Jamin Davis was recruited in
‘17, redshirted ‘17, played 18, 19 and ‘20, IIRC, then left after his RS and 3 seasons actually played
State of 2024 Recruiting
- Thread starter Rembrandt90
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‘17, redshirted ‘17, played 18, 19 and ‘20, IIRC, then left after his RS and 3 seasons actually played
Jamin Davis was taken in the 2021 NFL draft. So I think you are correct. Good catch.
Davis is yet another example of a very lightly recruited player evaluated, recruited, and developed by Stoops' staff into a draft choice and a solid NFL player. Online player ratings in hs often fail to predict a player's career. Our coaching staff's evaluations are much more telling. Quinton Bohanna, Brandin Echols, and Carrington Valentine turned out to be other good examples. Not to mention Benny Snell, CRod, and Josh Allen.
I’ll never forget the first time I noticed Davis. He was on kickoff coverage in the ‘19 Citrus Bowl, and damn near beat the kick off into the end zone. He looked like a gazelle, but also had that “squared off,” Greek God-like physique.
The next season (Fall of ‘19), Jon Sumrall had some fun with us at the QB Club. He ran like 6, ten second clips back-to-back, asking us to noticed some nuanced bullsh!t, but as the film ran he kept his bright red lazer on Davis.
And Davis was making freak plays, crossing into areas that were not his responsibility, and outrunning his teammates to make the plays.
In one film, he pursued a tackle on the opposite sideline from the hash mark he started on, 40 yards down the field.
A Gazelle!!
Yes he was. And he didn't get drafted. My point was that very few of Stoops' players have left early and been drafted. Every year, some fans opine that this player or that player will leave early for the draft. But it seldom happens. I doubt Dane Key or Barion Brown will leave early. Both are effective SEC receivers. But Key doesn't have an elite NFL carrying tool. Barion does have one (elite speed) but Barion weighs 166# according to UK's roster. Both guys can benefit from four years of SEC football. I believe Deone Walker will leave early, and it won't be shocking if Trevin Wallace also does.
Jamin Davis is a remarkable football story. It is very sad to say this. But if Chris Oats had not gotten sick, we might never have fully known what an exceptional player Davis had become. Every time I think about this, I remember what a great player Oats was, and what a courageous young man Oats is.
Kind of guy and position that our coaches usually develops into a good pro.
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That's the OAD basketball mentality that's pervasive with some on this site. Leaving early for the NBA and leaving early for the NFL are two entirely different things. NFL can't hide you at the end of the bench or in some alphabet league. NFL expects you to play NOW, expects you to help them win NOW. I love Dane Key. He's as tough as nails like his Dad was, has great hands, nice speed but he needs to learn his craft. Let's enjoy his play, not look to push him out the door the way that's done with basketball players here.
Personally, I’m hoping NIL helps keep players from leaving early. No, NIL usually will not equal NFL pay, but a few thousand might relieve some financial distressed decisions.
I think that's right, Hack - you're correct that if a player is a sure-fire high NFL draft pick, NIL won't compare or matter, but if you are in a position to come back and improve your draft status, NIL sure makes that extra year in college more comfy and may provide enough to help your family a bit, if that is a factor.
Think about Wallace's decision - he may go pro after this year and is definitely NFL material, but he could become a much higher draft pick with another year - now with NIL, he could do that with a degree of compensation that might make staying another year more doable.
I also think it will work the same way as long as players continue to be able to take a COVID year, especially in a bad economy and / or a non-friendly hiring situation. A player can stay that extra year and be earning, get to keep playing and stay in the program, and put off a small shot to make it in the NFL, which more likely will be an extra year to put off entering the non-football-playing workforce - and do that with a meaningful amount of financial comfort.
Josaih Hayes, E. Cox, D'Eryk J., Geiger, and Ox come to mind as players that might take that extra year of eligibility - imagine our o-line next year with E. Cox and then without him - that would be a big deal; or Jackson coming back as at the Mike; or the experience and depth at defensive line w/ OX and Hayes; or Geiger running it back one more time with Childress and Lovett. I see the COVID option decisions, and how NIL will impact those for the next two years, as impactful as the NFL draft decisions for our more elite players.
