I'm not sure how much to expect at this point, but he impressed a lot of people last year in practice. I'm pretty sure he's now playing mostly at guard though. Van Pran will be our next center IMO. I think he's going to be really fucking good. Thank you LSU
We didn’t reach on any of those guys, though. Some (Sims, Barnett, Bateman) didn’t pan out but we’ve routinely signed top 100 range guys there. We routinely take offensive lineman in the 400 range though, and no one has a clue why.
What are you talking about? Since AJ we've been just fine. Were some of them not NFL guys? No but they played pretty good for college. Calling it WOEFUL is ignorant
This is very different from reaching, and I think it’s disingenuous to say hardly any have panned out considering the careers/seasons McCarron -> Sims -> Coker -> Hurts -> Tua -> Bryce is about a as good as you can ask for.
Phillip Sims is now the head coach at JR Tucker high this past January. Awesome He gets to teach the kids. Tucker won like 1 game in the past 3yrs. Tall task
Oh I thought you were talking about like the guys that actually started and played. Like Sims and Coker. They were by no means elite but that put together really solid seasons especially in the biggest games for the most part Guys like Cooper Bateman and David Cornwell weren't ever really expected to do much. Dont think any of our fanbase convinced ourselves that they were going to make an impact. I thought Blake Barnett was a cant miss though especially after his elite 11 performance
Pelican what are your thoughts on Devonta Smith? I watched his highlights and I came away pretty damn impressed
pretty good for a guy who never learned the playbook and never attended class. Spoiler i hope life works out for him
He's not bad but not sure if he's a safety or corner. He was like 5'10" or 5'11" but supposedly is now closer to 6'1". Everyone that talks to him says how great of a kid he is and every time I've heard him talk he's seemed like a smart kid. Literally said he was in tears when Ohio State offered since that's been like his lifelong dream or whatever. The bottom line is that Ohio State has taken ZERO pure cornerbacks over the last two classes and they have to get three for 2021. Lejond Cavazos was listed at corner but he may be more of a safety longterm. They had six defensive backs committed before Smith backed off and he was the lowest rated of the bunch. That's not a knock on him so much; just that there's a lot of good players committed. I think they are going to pretty much put the full focus on flipping Hancock now. And if that doesn't work out they'll just have to get someone else. But yeah Smith is good. Bama obviously knows what it's doing when it comes to evaluating defensive backs. Like someone said yesterday, it's a little weird how two elite staffs seem to view this kid pretty differently. He almost decommitted in April and had been talking to Rutgers mostly back then (but he's obv way better than Rutgers caliber).
Keith seems to think this WR is about to decommit. Likely tomorrow. Says AU/UGA are showing the most interest. Is he a take for UGA? I guess they're going to take the WR in Athens right?
Rivals.com Bama guy Just an FYI- Expect Devonta Smith to receive a pretty big bump in the rankings. The higher ups have said he is way too low. I believe that Smith probably would be a four-star already if not for the pandemic's effect on the evaluation cycle and all indications point to him being a four-star before the final rankings." I've quickly learned Smith is one of Alabama's top overall DB targets. The higher ups at Rivals (as I said earlier) have also confirmed his ranking will skyrocket this fall even though he is a 5.7 three-star. He may find himself inside the Rivals100 by signing day.
For the first time in the history of recruiting, an Alabama commit/lean gets a huge bump in the rankings.
"We haven't seen this kid play or do anything since last fall when he was a 5-foot-10 three-star safety, but we can already say he's on his way to the Top-100."
High praise from Tom Loy “Cincinnati (Ohio) La Salle three-star CB Devonta Smith — I am absolutely stoked to land Smith at this point in the draft. I think his ceiling is incredibly high and he is a player that I believe will be ranked really high as more eyes continue to get on him. If not, he’s going to surprise a lot of people with his play at the next level. He is one of the most polished and complete corners I’ve come across this cycle. I was trying to be patient and couldn’t wait any longer out of fear of missing out here. Smith, posted as a three-star recruit, would potentially be listed in my group of “My Five-Stars” that we produce each cycle. He is going to be a big-time player. Just watch.”
I mean, was there any doubt he was going to get a Bama bump? Can I [honestly] see a list of kids most and least deserving of their Bama bumps?
Alonzo Lawrence was probably the least deserving based on results, but he dominated the AL/MS game and practices, and more than held his own against Julio there.
I can remember Matt Elam getting the Bama bump to I think a 5 star when it looked like he was headed there then he stuck with Kentucky and ended up not doing shit there
some say that Ryan Day is an elite scouting expert and that the Buckeyes will get someone better to replace him