Still swinging & missing on a bigtime 2016 QB recruit

[JHB4UK]

A bunch of time & effort was put into Austin Kendall, lost him to Oklahoma
We offered Logan Byrd late as the Kendall ship was appearing to sail, but he picked UNC-chapel hill
Cole Kelly was a late offer in the last week, yesterday he picked Arkansas

Still waiting on Messiah DeWeaver, former Mich commit. An Ohio kid who Marrow has been recruiting, that's a plus. A minus is that it was pretty clear to everyone including DeWeaver that Kendall was our #1 priority. Last I heard Messiah was gonna pick late in April 22, all recruiting experts think it is Mich St.

Gunner Hoak is another late offer, Ohio Kid. 3 star 5.5 rated kid with MAC and AAC conference offers. No offense to the young man, but not exactly the level of recruit we would need to help us win the SEC East in the future years.

Like I said in another thread on this subject, maybe UK's best hope for landing an elite talented QB would be to shop around for college QB's who are not satisfied with their places on the depth chart after Spring and are looking to transfer. A transfer would sit out 2015 then compete in 2016 for the job.

 

[optimus-blue]

Way overblown at this point . Looks like Hoak will be the guy and he is a great deal better than you portray him but time will tell .

 

[Deeeefense]

I wouldn't dismiss Gunner Hoak too quickly. This guy played in the top HS level in Ohio and put up some extremely impressive numbers. It's very early and I think he will get several P5 offers before it's over. He's a pocket passer that fits Dawson's scheme, and would be a very good pickup for the CATS IMO.

Your idea of seeking a transfer is intriguing, but getting transfers is always a risk, it's like buying a used car, it's on the lot because someone didn't want it any longer.




This post was edited on 4/19 12:14 PM by Deeeefense

 

[KapitalCat]

DeWeaver will end up at MSU.

Define elite? If you're going by star ratings we may not get a 4 star. But a lot of 4 star and 5 star QB's don't work out. Either you trust Dawson's evaluation abilities or you don't. I do.

Hoak can play. You are way underestimating him. Shannon Dawson loves him and that's good enough for me. UK is also in the mix for Tyler Odin from Tennessee. But Hoak fits better with what Dawson wants to do. I hope he commits soon.

 

[Bryguy]

I don't think you can "shop" for a QB that has enrolled at another school. I would say that the NCAA would have something to say about that.

As far as Hoak. A lot of quality 3* QB's around the nation have been good college QB's. Don't let the ratings fool you. If he has the mind of a signal caller, he could do good in the system UK has.

This post was edited on 4/19 10:32 AM by Bryguy

 

[Blue Decade]

Originally posted by JHB4UK:
A bunch of time & effort was put into Austin Kendall, lost him to Oklahoma
We offered Logan Byrd late as the Kendall ship was appearing to sail, but he picked UNC-chapel hill
Cole Kelly was a late offer in the last week, yesterday he picked Arkansas

Still waiting on Messiah DeWeaver, former Mich commit. An Ohio kid who Marrow has been recruiting, that's a plus. A minus is that it was pretty clear to everyone including DeWeaver that Kendall was our #1 priority. Last I heard Messiah was gonna pick late in April 22, all recruiting experts think it is Mich St.

Gunner Hoak is another late offer, Ohio Kid. 3 star 5.5 rated kid with MAC and AAC conference offers. No offense to the young man, but not exactly the level of recruit we would need to help us win the SEC East in the future years.

Like I said in another thread on this subject, maybe UK's best hope for landing an elite talented QB would be to shop around for college QB's who are not satisfied with their places on the depth chart after Spring and are looking to transfer. A transfer would sit out 2015 then compete in 2016 for the job.

Okay. We don't sign every player we recruit. No 1 does. Where is the news?

 

[Vonburns1]

I have to believe that you have not seen Hoak's junior highlights tape. He looks elite to me. And with a name like Gunnar, "well", nuff said.

 

[mrschwump]

deWeaver picks this week and yes, most feel he'd headed to Mich St.

As to how to define elite...I don't know but one would think if a guy's good enough to play at OU, Mich St or UNC he's good enough to play at UK.

 

[Smashcat]

Justin Rowland þ@RowlandRIVALS 2h2 hours ago

Offered QB Gunnar Hoak update. Visiting today ($) https://kentucky.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=1150&tid=212246077&mid=212246077&SID=888&Style=2 …

 

[mrschwump]

On the subject of UK's QB recruiting woes....I'm surprised Dawson apparently does not have an "in" on a QB prospect. I, wrongly I guess, thought he would've.