Think about Wallace's decision - he may go pro after this year and is definitely NFL material, but he could become a much higher draft pick with another year - now with NIL, he could do that with a degree of compensation that might make staying another year more doable.
I also think it will work the same way as long as players continue to be able to take a COVID year, especially in a bad economy and / or a non-friendly hiring situation. A player can stay that extra year and be earning, get to keep playing and stay in the program, and put off a small shot to make it in the NFL, which more likely will be an extra year to put off entering the non-football-playing workforce - and do that with a meaningful amount of financial comfort.
Josaih Hayes, E. Cox, D'Eryk J., Geiger, and Ox come to mind as players that might take that extra year of eligibility - imagine our o-line next year with E. Cox and then without him - that would be a big deal; or Jackson coming back as at the Mike; or the experience and depth at defensive line w/ OX and Hayes; or Geiger running it back one more time with Childress and Lovett. I see the COVID option decisions, and how NIL will impact those for the next two years, as impactful as the NFL draft decisions for our more elite players.
Steve Wiltfong, who usually turns out to be correct, has now entered a CB pick for LB prospect Lorenzo Cowan fo UK. Cowan will OV UK for next weekend's UK-EKU game.
That’s good news. Can you post some info about Cowan. (Offers, projections, etc …)
Is it just me, or are we stacking up a bunch of LB’s? Is this a case of a player wanting to commit before another LB’er? (First one commit gets the offer, or will UK continue pursuing Smith?)
Devin Smith is at the top of UK's list at MLB. Some think his film is the best of any player UK is recruiting. Cowan is prob a Sam, so they shouldn't effect each bother. Now that would most likely mean they stop recruiting Bradford. They want the twins and Robinson and only have ao many scholarships.
Cowan is a brother to Tavian Gadson. He doesn't have any known SEC offers and only low level P5 offers.
Robinson looks like a 4-3 DE to me, probably a SDE who could eventually be 275-280 and remain as athletic. Based on some of the workout videos on his Twitter, he's already getting training table type meals and college, perhaps even NFL style weight/calisthenics training and recovery.
TBH, he's probably too lean, but if he desires to be an OLB/Edge rusher, he's in the ballpark.
If we believe he is UK bound, it's an interesting issue. Latest word on the street suggests this is coming down to UK, Pitt, and PA St, with MI and MD possibly also in it if they push.
Robinson has a reputation for eating right and training hard. He has added good weight throughout the last 3 years, and has the frame to add more. Let's guess he is about 6'5" 260#. That looks about right. That is the same size Josh Allen was when he left here. But I seriously doubt Robinson is done getting bigger. Put him in an SEC conditioning program with that long frame and he will be 275-280# before you know it. Whatever the original expectation may have been, It is getting difficult now to imagine that Robinson will not be a defensive lineman at the next level.
UK already holds commitments from LB prospects Elijah Groves, Caleb Redd, Antwan Smith, and Steven Soles. According to the professional prognosticators, LBs Lorenzo Cowan and Devin Smith will probably commit to UK shortly. I have suspicions that Antwan Smith may eventually be developed as an S or nickel, but let's overlook that for now. It's becoming a LB heavy class, with Robinson and Jacob Smith still out there. Jacob Smith is definitely an edge LB. I suspect everyone knows Robinson would start out at DE if he chooses UK.
What are the chances he chooses UK? If they were low, he would not have been in Lexington last weekend. The optics suggest Coach Marrow is still in the thick of it. I continue to believe Robinson is still the most important uncommitted prospect on UK's 2024 recruiting board.
I believe I saw they both rescheduled for the Bama game.
Mikell is going to UK, it's pretty well known and has been for awhile. Of course AU could throw a load of cash at him and change things. He isn't coming to UGA because he is locked in on playing WR, and UGA wants him as a DB. Communication is all but stopped
Pretty well known by whom? Certainly not by Steve Wiltfong, Hugh Freeze, or Josh Heupel.
People in his hometown, UGA's beat writers, all the program insiders. He has zero interest in playing on the defensive side and UGA didn't recruit him as a WR. Of course someone could offer a huge NIL deal and change things, but right now he is a heavy UK lean.
I would like for that to be correct. I don't think it is. Mikell is still looking at a lot of schools and has OVs scheduled to CO, TN, and TX A&M in the next several weeks. As far as it goes, maybe he won't choose GA. He may end up at UK, but I doubt he is close to a decision at this moment.
