I've received some texts from friends and Wilson even mentioned it was the lowest "rated" class he's had in a while but I couldn't be more excited for it
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Were there some important misses? Sure, Swann, Miller, and Watts would have been cornerstone recruits in this class. The DL still has some glaring needs and have to be the primary focus of next years class but lets look around what IU DOES have.
4 very talented OL in this class. 2-3 that are most certainly starters 2-3 years down the line. As Matt has mentioned, Cronk is someone that the staff thinks could be one of their best linemen yet.
2 qbs - 1 Top Rated Juco qb who will likely start and another with great tools to build towards the future
2 Running backs - Some Thunder some Lightening. Enis is a bruiser with speed that can make guys miss and pull away. Gest is a small speedster that can catch the ball in space and go. Coleman and Redding 2.0?
3 WRs all with GREAT size. Mack the late addition has been touted by Josh as a big time talent. Morris looks like he has all the tools to be an early contributor. and who knows what Benker will be but he has good measurables
2 Hybrid HB/TE in Natee and Bonner. I loved Natee's tape from the get go. Give me that kid all the time. Bonner I call a hybrid HB/TE because his video blew me away with what he was doing. Coming out of the HB spot to catch balls, coming off the line and catching balls. Blowing guys up on crack back blocks. Love it
Juco TE - Thomas will be a much needed boost at TE and could be another threat in the passing game.
Defensively -
The DL worries me but they have bodies. Guys like Stallings and his wrestling background. Johnson has some nice video and I would bet my left foot that the staff leaves no stone unturned with 1-2 spots left finding another player on the line. Focus heavily in 2017 at bringing in Allen's guys on that line because my next point makes me smile.
LOVE, not like, LOVE the secondary commits brought in this class. Thompson is probably a starter day 1 mixing in with young but experienced talent in Fant, Crawford, Brown, Dutra etc.
Bryant and Riggins were the early guys so maybe people forget, but there were major schools after these guys and they stuck it through. Riggins especially, love his video. Something about Drayton playing with Crawford and Hale in Largo strikes me as a good thing. They've been playing together for a long time, familiarity on what the other guy is doing is so key. I don't know anything about Ball but you never know who is going to stand out.
As for concerns about lack of LB... why? I count 11 on the team most of which are soph or juniors. Newton, Oliver, Scales, Simmons have a ton of PT. Jones, Covington, Walker, Willis and Stringer have yet to see much PT but are all there behind them waiting to hit the field
I feel good about this class. Lots of good parts, just time to put them all together with what IU has.
Sorry for the long rant, just seen too much poo poo from other places and needed to get it out
.
Were there some important misses? Sure, Swann, Miller, and Watts would have been cornerstone recruits in this class. The DL still has some glaring needs and have to be the primary focus of next years class but lets look around what IU DOES have.
4 very talented OL in this class. 2-3 that are most certainly starters 2-3 years down the line. As Matt has mentioned, Cronk is someone that the staff thinks could be one of their best linemen yet.
2 qbs - 1 Top Rated Juco qb who will likely start and another with great tools to build towards the future
2 Running backs - Some Thunder some Lightening. Enis is a bruiser with speed that can make guys miss and pull away. Gest is a small speedster that can catch the ball in space and go. Coleman and Redding 2.0?
3 WRs all with GREAT size. Mack the late addition has been touted by Josh as a big time talent. Morris looks like he has all the tools to be an early contributor. and who knows what Benker will be but he has good measurables
2 Hybrid HB/TE in Natee and Bonner. I loved Natee's tape from the get go. Give me that kid all the time. Bonner I call a hybrid HB/TE because his video blew me away with what he was doing. Coming out of the HB spot to catch balls, coming off the line and catching balls. Blowing guys up on crack back blocks. Love it
Juco TE - Thomas will be a much needed boost at TE and could be another threat in the passing game.
Defensively -
The DL worries me but they have bodies. Guys like Stallings and his wrestling background. Johnson has some nice video and I would bet my left foot that the staff leaves no stone unturned with 1-2 spots left finding another player on the line. Focus heavily in 2017 at bringing in Allen's guys on that line because my next point makes me smile.
LOVE, not like, LOVE the secondary commits brought in this class. Thompson is probably a starter day 1 mixing in with young but experienced talent in Fant, Crawford, Brown, Dutra etc.
Bryant and Riggins were the early guys so maybe people forget, but there were major schools after these guys and they stuck it through. Riggins especially, love his video. Something about Drayton playing with Crawford and Hale in Largo strikes me as a good thing. They've been playing together for a long time, familiarity on what the other guy is doing is so key. I don't know anything about Ball but you never know who is going to stand out.
As for concerns about lack of LB... why? I count 11 on the team most of which are soph or juniors. Newton, Oliver, Scales, Simmons have a ton of PT. Jones, Covington, Walker, Willis and Stringer have yet to see much PT but are all there behind them waiting to hit the field
I feel good about this class. Lots of good parts, just time to put them all together with what IU has.
Sorry for the long rant, just seen too much poo poo from other places and needed to get it out
