J.D. Krill Commits!

[Palatine]

 

[Dann]

I was thinking the same thing in regards to hitting the recruiting wall. Things have really slowed down. There's alot of work that still needs to be done in particular, OL, CB, DE. Lost two of our best pass rushers: Two tall CBs with man coverage skills. And we saw how weak the OL was. Staff didn't really trust the 1st and second year lineman. These positions are critical. WR should be good with Davis, Phillips, Gutierrez, Green, Thomas and Bradley . I expect development from our wide receivers based on Jeremy Davis improvement and Phillips improvement throughout the season. )

As far as play-makers with speed, agility (and good size) , there is always a spot for them at all positions. I don't think stars are that important nor do they predict how good a recruit is. Its just recruiting politics, a recruiting line of sorts. Trying to predict the most impactful and college ready players. But johnny football was a three star recruit. And a bunch of 2 star recruits break records and become all conference players. I'm more interested in the ability of a football player to play early and become a starter and upgrade the competition . We need players that can create mismatches for opponents. As far as the roster we need more elite speed. OL we need Levy, Rugg, Bockeloh, Samra, Hemingway to step up.


Which recruits were reaches last year and this year. hopefully you don't consider Hadley or Levy?

i dont consider either of those reaches. i ill explain who i do and what i see later in a class recap thread come time...

 

[Duncan Idaho]

I thought you would have to consider Levy a reach only because he has played very little football. Maybe into his 4th year like a Jennings but for different reasons, he would contribute on gameday.
He seems to be a motivated guy from articles written.

 

[Dann]

I thought you would have to consider Levy a reach only because he has played very little football. Maybe into his 4th year like a Jennings but for different reasons, he would contribute on gameday..

i consider him filler. he was a late add and we needed the spot depth wise to have a capable body that had potential to be something in time.

a reach is when we offer a kid from maryland over the summer who has a fcs upgrade team offer and nothing else at a spot where we were after some big fish and had others local with better offeres that we didn't push for. thats a reach to me.

 

[huskynation]

i consider him filler. he was a late add and we needed the spot depth wise to have a capable body that had potential to be something in time.

a reach is when we offer a kid from maryland over the summer who has a fcs upgrade team offer and nothing else at a spot where we were after some big fish and had others local with better offeres that we didn't push for. thats a reach to me.

I can see where you're coming from hfd

However, offers ( while a good indicator ) is just one metric used to evaluate recruits. Just because a kid doesn't have alot of bcs offers doesnt necessarily mean that he might not be a major upgrade. So if you really like him lock him up because he might not be around later when other big schools start trying to fill their own classes. But he was a borderline BCS prospect, going into his senior year, so teams wanted to see some senior tape with him but hes definately a D1 prospect. He listed in lists of the top players from the maryland region, which produces more bcs talent than Con... It all depends on the teams roster, playbook, and recruiting strategy for the year. I know that uconn has some good safety pospects that are going to be redshirt freshmen this season, in addition to Andrew Adams, Wilbert Lee. And two starters Jones and T. Brown who are going to be juniors next season. So they kind of don't necessarily need that safety spot in that position. Just guessing but I think that don brown wanted this guy.... This is the recruits scouting profile.

• Has the size and athleticism for the defensive safety position at the major level of competition.
• This guy is a tough customer who comes up and hits with authority;
• displays the blitz timing necessary to pop an inside gap and apply immediate pressure to the quarterback...........
• When lined up in the box or in an "off" alignment he shows good key and diagnosis reaction ability when defending against the run;
• his size and hand use allows him to take on and defeat blockers while working to contain off the edge......
• this prospect demonstrates zone coverage potential;
• will need to improve his ability to operate in tight spaces and brake up on underneath throws;
• shows route awareness and good relationship when playing underneath zone coverage;
• flashes good deep range when playing the middle third, showing the ball skills necessary to intercept at the high point.
• does a good job wrap tackling and should prove to be a productive special team's coverage defender............

Weaknesses: He is not as good in man coverage, better in zone coverage. needs to improve quickness and playing speed over time. Borderline BCS prospect who most likely needs a redshirt year to improve coverage skills.

source: http://insider.espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/evaluation/_/id/139419 (link altered to remove recruits name. )

He's a very good athlete and he comes from a region that has produced some good players for uconn, e.j. norris last year, Adrian Amos 2011 class. ( a FHCRE recruit who decommitted and went to penn state, where he played as a true freshmen had a pick and took over as a starter this year.

 

[Dann]

just a note guys-im not knocking kids and i want them all to be great. i just a a recruiting diehard and i want uconn to be a big boy on the trail and it seems we were heading that way but recently i have see us go back to old ways. hope its just a temp drop and we are still on the rise overall...

