re: Braden Smith gets 4 year 72 million extension

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But...But... T-Will is our best recruiter

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Well, he was...

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5th Round Will Herring
6th Round Deshaun Davis
6th Round KJ Britt

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That says more about his ability to develop players as a position coach. (Yes, I know he didn't coach all of those guys). But to deny the fact that T-Will could bring in high school talent is just ignoring reality.

He didn't just recruit LB. He was told who to go recruit. He couldn't make Gus Malzahn do a better job at managing the roster and going after positions of need rather than loading up on 4* kids where we already had plenty of bodies.

I've yet to see anyone say that Gus and/or his staff's best recruiters couldn't recruit. The roster management and targeting specific positions of need was the issue. We will never, ever beat out the likes of Bama, UGA, and LSU for blue chip kids consistently. Yes we will steal a couple here and there. That means there has to be an emphasis on bringing in guys that can make an impact at the places where there are weaknesses. And probably more importantly, player development. It does you no good to bring in 3 4* kids at say WR when there are 2 SO and 2 JR 4* WR already there. Especially if we are thin in the secondary. Or have no experience at RB. Yeah, your class ranking for that year may jump up several spots, but what does that do for your depth at RB or at Safety?

Now you are in a scramble the next cycle and put yourself in a position where it really hurts if you miss out on your top targets at those positions. Then it just snowballs from there and you're having to put bandaids on something that needs stitches.