 

[tdcat]

Hoak completes something like 64% of his passes compared to DeWeaver at 49%. Hoak averages 2.4 yards more per attempt than DeWeaver. Hoak appears to be a far better fit for UK offense than DeWeaver. You shouldn't sell him short.

 

[Hoskins21]

UK is recruiting for a system player. As long as they find and sign a player for their system then it won't matter their star rating.

 

[JDHoss]

Originally posted by mrschwump:

deWeaver picks this week and yes, most feel he'd headed to Mich St.

As to how to define elite...I don't know but one would think if a guy's good enough to play at OU, Mich St or UNC he's good enough to play at UK.

And there's the deal......you really don't know if a QB will pan out or not, regardless of his ranking or where he commits to. Take a look back through the years at the QB rankings and the 4 and 5 star guys. It's stunning the number of those guys that went on to either have very pedestrian careers or just flopped altogether, It's the toughest position in football to evaluate.

 

[mrschwump]

Originally posted by JDHoss:

Originally posted by mrschwump:

deWeaver picks this week and yes, most feel he'd headed to Mich St.

As to how to define elite...I don't know but one would think if a guy's good enough to play at OU, Mich St or UNC he's good enough to play at UK.

And there's the deal......you really don't know if a QB will pan out or not, regardless of his ranking or where he commits to. Take a look back through the years at the QB rankings and the 4 and 5 star guys. It's stunning the number of those guys that went on to either have very pedestrian careers or just flopped altogether, It's the toughest position in football to evaluate.

Don't doubt your point for a minute JD. And I agree ratings and stars are not the end all. But apparently Kendall and deWeaver were UK's top 2 choices for a reason. Not my choice, not yours, not anyone elses on this board. UK's staff. I suspect they thought they could win a lot of games with either of those guys. Maybe they could or maybe they can now find somebody else. Time will tell
This post was edited on 4/19 12:41 PM by mrschwump

 

[Comebakatz3]

I agree with Hoss... it is very hard to predict whether or not a quarterback will pan out

Still, it is a little bit disheartening that this staff has seemingly missed on a lot of their top quarterback targets. This even dates back to last year. I remember that there was a kid from Sindelar was supposed to be a lock to UK according to many on this board, and yet early on in the recruiting process he chose Purdue and stuck with them. The other quarterback everyone said was going to head to UK was Stidham, but by the time summer rolled around no one mentioned him anymore and he ended up picking Baylor in the end. Now, it may have very well been that UK didn't even want these guys. That we saw that we could get better players in the 2016 class and that we didn't need a big time quarterback in 2015. That is very possible. However, with the top targets from this year's class heading to other schools (at least for now) it does not bode well for us. Still, this is recruiting and if we learned anything from last season we should all know that it ain't over until it's over. We've got a long way to go and anything could happen. Here's to the best!

 

[jauk11]

Signing day is almost a year away, lots of things to happen before then. If UK AND our QB improve as much as a lot of us believe they will it could influence a lot of people.

And Hoak sounds like a very good fit to me, but then the 6' 7" guy sounded very intriguing to me.

Oh, wait, he was only a three star.

 

[BlueRaider22]

At this point we are still a team that has yet to register a winning record, led by a green HC with a losing record, and displayed an offense that was very nauseating to watch.

Now, we (as UK fans) can see improvement in how we played from yr one to yr two. We have seen vast improvements in recruiting. But your average out of state QB recruit who doesn't follow UK is only going to see the losses and bad play. So, naturally those QB recruits are hesitant to jump on board. Couple that with the fact that we have a young QB in Towles that many national media tab as having massive potential......and he likely is here for the next 2-3 yrs.

Now, we all would love for us to nail another top QB this yr. And it would be a great benefit given the premium of the position. But given the age of Towles, Barker, and Phillips it's not a 100% critical importance to get an elite prospect.......it's just an important get at this time.

Now, next yr it gets more critical depending on how this yr goes.

 

[vhcat70]

Originally posted by KapitalCat:

Define elite? If you're going by star ratings we may not get a 4 star. But a lot of 4 star and 5 star QB's don't work out. Either you trust Dawson's evaluation abilities or you don't. I do.

Hoak can play. You are way underestimating him. Shannon Dawson loves him and that's good enough for me. UK is also in the mix for Tyler Odin from Tennessee. But Hoak fits better with what Dawson wants to do. I hope he commits soon.

This tends to represent my view. Hoak is on the slim side currently & don't know how much his build will let him add weight. But we likely don't really need him ready till 2017 (as DB's backup) & assuming he a) can get to 215-220# to be able to take some hits, and b) can throw as well as the coaches think, then he turn out pretty well as a 2018-19 starter. Then there is hope a known stud can be captured for 2017 to makeup for any Hoak shortfall.

