It's all good. If it did sound like that, I certainly didn't mean for it to. There are a lot of very good football players in small schools, especially in Georgia. That's the only comparison I was trying to make (poorly). Don't know for sure about Taylor, but here's hoping!
Calvin Taylor commits (2015 class)
- Thread starter TriangleUKCat
- Start date
my guess is he will get a year or 2 to try to get a spot on the d-line. if he isn't gonna play there they will move him to offensive tackle. this staff has earned our trust. big guy with athleticism is rare. if you are gonna take flyers on guys... o-line and rb are probably the 2 spots with the most low rated guys playing at high levels, oline being the hardest to predict.
Personally, I am offended by the suggestion that church league ball is inferior. I play in the Unitarian over 70 league and we take this very seriously. Unitarians unite!
I think the staff views a guy like this as high risk/high upside. The odds are he doesn't pan out and if so he will likely be rotated off scholarship by his third year, but OTOH if he develops he could turn into a very good player maybe even an outstanding one.
He has the size and in 2 Years will have the muscle and weight. All that's needed is getting that initial burst off the line which he can be taught with correct technique coaching. I like 6 ft 9 DE because they don't have to tackle the passer just knock it down.
Makes me think of Joe Reitz, who never played college football at all. He went from playing Center in hoops at Western Michigan to the Ravens practice squad, and ended up starting for a while with the Colts.
Anyway, I don't see the problem with taking a few projects. This guys natural size and ability could end up giving us a monster.
Anyway, I don't see the problem with taking a few projects. This guys natural size and ability could end up giving us a monster.
You gotta love Kentucky fans, we sign a complete unknown from a tiny school in Georgia, and someone brings up Herschel Walker.
(That being said, I am on board with this kid, he is clearly a project, but we have the ride available . . . so why not? I would not worry about wasting the scholarship either. There are ways to make room on the roster if things don't work out down the road.)
Way to take things out of context....
This place gets as bad as the rafters sometimes. For those of you who forgot 10 posts into the conversation, he is expected to play DE, not OT. He's raw, but very athletic for a 6'9, 260# player. If I told you guys a few years ago "We're going to get Bud Dupree, a low ranked tight end that's about 6'3, 225-230#, and put him at defensive end because he's pretty athletic", a lot of you would be squawking about the staff burning our scholarships away. We all seen what a big, athletic force can do for us at the DE. Bud was raw, and he physically dominated people at 6'4, 270#. The guy is going to be a freshman, who is much taller than Dupree (which is very useful at the DE), and is a very athletic player (also useful). The athleticism will not go away, and will only improve. He will go from 260# to around 290#, faster, stronger, able to jump higher, more experience than Bud had at DE, thus, more potential to learn some moves to use to his advantage. I don't see a scenario where we will be complaining about this pickup in 4 years.
As I said on another thread, recruiting big, long defensive ends is part of Stoops' plan for transitioning to the 3-4 defense. When you look at all the teams trying to play 3-4, the teams that succeed are the ones with the right personnel to fit the scheme. Finding huge defensive ends and long athletic outside linebackers isn't easy, because everyone wants them nowadays. Our coaches see something in Taylor that tells them he can be developed into a 3-4 defensive end. If he has the feet and the work ethic, you sure can't teach that kind of size.
We definitely need more offensive tackles. It's an important team weakness at this point. I think Taylor was recruited as a project at defensive end for the 3-4. But you are exactly right that offensive tackles have to be a major recruiting priority.
Exactly. We have the ride open. May as well give it to someone with high upside. Doesn't work out? He'll transfer down. Low/no risk. High reward.
In reality, all football signings are high risk. It isn't like basketball where you have to make 13 scholarships count. Lots of football players don't pan out. Watching Aaron Boyd's and Morgan Newton's careers, hard to argue otherwise. Signing Calvin Taylor is not really a high risk move. When a player has the physical tools to play more than 1 position, it increases his chance to be successful. Zipp Duncan didn't succeed as a tight end, but became a great offensive guard. Tommy Cook came to UK as a quarterback. Bud Dupree was signed as a tight end. If they are looking at Calvin Taylor as a 3-4 defensive end, he has that size you can't teach. Give him a redshirt season to see if he can learn how to keep his hands and pads where they need to be. If he can't, then move him over and give him a shot as an offensive tackle. Offensive linemen need more time to develop than any other position, but Taylor had the basic physical tools you need. Going back through history, Omar Smith and Garry Williams were offensive linemen who made all conference after low expectations.
All good points. He reminds me of a Rich Brooks recruit, which definitely isn't a knock. Brooks was excellent at getting athletes on campus, then identifying their position and developing them as football players. This kid fits the same mold. I like the move.
agreed. brooks brought in good football players who were good athletes and just needed to find a home or gain weight... woodyard being example 1A.
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