LB recruiting...again

View as article
Makes perfect sense, two LBs per year, and reaching for 3 when there's an exceptional talent.

This allows them to build depth while avoiding the "bunching" of a position group that caused us problems in the past - i.e. when a position group all graduated and left the cupboard empty forcing coaches to play untested players.

That inability to manage the roster was a key weakness of Shannon and Golden.
 
Advertisement
I think our depth at Lb this year is perfect, its a problem next year if our guys decide to leave early.

Pete, and talk about safetys moving to LB?
Therein lies the rub. None of the LBs should be considering leaving early at this point but we know **** well that doesn’t mean they won’t.

Yeah. I can not imagine any of these LBs in their right mind leaving early...but again, I don't know their financials and situations. From a talent perspective, they need to make a big leap as juniors.
 
I think our depth at Lb this year is perfect, its a problem next year if our guys decide to leave early.

Pete, and talk about safetys moving to LB?
Therein lies the rub. None of the LBs should be considering leaving early at this point but we know **** well that doesn’t mean they won’t.

Yeah. I can not imagine any of these LBs in their right mind leaving early...but again, I don't know their financials and situations. From a talent perspective, they need to make a big leap as juniors.

Shaq 100% could enter early, and it would be a good decision. Obviously, he needs to continue the improvement this year to get drafted top 3 rounds, but I'd say thats pretty likely.

For all 3 of them it really depends how they do this year. Honestly I'd say Mike Pinkney should be the last to declare early, simply because I think he's undersized and probably the least athletic. If Zach McCloud has a great year, he definitely has the athletic ability that would get him drafted in a high enough round to make declaring early not stupid.
 
I think our depth at Lb this year is perfect, its a problem next year if our guys decide to leave early.

Pete, and talk about safetys moving to LB?
Therein lies the rub. None of the LBs should be considering leaving early at this point but we know **** well that doesn’t mean they won’t.

Yeah. I can not imagine any of these LBs in their right mind leaving early...but again, I don't know their financials and situations. From a talent perspective, they need to make a big leap as juniors.

Shaq 100% could enter early, and it would be a good decision. Obviously, he needs to continue the improvement this year to get drafted top 3 rounds, but I'd say thats pretty likely.

For all 3 of them it really depends how they do this year. Honestly I'd say Mike Pinkney should be the last to declare early, simply because I think he's undersized and probably the least athletic. If Zach McCloud has a great year, he definitely has the athletic ability that would get him drafted in a high enough round to make declaring early not stupid.
Shaq has a chance but he doesn’t have the prototype size or speed. 2 more college years and he could be a monster. I expect a huge year from him next year and a look at the NFL.

The other guys aren’t even close, but certainly NFL talent.

I agree though a lot could change because all 3 are POISED for huge seasons.
 
Advertisement
I think our depth at Lb this year is perfect, its a problem next year if our guys decide to leave early.

Pete, and talk about safetys moving to LB?
Therein lies the rub. None of the LBs should be considering leaving early at this point but we know **** well that doesn’t mean they won’t.

Yeah. I can not imagine any of these LBs in their right mind leaving early...but again, I don't know their financials and situations. From a talent perspective, they need to make a big leap as juniors.

Shaq 100% could enter early, and it would be a good decision. Obviously, he needs to continue the improvement this year to get drafted top 3 rounds, but I'd say thats pretty likely.

For all 3 of them it really depends how they do this year. Honestly I'd say Mike Pinkney should be the last to declare early, simply because I think he's undersized and probably the least athletic. If Zach McCloud has a great year, he definitely has the athletic ability that would get him drafted in a high enough round to make declaring early not stupid.
Shaq has a chance but he doesn’t have the prototype size or speed. 2 more college years and he could be a monster. I expect a huge year from him next year and a look at the NFL.

The other guys aren’t even close, but certainly NFL talent.

I agree though a lot could change because all 3 are POISED for huge seasons.

