Today, I'm reading Hale's blog for signing day coverage.
I know I haven't blogged much lately, but I'm not into the pre-signing day recruiting nonsense...and neither is Quinton. The idea of posting about the will he won't he daily saga of Da'Rick Rogers, and then reading a bunch of conspiracy theory comments about his quasi-guardian Mr. Nance is totally unappealing to me. I'm going to the basketball game tonight after work, and I'll try and post some things after.
As for this recruiting class, there's a lot of talent in it. It would be a shame to focus almost exclusively on the kids we didn't get.
PWD
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23 comments:
I couldn't agree more. When it comes to recruiting you should ignore the rankings and look at did you get what you needed. Our needs were on D especially in the secondary and D line after we lost several guys there to graduation and the NFL. And that is where the bulk of this class is. So good job in my book. Last time I checked we were loaded at WR anyway.
The class isn't ideal. But we mostly met our most pressing needs and in terms of some of the guys we lost (Da'Rick aside) most had baggage anyway.
There were some I think we botched their recruitment. But I'll post more on that later.
Overall, I'm not displeased with the class. I'm just not all that wowed by it either.
Certainly not the epic fail that it's been painted as on the DawgVent.
There's plenty of talent in the class, but there's no way to get around the fact that it's probably the worst year on the recruiting trail since Richt took over. Under Richt, the Dawgs have generally done a very good job of hanging on to the commitments they have, but, this year, they had four decommits, including two very big ones (Rogers and Robey). It's the first year the Dawgs haven't had a five-star prospect sign with them.
While I don't put too much stock in rankings, there's no way around the fact that UGA lost a lot of recruiting battles the coaches wanted to win, and that's very disconcerting.
If UGA has another recruiting year like this one, we can forget about contending for SEC titles for a while. You can't win championships without the talent.
Epic fail? Not quite. UGA can recover from one bad year on the recruiting trail. But it doesn't meet the bar.
Wait, the DawgVent posted something as an epic fail? Holy crap; I'd never guess that.
I'm with you PWD on NSD. I've got so much else going on I can't get involved in the meat market that revolves around where an 18 yr old kid is going to suit up next year.
As far as I'm concerned as a fan, I want the guys who are going to come to Georgia, play hard for the team, and represent the university with dignity and character so we can be proud they are Dawgs. They don't even have to win every game, but I want them to go down swinging in the losses.
With all that in mind, I do hope for the best on NSD; I just can't invest the time and energy into it that others can.
Chris,
Losing Rogers is a big deal because he's the prototype big, fast WR that we want...hell everyone wants.
But the day I get bummed out about losing a 5'7" 160 lb DEFENSIVE PLAYER is the day I stop watching football. To borrow a line, you don't recruit day care centers and win in the SEC.
This kid is shorter than Jennings or Wansley. He's 25+ lbs lighter than either of them when they enrolled and he's lifting 100+ lbs less on the bench.
Who's he going to tackle at that size? He's only 10 lbs bigger than Mikey Henderson at the same age.
I don't care who is offers were or how many stars he had. If we're recruiting guys small than a blogger, they better have world class speed and they better be on offense.
Here's another one...Deas = 5'9" 175 lb safety. That's another head scratcher.
PWD
I wouldn't be too worried about DaRick. I have heard that he has a huge ego and we don't want players who aren't committed to UGA. I think having 5 star players helps, but if you look through the past couple years the best georgia players have not been 5 star players. They have been players with drive and heart.
And that's why DawgVent sucks.
I said months ago if your kid's name has an apostrophe and/or two capital letters in it he's going to jail at some point. Case in point - Nu'Keese Richardson. Someone said "be careful, Dub. We have Da'Rick Rogers coming and I see keep an eye on him. Look for Rogers to contribute to the Fulmer Cup standings.
I still think we're in good shape at WR and I wasn't at all disappointed about losing munchkin Robey. Carlton Thomas hasn't done a thing for me lately.
"UGA can recover from one bad year on the recruiting trail."
Top 10 ESPN recruiting class, Top 20 from the other guys.
"Bad." Huh.
Paul,
That's a good point. Perhaps the larger concern around recruiting is that the coaches feel they have to offer to guys like that to begin with.
None of the de-commits or lost recruiting battles trouble me on their own. You're going to lose some. My concern is that we're losing so many.
At the end of the day, though, when you're short a third of your coaching staff during the peak of the recruiting period, it's going to hurt. The six-week search may have gotten us the best guy for the job, but it took a huge toll on recruiting this year.
The good news is that, to the extent the weak class is a result of the coaching turnover, it's a one-time thing and doesn't signal a more fundamental problem.
Chris - we lost Whittaker because we switched to a 3-4 and he wanted to play in a 4-3...and because Garner apparently waffled on how high he was prioritizing the kid earlier in the process.
We lost Butler (LB/DE) from Florida to Lville...and so what. The kid was thrown off his HS team 2 weeks before the playoffs for being "uncoachable." You know how big a douche you have to be to get booted from your team your senior year before playoffs?
We lost Deon Rogers to Lville and a lot of folks questioned why the hell we recruited him in the first place. That was another Jancek special. Pardon me for not getting worried about losing a kid that JJ wanted. His eye for LB talent was a joke.
The one that bothered me was Rogers. The others...like you said I think it was a function of trying to recruit with 1/3 the staff missing...and our top recruiter (Garner) hanging in the wind for a month.
Clarification...
The one that bothered me was Da'Rick Rogers. Not Dean Rogers.
picking up the DL kid from Stephenson was a nice late boost from what I can tell. Superstar class? No. Solid? Yep.
I admit I follow this closely while at the same trying to keep it in perspective.
I really enjoy reading the posts that calls a person a future felon or a bum just because he signs with someone other than UGA.
There is something akin to child pornography in this whole recruiting thing.
Dubbayoo, I am sure DeAngelo Tyson will appreciate your comment.
Fellas,
I hope I'm dead wrong but the lack of offensive weapons I see it this incoming class is very concerning. Sure I know we got a lot of talent on the o-side right now, but the future is fast approaching. Anyway the Dawgvent is only good for provoking UGA fans to fight one another and Rogers will be pumping gas at UT b/f to long!
All I have to say is: We had Stafford and Moreno and did not win an SEC championship. I understand wanting to get the best players and I know it is important, but I am not crying about Rogers or any kid who decides he wants to go somewhere else. We need to get kids who want to play and coach the hell out of em.
hey..did you guys catch that florida gator recruiting class?? looks like the puppies are facing another 4 years of pounding!!
hey..did you guys catch that florida gators recruiting class?? looks like the puppies are facing another 4 years of pounding!!
Anybody know anything about this Lonnie Outlaw kid (with the obvious exception of having the coolest WR name ever)? He is a 6'6 200lb two star WR that signed way late in the day. Was he offered Rogers spot – and if so can he actually play to that level? I hope so, because his size – though less than perfect, is intriguing….
Off topic - Herschel will hurt Jose Canseco!!
http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/02/03/herschel-walker-i-will-hurt-jose-canseco
What can you say....Georgia has a good signing day and still get outdone by Tennessee and Florida. That's the problem with the SEC...the Dawgs would probably be the favorite in the Big-10 or Pac-10. Brutal conference; the rich get richer. Hopefully Richt can rebound this year.
Da'Rick Rogers= Trash. I guess Urban's,"oh i don't feel good, i might resign...no...just some time off...no no I'm back. Come play for me b/c God wants you too" method worked
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