Class of 2015 TE/WR Westerband "West" Lindor (MO) Verbal to Brown

[dasher]

maybe i don't have a clue and i'm sorry i don't step in line sometimes, but I didn't question his ability, I questioned his speed.

some of you guys act like this staff is incapable of making a mistake. we were 7-6 last year.

what difference does the 7-6 make? Maybe that was the greatest coaching job of all time. No other staff could have won 4 games with that talent. Or maybe we had a great team that any other staff would have won 10 games with. Either way, the 7-6 doesn't tell the story. We can believe in a staff that took a kid in early July. Or we can believe in you. Easy choice.

 

[JackBauer44]

Just watched both tapes to see what all the fuss is about... Now I'm no expert but...

Lindor doesn't run "pretty" but seems to have the same speed as Parkinson if not faster straight line. Most of West's catches highlighted were "high point" catches over a defender, impressive stuff. Catches with his hands, hits like a truck on defense. Don't see much "wiggle" in his game but do you really need wiggle from a tight end?

Tapes look similar to me and if I had to pick I'd probably take Lindor cuz he has a bigger frame, seems taller, and longer.

What's the big deal? :noidea:

But...But...Alex was from NY...

A lot of reactions in this thread. Lindor looks like a great pickup with potential to grow into a great frame. If his 40 yard dash is anywhere near 4.5, great pick up. Welcome aboard, Westerband.

 

[cuseman404]

Way I look at everyone is entitled to their opinion we will find out in five yrs who is correct.

 

[CU44SE]

I think it all came down to what SS always says, we want the kids that want to be at Syracuse. However, I don't really understand why people are questioning bonoro and anomander because they are pretty plugged in, and they have both said parkinsons was our number 1 guy for the spot. So yes, I think people have a right to question this decision when the number 1 guy is on the board and we have 7 months before signing day. There was really no rush to fill the spot if the staff has been sitting on Lindor's ability/wanting to commit. Just an educated guess, Lindor maybe started to feel unloved, another school started showing some interest and the staff was afraid of losing him and then having Parkinson's go a different direction so they allowed Lindor to commit. To which, I would still say there are 7 months left. So I'm a little surprised they took him this early if he wanted to commit for the last month but was told to hold off. Obviously we don't know the whole story yet but this is a Syracuse fan board talking about recruiting. Not sure why were supposed to love every move the staff does. Obviously we hope for the best, but are we no longer able to react how we see fit? Should we ignore all our fan instincts just to make a kid feel appreciated when were currently a little bummed that another player was bypassed? Im a fan of Syracuse sports, not a 17 year old kid that hasn't even made it to campus yet. Once he gets here absolutely Ill root like hell for him, but my cheering is reserved for whats best for the University. Maybe this was or wasn't a reach, we will find out in a couple years but I don't think people should be shunned for questioning a commit when by all accounts he was our #2 option for that position when we were in good shape with our #1 option.

 

[RMH44]

I think it all came down to what SS always says, we want the kids that want to be at Syracuse. However, I don't really understand why people are questioning bonoro and anomander because they are pretty plugged in, and they have both said parkinsons was our number 1 guy for the spot. So yes, I think people have a right to question this decision when the number 1 guy is on the board and we have 7 months before signing day. There was really no rush to fill the spot if the staff has been sitting on Lindor's ability/wanting to commit. Just an educated guess, Lindor maybe started to feel unloved, another school started showing some interest and the staff was afraid of losing him and then having Parkinson's go a different direction so they allowed Lindor to commit. To which, I would still say there are 7 months left. So I'm a little surprised they took him this early if he wanted to commit for the last month but was told to hold off. Obviously we don't know the whole story yet but this is a Syracuse fan board talking about recruiting. Not sure why were supposed to love every move the staff does. Obviously we hope for the best, but are we no longer able to react how we see fit? Should we ignore all our fan instincts just to make a kid feel appreciated when were currently a little bummed that another player was bypassed? Im a fan of Syracuse sports, not a 17 year old kid that hasn't even made it to campus yet. Once he gets here absolutely Ill root like hell for him, but my cheering is reserved for whats best for the University. Maybe this was or wasn't a reach, we will find out in a couple years but I don't think people should be shunned for questioning a commit when by all accounts he was our #2 option for that position when we were in good shape with our #1 option.

Big difference between questioning the staff and openly criticizing the abilities of a kid that just finished his junior year in HS.

Hopefully, all of these verbals have outstanding and healthy senior seasons. The P5 offers will follow.

