and potentially Ford (along with Phillip Thomas' early departure last year), we sure have had some crappy luck in the Safety dept the last year or so.

McFarlane was always moving back to the defensive side of the ball, Ford leaving makes the decision even easier. Tough to see him go if true but attrition is going to happen. McFarlane will be a redshirt freshmen however and with Eskridge only a Sophmore there is at least some youth plus you have Desir for two more years. I think the staff would be wise to bring in a B list kid who projects as a saftety and or corner and try to redshirt him and get him on track to play in a couple years. Another JUCO with 3 to play 2 that we could redshirt would be a big help as well.

 

[kingottoiii]

Right now we head into spring/next season with 4 safeties (not including Kelly)

FS Wilkes - true senior (5-9 189)
SS Desir - true junior (5-11 180)
FS Eskridge - redshirt sophomore (6-3 198)
FS Ford - redshirt freshman (6-2 198)

If Ford leaves the position is woefully thin.

Kelly - Jan enrollee (3 to play 2) (5-11 200)

Could use another JUCO and a HS kid - Singleton or bust here.

Moving McFarlane back will help numbers but I wouldn't move him if he's a better RB.

I am surprised by the Kelly signing. IMO Wilkes is a nice depth guy. I like what I have seen out of Desir and Esk. I think Anderson and Morgan could play there. Plus McFarlane can play there. Seems like enough depth. Makes me think the staff isn't high on our current guys which is a disappointment.