I would say pretty high. Until he visits elsewhere particularly. The quietness just lends to mystery, but I think that's looking too hard.
We know for sure that Robinson is still interested in UK, because he was just here for a UV on Saturday. We have no idea what his timeframe is for an announcement. I still think this will drag out into the fall. But UK checks a lot of boxes for him. We have one of the top defenses in the SEC, our coaching staff is stable, and we aren't too far from home.
I’m gonna go with Grumpy on this one. The one from Georgia to be specific. Lol.
Dylan Ray was recently placed on scholarship. Today I looked at our current football roster and counted 79 scholarship players, 22 of whom are nominally seniors. Out of the 22 seniors, at least a handful have an option to return in 2024 because of a COVID year. It is expected that Octavious Oxendine and Tanner Bowles will be back next year, and there will probably be more.
Bottom line, we should have around 60-65 returning scholarship players in 2024, but that calculation comes before outbound transfers declare themselves during the next offseason. We don't know how many outbound transfers there will be, but there are always at least a handful of those.
We currently have 16 public commitments to our 2024 recruiting class. For conjecture, let's say Devin Smith and Lorenzo Cowan commit to our class, as is now widely predicted in the industry. And let's say Coach Stoops wants to leave open the option of accepting more inbound transfers during the upcoming offseason (as happens every year). If those assumptions are taken, our class is getting very close to being full. Brian Robinson, Kamron Mikell, Casey Etienne, Rico Scott, Artavius Jones, and the Smith twins are still out there. There is still room in our class for a couple of them, but we are at the point where taking more commitments might tighten up the number of inbound transfers Stoops can subsequently take during the offseason. (In the last cycle, we took eleven inbound scholarship transfers plus Dylan Ray, who is now also on scholarship as discussed earlier.) Of course, much will depend on how many outbound transfers we lose during the offseason.
Bottom line, we should have around 60-65 returning scholarship players in 2024, but that calculation comes before outbound transfers declare themselves during the next offseason. We don't know how many outbound transfers there will be, but there are always at least a handful of those.
We currently have 16 public commitments to our 2024 recruiting class. For conjecture, let's say Devin Smith and Lorenzo Cowan commit to our class, as is now widely predicted in the industry. And let's say Coach Stoops wants to leave open the option of accepting more inbound transfers during the upcoming offseason (as happens every year). If those assumptions are taken, our class is getting very close to being full. Brian Robinson, Kamron Mikell, Casey Etienne, Rico Scott, Artavius Jones, and the Smith twins are still out there. There is still room in our class for a couple of them, but we are at the point where taking more commitments might tighten up the number of inbound transfers Stoops can subsequently take during the offseason. (In the last cycle, we took eleven inbound scholarship transfers plus Dylan Ray, who is now also on scholarship as discussed earlier.) Of course, much will depend on how many outbound transfers we lose during the offseason.
So, to clarify, you are saying Kamron Mikell is a current UK lean? I would like that to be true.
But my problem with this is that Mikell will OV CO, TN, and TX A&M in the next several weeks. Sometimes prospects take visits for fun. But this many upcoming visits strongly suggests he is open to at least some of those schools.
We know some SRs will leave and some guys will transfer. Another poster made reference and I checked it out. Every player on UKs D can return next year. Everyone still at the least has a covid year. I didn't think Geiger or Weaver did but went back and counted and they do. As I said some will leave but it is possible.
Will likely need the following from the portal:
- starting qb
- starting rb
- 1 WR
- multiple offensive linemen
- starting mlb
- dbs
Looks closer to 10 than 5
WE will have to see the HS eecruiting plays out. If they get 5 more commits that will be 21. Looking at the current numbers as they added Ray and Lantner ro scholarships, it is around 79. How many seniors taje their covid year? Every Def player can come back and only Horsey and Cox are super srs. That is my concern with taking 8 guys in the front 7. They won't have more than 5 scholarships for transfers. I know there will be some transfer out, but it may get tight on them
Agree. Increasingly, it looks like we may get Lorenzo Cowan and Devin Smith. BTW, Cowan is Tavion Gadson's younger half-brother. Let's see what Robinson, Mikell, and the Smith brothers decide. On paper, if all these guys were to commit to UK, our 2024 class would increase to 20 commits.