 

[Finwad32]

The only thing I'll say about speed on hi-lite tapes is that it's misleading. There are so many factors.

Every kid looks different running. Some are gliders and some look theyre working 150% to hit their mark. Not only that, but I know for fact there is more than one hi-lite film producer that messes with the speed of the film on very small levels to make the athlete look faster.

Competition level, conditions, field and film quality all factor as well.

Furthermore, who knows what the competition the player is running against runs their 40 in?

It's tough to decipher from film.

I'm not coming down on anybody one way or another, I guess this is more me saying that IMO judgement should be reserved for at least a couple years.

And, just for the record, I've got no idea where West fell or didn't fall on the coaches board, could be 1st could be 10th.

 

[weedsportwarriors]

Well lets hope he doesn't end up at Pitt.

Let's hope he does go to Pitt. That way in a couple of years when he is playing on the other team, he can catch a ball across the middle only to get blown up by Shy or Thomas, fumble the ball and get returned for a touchdown. If he was delaying his decision then "next man up"!

 

[tep624]

I know this because it is July 10th. There are no plan B's on July 10th. Recruiting hasn't sped up near that much.

No you don't. Unless you've seen the staff's recruiting board, you have no idea where recruits rank on it. There were recruits for this class that were offered last year. Hell we're offering 2016 and 2017 recruits NOW. The cycle has sped up to the point where many power 5 schools are closing out their recruiting for all intents and purposes before the season even starts.

 

[tep624]

maybe i don't have a clue and i'm sorry i don't step in line sometimes, but I didn't question his ability, I questioned his speed.

some of you guys act like this staff is incapable of making a mistake. we were 7-6 last year.

The vast majority of the time I fall in line with the "trust the staff" crowd, but in this case, when you're led to believe that the staff is holding out for a particular player for months and then *poof* someone else commits in the spot, it's only natural to have questions.

 

[tep624]

This makes sense to me. Was impressed by Lindor's film, as I was by Parkinson's. They both are good students with offers from excellent schools, both have excellent size, run well, have good hands and the ability to make catches when well covered (which is a big deal to the staff after seeing how will ACC schools execute press coverage).

They needed a TE/Y hybrid. One player wanted in badly, one did not. I know the staff wants players who want to be at Syracuse, who are excited about the prospect of playing here. It can't hurt that we are actively recruiting another player from Lindor's HS either. I liked Parkinson's tape slightly more looking at him as a receiver but Lindor looks like he might be a better blocker. He looked solid there in the limited film available.

I am sure Parkinson was told it was time to make a decision or a decision would be made for him. He chose to wait. Good luck to him...I bet he gets and accepts an offer from UConn, Rutgers or Temple. I hope he does well there.

As will Lindor at Syracuse.

I'm starting to wonder looking back on all this if the Frank Battle story had some legs to it. Parkinson was offered May 9th. Parkinson visited May 18th.

Lindor was offered May 21st.

Frank Battle was offered May 22nd. Battle visited Syracuse the weekend of June 7th.

According to Battle, Battle is told shortly thereafter someone committed or made the staff known of an intent to commit for that spot which the staff accepted. So if his story is true, that tells me one of two things. Either Parkinson committed or told the staff of intent to commit then had a change of heart, or Lindor committed a month ago and is just announcing it now.

Anyway you want to slice it though, Parkinson was definitely targeted first among these prospects for the Y spot. Now how far behind him Lindor and Battle were, who knows. Maybe the staff viewed them all equally.

 

[anomander]

Wasn't this same board on BC and Rutgers last year for their class that was filled with kids with no other offers? But now that it's Syracuse we are the smarter ones??

Ya ok.

But let me go grab my poms poms and thunder sticks everything will be alright.

 

[spo023]

Just watched both tapes to see what all the fuss is about... Now I'm no expert but...

Lindor doesn't run "pretty" but seems to have the same speed as Parkinson if not faster straight line. Most of West's catches highlighted were "high point" catches over a defender, impressive stuff. Catches with his hands, hits like a truck on defense. Don't see much "wiggle" in his game but do you really need wiggle from a tight end?

Tapes look similar to me and if I had to pick I'd probably take Lindor cuz he has a bigger frame, seems taller, and longer.

What's the big deal? :noidea:

He hits like a truck on defense because he lowers his head into the guy. It's pretty terrible form and a major injury risk. But yes, hitting with helmet does tend to put people on their ass. He also lines up 15-20 yards off the line of scrimmage, which gives him a ton of room to line up hits. Makes for some good impact, but the RB gets 10-15 yards downfield before he meets him.

