Now that we have identified the freshman class, let the speculation begin. Who will contribute next year? What say you?

i sincerely hope none.

well, let's be honest, shaq, tyler and manti all have a great deal of potential to contribute right away.

we have alot of talent in the soph jr class--- hell we have 13 freshman left from 2008 and 17 more--- wow 30 freshman-- got to like that--- as far as next year--- teo and motta--- and dont be suprised to see tausch beat out burhard at kickoffs-- and maybe turk punting---theo riddick may get a chance to be a return guy----cierre they may keep on the shelf-- maybe stockton by mid year depending on how his conditiong goes--- basically teo yes -- motta yes--- turk and tausch maybe---

I hate to see linemen playing early. I'd rather save a season. Linemen improve / develop the most in the transition between high school and college. I think your big time athletes are able to contribute at an early stage without much of a drop off.

 

With that said I don't hope that we need any of our incoming class to play a lot. I do however hope that Manti, Cierre/Theo, Zeke, and Shaq are just too good to keep off the field.

HW, since you brought up Wood: can anyone explain to/remind me why he fell so far in the recruit rankings? Besides the fact that he chose ND.

HW, since you brought up Wood: can anyone explain to/remind me why he fell so far in the recruit rankings? Besides the fact that he chose ND.

 

I think it was due to not really 'wow'ing anyone at the AA game, I think? I'm fairly certain they ran a lot of single back sets though and Wood claimed to be a lot more comfortable out of I sets.

HW, since you brought up Wood: can anyone explain to/remind me why he fell so far in the recruit rankings? Besides the fact that he chose ND.

 

Wood's fall was warranted. He played at a small school against inferior competition and when he played at camps against people on par with his own skill level, he struggled.

 

He's good, he will be good, but he was not the best running back in the country this year, which was where he started. It happens all the time -- goes just don't play well at camps and they fall.

HW, since you brought up Wood: can anyone explain to/remind me why he fell so far in the recruit rankings? Besides the fact that he chose ND.

 

He had a poor AA bowl week.

Exactly- hope none are needed.

 

As good as Wood is, do you think he will be able to take snaps away from all the guys infront of him? Gray is now in the mix and they can hold him out for a year.

 

As good as Evans is, can he take snaps away like Floyd did last year? I don't know- I don't think so, because you have a n established Tate and Floyd, and Walker is now chomping at the bit.

 

On the O line, are Martin, Watt and Bullard going to crack the 2-deep. Possibly, but start? I don't see it, like with T Rob.

 

On the D line, I could see Stockton fight into the rotation, but he still would have to pass Ian and Newman. I could see him contributing by the endo of the year.

 

To see either Carlo or Manti crack the rotation, they have to go thru Toryan and Brian Smith, plus we haven't seen what MacDonald can do.

 

With Motta and Fox, I do not think they will beat out Fleming, Filer, Neal and Smith

 

The rest of the guys I don't expect to see much time, outside of Special teams.

 

Just my first thoughts. Who knows w the 23 EEs, Motta and Stockton will help there cases quite abit, like TRobb did last year.

Goes, thanks for all the info on Wood.

 

Back on point: I'm going to say it would be nice if Stockton and Te'o could help shore up the middle of our D. And it seems like our O-line always needs help, so either Watt or Martin might provide some support.

 

As far as RB and WR is concerned, we are too deep to see either Evans or Wood. And I think, based on what we saw during the bowl, that J. Gray might have a breakout year.

to be fair to cierre wood--- he was carried off the field in the last game of the season-- and although he was recovered and it wasnt major--ankle i think-- anyhow it was only a few weeks before the all star game and those things can take your edge away----- personally i didnt think robert hughes really recovered from the horrible looking twisted knee -- i think it was against- MSU--untill the hawaii bowl-- he was running fast and crisp to start the year-- and started the hawaii bowl and looked his best all year---it looked to me that robert was lingered and slowed a bit all year from that twisted knee---cierre i think will redshirt but i dont think we should read all that into the san antonio week-- IMO he has more upside potential then any of our wonderful backs!!

hahah, i know we're always excited when we get a new class, but come on...the only people I see making a significant contribution is:

 

Teo (with Brian Smith and Toryan Smith the only proven commodities)

and that's it

 

Shaq Evans is good, but he needs to work on his hands a bit

Motta and Fox still have to beat out flemming, filer, neal, the smiths, and teo

Wood and Riddick need to beat out Allen, Hughes, Aldridge, AND Gray (unless we move Hughes to FB)

to be fair to cierre wood--- he was carried off the field in the last game of the season-- and although he was recovered and it wasnt major--ankle i think-- anyhow it was only a few weeks before the all star game and those things can take your edge away----- personally i didnt think robert hughes really recovered from the horrible looking twisted knee -- i think it was against- MSU--untill the hawaii bowl-- he was running fast and crisp to start the year-- and started the hawaii bowl and looked his best all year---it looked to me that robert was lingered and slowed a bit all year from that twisted knee---cierre i think will redshirt but i dont think we should read all that into the san antonio week-- IMO he has more upside potential then any of our wonderful backs!!

 

Robert Hughes twisted his knee in the SDSU game right at the goal line

i think the slot receiver position is wide open and shaq could get a look there. maybe's it walker but...

 

and stockton is a beast. look how ethan developed and passed guys last season and he was coming off major knee surgery! i gotta believe tyler gets in the rotation.

 

and manti gets in there, no doubt. the question is does he play outside or inside. and *maybe* toryan smith turns it on this year but quite frankly, we've been thinking that for a couple of years now. remember too, that smith went right past him in the depth chart as an underclassman. and i think manti is more ready than brian was coming in as a frosh...

but the best part of all this? competition and DEPTH!! i still believe depth was our downfall the last two seasons (more than coaching, in all honesty) and we're nearly deep enough now to be a major contender.

theres been some talk that with Manti and Carlo coming in Brian Smith may move back outside