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Time to panic?

LurkSker44

Red Shirt
5 Year Member
Panic may not be the right word. The guys who follow recruiting close, are you worried about the number of commits we have or do you see signs that we’ll close the class out strong? I like the current guys we have committed. I know wins aren’t everything for landing recruits, but I have to wonder if it’s hurting a bit. Any feedback from @ShortSideOption, @N2FL, @All 'N' 011808, RR or others in the know would be appreciated.
 
I don't think panic should even be on the menu.

All I have to do to know we're not in big trouble is look at the kids the two teams who own us in the West consistently bring in to know we don't have to have a bus load of high 4 and 5 star kids to win our division. We can have the 'right' kids argument all day long, but I'm assuming if this staff is bringing them in, they're the right kids.

No panic here. None at all.
 
No panic but apprehensive is the word.

I disagree with Crab, this 2020 class really needs to be special in that it needs at least 4 more Wan'dale like playmakers on both offense and defense.

I hope that the RB's we have committed are that kind of player that can be game breakers and fill the room next to Mills, moving Wan'dale to his Duck R position.

Need a big body WR, DE and ILB which I don't see on the list yet and hopefully will come from the JUCO ranks meaning they can walk in and start (more mature body).

2020 is a critical rebuild year IMHO.

GBR
 



I saw the below post by @ShortSideOption yesterday after I did this OP. The lack of recruits at positions of immediate need is very concerning to me at this point in the year. Makes me think they're going to have to fill the class with their 4th or 5th options on the board, not bringing in exactly the type of player they want.

Just thought i'd go over what I think. We will have to see what attrition does for the numbers, but this is what I think for now.

Current Ranking Rivals: 38th overall (9th B1G) (4th in the B1G by average star ranking)
Current Ranking 247: 32nd overall (8th B1G) (4th in the B1G by average star ranking)

Quarterback (1)
Commitments: Logan Smothers
Losses: None

With Logan Smothers committed, and losing no one, we are set here. Don't really need to go into great detail, but again, our QB depth will be outstanding for 2020. Martinez, Vedral, McCaffrey, and true freshman Smothers.

Runningback (2-3)
Commitments: Sevion Morrison and Marvin Scott III
Losses: Mo Washington and
possibly Jaylin Bradley
You could honestly beef this up to 4 commits this year if you wanted. We have lost Mo Washington, Ronald Thompkins just had a set back on his knee, Jaylin Bradley is probably gone after this season, and you have Wandale Robinson taking way more reps in the backfield than you need. Where it gets a bit tricky is someone like Will Nixon can also line up in the backfield for you. Good versatility to have. But the classes are starting to get a little bottom heavy with Dedrick Mills as a senior, losing Washington and most likely Bradley, leaves you with second year guys Johnson and Thompkins, and Robinson, and whoever else you bring in. Don't be shocked to see them take a flyer on a JUCO RB that may not have the offers others have for depth and class balancing. Grad transfers also a possibility.

Wide Receiver (3-5)
Commitments: Zavier Betts and Will Nixon
Losses: Jaron Woodyard, Mike Williams, Kanawai Noa, Andre Hunt, Miles Jones, and
possibly Jaevon McQuitty
That's a lot of guys we are losing, we are begging to have someone step up here, so I wouldn't be shocked to see us go 4-5 WRs here. Look at all those losses, while you may not be enamored with their skill, that's a ton of depth leaving. Zavier Betts if he gets cleared academically could play instantly with his sizer, and Nixon may bounce around like Robinson a bit. JUCO WR Omar Manning who was once thought of to be for sure coming is now going to be a tough pull. With Betts a possible academic risk, they have to go at least 2 more here minimum IMO.

Tightend (0-1)
Commitments:
Losses: Katerian LeGrone

Nebraska still feels great about their TE room. Vokolek becomes eligible next year, so with Stoll, Allen, and him, you look great. If i'm Rafdal, i'm probably looking around, but I don't want to say that's a definite. In an offense struggling to get the ball to the TE, not sure i'd stick around as the 4th string guy. With LeGrone gone, you probably need to take another one just to balance out the classes. We get thin in a hurry as we are very top heavy. But I could also see them bypassing this and going JUCO and high school for the 2021 class. Not much action here.

