@Dennis_DeYoung hit on many of the points that I was going to add to regarding how difficult the class will be this year ... I'll still put the over/under at 8 for 4 star kids or better ... but the challenges are going to be vast ...
QB: Doesn't matter because we have Sirmon in position ... at this point it may be beneficial to not have any issues with Babushka until AFTER the early signing period to not upset the apple cart (not that I expect Sirmon to go anywhere else anyway) ...
RB: Boner Popper is an average to above average recruiter but the need for us this year at the position isn't vast ... we need 1, at most 2 ... but our depth at the position isn't bad and definitely passable in 2018 without anything of note this year ... it will put the pressure on for a top tier (at minimum) RB in the 2019 class if we have a relative miss here this year (again, not the end of the world if we miss here)
WR: In theory we still have a strong need here (will take 2 to 3) and this is coupled with this being a position of strength on the West Coast this class PLUS what's likely a Top 3 recruiter on our staff ... we should expect good results.
TE: This is another year where we can expect 1 to 2 TEs on our roster to come through here ... given that we rely so much on 2 TEs I don't have a problem with us recruiting decent numbers here particularly when you consider that IF you have the right TEs on your roster they are massive matchup problems for a defense. We listed a number of reasons on the pod for why it is reasonable to think that we should land Cupp (potential matchup issue) and the TE out of California who is really good IF healthy (which I think he will end up showing that he recovered from his massive Achilles injury) ... I don't pay enough attention to know what the 2019 class is looking like but this could be a situation where we "buy forward" on our TE depth and then more or less skip the position in 2019 if needed ... also important to keep in mind that someone like Cade Otton could end up being switched back over to defense if needed
OL: This is where the misses of Strausser's past are going to haunt us given that the 2018 class is HORRIBLE on the West Coast and the OL hire that we made has NEVER successfully recruited guys at the level that we need to be recruiting guys ... IF we miss on the top tier of recruits in this class we're going to be looking primarily at recruiting JAGs that will cycle through the depth ... Huff basically has this class and next where he MUST find at least 3-4 premium prospects on the OL ... the risk (however small it may be) that BOTH Adams and McGary leave early after this season is the definition of worst case scenario for the UW program
DL: For as much as Huff is in a PROVE IT mode from a recruiting standpoint, Malloe isn't that far behind. However sneaky, dirty, corrupt, and pathetic the SC sales job on Marlon Tui was, it is IMPOSSIBLE to not see that Malloe was caught with his pants down regarding the whole thing. As DDY mentioned, and can't be stated enough, for a guy in Malloe that coached in Utah and is Poly himself, to not even be able to get a visit out of Jay Tuefele is damning ... like the OL this isn't the strongest year on the West Coast ... we have a bit of a gift that one of the stronger DL recruits on the West Coast is in Idaho which should be relatively favorable to us ... can Malloe close here? Malloe's also apparently trying to expand our presence back into Hawaii ... will that deliver results this year?
Outside LBs: As DDY mentioned, it looks like Kwiatkowski is looking at a wider net trying to get more elite edge rushers into the program ... we'll see how that plays out. He's probably one of the right guys on our staff to be making that effort on given his stability combined with identifiable results. I'm not going to knock the process or strategy until we see it play out ... if we go back to this point a couple of years ago would Levi even been on our radar of being able to pull out of Texas? Given our depth chart here, it's not the end of the world if we don't hit a homerun here in this class ... could this be a situation where Kwiatkowski is laying a foundation for the 2019 class?
Inside LBs: Really helpful that we've already got Jack Sirmon lined up ... we lose a lot in the middle after this year and need to refill. There's a lot of strong prospects available to us here and the hope is that we'll be able to land a really good player just by process of elimination. Gregory is a solid but not necessarily spectacular recruiter. Like the balance of our program, he will recruit well with players where solid but not necessarily spectacular speaks to.
