Originally posted by dyersburgcatfan:
I like the fact that we are improving on the D side of the ball. It looks like we have gotten some real playmakers in the defensive secondary, if they develop. It always helps to have some speed, height, and aggressiveness, along with football instinct back there, and I think we picked up some of that today.
I like the fact that the coaches have not come across as discouraged or disheartened by the decommits (and they probably have been), but they continued to work hard and found us, what appear to be, some pretty good possibilities.
Here's what I don't like...or at least what I wish. I wish we could have gotten at least one really outstanding recruit who has that magnetic personality that screams, "I am a leader, come follow me." Maybe one will emerge from this bunch, but I didn't really see it. These are the ones who make other players play with more desire, more passion, and create excitement. They are like on-the-field coaches.
I also know that offense and defense both start in the trenches. We got a couple big boys, but I'm not sure we got enough talent on OL and DL. Patrick needs time to go through his reads; RBs need holes to run through, and we don't need our secondary having to run up and make tackles all the time 7 & 8 yrds from the LOS.
I agree with most your points. I think we got some solid offensive linemen. They won't make an immediate impact, but we have enough big uglies that they can redshirt. Would have liked to have seen more help on the DL. Kengera looks like he could be a beast and it is outstanding to see Alvonte Bell make his way back into the fold. We will need some immediate help at defensive end after losing Dupree and Smith. Bell, Ware, Dubose, Tubman, Kengera, Huenigan, Hatcher, and Johnson look to fill that role, but none of them have really stepped up as game changers. We lost one DT to graduation, and Miggins looks to fill that role. Not sure what we got with him, but hopefully he can really step it up. Ohh, and I forgot about Allen... he could be a defensive lineman as well, but he'll need time to learn and develop.
I'm really happy with the fact that we addressed linebackers with Eli Brown and Courtney Love. They have some competition with Flanigan, Frios, Walker, Henderson, Forrest, and Hendrix. A lot of new faces there mixed with some old blood. Looks like the talent is there to do better. Also really excited about tight end. We need immediate help there and Conrad can provide that. Hart will be good, but he will have to sit another year before making an impact. Long will be the other guy that gets snaps there. Should be much improved from last year IMO.
What I don't like are some of the skill positions. With the loss of both Heard and Clemons we're left with Kemp, Williams, and Horton at running back. That should be enough, but I'd like to see us try to redshirt some guys and then only use them if we really have to. Running back was extremely deep last year, but might be pretty light this year. We added King to this mix, but I just don't see him as being enough. He could develop into something very good, but I'd rather see some kids up in the 200-210 pound range in our backfield. We could really use a late signee to help us here.
The wide receivers seem to be all right, but none of them really jump out at me as being stars, which is something I think we've been lacking. Greenwood looks to be the best of the three, and I am glad to have him. I also like the size of our guys, which we lacked last year. However, Jackson (assuming he doesn't play DB) and Gosier are ranked lower than all but one of the wideouts we signed last year.
Defensive backs have their positives and negatives. We missed on the huge player Marcus Lewis and the two four star Dowell brothers. They could have made our defensive backfield exceptional in the future. We did get a lot of bodies though, and it is great they have a lot of size. Walker looks to be the real deal, but I'm not sure any of them are really going to be that corner of the future that we desperately need.
Would have also liked to see us get one more quarterback. Early in the year we seemed to be high on Jarrett Stidham who turned out to be a 5 star guy, and also on the kid from Kentucky (name escapes me). Now we'll have just 3 scholarship quarterbacks on the roster with Smith leaving, so depth could be an issue.
Overall, as I have said, I think it is a pretty solid class. Doesn't have quite the pop of the last two, but there is some quality talent there. A lot of it will have to develop and that is fine, considering a lot of our talent is in the upcoming junior and sophomore classes. A few guys really need to contribute early and they may be key to the success of this class overall.