Offensive Line (2-4)
Commitments: Turner Corcoran and Alex Conn
Losses: Christian Gaylord (medical?)

You possibly will lose zero offensive linemen if Gaylord gets a medical redshirt. However, guys like Will Farniok and John Raridon are guys i'd watch in the portal. They most likely are taking one more guy here, but not sure what we are looking at because if Gaylord returns, again, you may lose zero and we would be done taking people. I still think we try to find one more guy.

Noseguard (1-2)
Commitments: Nash Hutmacher
Losses: Darrion Daniels

With the loss of Daniels, we are in trouble here. We need Damion Daniels to get in better shape, Ty Robinson to really take to the move to NG, or Nash Hutmacher to be ready. I don't like either of those 3 scenarios and quite frankly, Darrion Daniels is as good of a NG as we can expect. We are certainly going to see a dip here. But, we got our #1 target with Nash and stole him from Wisconsin. Tough to be anything but happy with NG. Don't be surprised at a JUCO or another Grad Transfer.

Defensive End (2-4)
Commitments: Marquis Black
Losses: Khalil Davis, Carlos Davis, Daishon Neal, Vaha Vainuku

Along with losing our starting NG, we lose basically our 2 starting DEs. Ben Stille and Deontre Thomas soften that blow, along with Jahkeem Green who will surely be in the mix. And it will be time to see what guys like Tate Wildeman, Casey Rogers, and Mosai Newsom look like to add depth. I originally had this at 2-3 spots but I wouldn't be surprised to see us take a few more. With Piper on offense, Banks move to offense, and Robinson sliding down to NG. We have got to create depth after Stille and Thomas are gone. They need at least 1 more DE if not 2. That said, JUCO always an option. I'm also not sure what Black projects to, he could be either a DE or NG. I could see Nelson sliding down to DE like Stille did, but I pray that they keep Gunnerson at OLB.

Outside Linebacker (2-4)
Commitments: Blaise Gunnerson
Losses: Alex Davis, Tyrin Ferguson, and Pernell Jefferson

I don't like this at all... no one could beat out Alex Davis, so we are going to be reliant on Nelson, Tannor, and Domann all next year. Throw in the rumors of Domann and we are in a world of hurt if he leaves. I will count on them saying he's a captain next year and playing every snap to keep him. We only have Gunnerson committed at the position that scares me the most for our defense, and we need a couple more guys. We gotta go get at least 2 more high school guys or hit JUCO hard. I can't believe more people aren't jumping at the chance to come play for us, but then again, anyone good is being told they can play right now anywhere.

Inside Linebacker (1-2)
Commitments:
Losses: Mo Barry

We had an unreal class last year with Nick Henrich, Jackson Hannah, and Garrett Snodgrass, I would actually say it's a top 5 nationally ILB class. Throw in Luke Reimers as a walk-on kicking tail, and we are good but young. But this current class has fallen on its face with Groce decommitting and another ILB choosing Wisconsin over us. You have to bolster your depth here since your 2 starters for 2020 will be graduating in Honas and Miller.

Defensive Back (3-5)
Commitments: Ronald Delancy, Henry Gray, Tamon Lynum
Losses: Lamar Jackson, Avery Anderson, Eric Lee, Jeremiah Stovall

I put corners and safeties together because every commit we get says "they told me I could play any position" so i'm done trying to decipher it. I feel really good about DB for us. Fisher has proven he can develop and I like the guys he is bringing in. We return Deontai Williams, Marquel Dismuke, Cam Taylor-Britt, Dicaprio Bootle, and Braxton Clark that we can rely on. Guys like Quinton Newsome, Noa Pola-Gates, Myles Farmer, and Javin Wright make this room pretty stacked for next year.
 
Is it panic time...not yet, but past time to be worried. Need to hang on to the guys already committed, and go from there. Would sooner see them take some Nebraska kids vs marginal out of staters. The next two games will go a long way in determining if this will be a successful class.
 
Certainly understand the concern. Just remember it will take at least three years to develop linemen who are projects. Skill positions not so much.
 
