Left Tackle...Toughest position to recruit?

[cayugacuse]

After following our recruiting for the last few decades, it seems that the left tackle might be the toughest position to find quality players. Justin Pugh did a good job for us there but with his short arms he ideally was suited more to the guard position. O-line in general has been a challege in recent years. What position do you guys think is the hardest to fill with quality players?

 

[Whitey23]

Pugh worked for me.

 

[cayugacuse]

He worked fine to me as well as I said...wasn't exactly prototype though...He was a tough kid with some pretty good footwork. Hard to find in the big kids.

 

[javadoc]

He worked fine to me as well as I said...wasn't exactly prototype though...He was a tough kid with some pretty good footwork. Hard to find in the big kids.

Prototype? Seriously, the prototype. Guy was great for us at tackle. Why bring up something irrelevant, like an asterisk on his legacy?

 

[spo023]

After following our recruiting for the last few decades, it seems that the left tackle might be the toughest position to find quality players. Justin Pugh did a good job for us there but with his short arms he ideally was suited more to the guard position. O-line in general has been a challege in recent years. What position do you guys think is the hardest to fill with quality players?

With good footwork, toughness, hand placement, size and athleticism, I'd say he was a prototypical college left tackle. I also believe he is a prototypical NFL tackle. They say his arms were too short, but the difference between him and other bigger tackles is about one inch, which when we're talking about 33-34 inches, one inch is pretty miniscule. It's just a way to nitpick at players, even though there are many successful tackles with "short" arms

However, besides quarterbacks obviously, I think cornerbacks that excel at man to man is extremely hard as well. This is because most high schools are run heavy or have less than ideal quarterbacks and/or wide receivers to match up against. Also, with many colleges going with the spread look, college corners are going against a scheme and talent they rarely saw beforehand, which takes a while to adjust to.

 

[CuseOnly]

I think recently (aside from the last 2-3 years) our biggest struggle that Marrone stated publicly was getting size on the interior of both offensive and defensive lines.

 

[Finwad32]

Not trying to pile on, just mentioning, Joe Thomas and Jake Long have what are considered shorter arms. Respectively 32 1/8 and 32 7/8, And 6x pro bowler / 4x pro bowler. I understand why a GM or a coach would like longer arms but if it's a pre-requisite as a talent evaluation, I might want somebody else steering the ship.

 

[PhatOrange]

Quarterback

 

[anomander]

Quarterback

Without a doubt QB seems to be the biggest hit or miss position.

 

[CaliCuse]

After following our recruiting for the last few decades, it seems that the left tackle might be the toughest position to find quality players. Justin Pugh did a good job for us there but with his short arms he ideally was suited more to the guard position. O-line in general has been a challege in recent years. What position do you guys think is the hardest to fill with quality players?

Shutdown corner backs aren't the easiest players to find and bring into the program.Everyone has a different thought on this subject so let the thoughts emerge.

 

[CaliCuse]

Without a doubt QB seems to be the biggest hit or miss position.

I presume there was no intended pun there "Hit or miss"?

 

[bnoro]

Shutdown corner backs aren't the easiest players to find and bring into the program.Everyone has a different thought on this subject so let the thoughts emerge.

there is no such thing as a shut down cornerback

 

[syr02esq]

Aside from Nassib, I don't think we've had much success in QB in recent years.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Wasn't Adam Terry a decent left tackle for SU? Being drafted in the 2nd round would seem to indicate he was.