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BREAKING: Jakai Clark Commits To Miami

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BoxingRobes said:
I like this one. His film is good. Has some nasty to him.

Upside depends on getting in shape, etc., but not a bad backup from Eguakun. There isn't much of a drop off there. I'd take an iOL class of Clark and Maurice Smith and think we at least salvaged the offensive interior class.

Unfortunately, still, getting a bunch of 3* at a position that really needs high end talent, isn't ideal...but I am trying to find a silver lining. Individually, cool, he's a nice prospect. But I don't - in a perfect world - want a class full of these late 3* evals.
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3 stars are the norm when you target true centers. There are only 3 blue chip centers in the entire country. This guy is ranked 14 at that position.
 
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This is the type of center you build your O-line around for a cohesive unit , I'm impressed by this beast a couple more like this we'll be fine.
 
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Cuban-Cane said:
3 stars are the norm when you target true centers. There are only 3 blue chip centers in the entire country. This guy is ranked 14 at that position.
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I understand that.

You're missing the forest for the trees.

Its about Blue Chip Ratio...if you can't accept that, we have nothing to talk about. I'm a believer and the data backs it up. If you're more holistic...thats on you.

As for Jakai Clark...I am more of the belief that he will end up a guard. He seems like a bit of a brute on film and looks like a better guard prospect, to me.
 
BoxingRobes said:
I understand that.

You're missing the forest for the trees.

Its about Blue Chip Ratio...if you can't accept that, we have nothing to talk about. I'm a believer and the data backs it up. If you're more holistic...thats on you.

As for Jakai Clark...I am more of the belief that he will end up a guard. He seems like a bit of a brute on film and looks like a better guard prospect, to me.
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You obviously did not pay attention. In looking for a center, only 3 schools in the entire country will get a blue chip.
 
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BoxingRobes said:
I understand that.

You're missing the forest for the trees.

Its about Blue Chip Ratio...if you can't accept that, we have nothing to talk about. I'm a believer and the data backs it up. If you're more holistic...thats on you.

As for Jakai Clark...I am more of the belief that he will end up a guard. He seems like a bit of a brute on film and looks like a better guard prospect, to me.
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Especially if Gaynor handles the center spot
 
BoxingRobes said:
I understand that.

You're missing the forest for the trees.

Its about Blue Chip Ratio...if you can't accept that, we have nothing to talk about. I'm a believer and the data backs it up. If you're more holistic...thats on you.

As for Jakai Clark...I am more of the belief that he will end up a guard. He seems like a bit of a brute on film and looks like a better guard prospect, to me.
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Only 4 Centers and 14 Guards in this entire class rated a 4 or 5 star prospect
 
Cuban-Cane said:
You obviously did not pay attention. In looking for a center, only 3 schools in the entire country will get a blue chip.
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And that is why I said - since you weren't paying attention - its cool to get a Jakai Clark, but you can't have a class full of 3* either...and that is the direction our OL class is headed. It was commentary not necessarily about Clark in a bubble, its about the state of OL recruiting. Eguakun (3*) --> Clark (3*) is fine. Tarquin (4*) to ??? (3*?) is not. Evan Neal (5*) to ??? (3*) is not.

Also, three bluechip C prospects seems about right. Center isn't a position ripe with ready made projectable talent. Its a position that often needs lots of grooming and development.
 
BoxingRobes said:
And that is why I said - since you weren't paying attention - its cool to get a Jakai Clark, but you can't have a class full of 3* either...and that is the direction our OL class is headed. It was commentary not necessarily about Clark in a bubble, its about the state of OL recruiting. Eguakun (3*) --> Clark (3*) is fine. Tarquin (4*) to ??? (3*?) is not. Evan Neal (5*) to ??? (3*) is not.

Also, three bluechip C prospects seems about right. Center isn't a position ripe with ready made projectable talent. Its a position that often needs lots of grooming and development.
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I agree with what your saying in a way and data does back up high blue chip ratios leading to wins but you cant seriously watch Tarquin's(4*) tape and say a guy like Darius Washington(3*) is not better. Sometimes you gotta use your own eyes.
 
