Breakout players?

by **Stallion** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 7:20 pm

Peveto and Kiesnick did not receive Big 12 offers that I'm aware of-the players that did are listed-if you experts think having 4 Offensive Linemen with those type of offers spread over 5 recruiting classes is quality then I'm sure you're just giggling happy. A realistic analysis is that type of "depth" is poor. Again, counting bodies is not the equivalent of counting quality.

by **Charleston Pony** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 7:31 pm

it would be foolish for anyone to suggest we have "depth" on the OL. Fact is, we are still looking for 5 strarters who can help this team compete! Our 2-deep is still full of Frosh. We don't even go 3-deep across the line. The best thing that can be said about this group is that most of them have 3-4 yrs of eligibility left and we can only hope some of them develop into quality Division I-A linemen.

by **Higher Authority** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 12:52 am

If you look back, the comments about the line often are based on "when we get to C-USA" and "in a couple of years" -- to paraphrase. Nobody said the line is great now. And as for depth - no, it's not where it needs to be. But compare it to recent years and the foundation is there for a massive improvement. When's the last time we had so many young OLs with the kind of promise these guys hold? In the 1980s. We don't know, of course, how they'll all develop and there's no way to predict the future. But if you think this isn't the most promising post-DP group of young OLs, then you need to look more closely, because it's not even close. We've never had young talent like this. Sure the Holz/Adami/Bandy line turned out to be pretty good, but when that group was a bunch of redshirt freshmen, they didn't have nearly the "upside" this group has. Let's just hope it pans out as we think/hope.

by **Stallion** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 10:27 am

mostly correct-I'd agree but that ain't saying much. SMU has had exactly 1 offensive line since the DP in Cavan's 1st year that was capable of lining up and even attempting to jam the ball down another teams throat. I still think MOST on this board are vastly overrating at least about 4 offensive line recruits-I won't mention names-but some of you have gone off on kids that nobody else wanted. Fine guess we'll see.

by **PerunaPunch** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 11:51 am

Stallion wrote:Truth is that the majority of SMU offensive linemen even today were not highly recruited although there are about 4 exceptions.

I guess it's one of those glass half full/glass half empty situations. The Truth is that we have 3-4 OLs that have more talent than most CUSA/WAC mid major OLs. We have a few more that would be considered to have average talent when compared to our competition, and we have some spares.

"Half empties" like Stallion are going to point out that while we may be able to roll out a good looking OL this year, they're going to be very young and our depth is suspect.

The "half fulls" are going to say that even though we're young, we're a lot bigger, stronger, and we have a handful of kids that have miles more talent than any OL we've had post Death Penalty.

I personally believe we're going to be improved at OL this year. As these kids mature, and if we add Chris Hall (widely considered by coaches to be the best OT in Texas even though Stallion's hallowed Rivals only gives him 1 star) and Bennett & Co. continue to recruit as they have, this group will be a formidable force in CUSA.

by **Stallion** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 12:09 pm

Rivals has Hall as about a Texas Top 50. They don't start giving multiple star rankings until at least August. And again the Offensive Line recruits are NOT better than most WAC or CUSA recruits in the offensive line -it is charitable to call them average. Sorry but several posters on this board continue to mislead about the quality of our offensive line recruits.

by **JasonB** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 1:37 pm

Here is a list so that people can see what Stallion is referring to. When people talk of quality at the OL position, they are usually referring to people like Peveto, who was not recruited heavily at all, but whom the coaches are high on. We will see come Spring if that excitement is justified.

OVERVIEW (based on who recruited by):
CURRENT PLAYERS:
Better than CUSA quality: 3
CUSA Quality: 2
Worse: 8
LEAVING PLAYERS:
Better than CUSA quality: 2
CUSA Quality: 0
Worse: 1
INCOMING PLAYERS:
Better than CUSA quality: 0
CUSA Quality: 0
Worse: 1

That is just an indication of who they were recruited by, I might be slighting some players like Lobo, who got recognition but not a lot of offers. But as you can see, it comes out to about 5 or so players who were recruited by people at our level, and we lose a lot from last year...

CURRENT PLAYERS:
Townsend Hargis - 6-4, 310, Sr
Starter at right guard.
Recruited by Georgia Tech, Memphis, South Carolina

Brad Kieschnick - 6-3, 298, Jr
Recruited by army, air force, rice

Justin Boren - 6-4, 308, 5.0, Fr
three star rating on rivals
number 51 OG
three star rating by insiders.com
Number 88 National Rank by insiders.com
The Insiders all state super team
intrest from Missou and A&M before committing.
Offers from Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Iowa State, Arizona State
All-state selection
On Star Telegram area top 75.

