Who do you like among the D recruits?

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Golden Elephant

Golden Elephant

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There's been a fair amount of discussion about how well Kill did recruiting - we all can agree that he gets and A+ for in-state recruiting, but grades have been more mixed on the rest of the class. That said, what struck me about the in-state recruiting (that we love) was how much of it was on the offensive side of the ball (the only instate guys on D are Nick Rallis and possibly Anyanwu). Even the out-of-state guys I'm most excited about - Harbison at WR and Gillum at RB - are on the offense.

So basically, I haven't watched tapes of any of the guys or done much more than glance at their Rivals page, but those of you with perhaps more informed opinions - who are you most excited about seeing on Defense from this class?
 

The defensive side is definitely more of the "project" group. Getting guys who can run well and basically seeing who falls into what spots eventually. Two guys I am intrigued by are Eric Murray and Alex Keith. Murray, simply cause he impressed coaches at camp at a position he didn't even come to camp to play. Keith sounded like a kid who kinda is just coming up and has that potential speed guy we really need on the D-line, an excellent all around athlete.

But yeah, we got some good offensive talent, it seemed the defense got more JUCO fixes and "potential" from my perspective. We'll see how it all shakes out I guess.
 

Roland Johnson: he looks compact, powerful and quick in his videos, I wouldn't be surpised if he's starting next to Hageman against UNLV. The thing he has going against him is he won't be here until summer.

Antonio Johnson: he looks like a big, strong kid who likes to come up and hit. Played RB in high school as well. We haven't had an intimidating safety since Tyrone Carter.
 

John Galt said:
Roland Johnson: he looks compact, powerful and quick in his videos, I wouldn't be surpised if he's starting next to Hageman against UNLV. The thing he has going against him is he won't be here until summer.

Antonio Johnson: he looks like a big, strong kid who likes to come up and hit. Played RB in high school as well. We haven't had an intimidating safety since Tyrone Carter.
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James Manuel is intimidating, right up until the ball is actually snapped.
 

I'm looking forward to seeing Jordan Hinojosa in Gopher Gold - next to Rashede in a year or so.
 


Alex Keith

explodes off the line and has some nice speed, hopefully he can keep both of those traits once he gains 20-30 lbs.
 


Lincoln Plsek

I have a feeling he is going to turn in to an outstanding DE, ala Willie VanDeSteeg.

Also looking forward to Shabazz & Roland Johnson; both should be able to contribute right away.
 

I actually like most of them:
Travis good sized, fast safety that hits. Smart kid
A Johnson -ditto
Roland Johnson- better than anybody who played DT for us this year in this system.
Shabaz fast and aggressive cover corner
Baltazar-big physical kid who can play three of four positions in the dbackfield
Boddy- really good athlete who could play corner or slot receiver.
Ekpe and Hinojosa- they will both be big strong mobile players. they both need to gain 20 lbs, so they may be limited next fall, but I think we will need both of them to play and I think they will.
Rallis- I really like his aggressiveness and tackling, seems quicker than Mike, but I can't tell if he is big enough to play LB or fast enough to play Safety.
Murray- coaches liked him right away, so I'll buy it. have not seen films of him playing CB.
Jack Lynn- heady player and good athlete. I can't tell at all from his films how good he will be at LB, but I liked him at HB/TE
Alex keith- Colorado offered him at the end. I do think this staff can tell DEs that can rush- as far as I know they expect him to play this fall.
this is based solely on available videos, but I am convinced the dbacks in particular are better athletes and much better tacklers as a group than any group we have brought here in a while. As far as the kids go who did not get a lot of offers, e.g. Murray, and Lynn they offered them right away from camp, and stayed with them. As they showed, guys who did not do what was necessary to continue to develop, did not keep their offers.
 



Monty519 said:
The defensive side is definitely more of the "project" group. Getting guys who can run well and basically seeing who falls into what spots eventually. Two guys I am intrigued by are Eric Murray and Alex Keith. Murray, simply cause he impressed coaches at camp at a position he didn't even come to camp to play. Keith sounded like a kid who kinda is just coming up and has that potential speed guy we really need on the D-line, an excellent all around athlete.