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Just checked about 15 starting centers in the NFL. The highest ranked one was Linder who was a four star and 132 nationally in HS. The rest were three and two stars and 500 or above nationally.
Maybe later I do every NFL team but point is stop getting caught up in rankings.
 
puertorricane said:
Just checked about 15 starting centers in the NFL. The highest ranked one was Linder who was a four star and 132 nationally in HS. The rest were three and two stars and 500 or above nationally.
Maybe later I do every NFL team but point is stop getting caught up in rankings.
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OL is among the most difficult to evaluate, which is why you see the NFL consist of 2/3 stars from HS. Kids will end up growing more, or some have peaked in HS, etc...
 
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puertorricane said:
Just checked about 15 starting centers in the NFL. The highest ranked one was Linder who was a four star and 132 nationally in HS. The rest were three and two stars and 500 or above nationally.
Maybe later I do every NFL team but point is stop getting caught up in rankings.
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Centers are rarely ever ranked high out of highschool. If you are a 5 star center you can probably learn to play tackle because you must be athletic enough to get that ranking. So why not slide to where the money is?
 
orange&green84 said:
OL is among the most difficult to evaluate, which is why you see the NFL consist of 2/3 stars from HS. Kids will end up growing more, or some have peaked in HS, etc...
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Very difficult. Many just get by on size/strength. So much goes into playing oline.....feet, bend, anchor, balance, hand strength and placement, smarts (both ability to learn and see it on the field), repetitive technique, demeanor, etc.

When i watch highlights reels of some guys, i laugh bc many of the "pancake" blocks are takedowns that would get flagged in college. Some of them develop terrible habits in high school reaching/twisting with stationary feet.
 
PSU Cane said:
Very difficult. Many just get by on size/strength. So much goes into playing oline.....feet, bend, anchor, balance, hand strength and placement, smarts (both ability to learn and see it on the field), repetitive technique, demeanor, etc.

When i watch highlights reels of some guys, i laugh bc many of the "pancake" blocks are takedowns that would get flagged in college. Some of them develop terrible habits in high school reaching/twisting with stationary feet.
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In hi-school they get by with pretty much only using their upper body. In college, they will probably need their legs over their upper body more than 50% of the time.
 
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Been saying it for years, but stars at OL are generally a giant crap shoot. Aside from the super-blue-chip OTs like Pace and Ogden and giant athletic freaks like that, it’s total guesswork by the star guys.

Centers and Guards are incredibly hard to project, which is why you need a great evaluator/developer at OL Coach, and it’s also why I put a gigantic premium at smarts, toughness, nastiness and overall character at OC and OG.
 
You can count on one hand how many kids per year are prospects that you are very confident will be a hit and most times they had great coaching beforehand like Clark so that's what has me optimistic
 
Torocane said:
Congrats and welcome on board.
Would love to see what Gogeta thinks of him.
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Player Comparison: Harland Gunn
Gunn came in at like 6'2 300. Grinded and ended up having a good career here. Gunn was a nasty f*cker in the run game too

Kid mixes it up. I love the commitment for the simple fact he is a true center. Thats what he plays and he is already proficient there. Alot of college centers are kids that played tackle or other psots at their high school.

Impressions: On his hudl. The play at : 15 seconds really impresses me and shows his ability. He snaps the ball and does a peel back block that is devastating. At :40 seconds he snaps and zone blocks. He pancakes the guy. He plays at a power house program that plays good talent and FINISHES blocks which i love.

I love the pick up actually..at worst kid is our back up center for 4 years...and helps us out at Grayson. Also this is akid that likely mixes it up with Nesta and the crew. We have a lot of softies on the line...need to bring it guys that wanna fight people on the ol
 
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What I like about him that we don’t get out of most of our linemen is he finds work like the play at 51 secs. If he is not blocking now one he finds a man and levels him! Great find now let’s get more.
 
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