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Observations after a week of practice

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HurricanesR1 said:
Lots of Lofton hype. Where is he going to make an impact? Receiving, blocking, carrying, etc?

Last year he was the Rueben Bain of 2024 but didn't see it on the field. The hype has carried over to 2025, so I'm just wondering where he's going to line up and make an impact.

This isn't a troll post - just an honest question.
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Lofton is going to make an impact in all three of those things you listed, do you know why, it’s because he’s a half back. And that’s what a half back does. He runs the ball like a tailback, he blocks like a tight end, and he routes people up like a wide receiver. I don’t know how many times people need to hear this, he is a half back! do people even know what that position is anymore? SMH
 
grover said:
I don’t like counting purely on unproven guys. Too much risk. Make them win the starting spot against better competition. If we think Wes, Chase and Aldermen are ACCCG LBs then fine. If we exit Spring ball with questions there, then you must bring in another top quality LB. I’d have started back channeling in November for one.
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I don’t think you need to worry about this because, in the spring, we will be bringing in another linebacker, along with another wide receiver. Those two positions are almost guaranteed to be brought in via the spring portal.
 
GojiraCane said:
And that is the weakness. We could be FSU is Beck can’t go. Quarterback is the one area in high school recruiting that Mario hasn’t done well in.

2023: No blue chip (lost Rashada to ludicrous NIL deal)
2024: No blue chip
2025: Nickel

One blue chip player in three cycles.
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I agree with this and that’s why we’ve gotten the number one quarterback out of the portal two straight years. This would’ve been a huge issue pre-portal but it’s not anymore. Emery and Judd are simply just depth pieces. Nickel and the kid next year both have the ability to start and win here. So at least Mario is getting better at the high school quarterback recruiting.
 
Dwinstitles said:
Bryant had a LB body but was too slow IMO, he's a bust IMO. Too small and slow for DE as well, may transfer eventually or be here awhile like a Chase Smith. He is basically a depth piece and younger guys will pass him on the roster. That was a miss by the staff, it happens all the time even in the NFL draft.
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How could this guy be a bust when he is who he was coming out of hs? Could your star ***** eyes not see that he was a Good pass rusher and didn’t play well in space as a lb?
It wasn’t a miss by the staff, they were just trying to improve your eyesight and show you the 247 Stars, even if they didn’t fit what we do.
Also, we need depth pieces that can produce 1.5 sacks as reserve as a “undersized” redshirt freshman and be a special teams contributor.
You’ve been identified as a part of the cesspool fanboys.
Good luck my friend
 
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NicKane said:
I agree with this and that’s why we’ve gotten the number one quarterback out of the portal two straight years. This would’ve been a huge issue pre-portal but it’s not anymore. Emery and Judd are simply just depth pieces. Nickel and the kid next year both have the ability to start and win here. So at least Mario is getting better at the high school quarterback recruiting.
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I have a different take on this. At first, I was 100% in agreement @DMoney with going the portal route when high schoolers like Manning and Iamaleva were getting 2M a year in NIL out of high school, even Rashada was promised close to that by UF. And it was clear most of the playoff teams were winning with transfers.

However, the reality is that the portal is too much of a crap shoot. We lucked out with Ward and Beck. Ward declared for the draft and only decided to return to college a few days before the cutoff. We would have been going with Poff if he had gone the other way. And we also lucked out with Beck who was in a serious relationship with Hannah Cavinder. In both cases, there were only a small number of other transfer options available that were playoff caliber and we weren't the top destination for them. Meanwhile, the price of those transfers will keep going up while the price of the top HS NFL QBs is flattening if not returning to Earth.

All that said, I love what we're doing with QB recruitment under Dawson. Nickel and Coleman are legit. Dawson was in on them when they were 3 stars, so that guy knows his QBs. As long as he's our OC/QB coach, I believe we'll be good with HS QB recruiting going forward.
 
We're extremely talented at every position right now minus LB.

At most positions we have kids that everybody wanted. DE is absolutely loaded with freaks. DT has some studs. We're long and athletic as **** in the secondary. OL is one of the best units in the country. The top-2 RB's are guys that everybody wanted. WR room is young but athletic. Still need a burner there but we should be fine, especially with Lofton supplementing some of the workload.

We need to get longer and more athletic at LB in my opinion. At the very least, we need a guy like that playing the LB spot that lines up to the field. (don't know what Hetherman calls that position, could be Mike) You can hide a less athletic LB to the boundary. I think Pruitt is the guy that should play the LB spot to the field.
 