But yeah, we got some good offensive talent, it seemed the defense got more JUCO fixes and "potential" from my perspective. We'll see how it all shakes out I guess.
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+1
 

corcoran1 said:
I actually like most of them:
Travis good sized, fast safety that hits. Smart kid
A Johnson -ditto
Roland Johnson- better than anybody who played DT for us this year in this system.
Shabaz fast and aggressive cover corner
Baltazar-big physical kid who can play three of four positions in the dbackfield
Boddy- really good athlete who could play corner or slot receiver.
Ekpe and Hinojosa- they will both be big strong mobile players. they both need to gain 20 lbs, so they may be limited next fall, but I think we will need both of them to play and I think they will.
Rallis- I really like his aggressiveness and tackling, seems quicker than Mike, but I can't tell if he is big enough to play LB or fast enough to play Safety.
Murray- coaches liked him right away, so I'll buy it. have not seen films of him playing CB.
Jack Lynn- heady player and good athlete. I can't tell at all from his films how good he will be at LB, but I liked him at HB/TE
Alex keith- Colorado offered him at the end. I do think this staff can tell DEs that can rush- as far as I know they expect him to play this fall.
this is based solely on available videos, but I am convinced the dbacks in particular are better athletes and much better tacklers as a group than any group we have brought here in a while. As far as the kids go who did not get a lot of offers, e.g. Murray, and Lynn they offered them right away from camp, and stayed with them. As they showed, guys who did not do what was necessary to continue to develop, did not keep their offers.
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Really? I don't remember hearing that. I believe you, but I assumed that I would have known right away if Boddy could play both ways.
 

I like the safeties as well, but I am mostly curious about those who were redshirted last year and the development of those who will be redshirting this class. One advantage of the jucos is that a few of the recruits will have a better opportunity to redshirt and develop. Call the jucos a necessary evil if you must but they should provide a cushion this year and maybe next to develop the incoming freshmen like Eric Murray and build depth behind them while offering a sense of stability on the field.
 

Scott Epke. Kill said he'd be 300 lbs. by the time "we're done with him". If I'm not mistaken, he's already enrolled and he's only 17. That tells me two things: 1) Had he had another year in HS, he could have easily improved and been a "higher rated" recruit. 2) It shows a high level of motivation and likely a strong work ethic. If he can get to 300 lbs. and keep his speed he could be very good.
 



I really like what I see from Shabazz on film. I know film doesn't tell the whole story, but he looked faster than a lot of other recruits whose films I watched. I hope his speed translates well to the Big Ten.
 

I like JUCO Shabazz a lot. Heard a lot about him before he came here (or Baylor). After last year it looks like with Troy on the other side we can keep up with faster WR's.
 

I really like Jack Lynn....

He just flies all over the field. He looks like he needs to add some strength to be a good Big 10 LB, but there aren't many kids with his speed and athleticism who play LB.
 

calminnfan said:
I like the safeties as well, but I am mostly curious about those who were redshirted last year and the development of those who will be redshirting this class. One advantage of the jucos is that a few of the recruits will have a better opportunity to redshirt and develop. Call the jucos a necessary evil if you must but they should provide a cushion this year and maybe next to develop the incoming freshmen like Eric Murray and build depth behind them while offering a sense of stability on the field.
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I completely agree with your comments. I'm guessing we will still need JUCO's for the next few years to keep patching the up the defensive side of the ball.
 

balds said:
Scott Epke. Kill said he'd be 300 lbs. by the time "we're done with him". If I'm not mistaken, he's already enrolled and he's only 17. That tells me two things: 1) Had he had another year in HS, he could have easily improved and been a "higher rated" recruit. 2) It shows a high level of motivation and likely a strong work ethic. If he can get to 300 lbs. and keep his speed he could be very good.
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Looks like the Gophers are already looking at what I assume is Scott's brother for 2013.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/minnesota/football/recruiting/player-Hendrick-Ekpe-129950
 

RoyalGopher said:
Really? I don't remember hearing that. I believe you, but I assumed that I would have known right away if Boddy could play both ways.
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Go back and watch his high school films, he has a lot of the same attributes as KJ Maye.
 

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