Saturday, May 22, 2010

Your Opinion Matters!


What is Your Opinion about what has happened this past week in Recruiting?

11 comments:

  1. I must first say that my opinions at this point are steeped in ignorance and greatly mitigated by my deep trust in the judgment of Joker and his staff. That having been said, I am surprised, confused and generally under-whelmed.

    We are getting commits from guys we have never heard of with less than impressive measureables at positions that do not seem to be great areas of need.

    I thought we had precious few rides to offer this year, serious needs along both lines and a firm desire to upgrade the level of kid that we were pursuing. The WRs we are picking up either lack speed (4.6?) or experience (the one has only been playing a few years), and the reports on the size and speed of the QB out of NO are all over the board. They vary so wildly that it almost makes me wonder if ANYONE has seen the kid in person, let alone actually seen him play.

    I realize UK has made a living out of discovering and developing hidden gems and I am hoping and trusting that these guys will continue that tradition. I hope they all contribute and some even become All-SEC. And they may.

    But right now -- today -- May 21st -- I am confused and a little bit nervous.

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  2. I understand you feelings. I too was blown out of the water with the commitment of Cobbins. I never heard of him and the staff never announced the signing of his teammate in March.

    I expect the Cats to sign around 20 players in the 2011 class. We knew the Cats wanted to take a QB (they have two now) and put a big emphasis on signing 2 receivers, 2-3 offensive and defensive lineman each. So far they have one OL (Miller) and one, maybe two receivers (Cannon and Thomas). Trust me when I say Cannon can play. He is very underrated and the Cats are still pursuing several other top rated WR's. Josh Forrest will play TE in college. Thomas could play safety at the next level and a lot of people feel his commitment is soft.

    Everyone must trust the coaches on the Cobbins commitment. Turner initiated the recruitment and Martin closed the deal. Also, no offers are made without Joker's approval. It appears Cobbins is 6'0-6'1. He is a great athlete and could play a variety of positions if the QB positon doesn't work out. Martin is recruiting Louisiana, South Carolina and Georgia hard.

    I'm with you, the Cats need to turn up the heat and get some big boys commmitted to address the team's needs. Remember, Raymond Sanders committed in August and was not ranked by the major services. He was a tenth of a point from becoming a 4-star recruit. Gotta have faith!

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  3. That kid ratliff is a dam good player and he has great size and real good speed so give these kids a shot before some of fans shoot them down alot of schools was afthere ratliff but was not cleard by the NCAA intill late but we got a good one and him i THANK

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  4. I just don't like the size and lack of a defined position of so many guys we have recruited last year and now with this class. Just how many quarterbacks/tight end/wide reciver/safety's are we going to sign? Brause in the 2010 class, where is he gonna play? Tyler Robinson? And now add in mystery position players Cobbins and Forrest in the '11 class. Please Joker, no more committments from guys at or under 200 lbs. BIG MEN ON BOTH THE O LINE AND D LINE PLEASE.

    Seriously, when was the last committment from a defensive tackle for UK? McAdoo is going to O line if he is eligible to enroll. Laughlin I guess. This staff needs to identify some beef for both lines and get commits, and pronto!

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  5. I think the last "Anonymous" kind of nailed it. We are recruiting lots of great athletes -- strong, athletic kids who cab run -- TE, DE, FB types of kids. A certain number of those kinds of kids are great to have around. But, eventually you run out of places to play them.

    What we are not recruiting very well are skilled kids at defined positions. Its nice to get a 6'2" kid with a great build and good speed and then say, "He could play TE or LB or even grow into a DE." But its even nicer to get kids who have played certain positions, know those positions and have the bodies and mindsets to continue to develop into those positions. THAT is what we have not done very well.

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  6. Well said but ratliff played running back at some point i was told and a lil bit DE so i don't know but it was said this joker first year give him a chance

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  7. Ratliff sounds like a beat. If he runs a legit 4.6 forty with his size, he could make a good FB or LB or possibly a SS.

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  8. I know for sure he runs easy a 4.5 4.6 aaron

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  9. Other than Zach West do any of the the other OL offers seem like they are a UK lean? Also I keep hearing alot of stuff about Zack Templin from East Jessamine, is the staff close to offering him? We need some meat and strength on the OL and these two have it.

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  10. I just sent out a tweet on West. He told me he is taking a bunch of visits over the next couple of weeks. I think West is a little overwhelmed with the attention and wants to make sure he makes the right decision. In the end, I think he picks UK or UofL. Coach Strong and his staff are doing a great job of recruiting him.

    Zack Templin doesn't hold any offers. Coach Summers informed him they were still evaluating him. He is very strong and would commit to UK if they offer. The staff wants to sign three OL and they have one. They are still recruiting Nick Martin, Tarik Cook, Mitch Smothers and a few more. I think Zack could receive an offer, but it depends on the guys ahead of him right now. He is a very good person.

    I think Martin goes to Notre Dame or Kentucky. I think Tarik Cook could certainly end up at UK. If the staff offers Cody Robinson, he could be a Cat. His dad played with Randy Sanders and he camped at UK last year, visited for Junior Day and will camp at UK next weekend again. He has interest. Robinson is a beast! One of the strongest players I have interviewed.

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  11. Aaron,

    Just a note, but I was able to see Forrest play in a basketball game this past year and there is NO WAY he is 220 pounds. 200 might even be a stretch, but 185-190 is about right. There is absolutely no chance of him playing TE is the SEC at that size, and I think he would be better flexed out as a slot receiver. He is fast enough to play receiver, and despite his height, it looked like he was actually running the point for his team in the sweet sixteen. I know he's an under-the-radar kinda guy that you may not have a ton of access to in SC.

    Great site BTW!

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