Roquan Smith is 6'1" 225lbs and is about to be a top 15 pick.
Shaq s 6'1" 240lbs.

obviously roquan is faster. But Shaq has the size neccessary. Prototypical size isn't neccessary to declare early or to be a 1st/2nd round pick. Speed is obviously important, but Shaq isn't slow either. especially after losing a little bit of weight for this year.
 
So they're gonna take a 3* camp special project kid in Nigel Bethel at CB.... but they won't take 4*'s Bonnito or Xavier Peters?

Sorry, that's just retarded.
 
For me it's not so much numbers as it is a talent thing.

I get that ratings aren't everything and the coaches are high on these guys - but Wilder, Steed, Jennings, Joyner - they're all rated around #500 or lower nationally.

I think 2 straight years of not landing a player in the Top 400 isn't good (at any position, not just LB).
 
For me it's not so much numbers as it is a talent thing.

I get that ratings aren't everything and the coaches are high on these guys - but Wilder, Steed, Jennings, Joyner - they're all rated around #500 or lower nationally.

I think 2 straight years of not landing a player in the Top 400 isn't good (at any position, not just LB).

This.

But as usual, people on this board over-rate the South Florida 3-stars.
 
Advertisement
Stop the bs about next years class already. Only been following recruiting for 4 years and one thing seems perfectly clear. DONT WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR!!! This is sofla where everyone gets poached and the bags are as heavy as EVERLAST punching bags. Get whoever wants in. 3 deep 4 and 5 stars at all positions and if your not good enough well then welcome to reality. Never gonna win a chip if your worrying about hurting the feelings of next year’s recruiting class. bama next year will want to load of on Lb’s like they want to load up on db’s his year. But we won’t take any more lb’s? Saban and Coley will be making it rain next year with all the lb’s. Rinse and repeat. They ain’t worried about loading up on a posItion.
 
For me it's not so much numbers as it is a talent thing.

I get that ratings aren't everything and the coaches are high on these guys - but Wilder, Steed, Jennings, Joyner - they're all rated around #500 or lower nationally.

I think 2 straight years of not landing a player in the Top 400 isn't good (at any position, not just LB).

no, actually for me its purely a numbers thing.

Steed and Joyner are top level talents imo.
Wilder and Jennings aren't as high, but they can be solid starting LBs on our team or great depth guys/guys that are really nice to have in on the rotation (unlike Charles Perry, Mike Smith, Terry McCray, etc)

For me it literally is purely about the numbers. We absolutely should have taken 2 LBs in this class. Only taking 1 LB in the 2018 class is completely banking on the fact that none of the 3 starters declare early....and thats with assuming we take 3-4 in 2019. I mean if none declare early, then the staff is making an okay decision, but the fact is if they are playing it safe and how they should, wed be getting 2 in this class.
 
Stop the bs about next years class already. Only been following recruiting for 4 years and one thing seems perfectly clear. DONT WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR!!! This is sofla where everyone gets poached and the bags are as heavy as EVERLAST punching bags. Get whoever wants in. 3 deep 4 and 5 stars at all positions and if your not good enough well then welcome to reality. Never gonna win a chip if your worrying about hurting the feelings of next year’s recruiting class. bama next year will want to load of on Lb’s like they want to load up on db’s his year. But we won’t take any more lb’s? Saban and Coley will be making it rain next year with all the lb’s. Rinse and repeat. They ain’t worried about loading up on a posItion.

you need to pay attention to the future classes at all times. Recruiting isn't just a 1 yr plan or a reactionary thing. you gotta plan what the depth chart/roster looks like and what future classes have to offer.

For example loading up with like 6 dbs in the 2017 class would not have been smart, even though we were losing 5 heavy rotation players, making it a position of need.. We had solid depth for the season this year, and the 2018 and 2019 class are absolutely loaded. You gotta plan ahead , and what you needs really are.
 
For me it's not so much numbers as it is a talent thing.

