Biggest Need

[ojaipony]

I know this has been discussed before, but I've been reviewing our verbal commits and current roster and I'm getting concerned about the lack of DT depth (of course, we need depth everywhere but I'm not as concerned with the other spots except DT ... OL is looking good especially if we can keep Hulick and Myers ... QB and RB is looking good ... need some more outside receivers no doubt with Holleman and Holman, but DT is looking thin) ... as we move into the BE which, I'm assuming, the players are slightly bigger and offenses run more based on some comments I've seen, we need to get some bigger bodies in here ... next year I think we'll be ok with Davis, Pit, Hunt, and some depth with Darrian Wright and O'Guin ... but we're going to be hurting big time going into our first year in the BE without some experience there and quality depth ... hopefully we get another solid 3 star or two before this year's recruiting class is done ... JUCO would also be a good place to look also ...

just some random thoughts ... others' take?

[panhandle_pony]

I agree, but DT is always toughest spot to fill - not just for us, but everyone.

[ojaipony]

Anyone on our current roster or recruit I'm missing? Davis, Hunt, Pit, Wright, O'Guin. Any recruits look solid?

[ClickClack]

Hunt is a DE not a DT. Pittman should get a majority of snaps at DT next year with Wright, O Guin (if fully recovered) and Davis providing some okay depth. As we head into BE play in 2013, I expect Wright should be able to take over as the starter and we can have O Guin and Nick Reed in the mix as well. Maybe next year a ready to play JUCO DT will be in the cards.

Also, Zach Wood is somewhat of a tweener. He is not exactly a perfect fit for either DE or DT. As he grows and develops he may be a DT down the road.

I am really curious as to who is going to start at DE next year. Margus has made great strides and I hope he is ready to be an every down player. Assuming he is, who do you guys think will start opposite Margus at DE?

[SMU 86]

Really to be truthful we probably need upgrades at most every position going into the BE. But I don't think I will hot us how much until we actually get there.

[ojaipony]

Hunt is a DE not a DT. Pittman should get a majority of snaps at DT next year with Wright, O Guin (if fully recovered) and Davis providing some okay depth. As we head into BE play in 2013, I expect Wright should be able to take over as the starter and we can have O Guin and Nick Reed in the mix as well. Maybe next year a ready to play JUCO DT will be in the cards.

Also, Zach Wood is somewhat of a tweener. He is not exactly a perfect fit for either DE or DT. As he grows and develops he may be a DT down the road.

I am really curious as to who is going to start at DE next year. Margus has made great strides and I hope he is ready to be an every down player. Assuming he is, who do you guys think will start opposite Margus at DE?

If SMU can land JP, Charles may be a factor as well.

Who is JP? Charles?

I don't like the idea of a 2 star DT doing anything for us in the BE (REED). But what do I know. (I probably put too much emphasis on the star system, but the 4-5 stars are heavily recruited for a reason) ... we need some big, WIDE bodies that are immovable. I thought Hunt could be that with another 10-15 pounds added on to him and if he can learn to stay low (could you imagine a 6'8", 300 pounder at DT with his skills?).

[Mike Coppage]

Jacoby Briscoe > Charles

[SMU 86]

Jacoby Briscoe > Charles

Mike, who is Jacoby Briscoe?

[PonyPlayer4]

a DT from La that we haven't even offered

[ClickClack]

Hunt would never be a 3-4 NT.

Stop putting so much emphasis on the star system. Its very easy to indetify the superior talent (5 stars and a good chunk of 4 stars), but as for everyone else, the recruiting services really are making their best guess. I will continue to trust our coaches identifying talent over the recrutiing services

[SMU 86]

Well were are going to need some of those easy to identify 5 and 4 star players going into the Big East. We could get away with that diamond in the rough stuff in CUSA but we better up our level of recruiting to compete in the Big East let alone win it.

[ClickClack]

Uconn won the big east last year with one 4star player on their roster. Uconn's only 4 star player the last 5 years was Dwayne Difton who didnt play or contribute in their BCS bowl season

Boise will be one of the best in BE right away and they certianly don't do it with a lot of 4 stars.

Most of the Big East reruiting classes are 3 star guys with 4 stars and 2 stars sprinkled in.

WVU probably being the exception, they have the most consistnent and best classes in BE. they will have a hand full of 4 stars in most every class.

Do I think we need to up the talent level..especially with Klemm leaving? yes.

Are we going to get a class made up of 4 stars? No. but we sure can and should get a couple in each class now that we have the AQ tag by our name

[ClickClack]

Pitt has had a bunch of 4 stars over the years, I guess we will see how our talent stacks up against pitt's soon....

[ojaipony]

Uconn won the big east last year with one 4star player on their roster. Uconn's only 4 star player the last 5 years was Dwayne Difton who didnt play or contribute in their BCS bowl season

Boise will be one of the best in BE right away and they certianly don't do it with a lot of 4 stars.

Most of the Big East reruiting classes are 3 star guys with 4 stars and 2 stars sprinkled in.

WVU probably being the exception, they have the most consistnent and best classes in BE. they will have a hand full of 4 stars in most every class.

Do I think we need to up the talent level..especially with Klemm leaving? yes.

Are we going to get a class made up of 4 stars? No. but we sure can and should get a couple in each class now that we have the AQ tag by our name

Great points. Totally agree with everything you said.

We need SOME way of diagnosing a recruit's potential (the scouting services know more than I do about that and, of course, coaches know best and we get who we can get). Having said that, of course, being a 4 or 5 star at 18 versus what you do on game day as a 20 or 21 or 22 year old can be very different. As I've said before I'll take a group of hungry, coachable 3 stars all day long versus a roster of prima donna 4 and 5 stars. But a blend would be nice.

Great clip of Paul Bear Bryant talking about that actually (but I need some 85s with my 75s, too!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PtIaWpysSI

[SMU 86]

I wonder when the next time we will see a 4 star recruit commit to SMU. We have to go for them first. Anyway, I guess we are just trying to be competitive not win a national championship or anything like that. Louisville is in our division and they are playing a lot of young players this year and they should be pretty experienced when we play them. UL had four 4 star players in the 2011 class and three 4 star players in the 2010 class (granted even that is not a lot to get to upper tier talent status to win a national championship). Granted that is not a lot but they are building. AS others have stated regarding Boise is that they get transfers that we are not able to get because of their academic standards and curriculum. At least we agree that we need to shoot higher and land land higher in our recruiting. It should be interesting to see if our coaches can rise to the challenge.