 

[anomander]

I'm starting to wonder looking back on all this if the Frank Battle story had some legs to it. Parkinson was offered May 9th. Parkinson visited May 18th.

Lindor was offered May 21st.

Frank Battle was offered May 22nd. Battle visited Syracuse the weekend of June 7th.

According to Battle, Battle is told shortly thereafter someone committed or made the staff known of an intent to commit for that spot which the staff accepted. So if his story is true, that tells me one of two things. Either Parkinson committed or told the staff of intent to commit then had a change of heart, or Lindor committed a month ago and is just announcing it now.

Anyway you want to slice it though, Parkinson was definitely targeted first among these prospects for the Y spot. Now how far behind him Lindor and Battle were, who knows. Maybe the staff viewed them all equally.

The thing with Battle is the staff didn't like what they saw more from a personal standpoint when they met him. Nothing to do with anything else.

 

[tep624]

OK Phat there's no way that this kid looks slow. You're just way off on this one and you will eventually eat your words He looks faster than Parkinson to me in his video. Also there's no way the staff is going to offer a slow kid. Some of you guys make no sense at all. His coach says he ran a 4.5 BTW for that's worth

I guess we can assume by the experts on this board that the staff is intentionally recruiting lesser players. I've got news for you they know what they are doing. Just because they do their own evealuations and don't pay attention to the recruiting services and how many offers a kid has doesn't make them incompetent We will see how this turns out in 6 years when his career is complete. I think their will be some eating crow. I also predict he gets more BCS offers

You are the broken record antithesis to Sudano. He goes out of his way to question everything they do, you make it sound like it's a sin to question anything they do. I guess we should all just tape our mouths shut, tie our hands behind our backs, and stop posting for the next 10 years.

 

[tep624]

The thing with Battle is the staff didn't like what they saw more from a personal standpoint when they met him. Nothing to do with anything else.

Yeah and maybe the Battle story was just a face saving story and there wasn't much truth to it. Who knows. Just an interesting turn of events anyway.

 

[Ozcuse]

Wasn't this same board on BC and Rutgers last year for their class that was filled with kids with no other offers? But now that it's Syracuse we are the smarter ones??

Ya ok.

But let me go grab my poms poms and thunder sticks everything will be alright.

Pretty much, yes. I said this in another thread but the response was we're irrational homers so it's ok.

 

[RMH44]

He hits like a truck on defense because he lowers his head into the guy. It's pretty terrible form and a major injury risk. But yes, hitting with helmet does tend to put people on their ass. He also lines up 15-20 yards off the line of scrimmage, which gives him a ton of room to line up hits. Makes for some good impact, but the RB gets 10-15 yards downfield before he meets him.

So, other than dissing a 16-17 year old kid, what's your point? What.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Frankly, and because "we" really have no other choice- I say trust the staff. They'll be plenty of time to see whether HCSS and staff are good judges of talent, or simply grasping at straws.
Everything else is just rhetoric. :noidea::blah:

 

[TheCusian]

Pretty much, yes. I said this in another thread but the response was we're irrational homers so it's ok.

Twisted my words. I said of course we're biased and choose to look at it optimistically first - it's a fan board. I'll take our under recruited guy over BC's any day if the week - because he wants to be here. I root for walkons to kick a$$. It's what we do.

Doesn't mean you can't be critical or ask tough questions...

 

[VaSaltine]

This could apply to any recruit, but in this case would coach Reed have the ability to ask West to do a quick workout for him at his high school? Do some running, agility drills, catching, etc. or is this not allowed? I wonder is he was able to see first hand what the kid can or cannot do vs simply film evaluation.

 

[Ozcuse]

Twisted my words. I said of course we're biased and choose to look at it optimistically first - it's a fan board. I'll take our under recruited guy over BC's any day if the week - because he wants to be here. I root for walkons to kick a$$. It's what we do.

Doesn't mean you can't be critical or ask tough questions...

Semantics

 

[spo023]

So, other than dissing a 16-17 year old kid, what's your point? What.

I don't think I'm dissing Westerband. Count me in the group that thinks he's a bit slow for ACC football, but his size may outweigh that (Not everyone runs greater than a 4.60 in HS or college, by the way, so it's not a big deal right now). My post was explaining why he "hits like a truck" according to the guy I quoted. I was pointing out to the guy that he hits hard, but that only occurs due to other parts of his game being less than ideal, mainly his dangerous tackling technique (Partially his fault, partially his coaches. MOST HS/College/NFL players tackle with head down, why you see so many concussions and neck injuries) and being a single deep safety from his starting position.