I get that ratings aren't everything and the coaches are high on these guys - but Wilder, Steed, Jennings, Joyner - they're all rated around #500 or lower nationally.

I think 2 straight years of not landing a player in the Top 400 isn't good (at any position, not just LB).

no, actually for me its purely a numbers thing.

Steed and Joyner are top level talents imo.
Wilder and Jennings aren't as high, but they can be solid starting LBs on our team or great depth guys/guys that are really nice to have in on the rotation (unlike Charles Perry, Mike Smith, Terry McCray, etc)

For me it literally is purely about the numbers. We absolutely should have taken 2 LBs in this class. Only taking 1 LB in the 2018 class is completely banking on the fact that none of the 3 starters declare early....and thats with assuming we take 3-4 in 2019. I mean if none declare early, then the staff is making an okay decision, but the fact is if they are playing it safe and how they should, wed be getting 2 in this class.

Steed hasn't played competitive football since puberty, and Joyner is a 3-star.
 
Advertisement
So we wait till 18 to stack like 6-7 db’s only to lose out on the top ones? Look at DT this year and possibly lb next year. We might lose some to injury and the draft and we’re depending on steed and wilder? Not saying they’re not gonna be good but we need to start being sure On the next man up. Wouldn’t it have been nice to have steed and wilder be top 10 in their position instead of worrying if they’ll be fast or big enough. That’s all I’m saying.
 
For me it's not so much numbers as it is a talent thing.

I get that ratings aren't everything and the coaches are high on these guys - but Wilder, Steed, Jennings, Joyner - they're all rated around #500 or lower nationally.

I think 2 straight years of not landing a player in the Top 400 isn't good (at any position, not just LB).

no, actually for me its purely a numbers thing.

Steed and Joyner are top level talents imo.
Wilder and Jennings aren't as high, but they can be solid starting LBs on our team or great depth guys/guys that are really nice to have in on the rotation (unlike Charles Perry, Mike Smith, Terry McCray, etc)

For me it literally is purely about the numbers. We absolutely should have taken 2 LBs in this class. Only taking 1 LB in the 2018 class is completely banking on the fact that none of the 3 starters declare early....and thats with assuming we take 3-4 in 2019. I mean if none declare early, then the staff is making an okay decision, but the fact is if they are playing it safe and how they should, wed be getting 2 in this class.

Steed hasn't played competitive football since puberty, and Joyner is a 3-star.

Stop posting
 
Therein lies the rub. None of the LBs should be considering leaving early at this point but we know **** well that doesn’t mean they won’t.

Yeah. I can not imagine any of these LBs in their right mind leaving early...but again, I don't know their financials and situations. From a talent perspective, they need to make a big leap as juniors.

Shaq 100% could enter early, and it would be a good decision. Obviously, he needs to continue the improvement this year to get drafted top 3 rounds, but I'd say thats pretty likely.

For all 3 of them it really depends how they do this year. Honestly I'd say Mike Pinkney should be the last to declare early, simply because I think he's undersized and probably the least athletic. If Zach McCloud has a great year, he definitely has the athletic ability that would get him drafted in a high enough round to make declaring early not stupid.
Shaq has a chance but he doesn’t have the prototype size or speed. 2 more college years and he could be a monster. I expect a huge year from him next year and a look at the NFL.

The other guys aren’t even close, but certainly NFL talent.

I agree though a lot could change because all 3 are POISED for huge seasons.

Roquan Smith is 6'1" 225lbs and is about to be a top 15 pick.
Shaq s 6'1" 240lbs.

obviously roquan is faster. But Shaq has the size neccessary. Prototypical size isn't neccessary to declare early or to be a 1st/2nd round pick. Speed is obviously important, but Shaq isn't slow either. especially after losing a little bit of weight for this year.
Let’s not get it twisted.

Shaq is by far my favorite player on the team. He’s a machine. Still he needs to take that next step if we are talking NFL but I think he will. Roquan Smith is on another level.
 
