Here's the thing. You NEED "depth" kids. We ALWAYS get ourselves in trouble, when we end up unbalanced with recruiting. This is also why I dont look to 2014 or mulitple years down the road on recruiting. We have no idea if we will land Sony OR Cook, much less both, so we cant bet the farm on what is going to happen in 2014. We thought we had Collins in the bag too, and now we may get squat, what happens if Sony and Cook both split next year and we end up with our d8cks in our hands for the second year in a row? That is how Shannon ended up wrecking his roster.
I AM concerned about the scholie numbers. I DO think that Chestnut and Tice are both solid kids who look pretty good on film. If nothing else, I think they can provide some decent depth and maybe even surprise. Mind you this is ALL Contingent on Clements, Dillard and Crawford being JAGs at best. IF these guys are balling, and look like they can step up and contribute next year, then maybe we can skip it. I just get a gut feeling that the staff is not terribly comfortable with Clements, Dillard and Crawford as the stable, otherwise they wouldnt be visiting Williams, and still looking at other RBs. If they felt we had decent depth, they may have just said "Collins or bust", but it doesnt seem that they are, which leads me to think we really need a body in this class. Im also surprised that more people arent willing to take a flier on Tice. Kid looks pretty **** good to me. Apart from that odd running style he has, which could be an issue, he seems as fast and elusive as anybody on the board, and against solid competition too. He would be an easy grab too.
I know you need depth, but we have have 4 guys for next season on the roster. That is depth. Is taking a Plan B true freshman (probably another Clements type) really going to help? Or would you rather keep the spot and add 2-3 studs from the loaded 2014 RB class and be able to tell them "we didn't take anyone last year and we need you."
Duke, Dillard and Crawford are all still really young so I am not concerned about "creating a recruiting hole" in future years with whats in the 2014 pipeline behind them.
You have to keep balance on your roster. What you are saying SOUNDS good in theory, but it never quite works out like that. Again, that is EXACTLY what got Coker and shannon in deep sh*t. They kept waiting for "next year". Remember when Charlie Jones and Bobby Washington were going to be the saviors of the world? We ended up with a hole on the roster, and then to compenate, Coker went out and brought in like 4 guys, the next year, and half left.
If the staff felt comfortable with the depth of Clements, Crawford and Dillard, then they would not be out giving new offers to kids as we speak. The fact that they just offered Barber a few days ago, leads me to believe that they REALLY feel they need at least one big back in THIS class. Otherwise they would just sit back and wait on Collins or hold for next year. The fact that they are going balls out for another back this year does NOT bode well for the quality in the current stable IMO. And Im not bagging on Crawford or Dillard or calling them busts, but the staff obviously doesnt think they are ready to carry the load with Duke. Besides, we heard throughout the season that there has been a lot of talk regarding Dillard as an Hback or FB, and that would make sense as Hagens will be a Senior and we have no one else behind him. Which leave Crawford and Clements, both of which are more in the mold of Duke, smaller faster guys, not bigger between the tackles type runners. We have NO ONE that can really pound it between the tackles to replace James.