Panic may not be the right word. The guys who follow recruiting close, are you worried about the number of commits we have or do you see signs that we’ll close the class out strong? I like the current guys we have committed. I know wins aren’t everything for landing recruits, but I have to wonder if it’s hurting a bit. Any feedback from @ShortSideOption, @N2FL, @All 'N' 011808, RR or others in the know would be appreciated.
I wouldn't use panic, but i'm watching pretty closely, and there are some things that have me worried.

1) The number of commits we have right now being less than everyone except teams like Rutgers.
2) The number of JUCO offers that started to roll out
3) The lack of commitments at positions of need
4) I believe the extension was due to what we were hearing on the recruiting trail, so right or wrong, perception is reality with regard to recruits
5) Our season for the most part is going to end 5-7 barring some miracle

Reasons for optimism IMO:

1) Guys like Jahkeem Green, Noa Pola-Gates, Ty Robinson, and Wan'Dale Robinson all committed later than this last year so maybe we have some high level guys just on the fence
2) While I think we needed results on the field, I do think Frost was given one more year by recruits to show his vision between the lines
3) There are some guys like Fisher, Held, and Tuioti still in on some high level guys

As @N2FL brought up, the coaching carousel is going to cause more harm than good for us even with Frost's extension. Whoever takes the Florida State job is going to be all over guys like Gray to join their vision and not Frost's.
 



Certainly understand the concern. Just remember it will take at least three years to develop linemen who are projects. Skill positions not so much.
Agree, which is why the decision to bring in zero OL for the first class by this staff was baffling (Wille Canty didn't qualify). If it takes that long to develop who we are going after, that is an egregious oversight. Right up there with Mike Riley not bringing in his QB in year 1.
 
Agree, which is why the decision to bring in zero OL for the first class by this staff was baffling (Wille Canty didn't qualify). If it takes that long to develop who we are going after, that is an egregious oversight. Right up there with Mike Riley not bringing in his QB in year 1.

There are 10 freshman o-lineman in the 2019 class plus the miss in Bland (JUCO).

Of the "upper classman" only two are seniors, 4 juniors, 4 sophomores and 5 redshirt freshman.

So, I can see where one o-lineman in the 2018 class may have been a reasonable priority compared to the under representation of playmakers that were on the team at that time.

We still lack "difference makers": big body WR, take it to the house RB (not Duke R), pass rush DE and dominating LB where as I think that Scott feels that we can and will develop O-lineman.

Yesterdays play suggested that it may happen, but that certainly there are enough bodies to work with that failure to recruit ones in 2018 is not a major issue.

PS: I do worry that Logan Smothers may see the way that Scott holds on to AM despite his up and down play and flip his commit, fearing that he may not see the field for two years despite how well he might play in practice. :(

GBR
 
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There are 10 freshman o-lineman in the 2019 class plus the miss in Bland (JUCO).

Of the "upper classman" only two are seniors, 4 juniors, 4 sophomores and 5 redshirt freshman.

So, I can see where one o-lineman in the 2018 class may have been a reasonable priority compared to the under representation of playmakers that were on the team at that time.

We still lack "difference makers": big body WR, take it to the house RB (not Duke R), pass rush DE and dominating LB where as I think that Scott feels that we can and will develop O-lineman.

Yesterdays play suggested that it may happen, but that certainly there are enough bodies to work with that failure to recruit ones in 2018 is not a major issue.

GBR
They went after linemen in the 2019 class for sure, but not in the 2018 class. The lack of them created such a need at the position in 2019 that we took 7 commits on the OL. And if true that we need 3 years to develop what we recruit at OL, we are in serious trouble.

WR and DB were our biggest of priorities in 2018, along with making sure we got our QB.

Failure to recruit a 2018 OL by this staff is not a major issue? Have you seen our OL play or our record the first 2 years under Frost? We are 83rd in scoring offense, 65th in total offense, and 85th in sacks allowed and are about to have our second losing season out of two for this staff.

I mean, we sit there and say we need more of our guys, but then we say it's not an issue we didn't go after any in the 2018 class and trot out 5 guys out of 5 starters that aren't "their guys" in season 2 and are more than likely going to do it again in 2020?
 
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They went after linemen in the 2019 class for sure, but not in the 2018 class. The lack of them created such a need at the position in 2019 that we took 7 commits on the OL. And if true that we need 3 years to develop what we recruit at OL, we are in serious trouble.

