2018 Recruiting - Football

He is a transfer not a recruit. He shouldn't count in the recruiting rankings If he were a juco that would be one thing, but he comes from a FBS program same as Texas.

Still if I were to rank him against recruits, I'd definitely give him 5'stars. He has proven he is one of the best in college football.

I love the thought of getting him and a healthy Patrick Hudson back. Couple that with all the guys who got good experience last year and this should be a much improved line.

The real thing I'm going to look for this spring is the improvement of Derek Kerstetter, and what Sam Cosmi can do.

Going off of last year and what is happening this off season, I'd rank our best starting 5 to be.
LT - Calvin Anderson
LG - Denziel Okafor
C - Derek Kerstetter
RG - Patrick Hudson
RT - Sam Cosmi

Second Team
LT Elijah Rodriguez
LG Patrick Vahe
C Zack Shackleford
RG Mike Grandy
RT JP Urquidez

Realistically, that is about 9 guys you can count on in the two deep. I'm still very unsure about Tope Imade and where he fits in.

Going into next year if we can avoid the injuries we had last year I think we could actually redshirt almost all our incoming freshmen.

If we can get another grad transfer that would seal the deal for redshirting all our freshmen.

 

Interesting! What is your reasoning of Kerstetter over Shack and Okafor ahead of Vahe?

 

Going into the spring this time last year Kerstetter weighed 285 lbs. Played the season at 270lbs. This year he started spring at 305lbs. That extra weight will help him.

 

This is a grad transfer WR from Wake Forest
Last season, he led Wake Forest with 53 receptions for 683 yards and 7 touchdowns
Answer at the slot????
He likes us, sees the opening

 

Me too
Except I want Grandy to take LG. I think most coaches would tend to put the senior LG back in there but my hope is that the new OL coach did some serious film study of his new players and, if he did, then he had to conclude LG should be open
And Hudson too, for me at least, is more of a hope than a conviction. Just stay healthy is job one. A healthy Hudson with Kerstetter's motor would be something

How long has it been since we were feeling good about the OL?

 

Daniel Carson

 

That's nice, but he's no Michael Carter.

 

We also had Michigan grad transfer TE Ian Bunting last weekend
https://247sports.com/player/ian-bunting-20395

I am not trying to trick you with this TE designation. Ive read that they are receivers who are big enough to also sort of block a DL or LB.

 

9rs got a steal in the 5th round with him

 

I watched his video the other day. He is made for the slot. He's so quick with great hands. He will help move the chains a lot. Then when he graduates, Jordon Whittington can step right in.

 

One of our 2018 LBs in his first 400 of the season
He is at 222 lbs now

 

Wow, that’s damn impressive

 

OL Junior Angilau is planning to enroll this summer with the rest of the 2018 signees

 

Yes^^^, Byron Hobbs looks like a man among boys. Wow. He seemed to have something left at the finish line, too. Great physical gifts. Can't wait to see this young man on the field.

 

About as long as it's been since I had a good steaming bowl of Wolf Brand chili!

 

That's too long, Pardner!

 

Too long for the OL

Not nearly long enough for Wolf Brand Chili

 

Obviously, you're avoiding the fact that you had a big, thick one. Lol

 

Ex-Cal RB and grad transfer Tre Watson will make UOV to Texas this weekend

 

soft hands for a RB. seems to do most of his damage outside the tackles.

 

“I’m definitely excited to get there this week. Playing against them in the past years, Texas was by far the loudest stadium I’ve played at. I’m excited to see the other side, get that experience, see the opportunity that’s there. The coaches are saying the running back room is young, they need some experience, so I’m looking to see that at the spring game.

Being a grad transfer, I have one year to really come in and prove myself. It’s all about where I feel I can come in and make an impact early, be able to set myself up for the future. I’ve been a part of college football for a long time. I’m looking to take it to the next level.”

This year, I’m bringing it all. This is my last year. I’ve been now for my vision and hands. I want to show people I can play any type of game. I was excited about this opportunity. I get to leave The Pac (12), go into the Big 12, the SEC, compete against all calibers, all levels of football.

I feel like any program recruiting a graduate transfer with one year, they definitely plan on him coming in, impacting things early. They haven’t told me a spot is mine, but I think I definitely have the opportunity to win that spot.

I just have to evaluate, see what’s going to fit me the best. I’m looking realistically for offensive linemen, the offense, and culture. I’m trying to play big-time football at this point of my career. Those are the aspects I’m looking for.”​

 

I certainly don't want this kid to come in and play. I think that would be deflating and disruptive. Our present RBs have been working their butts off to be able to play then someone transfers and takes their place. I don't like it personally. But it is a dog eats dog world.
Upon further reflection if he comes in the fall and earns a starting spot maybe that's not so bad.

 

It's a fair point.
I take this interest as a sure sign the coaches think we can win this season. I would like to have seen more of it last season. We will see what comes of it, if anything.

 

Understand, but the RB's were nothing last season and are down to one or two now due to injuries. Yes, there will be help coming in the summer, but if it comes down to a true freshman v. a grad transfer to start the season the better money is on the grad transfer.

 

we accept transfers gladly. you think our OLs aren't working their butts off? you think our LBs weren't working their butts off last year when GJ came? you think upperclassmen aren't working their butts off when the freshmen come in?

we want the best at Texas. We take them as freshmen, juco transfers, or grad transfers. if they want to work THEIR butts off, they're one of us.

 

The grad transfer game is going to force people to change how they feel about accepting the "outsider" over the kids brought up in the program. Until the NCAA steps in and says "yeah this was probably a little bit of an overreaction to a nonexistent problem," I think we need to take full advantage of guys who provide immediate spark instead of waiting for kids that were recruited from the age of 15 to make significant strides.

I'm tired of seeing teams go from .500 to 10-win teams overnight while we languish. If this is a cog in the gears that helps us get back to that point, then I'm all for it. It's not like we couldn't bench him if he wasn't performing well.

 

This^^^

 

Word is that we are in good shape with Cal grad transfer RB Tre Watson
With Anderson here

 

It's interesting to see how things play out. From DandyDon.com after the LSU scrimmage:

"Though these scrimmages aren’t designed to showcase the defense as much as the offense, K’Lavon Chiasson made a living in the backfield, rushing Myles Brennan’s blindside. Orgeron said after the game that he would have probably had five sacks in live competition. We see this as both a credit to Chaisson and a confirmation of what we wrote about Badara Traore (the JUCO left tackle who was all the rage on Signing Day) not necessarily being the caliber of player who can beat out Austin Deculus for the starting job. As expected, Deculus did not play yesterday."