It is a historical fact that we have been losing large numbers of outbound transfers in recent years. That doesn't necessarily mean we will lose a large number this coming offseason. No doubt, some will leave. But as I look at our current roster, I see fewer obvious candidates to leave than I saw last year.
One other thought here. Unfortunately, I agree with Pipesealer that we are going to need another QB and a couple more OTs through the portal for our 2024 roster. So far, I don't see a way around that.
After that, it gets murkier. Can Jamarion Wilcox, DSK, Lavell Wright, and Tovani Mizell handle the RB responsibilities? They possibly could if an additional RB is added in our 2024 class. Can Ben Christman, Tanner Bowles, Dylan Ray, Paul Rodriguez, Grant Bingham, and Austin Ramsey handle the OG duties? Maybe they can, if Christman is healthy and if Bingham and Ramsey make normal progress. Can Dane Key, Barion Brown, Shamar Porter, Ardell Banks, and Hardley Gilmore handle the split receiver duties? They can if Kamron Mikell or Rico Scott is also added to the WR room. We have plenty of slots, including Anthony Brown-Stephens, Dekel Crowdus, Brandon White, and David Washington. We have a ton of young DBs, most of whom haven't seen much action yet. Jordan Lovett, JQ Hardaway, Max Hairston, Jantzen Dunn, Avery Stuart, Jaremiah Anglin, Elijah Reed, Nasir Addison, Ty Bryant, Terhyon Nichols, Quaysheed Scott, and Jiquavious Marshall are going to be solid SEC players. Lovett, Anglin, Bryant, Hardaway, Hairston, Stuart, and Nichols appear to have star potential. IMO the situation in our secondary is in good shape for the future.
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I would expect to lose off the Defense
- Weaver
- Geiger
- Wallace (he looks dynamite)
- I'd lean Hayes will leave as Silver/Dinkins are gaining more and more snaps each game as this year goes
- Guys who are Sr that I would lean come back: Ox, DJackson
I'm sure there will be some transfers as always...but of the main guys in 2 deep....this is how I see us replacing from this year. And that 2024 defense would be maybe better than 2023 if this pans out and guys like Wade, Afari may move to WIll, Fearby/Noah Matthews could make a jump. Stoops can build depth on D like no UK coach has ever dreamed of.
Oxendine will be back.
I doubt Wallace leaves after three years, but he might. That one will be interesting to watch because he is a major difference maker for us. But with Grant Godfrey and possibly Devin Smith in the pipeline, we just keep trucking.
Stoops and Brad White understand you have to play tough, physical defense and control the LOS in the SEC. They are outstanding and relentless evaluators of talent. For example, Khalil Saunders, D'Eryk Jackson, Max Hairston, and Andru Phillips were lightly recruited. They got Zion Childress as a transfer from TX St. Every year, their defensive roster keeps getting better. Our defense will lead our program's rise in the SEC East and our offense will ride their coattails.
If Keyes established himself as quality running back with upside to develop, that would lessen the need for a portal add at that position.
It would. I don't know what to expect from Keyes. After wasting 2022 as a reserve LB at WF, I suspect it will take him at least a while to contribute. That's another interesting story to watch though.
Another interesting thing to watch is whether Stoops can lure a second RB into our 2024 class. They would like to flip Jason Patterson from UC and maybe they are talking with others we don't know about yet. Brandon Hood (McDonough, GA) is thought to be an AU lean but still hasn't taken a campus visit yet.
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Keyes is a '23 recruit. '22 he was in HS
Rem is probably right that his detour to WF is a setback in his development, but I loved his RB film and was really disappointed when he committed to Wisc
You are correct. Thanks.
I still don't know what to expect from Keyes. But the supposition that his presence lessens the imperative to recruit more RBs (or take another from the portal) makes some sense.
There is no way to know what to expect. Nothing bad but the staff made him a PWO, instead of a scholarship for a reason. Also Bouleware did not recruit, the 1st time around and after wisc dropped him UK did not seem to try and get back in
I could be wrong but i don't think he was an EE. So at the most he was there 1-2 months b4 leaving.
Exactly..they days if scrambling around finding Toledo caliber players are over!