Martin Guidry - So - 6-4, 285
Houston Chronicles area top 50
Rivals 2 star
No other offers

Dustin Morton - Fr - 6-4, 286
Dave Campbell top 20 linemen, top 300 prospects
Rivals 2 star
1 star by insiders.com
Texas football number 20 OL.
recruited by southern miss, don't think he was offered

Darrin Johnson - 6-6, 292, So
Top 5 lineman in texas
Number 51 in DNM area top 100
Recruited by A&M
Two star by rivals
three star ranking by insiders.com
Number 77 national rank by insiders.com

Eric Neal - 6-4, 295, Sr
Not recruited by anyone

Chris Urbanus - So - 6-5, 320
#78
Rivals two star
Not recruited by anyone

Caleb Peveto - 6-4, 285, 5.0, Fr
two star rating on rivals
Number 88 on DMN area top 100
Star telegram area top 75.
Offered by SMU and Vandy. "intrest" from K state, arkansas

Kennard Burley - 6-5, 320, 5.2, Fr
two star rating on rivals
Says he chose us over Baylor, LT, TCU, but no official offers

Bryan Turner - 6-2, 292, So
two star rating on rivals
Number 164 rating by insiders
two star rating by insiders.
Texas football top 300
Texas football top 5A prospects
All State
Recruited by Memphis, Tulane, Houston; Alabama, etc came to visit.

Grant Eidson - Jr - 6-1, 283
Rivals 2 star
Not recruited by anyone

Hulsey Smith - Fr - 6-4, 265
Recruited by Navy

GRADUATING/LEAVING PLAYERS
Chris Poulos - So - 6-2, 322
Number 89 by Rivals
Star-telegram area top 75
Rivals 2 star
Offered by Rice, but dad went here, so noone recruited hard.

Sterling Harris - 6-6, 310, Sr
State top 100 by DMN
San Antonio Express super 60
Superprep top 120 in texas
Recruited by ND, Nebraska, A&M, Texas Tech

Steve Reindl - Sr, 6-3, 285
Recruited by missisippi, minnesota, boise state, buffalo

INCOMING RECRUITS
Sean Lobo
6-3, 285, 5.08
Rivals 2 star, 5.2
Arlington star telegram 29 in metroplex
Fort worth star telegram area top 75
Campbell Texas top 300
67 on DMN area top 100
Top 100 in state by DMN.
Visits to NM, NM St. LT, Az; no offers that I know of.

by **ClassOf81** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 6:31 pm

A&M not only offered Darrin Johnson, they had other recruits calling him right up until Signing Day to get him to change his mind back to A&M (after he'd committed to SMU, switched to A&M, then switched back.)

Burley was offered by Baylor.

Lobo was offered by Arizona, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech, and La.-Lafayette.

I'm not ready to annoint these guys as the next Forrest Gregg, but the measurable pedigree (size, other offers) is there. However, like Stallion and the rest of them, I want to see about 7-10 more with legitimate offers.

Thanks, Stallion, for clarifying the deal about multiple stars, etc. I was looking at a couple of sites the other day and was unsure about why Chris Hall and the rest weren't getting higher marks, given all their accolades. I didn't realize there was a timeframe involved with the distribution of stars or rating points (depending on which service you look at). Thanks for the info!

by **Stallion** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 7:22 pm

...to be accurate according to Rivals, Lobo was offered by the Macovic staff at Arizona but not the Stoops staff. Then he appeared to be ready to commit to his other "Favorite" New Mexico on his visit the next week. He visited but there was no mention whether he really had a solid offer at the time of his visit so I honestly don't know if he had an offer from New Mexico when he committed to SMU. But he clearly had some good looks from some prominent programs and he's a good fit for a program like SMU that desperately needs to upgrade on the Offensive Line.

by **giacfsp** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 1:54 am

Good catch, Stallion - the Recruiting Roundup said he was offered by Arizona, but didn't say which staff had offered him. And I never thought to differentiate between the two. Pretty sharp.

When Coach Bennett was hired, he called all of the players who had committed to Coach Cavan and told them he would honor their scholarship offers. I wonder if Coach Stoops did the same with Coach Mackovic's commitments???

by **hpfan** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 4:27 pm

FYI RE: Grant Eidson. I am almost certain Grant had offer from MISS ST> and strong interest from TT and OSU but wanted his first choice SMU. He may be the only Lineman who has experience with 4-5 wide no huddle offense. He also graded out in highschool higher than his teamate Kyle Williams who was a top 5-10 lineman in the country. Grant was also ALL State as a senior. Saw him out eating the other day and he looked a solid 290+

by **Stallion** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 6:35 pm

Miss St, Texas Tech and OSU don't recruit 5-11 offensive linemen-sorry but he wasn't offered by any of those schools.

by **hpfan** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 11:02 am

Stallion Not one to argue with you because you are generally right on But On the Eidson history, Miss ST did offer and He was in direct discussions with OSU and TT but they did not offer prior to his SMU offer. His dad is a ex Super Bowl Cowboy who's relationships would allow for a whole lot of behind the scenes discussion on the topic of his son's scoly opportunities. THX..

by **Casey** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 12:02 am

Ready to seriously break out: reserve OL Ben Poynter. I hear the coaches absolutely love the guy.

by **Corso** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 8:59 am

Casey wrote:Ready to seriously break out: reserve OL Ben Poynter. I hear the coaches absolutely love the guy.

I've heard the same things. He's still a little undersized, but his technique and footwork have drawn raves. I remember thinking "who's this guy?" when he walked on. But I get the impression we'll all know the guy before long.
Keep up the great work, Ben!

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