WR and DB were our biggest of priorities in 2018, along with making sure we got our QB.

Failure to recruit a 2018 OL by this staff is not a major issue? Have you seen our OL play or our record the first 2 years under Frost? We are 83rd in scoring offense, 65th in total offense, and 85th in sacks allowed and are about to have our second losing season out of two for this staff.

I mean, we sit there and say we need more of our guys, but then we say it's not an issue we didn't go after any in the 2018 class and trot out 5 guys out of 5 starters that aren't "their guys" in season 2 and are more than likely going to do it again in 2020?

***
I highlighted three things in your post.
1. We agree that in 2018, skill players were the prime issue for Scott and his staff as they scrambled to put together a class. They got a good class which unfortunately not enough of them stayed to make an impact.

2. O line play: 2018: improved greatly in the second half when Conrad was injured and players were moved around. We go 4-2 with excellent offensive stats, just not enough defensive stops (think Iowa). 2019: Lack of development of returning O-line amazes all of us, it speaks to inner turmoil within the team that we know nothing about. Yet yesterday we saw what could have happened this year which again amazes and frustrates me about the o-line.
There is apparently enough talent to have a winning season but it has not surfaced on any regular basis, what a waste!

3. Frost's whole "not our guys" comments are a sign of stress and immaturity which should never have happened. Of course these are "his guys" and will be until they leave, graduate, whatever. That statement, which he has repeated in other forms is cancerous and he should have walked back immediately (team meeting probably wasn't enough). I get that this is a way more difficult job than he expected but his ego needs to let go and let him use resources beyond him and his staff to reduce the pressure to get the job done or he may not succeed.

GBR
 
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***
I highlighted three things in your post.
1. We agree that in 2018, skill players were the prime issue for Scott and his staff as they scrambled to put together a class. They got a good class which unfortunately not enough of them stayed to make an impact.

2. O line play: 2018: improved greatly in the second half when Conrad was injured and players were moved around. We go 4-2 with excellent offensive stats, just not enough defensive stops (think Iowa). 2019: Lack of development of returning O-line amazes all of us, it speaks to inner turmoil within the team that we know nothing about. Yet yesterday we saw what could have happened this year which again amazes and frustrates me about the o-line.
There is apparently enough talent to have a winning season but it has not surfaced on any regular basis, what a waste!

3. Frost's whole "not our guys" comments are a sign of stress and immaturity which should never have happened. Of course these are "his guys" and will be until they leave, graduate, whatever. That statement, which he has repeated in other forms is cancerous and he should have walked back immediately (team meeting probably wasn't enough). I get that this is a way more difficult job than he expected but his ego needs to let go and let him use resources beyond him and his staff to reduce the pressure to get the job done or he may not succeed.

GBR
Your #3 point is dead on. Imo he's done more to prevent rileys players to fight for him than rally them around him.
His ego as you've stated, has been a major detriment this season.
This season is more his own fault than hell probably ever admit to himself.
Long term however, a lil humbling will do him some good
 

***
I highlighted three things in your post.
1. We agree that in 2018, skill players were the prime issue for Scott and his staff as they scrambled to put together a class. They got a good class which unfortunately not enough of them stayed to make an impact.

2. O line play: 2018: improved greatly in the second half when Conrad was injured and players were moved around. We go 4-2 with excellent offensive stats, just not enough defensive stops (think Iowa). 2019: Lack of development of returning O-line amazes all of us, it speaks to inner turmoil within the team that we know nothing about. Yet yesterday we saw what could have happened this year which again amazes and frustrates me about the o-line.
There is apparently enough talent to have a winning season but it has not surfaced on any regular basis, what a waste!

3. Frost's whole "not our guys" comments are a sign of stress and immaturity which should never have happened. Of course these are "his guys" and will be until they leave, graduate, whatever. That statement, which he has repeated in other forms is cancerous and he should have walked back immediately (team meeting probably wasn't enough). I get that this is a way more difficult job than he expected but his ego needs to let go and let him use resources beyond him and his staff to reduce the pressure to get the job done or he may not succeed.

GBR
Agree with that all.
 

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