I am allowed to break down his highlight film to give insight into his play and use it to respond toother people opinions, am I not? Or just because he chose Syracuse should I say he should be a 5 star recruit with no flaws in his game.

Also, to all the people saying they hope West doesn't read this board, if he suddenly dislikes Syracuse and decides to go elsewhere because a few fans don't appreciate his game like our staff, then either he doesn't trust his talents enough or he truly never wanted Syracuse as his Plan A

 

[TheCusian]

I don't think I'm dissing Westerband. Count me in the group that thinks he's a bit slow for ACC football, but his size may outweigh that (Not everyone runs greater than a 4.60 in HS or college, by the way, so it's not a big deal right now). My post was explaining why he "hits like a truck" according to the guy I quoted. I was pointing out to the guy that he hits hard, but that only occurs due to other parts of his game being less than ideal, mainly his dangerous tackling technique (Partially his fault, partially his coaches. MOST HS/College/NFL players tackle with head down, why you see so many concussions and neck injuries) and being a single deep safety from his starting position. I am allowed to break down his highlight film to give insight into his play and use it to respond toother people opinions, am I not? Or just because he chose Syracuse should I say he should be a 5 star recruit with no flaws in his game. Also, to all the people saying they hope West doesn't read this board, if he suddenly dislikes Syracuse and decides to go elsewhere because a few fans don't appreciate his game like our staff, then either he doesn't trust his talents enough or he truly never wanted Syracuse as his Plan A

Just read an article with Acosta on Syracuse.com (on my phone so forgive me for no linkage) where he said a kid might be too slow for Z, but a perfect fit for what we want to do with the Y (hopefully, I didn't just butcher that). At first glance - I read that as we like tall, not quite ACC fast guys for his position.

As for reading his own thread - you'd be inhuman to not have it bother you in some way. Many of these kids like to have their egos stoked (see twitter). It's clearly important to them. Me? As a 36 year old guy - yeah, I'd say "get used to it and work through it" ... But 17 year olds are odd.

 

[RMH44]

Just read an article with Acosta on Syracuse.com (on my phone so forgive me for no linkage) where he said a kid might be too slow for Z, but a perfect fit for what we want to do with the Y (hopefully, I didn't just butcher that). At first glance - I read that as we like tall, not quite ACC fast guys for his position.

As for reading his own thread - you'd be inhuman to not have it bother you in some way. Many of these kids like to have their egos stoked (see twitter). It's clearly important to them. Me? As a 36 year old guy - yeah, I'd say "get used to it and work through it" ... But 17 year olds are odd.

I don't think I'm dissing Westerband. Count me in the group that thinks he's a bit slow for ACC football, but his size may outweigh that (Not everyone runs greater than a 4.60 in HS or college, by the way, so it's not a big deal right now). My post was explaining why he "hits like a truck" according to the guy I quoted. I was pointing out to the guy that he hits hard, but that only occurs due to other parts of his game being less than ideal, mainly his dangerous tackling technique (Partially his fault, partially his coaches. MOST HS/College/NFL players tackle with head down, why you see so many concussions and neck injuries) and being a single deep safety from his starting position.

I am allowed to break down his highlight film to give insight into his play and use it to respond toother people opinions, am I not? Or just because he chose Syracuse should I say he should be a 5 star recruit with no flaws in his game.

Also, to all the people saying they hope West doesn't read this board, if he suddenly dislikes Syracuse and decides to go elsewhere because a few fans don't appreciate his game like our staff, then either he doesn't trust his talents enough or he truly never wanted Syracuse as his Plan A

Of course you're entitled to your opinion. But, other than Jim Brown, there is no such thing as a player without flaws and I'm not sure that being as specific as you chose to be makes sense.

He's a 16 or 17 year old kid that the coaches offered based on his measureables, potential and team need. None of us have any idea what this kid's (or any recruit's) ceiling is.

All of this hand wringing cracks me up. This year we've accepted too many kids too early...last year we didn't have nearly enough. I'm just curious what the "Three Bears" just right number needs to be at any given time. Anybody up for developing a rubric for the staff to follow?

 

[spo023]

Of course you're entitled to your opinion. But, other than Jim Brown, there is no such thing as a player without flaws and I'm not sure that being as specific as you chose to be makes sense.

Every HS kid comes with flaws, no one here is saying that we expect flawless. But we should be allowed to say that a kid doesn't seem to have the athleticism out of HS equivalent to that of his peers recruited to the ACC.