Perhaps the switch to Dawson from Neal Brown hurt our chances with deWeaver & AK, & if so, they weren't ever likely. And they may not have been likely even with Brown.

Net, I'll be far from disappointed with Hoak. Heard elsewhere he's back visiting UK today.

 

[vhcat70]

Originally posted by mrschwump:

But apparently Kendall and deWeaver were UK's top 2 choices for a reason. Not my choice, not yours, not anyone elses on this board. UK's staff. I suspect they thought they could win a lot of games with either of those guys. Maybe they could or maybe they can now find somebody else. Time will tell

This post was edited on 4/19 12:41 PM by mrschwump

As highly rated as AK is, perhaps UK really wasn't much of a choice for him despite his flirtations. Net, can't fault staff for swinging for the walls & missing imo. They've hit pretty well overall in three+ years of trying. And I wonder how good a fit deWeaver is for Dawson. Just don't know.

 

[RV2]

There are a bunch of QB's that aren't rated 4 or 5 star that play well for their teams each year. Thinking you have to have a 4 or 5 star kid is simply misguided.

 

[ukalumni00]

Originally posted by tdcat:
Hoak completes something like 64% of his passes compared to DeWeaver at 49%. Hoak averages 2.4 yards more per attempt than DeWeaver. Hoak appears to be a far better fit for UK offense than DeWeaver. You shouldn't sell him short.

Folks who have seen Deweaver play and at camps have not been real impressed with his throwing abilities. May turn out to do great at MSU, but if KY can find someone who is an accurate passer, makes good decisions, and a leader of the offense then having a great system QB is really all Hoak needs to be. If he ends up being elite in college, that is icing on the cake.

Too many can't miss QB recruits to name that have failed miserably in college. Driscoll at FL is one on the top of my head.

You find someone with ability and develop them into what you need them to be. May backfire on UK or may not.

 

[Poetax]

Well it looks like all the worrying can stop now. We have our guy.

 

[vhcat70]

Originally posted by ukalumni00:

You find someone with ability and develop them into what you need them to be. May backfire on UK or may not.

That's true of the large majority of recruits.

 

[highlysuspicious]

give me a smart/quick thinker with a decent arm over a guy with an all world arm/athleticism that cant read a defense. imo, all these rankings are skewed towards pure physical attributes and dont measure the intangibles that are most important to the qb position.

 

[SanAntonioCat]

Bottom line, until CMS can develop an elite SEC offensive line. 5-star quarterbacks and running backs aren't signing with UK.

 

[omnivos]

Originally posted by highlysuspicious:
give me a smart/quick thinker with a decent arm over a guy with an all world arm/athleticism that cant read a defense. imo, all these rankings are skewed towards pure physical attributes and dont measure the intangibles that are most important to the qb position.

Sounds like you just described Mike Hartline.

 

[optimus-blue]

Hardline was pretty good his last two years when healthy that's not a insult in my opinion.

 

[TuckyFan]

The folks who get bent about offers should do more homework or place more trust in the guys who have done this a long time and have their jobs on the line. That's just my 2 cents.

 

[UKfan215]

Hoak doesn't have one of those cannon arms. But he certainly seems to have good accuracy and he throws a nice, easy to catch ball. His short and medium passes indeed remind me of Mike Hartline. That said, I think Hoak throws a better deep pass than Hartline. He's not going to lob it as far down the field as Jared Lorenzen, but he's no slouch. Hoak looks like the same type of QB that many air raid teams sign that ultimately go on to rack up impressive passing yardage every year. Most of those guys are also 3 star recruits. So I'm not going to dismiss this kid just because he doesn't have 4 or 5 stars beside his name. It appears he has all the right skills to do well in this offense.

 

[Poetax]

Hoak doesn't have one of those cannon arms. But he certainly seems to have good accuracy and he throws a nice, easy to catch ball. His short and medium passes indeed remind me of Mike Hartline. That said, I think Hoak throws a better deep pass than Hartline. He's not going to lob it as far down the field as Jared Lorenzen, but he's no slouch. Hoak looks like the same type of QB that many air raid teams sign that ultimately go on to rack up impressive passing yardage every year. Most of those guys are also 3 star recruits. So I'm not going to dismiss this kid just because he doesn't have 4 or 5 stars beside his name. It appears he has all the right skills to do well in this offense.

But with his lack of interceptions, it doesn't look like he throws many "bad decision" passes either.