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Coach Macho said:
We're extremely talented at every position right now minus LB.

At most positions we have kids that everybody wanted. DE is absolutely loaded with freaks. DT has some studs. We're long and athletic as **** in the secondary. OL is one of the best units in the country. The top-2 RB's are guys that everybody wanted. WR room is young but athletic. Still need a burner there but we should be fine, especially with Lofton supplementing some of the workload.

We need to get longer and more athletic at LB in my opinion. At the very least, we need a guy like that playing the LB spot that lines up to the field. (don't know what Hetherman calls that position, could be Mike) You can hide a less athletic LB to the boundary. I think Pruitt is the guy that should play the LB spot to the field.
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It's interesting that it's almost universally agreed that LB is the weakest position on the team when 6 months ago many proclaimed that it was one of the most talented. A lot changes in a few months.
 
Coach Macho said:
We need to get longer and more athletic at LB in my opinion. At the very least, we need a guy like that playing the LB spot that lines up to the field. (don't know what Hetherman calls that position, could be Mike) You can hide a less athletic LB to the boundary. I think Pruitt is the guy that should play the LB spot to the field.
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Bobby looked lighter than some Safeties. Is he able to handle that position outside of passing downs?

C A N S said:
It's interesting that it's almost universally agreed that LB is the weakest position on the team when 6 months ago many proclaimed that it was one of the most talented. A lot changes in a few months.
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Hence my argument you cannot rely on projected talent based on high school performance. Nearly all our LBs were Top 300 composite guys and they still aren't reliable enough. ABS -- Always Be Stacking.
 
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C A N S said:
It's interesting that it's almost universally agreed that LB is the weakest position on the team when 6 months ago many proclaimed that it was one of the most talented. A lot changes in a few months.
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I'm one of those. The backer room is not good enough for headed into Year 4. Bar none.

2022 Transition class -- Wesley Bissainthe

2023 First class -- Malik Bryant (Not even playing backer anymore)
Popo Aguirre -- Composite #204 player in America. Officials to Taint, Texas, Bama, and UiF.
Bobby Washington -- 4-star (barely, but was) developmental kid
Marcellius Pulliam -- Transferred to Michigan State

2024 Class -- Adarius Hayes (#123 player on the composite, major offers)
Bobby Pruitt -- composite 3-star kid who was always going to take a year or two to put on the size
Jaylin Alderman -- Nope

2025 Class -- Wiley and Marcelin (You shouldn't be relying on true freshmen to play major snaps for you in Year 4, so these kids are TBD)

Those 2023 and 2024 classes should provide the backbone of your room. But you really only yielded 1 backer in the 2023 class, and he hasn't proven anything yet in 2 years. Maybe he takes the leap, but he hasn't yet

The 2024 class, Pruitt was always going to be AT BEST 2025 before he really makes a major impact, but where is Hayes? When you recruit the #123 kid in the country, you're counting on him to be an impact player in Year 2. It's Year 2 for him. Vamos.

So, all in all, this isn't good enough. BUT, it was never going to be if both Aguirre and Hayes are busts. I'm not saying they are, especially not Hayes, but it's time to go.

If you can line up Bissainthe and then 2 other kids who have talent enough to play at the other schools who were recruiting them, we should be fine. But if Aguirre and Hayes are both below-average, then this is the same concern as many of us had in 2024 with the secondary. And it's on the staff to not have the talent up to par. You can't miss on both your highest ranked backer commits back to back seasons. If you do, you better bring in a portal kid (or two) a **** of a lot better than Jaylin Alderman.
 
I got nothing.
mar10.jpg
 
DadeBaby said:
How could this guy be a bust when he is who he was coming out of hs? Could your star ***** eyes not see that he was a Good pass rusher and didn’t play well in space as a lb?
It wasn’t a miss by the staff, they were just trying to improve your eyesight and show you the 247 Stars, even if they didn’t fit what we do.
Also, we need depth pieces that can produce 1.5 sacks as reserve as a “undersized” redshirt freshman and be a special teams contributor.
You’ve been identified as a part of the cesspool fanboys.
Good luck my friend
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What?
 
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Coach Macho said:
We're extremely talented at every position right now minus LB.

