re: 2015 Recruiting Discussion

Brice just said miscommunication and that the A&M staff isn't expecting him this weekend. Perroni says his sources are solid, the guys around Awolope think he's coming in, and A&M has definitely been showering Awolope with attention. I have no idea. This is weird.

Interesting, nevermind then. It always seemed like Claiborne to me.

quote:

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to artificially boost our recruiting in 13 so that way we had the kinda of momentum we needed to have in recruiting to make 14 happen

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the '13 class was mostly locked in before the '12 season. I think we had something like 22 commits before our first SEC game. We had 8 EEs that class (and we had that many spots to fill so we had to fill them or lose them): Points, Wade, Chevis, Sanders, Stuckey, Sezer, Clear, Jaquay. Those aren't trouble makers or character risks.

Since it's what we know, I'll use the Big 12 as the example. There are good players and well coached teams. But there are few athletic freaks. They also all run the same offense (like 7 of the 10 run a version of Air Raid). So guys like Devante Harris cover guys like Quiv Gonzalez.

And a school like TCU has made a living off of experienced DBs. Guys that are 5th year seniors who maybe lack the ideal size or speed but make up for it with tremendous fundamentals. The SEC is not like that. The best players are gone after 3 years. They aren't the best fundamentally (necessarily), but they are athletic freaks. You go from Lauqan Treadwell to Amari Cooper to Sammie Coates to Malachi Dupre in consecutive weeks. The skill set needed to defend each of those guys can't be taught because you need to be big and fast and agile and technically proficient. Maybe you can match up with Dupre but lack the raw speed to keep up with Cooper. Or the size needed to physically match up with Coates.

LSU has long taken rawer athletes and developed them. They take big fast and physical guys that don't necessarily have the best film but are great athletes. Meanwhile we take undersized guys. We can coach our guys up to be good cover guys but then you play Arkansas and they game plan to make your tiny corners tackle their big RBs. Or you play Auburn or MSU and they try to isolate your tiny corners on their massive WRs. You just can't teach big and fast. A player either has that or they don't.

It's why Vic Davis was playing this year. He may not be ready (and he may never be), but he has the physical skill set. A school like TCU would really struggle with the SECW. Not because they aren't good but because the diversity of skill sets you have to defend is very difficult. And when someone finds a weakness in how to attack you with an elite athlete, the rest will exploit it because everyone in this league has elite athletes. I think Patterson is a great coach but when you are exploiting a physical defect, all the coaching in the world isn't going to fix it.

Nice evaluation Tmc. Well put

Merritt is so damn talented

I want to flip Martin and Bussey so bad. One of my good friends is a vol and they can be good ppl but are obnoxious as frick as fans go

Especially Martin. He would probably play right away

They continue to pull in top recruiting classes with no on-field product to sell. That's just impressive.

Very well said TMC.. that analysis and comparison was 100% spot on.