anomander
Living Legend
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- Nov 30, 2012
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To me the two biggest story lines that will play out over the next 6-7 months, will be who we can land at the O line and RB positions. Its funny usually the QB position is where SU is scrambling for recruiting, but with 2 solid recruits last year and Long this year we couldnt be in better shape.
As for RB and OL I have heard some rumblings/concerns from a few people, nothing to serious and certainly nothing to panic about, but some legit concern. At this point I was hoping we would have at least 1 OL commit, unfortunately we have lost out on a couple guys we were pretty high on and a few others we had high on our board. We still have a few irons in the fire but Applefield is a long shot and I wouldnt hold my breath on Mavesty either. I think we will see a lot of names pop up this fall of recruits who aren't on our radar right now. We need to bring in at least 3 lineman, JUCO maybe the way to go here.
Regarding the RB situation I would have zero concern except for the fact that we brough in zero RB recruits last year. Redshirting Morris and Macfarlane was a huge help but when you miss a year you need to double your haul the next season to ensure depth and a pipeline as players graduate. I like Ish's tape but its hard to gauge where he may end up. Erv Phillips seems like a Cuse lean but I dont like when a player stretches his recruitment out like this when he doenst have a lot of big time offers, this has all the hallmarks of him looking for either a bigger offer or a specific school. Ollison is a crapshoot as well, we are definitely in it but like Ish I think were more likely to be the bridesmaid then the bride. This situation shoudl clear itself up in the next 2-3 weeks, again will be interesting to see where the staff goes if we miss out on Ish and Ollison.
I think we are perfectly fine at RB. Morris and McFarland being rFR definitely helps, but we still need to bring in 2 this year, and will eventually. Ish Witter is in the bag, mark it down right now. He will be 1, and then hopefully Ollison. I think he is more of a crap shoot, but I think we are in good position. I really want him to be the other RB, but if not that's really not a position we should have trouble getting someone. There are a few like Boyd who are plan B's. As for Phillips I know the staff really wanted him, and pushed for a commitment when he visited. I think he is getting some bad guidance from reading the article about him in the Register.
I am with you with the OL concern. We have missed out on a lot of our top options. Applefield isn't going to happen, and Mavety will be tough. I also don't feel going the JC route is the answer this year. Look at the make up of our roster. We will have 3 sophmore starters, 1 JR, and 1 SR. We can't bring in another JC and have no OL underclassmen other then our 2 projects Burton and McGolster. Knapp and Emerich are viable options, but we need more then 2. I definitely think we need to bring in at least 2 HS tackles to hopefully go along with Aaron Roberts.
The 1 spot I feel we are dangerously thin at is DE. The cupboard is pretty bare though. I am hoping Ron Thompson has a breakout year, but nobody knows how that will work out. I do have a good feeling, but it's still a lot of hope. I would like to see them target a couple DE's later this fall, even if we have to go the JC route for an impact recruit at that position.
I think the staff has done a great job at targeting the positions they felt they needed to the most. We brought in 4 strong LBer prospects and are looking pretty good with Sykes, who could be the best of the bunch. KJ, and Cooper are a great start to the WRT position, and the defensive backfield looks like it will sort itself out as well.