 

[pj]

Nice summary huskynation. Re Lucas, he hasn't played much football. He was JV his first two years of high school on good teams, by senior year he was the focus of opposing team's defenses at WR, and the leading playmaker on defense. He has size (6'2", solidly built) and although he was slow as a junior (5.0 in the 40) he claimed he developed high-level speed in the spring/summer (he claimed he could run 40s in the 4.4s). They saw him at camp and thought he could play CB and was worth offering. If he can truly play CB and has top-level speed, then he's a great get. By all accounts he has good character and a strong work ethic.

His team's senior season was disappointing and limited offers is a flag for fans. But Don Brown has proven he can create a first-class defense and if he thinks the guy is worth an early offer after having seen him in person, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

I've mentioned before that it puzzled me that we were slow handing out defensive offers, didn't hand out many, and focused on kids they saw at camps, but since as far as I know no 4* kids came to camp it seemed like the coaches weren't even trying to compete for top-rated kids. I would have thought they would take a shot at some higher-rated kids. But, they know more about football and recruiting than I ever will. When it comes to distinguishing all the 2* and 3* kids, they may believe that seeing them in person is essential. I know we have good talent evaluators on staff. Let's hope they got a diamond in the rough.

 

[UConnRock]

Which recruits were reaches last year and this year. hopefully you don't consider Hadley or Levy?

There is no doube that guys like Clax, Vinci and Stephens were total reaches at the end of last year's recruiting class. They had no other offers and were really not in positions of need. All three are LBs, with Vinci and Clax also getting looks at fullback. My only thought was that DeLeone was trying to restablish ties in NJ and thought that grabbing 4 NJ kids (Levy was also a NJ commit) would help in ensuing years. That doesn't seem to be the case as UConn has taken a few steps backwards in NJ recruiting this year with only Jamar Summers.

Shortell is another total reach. If you are bringing in a JUCO with only 2 years of eligibility then the guy should make an impact. Not giving up on him as UConn will need some impact play from new TEs next year with the loss of Griffin and Delehunt.

Far too early to call anybody a reach this year. No OLs commits can be considered reaches as there is going to be great competition at all poistions. UConn has certainly hit a recruiting wall as the mass of visitors at the end of the season resulted in only the Krill commit. The negatives associated with the expansion talk has to be having a big impact. It is and will be very difficult for UConn to compete against any BCS offer given the conference situation.

 

[pj]

There is no doube that guys like Clax, Vinci and Stephens were total reaches at the end of last year's recruiting class. They had no other offers and were really not in positions of need....

Shortell is another total reach.

According to Rivals Clax had offers from Arizona St, Maryland, Minnesota, Rutgers, and Temple (http://rivals.yahoo.com/connecticut...Clax-117330;_ylt=AukAVEMG0cTwDi6U2WkIdJADrpB4). Vinci had offers from Army and Navy (http://rivals.yahoo.com/connecticut...inci-135277;_ylt=AhRv5EtIPXZl.nxvRqOwBKQDrpB4).

I agree about Stephens and Shortell, maybe Vinci was also a reach although for a late commit just before signing day he was probably the best we can do and is a smart, good character kid. It seems unfair to classify Clax as a reach given that he's fairly athletic with good size and was wanted by a number of teams.

 

[huskymedic]

There is no doube that guys like Clax, Vinci and Stephens were total reaches at the end of last year's recruiting class. They had no other offers and were really not in positions of need. All three are LBs, with Vinci and Clax also getting looks at fullback. My only thought was that DeLeone was trying to restablish ties in NJ and thought that grabbing 4 NJ kids (Levy was also a NJ commit) would help in ensuing years. That doesn't seem to be the case as UConn has taken a few steps backwards in NJ recruiting this year with only Jamar Summers.

Shortell is another total reach. If you are bringing in a JUCO with only 2 years of eligibility then the guy should make an impact. Not giving up on him as UConn will need some impact play from new TEs next year with the loss of Griffin and Delehunt.

Far too early to call anybody a reach this year. No OLs commits can be considered reaches as there is going to be great competition at all poistions. UConn has certainly hit a recruiting wall as the mass of visitors at the end of the season resulted in only the Krill commit. The negatives associated with the expansion talk has to be having a big impact. It is and will be very difficult for UConn to compete against any BCS offer given the conference situation.

They also brought in the TE Horan (preferred walk on) from NJ last year.

 

[Palatine]

I put no stock in high school forty times. Most of these kids don't know how to run a forty.

 

[BNich]

Did Krill officially sign today as expected?