Advertisement
For me it's not so much numbers as it is a talent thing.

I get that ratings aren't everything and the coaches are high on these guys - but Wilder, Steed, Jennings, Joyner - they're all rated around #500 or lower nationally.

I think 2 straight years of not landing a player in the Top 400 isn't good (at any position, not just LB).

I'm not sure where Garvin and Joe Jackson were ranked but I don't think they were ranked too high whereas DJ Johnson had a high ranking but surpassed on the depth chart by Garvin, totally debunks your theory and shows that stars and ranking don't mean anything.
 
Last edited:
For me it's not so much numbers as it is a talent thing.

I get that ratings aren't everything and the coaches are high on these guys - but Wilder, Steed, Jennings, Joyner - they're all rated around #500 or lower nationally.

I think 2 straight years of not landing a player in the Top 400 isn't good (at any position, not just LB).

I'm not sure where Garvin and Joe Jackson were ranked but I don't think they were ranked too high whereas DJ Johnson had a high ranking but surpassed on the depth chart by Garvin, totally debunks your theory and shows that stars and ranking don't mean anything.

dont pay some of these people any mind. Joyner was great when he was committed to fsu, now he's just a 3 star. smh
 
For me it's not so much numbers as it is a talent thing.

I get that ratings aren't everything and the coaches are high on these guys - but Wilder, Steed, Jennings, Joyner - they're all rated around #500 or lower nationally.

I think 2 straight years of not landing a player in the Top 400 isn't good (at any position, not just LB).

no, actually for me its purely a numbers thing.

Steed and Joyner are top level talents imo.
Wilder and Jennings aren't as high, but they can be solid starting LBs on our team or great depth guys/guys that are really nice to have in on the rotation (unlike Charles Perry, Mike Smith, Terry McCray, etc)

For me it literally is purely about the numbers. We absolutely should have taken 2 LBs in this class. Only taking 1 LB in the 2018 class is completely banking on the fact that none of the 3 starters declare early....and thats with assuming we take 3-4 in 2019. I mean if none declare early, then the staff is making an okay decision, but the fact is if they are playing it safe and how they should, wed be getting 2 in this class.

Steed hasn't played competitive football since puberty, and Joyner is a 3-star.

Steed, played his whole senior year at Miami Central. Miami Central has arguably one of the toughest districts in high school football in the state of Florida, maybe the country. So when you say since puberty, are you referring to his senior year or are you making this statement based on 247 statistics which does not include his senior year stats?
 
For me it's not so much numbers as it is a talent thing.

I get that ratings aren't everything and the coaches are high on these guys - but Wilder, Steed, Jennings, Joyner - they're all rated around #500 or lower nationally.

I think 2 straight years of not landing a player in the Top 400 isn't good (at any position, not just LB).

I'm not sure where Garvin and Joe Jackson were ranked but I don't think they were ranked too high whereas DJ Johnson had a high ranking but surpassed on the depth chart by Garvin, totally debunks your theory and shows that stars and ranking don't mean anything.

Jackson - 215 National / 16 in FL
Garvin - 265 National / 36 in FL

Wilder - 480 National / 62 in FL (He'll be the highest rated LB in the last 2 years)

There's a big difference in their ratings. And there are always highly rated players like DJ that don't work out, that's why you have to stock up on as many as possible. Losing Bruce/Mullins at WR doesn't hurt when you also have Richards/Thomas.

At almost every position out best players are the ones who were also the highest rated:

WR - Richards/Thomas (both Top 150)
RB - Homer/Dallas (both Top 250)
OL - Donaldson (Top 100)
DL - Willis/Jackson (Top 200)
LB - Shaq (Top 100)
S - Jaquan (Top 200)

Like I said, ratings are not the end all be all. There's just an educated guess, and can be wrong...but they're right more often than they're wrong. To say stars and rankings don't matter at all is absolutely false.
 
Advertisement
Back
Top