Bat signal is out! Nfm
- Thread starter Southernnitt1974
- Start date
bwifan
Well-Known Member
bwifan
Well-Known Member
This season has been phenomenal, and recruiting is going to continue to surprise the nah-sayers going forward....
CJF got the top 2 TE's on his board. Does this eliminate taking a TE late in the 2017 class effort?? He could still take Pitts for a 2018 class triple TE play, so unless he can flip a top 2017 TE or sees a late bloomer (which an offer likely would already have gone out to), CJF likely uses most of his remaining 2017 scholarships on defense.....
Yes, in addition to keeping everyone we have already verballed, LB and interior DL should be the focus of the remaining recruiting. I guess Wade may be OK, but he won't make or break our program. The important ones verbal early and help build momentum. That is the superstar I want.
Wade- CB
Conliffe-DT
Kaindoh - DE
Proctor - LB
Castro-Fields- CB/S
Bolds - DT
This would be a nice finish. All defense. That makes 20, I think.
Great news. The fact that the 'Furd is not getting him makes it all the sweeter.
Yep, but don't discount the impact that Wade could have at PSU. He could be the dynamic punt returner that we have not had since DWill.....
And since we have 9 DT's on the roster that are doing a great job this year, and none graduate this year, I'm hoping for 1 DT, 2 more LB's, and a couple of playmakers (WR, DB, RB) to fill the 2017 class.... Or even keep 1 or 2 scholarships for 2018 (giving them to walk-on's for the 2017 season) where we seem to have the potential to be turning away 4 star players by February 2018.
I'm no recruiting expert, but I think a guys like Jabril Peppers or Minka Fitzpatrick (who knows whether we ever had a shot at either of them) would have had a huge impact at the time, as there just weren't any superstar recruits on the defensive side of the ball and we didn't have much depth in the secondary. At this point, even if we don't have any 5 star recruits in the defense to point to, our secondary depth is a strength. So, we get the splash from the star rating, but it's not a position where we are in dire need. Rashon Gary last year would have been so big for us this year as well, and I really hope we can get a high end LB and interior DL in the 2017 class. You have to be able to find the hidden 3 star gems, but they aren't can't miss and we are thin at true LB and interior DL players. I'd love to have Wade come to Penn State, but he's not at a critical position in my opinion.
I think we all would be very happy with these players added to the class. I don't care where our class ends up from a star rating, but closing on the kids mentioned above would fill the cupboard for a couple more years.
I just don't understand why some believe DL is such an area of great need. We have a 4.5 deep at DT and all return for 2017. And we have nice depth at DE with 2 great prospects redshirting (Simmons and Joseph), 2 nice recruits coming in 2017 (Matos and Barber), and the top DE in the country committed for 2018(Parsons). I hope we get one nice DT recruit in the 2017 class and 2 in 2018. But we may see more DE's commit with some moving to DT as they progress in the weight program. Rumors are that Barber and Joseph are candidates to end up at DT.
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Conliffe then as the one DT. Not gonna turn down Kaindoh and Joseph may grow into DT. Jaylen Harris at WR might be a get if OSU doesn't offer. That list only puts them at 20. Could be one or two more. I've read from 19-22 from various sites.
This staff seems very good at identifying needs and who they want.
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I believe we will see at least one of the final 2017 commits on offense. A taller WR. We may even see a late RB. CJF will have a surprise or 2 for us....
Maybe its perception being different than reality. I see that there are 8 guys on the roster listed at DL. I would grant you that this is enough depth, for sure, but this includes at least one walk on (Monk). One of my other "perceptions" is that while athletic, there aren't too many nose tackle types. It seems just about every DL is in the 280 to 290 range, with just Windsor above the 300 mark at 305. So, on average, the DL may not be undersized, but I'm used to having one 320 pound DL (one technique?) and the other being an athletic 275 pound guy (three technique?). Maybe the coaching staff prefers to have D lineman that are more interchangeable (all three technique) as opposed to one guy to clog the middle and another to make plays. Again. the facts point to this being more of a perception issue than reality, but it may make some of us feel better if we get a 300 plus pound DL to commit someday!
9 DT's on the roster, 10 if you count Buchholz who seems to be growing into a DT and has been playing some DT this year.
Chavis - Jr
Cothren - RS Jr
Cothran - RS Jr
White - RS So
Thrift - RS So
Givens - RS Fr
Windsor - RS Fr
Buchholz (DE/DT) - RS Fr
Shelton (True Frosh, Redshirting)
Jordan (True Frosh, Redshirting)
Agree that we are short on the big 1 Technique DT's, with only Cothren, Windsor, and Chavis true big DT's. That's why CJF is going after only big DT's to complete the 2017 class. But I don't believe CJF will tilt his roster so far to DT that he ends up with 12+ DT's. And I don't believe any of the above look like candidates to move to the OL. Out of the above list, Shelton and Thrift may also be candidates to get bigger and play as the "big" DT going forward.
Every position can not have a 4 deep with an 85 scholarship roster, so having a 5 deep (10, with 1 2017 recruit) plus Buchholz would give DT likely the highest relative numbers on the roster.
We need LB's......
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Defensive line play and offensive line play are what win championships. We can't have too many of them right now.
at times especially early in games, we have had a hard time stopping the straight run game. we have good lateral mobility to stop sweeps, but between tackles has been tough at times. could use a could super sized DT-1 are also athletic. Devon Still, Jordan Hill, Daquan Jones, Austin Johnson has been a run of these guys. against the big OL power run teams we need a few of these guys.