DBs: By far the most intriguing part of our recruiting class for me. In a vacuum, there's no reason to think that we won't end up with a good class because of Lake. There is evidence that things may be more of a challenge this time around. We probably were short 1 DB in last year's class ... Lake's flirtation with taking the Cal DC job can be used against him on the recruiting trail ... Lake's eventual leaving could gut the current class (why it will be imperative that we get a lot of guys before the early signing day locked up and in BEFORE Lake leaves ... the Kyler Murphy situation is really telling because prior to this year what were the odds that Stanford would beat us for an IN-STATE DB prospect ... hell Lake got an Oregon legacy recruit out of Oregon to pick UW over Stanford ... in the end, there's a good chance that we'll still end up with a strong class here and possible that we'll get a couple of 4-star plus players here ... but it's going to be way more of a tough sledding environment than what we've been used to ... our depth here is pretty good in that we can get away with a relatively lackluster class although safety depth could be an eventual issue ... this will be an area where Pete really needs to get the Lake replacement right
TL, DR Summary: It's not the end of the world in this class but we have a lot working against us ... the two positions where we have the most need are met with a lack of quality quantity on the West Coast combined with our two most unproven recruiters (Huff and Malloe) ... it's possible that Lake's ambition (can't argue with it) could be a massive albatross for us this year
I like what you wrote here, just wished it could have been a bit more in depth. And longer.
Good topic for rehab meetings:
COUNSELOR: Anyone have any problems effecting their sobriety ?
SWAYE: Jesus Fuck whitey - you think it's easy to recruit elite edge rushers at OLB ?
Washington isn't Florida or Texas, local high schools aren't swarming with 4 star and 5 star recruits - and you wonder why I do coke and incite mayhem...
was i supposed to feel absurdly depressed after the pod finished
also never heard the darnold/sirmon comparison before, fascinating
fuck usc
One thing we didn't really talk about that might have helped the depressed mood is that there is a real possibility our on field success shows up in recruiting this year. That is a real wild card for us. And it's certainly not etched in stone Huff will be a shitty recruiter, it's just with the shit I looked at I was very concerned.
was i supposed to feel absurdly depressed after the pod finished
also never heard the darnold/sirmon comparison before, fascinating
fuck usc
One thing we didn't really talk about that might have helped the depressed mood is that there is a real possibility our on field success shows up in recruiting this year. That is a real wild card for us. And it's certainly not etched in stone Huff will be a shitty recruiter, it's just with the shit I looked at I was very concerned.
The fucking yoots today need to realize that we are no longer a "7 with a great personality"; we are clearly an 8 + the great personality.
was i supposed to feel absurdly depressed after the pod finished
also never heard the darnold/sirmon comparison before, fascinating
fuck usc
One thing we didn't really talk about that might have helped the depressed mood is that there is a real possibility our on field success shows up in recruiting this year. That is a real wild card for us. And it's certainly not etched in stone Huff will be a shitty recruiter, it's just with the shit I looked at I was very concerned.
The fucking yoots today need to realize that we are no longer a "7 with a great personality"; we are clearly an 8 + the great personality.
was i supposed to feel absurdly depressed after the pod finished
also never heard the darnold/sirmon comparison before, fascinating
fuck usc
One thing we didn't really talk about that might have helped the depressed mood is that there is a real possibility our on field success shows up in recruiting this year. That is a real wild card for us. And it's certainly not etched in stone Huff will be a shitty recruiter, it's just with the shit I looked at I was very concerned.
The fucking yoots today need to realize that we are no longer a "7 with a great personality"; we are clearly an 8 + the great personality.
Nope. I was not looking for Ute Cab ( http://utecabco.com/ ). I'm mostly an Uber guy these days.
I enjoyed Teq's deep dive but loved the melt down.
That was an impressive Haiku @CokeGreaterThanPepsi Clear cut winner. I wish I had a greater than 36 hour memory so I could compare it to the other all time bests.
Comments
COUNSELOR: Anyone have any problems effecting their sobriety ?
SWAYE: Jesus Fuck whitey - you think it's easy to recruit elite edge rushers at OLB ?
Washington isn't Florida or Texas, local high schools aren't swarming with 4 star and 5 star recruits - and you wonder why I do coke and incite mayhem...
Tens of thousands unhooked the carbon monoxide hose at that very moment
also never heard the darnold/sirmon comparison before, fascinating
fuck usc
TIA
great pod as always though
That was an impressive Haiku @CokeGreaterThanPepsi Clear cut winner. I wish I had a greater than 36 hour memory so I could compare it to the other all time bests.
was there a thread i missed or something