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I remember meeting him at a Spring game when he was a skinny young recruit. He said then he was gonna be BIG and be GOOD. Well he has accomplished that with his pre-season CUSA honors. I wonder what Rivals or other recruiting types said about him then?

Don't know, but as I recall, nobody gave him much credit coming out of Greenville HS, and I recall a lot of folks laughing when he was signed. "A 205-pound DE?"

I stand corrected. Rogers is a total stud, and one of my real favorites. No. 40 is due for a huge year!

Nothing much left in the rivals database about Rodgers when he was being recruited. He was a 2-star though

i remember him being probably our only recruit who was selected and played in the state all-star game at Rice Stadium. Ya know the one they televise on FSSW every year in July. Rogers was light, but he had accolades and was probably one of SMU's better recruits that year. He played alot in that all-star game too as a starter i believe. Have no idea what his rivals rank was.

My point is that the recruiting gurus often fail to consider that BIG thing known as HEART. Justin is one of my favorites as well and he almost never disappoints. What an admirable young man. Have a GREAT BIG year, Justin. Get us in a bowl game.

AusTxPony wrote:My point is that the recruiting gurus often fail to consider that BIG thing known as HEART. Justin is one of my favorites as well and he almost never disappoints. What an admirable young man. Have a GREAT BIG year, Justin. Get us in a bowl game.

Total agreement that Rogers is a great addition to our team. I, however, look forward to the day that we are griping about the 4 or 5 star that did not pan out from the several we have rather than rejoicing about the one 2 star out of several that blossomed. That said, Rogers is where he is due to a tremendous work ethic and dedication to succeed. Hopefully that is catching on with others.

commerce high school. state titles 99,01

Justin's body size finally caught up with his heart. Great kid who is finally getting the notice he has worked so hard for. Commerce always had a saying, "Tigers never quit, they find a way to win". No one has represented that better than Justin has!

what I remember is Bennett saying when criticized on recruiting a small end, something like "we will recruit on what he will become, based on past experience, I know what we can do with him once he gets here, he will grow into his frame and we know his ability is there."

I thought yeah another deflection and justification, but he was right it was a good decision.

Shh... don't tell Stallion.

...and yet Rogers has never played on a winning team and he has a lifetime record of about 8-24-not an exception to the rule. Picking exceptions to the rule without ackowledging the lack of success of the same type of sleeper recruits who were his teammates is the typical argument of a recruiting moron. Nobody ever said that a sleeper can not become a player with hard work and determination something Rogers has excelled at. My point is that SMU has proven unequivocally that it can not consistently win without recruiting the same type and quality of players that are recruited by our natural and traditional rivals. Point stands.

Stallion why cant we recruit the same type of player, ive never heard you tell us why we are such losers.

[quote="Stallion"]...and yet Rogers has never played on a winning team .... quote]
Really?
"state titles 99,01"
I bet those state championship teams had winning records!
Besides, he'll be on one this year!

our "natural and traditional" rivals, if you mean old swc foes now bcs, are not the ones we need to recruit against now, nor are we.

how about we compete and recruit well agianst the ones on our current schedule and in our current league? ok, throw in tcu, occaisionally, since they are private and nearby, but until we recruit well against our "current" foes, you can forget the "natural land traditional".

and it looks like we are making some progress. expect a few more wins next year. then, expect more success recruiting.

go mustangs.