At most positions we have kids that everybody wanted. DE is absolutely loaded with freaks. DT has some studs. We're long and athletic as **** in the secondary. OL is one of the best units in the country. The top-2 RB's are guys that everybody wanted. WR room is young but athletic. Still need a burner there but we should be fine, especially with Lofton supplementing some of the workload.

We need to get longer and more athletic at LB in my opinion. At the very least, we need a guy like that playing the LB spot that lines up to the field. (don't know what Hetherman calls that position, could be Mike) You can hide a less athletic LB to the boundary. I think Pruitt is the guy that should play the LB spot to the field.
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To me feels like Popo is one of the most important players this spring and summer

A kid that was actually wanted by UGA (not just claiming an offer) he needs to step up
 
JHallCanes said:
To me feels like Popo is one of the most important players this spring and summer

A kid that was actually wanted by UGA (not just claiming an offer) he needs to step up
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From a talent recruiting standpoint LB has been recruited well.

Popo-4 star
Hayes-4 star
Pruitt-3 star, but size and position question is why, not ability
Washington-3 star, but maybe most athletic and certainly the fastest LB in the room
Wiley-4 star
Bryant-4 star, was recruited as a LB
Bissanthe-4 star
Smith-4 star


Problem is LB is typically a position that takes little time, it is not easy to pick up. You have to be mentally and physically advanced at that position.

Wes took a big step last season IMO, but the back 7 overall was a mess. I think this year you could see a very productive big season for Wes. 70 plus tackles, 7 TFL, 2 sack, 1 INT type season.

Popo is the key. He was showing some flashes last season then the injury set him back late in season.

He needs to take a step this spring.
 
DadeBaby said:
How could this guy be a bust when he is who he was coming out of hs? Could your star ***** eyes not see that he was a Good pass rusher and didn’t play well in space as a lb?
It wasn’t a miss by the staff, they were just trying to improve your eyesight and show you the 247 Stars, even if they didn’t fit what we do.
Also, we need depth pieces that can produce 1.5 sacks as reserve as a “undersized” redshirt freshman and be a special teams contributor.
You’ve been identified as a part of the cesspool fanboys.
Good luck my friend
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You make an excellent point. Now that I think about it have we been able to successfully convert any undersized rush DE/LB to a full time LB?

Bryant, Mike Smith, Sam Brooks, Avery Huff all come to mind and none panned out with the switch.
 
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gacaneaddict said:
From a talent recruiting standpoint LB has been recruited well.

Popo-4 star
Hayes-4 star
Pruitt-3 star, but size and position question is why, not ability
Washington-3 star, but maybe most athletic and certainly the fastest LB in the room
Wiley-4 star
Bryant-4 star, was recruited as a LB
Bissanthe-4 star
Smith-4 star


Problem is LB is typically a position that takes little time, it is not easy to pick up. You have to be mentally and physically advanced at that position.

Wes took a big step last season IMO, but the back 7 overall was a mess. I think this year you could see a very productive big season for Wes. 70 plus tackles, 7 TFL, 2 sack, 1 INT type season.

Popo is the key. He was showing some flashes last season then the injury set him back late in season.

He needs to take a step this spring.
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On paper Heatherman has more to work with here at Lb than Minnesota

I’ll wait and see how the spring portal goes. I hope we don’t have to hit the portal for an LB at some point these young guys have to step up. They’re getting NIL too

The defense was such a **** show last year it’s tough to even make any judgements about it and we can’t just cut everyone
 
FuriousStyles said:
You make an excellent point. Now that I think about it have we been able to successfully convert any undersized rush DE/LB to a full time LB?

Bryant, Mike Smith, Sam Brooks, Avery Huff all come to mind and none panned out with the switch.
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That’s a difficult “conversion.” Kids that have played DE exclusively in High School don’t typically have the diagnosis skills to magically convert to LB. And they’re not likely to develop those skills at 18 y..o. Much easier to convert a big Safety to play LB (eg Pruitt)
 
Combo said:
That’s a difficult “conversion.” Kids that have played DE exclusively in High School don’t typically have the diagnosis skills to magically convert to LB. And they’re not likely to develop those skills at 18 y..o. Much easier to convert a big Safety to play LB (eg Pruitt)
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The 247 rankings and the fan anticipation combined can create a very toxic situation for everyone including the player. The expectation level is so high when they get on campus and the eligibility clock starts ticking, when it shouldn’t be. If the player was rated based on what he did on tape and the position he did it from, I think more honest conversations would take place about realistic expectations and the development process would have more of a buy in from all parties.
 
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