"We have to get bigger, tougher, stronger, nastier upfront on both sides of the ball"

[huskyrob1]

You are not getting the Zach Allen’s and AJ Dillons anytime soon, hence the need to find the overlooked equivalents in FL.

As already pointed out, there are no overlooked players in Florida, but they are overrated compared to kids up here. The overlooked kids are up here for the most part, if you find an overlooked kid in Florida then you are damn lucky. If AJ Dillon or Zach Allen had come from Florida they'd both be 5 stars. BTW, Zach Allen did visit the Storrs campus during his recruitment.

 

[ktuck911]

You are not getting the Zach Allen’s and AJ Dillons anytime soon, hence the need to find the overlooked equivalents in FL.

THIS

 

[ktuck911]

it all has to do with the ability to recruit, Florida is flush with talent, you take darien down to Florida and have them play a full season and they'll maybe win 2 games. level of competition here is just different thus the ability to recruit a higher level of talent on a more consistent basis is much more difficult here than say at UCF/FIU

This.. and bring New Canaan down there too... 0 advantages because of $$$ down there...

 

[ktuck911]

i think he will be well suited to play nose for us, hes a real gap filler, can take on double teams (which will be huge in our 3-5) and still has the athletic ability to shed blockers and make the play. kids gonna thrive in this system

BIG question here though is does/will he have the desire to play Nose Guard for us if we put him on D??? Historically speaking, when it comes to CT kids... there's only one town I'm aware of where kids that play make it at DT at the FBS level.. That town happened to be Windsor... Right now, my $$$ is on T Jones playing OL somewhere, primarily OG...but it would be nice to see him show a little versatility and dominate on that side of the ball at either OG or OT....

I say we look elsewhere to fill the gaps along the defensive front for this system ( JUCO, GS, transfer, overlooked under the radar kids the way Edsall knows how to recruit them - Kendall Reyes types )

 

[huskysupporter]

Travis jones best position is offensive guard

 

[huskysupporter]

As already pointed out, there are no overlooked players in Florida, but they are overrated compared to kids up here. The overlooked kids are up here for the most part, if you find an overlooked kid in Florida then you are damn lucky. If AJ Dillon or Zach Allen had come from Florida they'd both be 5 stars. BTW, Zach Allen did visit the Storrs campus during his recruitment.

There are a ton of overlooked kids in Florida.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Yes, in a 4-3 he might be ok, but in a classic 3-4, I think he's too slow. Even at nose tackle against USF, Foley got good pressure but was always a half step away from Flowers when Flowers pulled the trigger or just side stepped Foley and ran with the ball towards the corners for a nice gain.

Just so I'm clear on what you are saying:

You believe a DE in a three man front requires more speed than a DE in a four man front?

 

[huskysupporter]

Just so I'm clear on what you are saying:

You believe a DE in a three man front requires more speed than a DE in a four man front?

I compare Foley to ends like Cullen Jenkins. Big guys who can stop the run in the 3-4 but can also push the pocket which helps other pass rushers. Glad he took one for the team and played NT but his best spot is DE.

 

[Exit 4]

As already pointed out, there are no overlooked players in Florida, but they are overrated compared to kids up here. The overlooked kids are up here for the most part, if you find an overlooked kid in Florida then you are damn lucky. If AJ Dillon or Zach Allen had come from Florida they'd both be 5 stars. BTW, Zach Allen did visit the Storrs campus during his recruitment.

When did I say there are no overlooked players in FL?
The key for UConn after 7 losing seasons it to find overlooked guys in both markets. I'm not going to completely ignore one area over the other. But I completely disagree that overlooked talent is rare in FL. I think you are way off base. Way off.

 

[Excalibur]

Just so I'm clear on what you are saying:

You believe a DE in a three man front requires more speed than a DE in a four man front?

Yeah that was strange. Speed is paramount in a 4-3 DE -- think Cody Brown or Trevardo.

As for Foley, I think he's best suited to a 4-3 DT. He's capable of playing DE in a 3-down formation but it's not his strong suit. He is not by any stretch of the imagination meant to play inside in a 3-4 or 3-3-5.

 

[freescooter]

ok ill use that as a perfect example, that was the best team we may have had ever in the state. how many of them went on to play at top 25 colleges? or even D1 schools for that matter. we up here truly don't understand the level of competition down in FLA. you throw a rock in any direction in florida you'll hit a 3 star kid going to a D1 college. thats just facts.
just a quick search on rivals/ 247 sports there is just about 300 players ranked 3 stars or more in the state of florida compared to the maybe 4-5 in the state of CT, if you wanna include all players with star ratings that number jumps to 550 FL and 20 for CT. I love the state of CT and CTHSFB is near and dear to my heart but they truly are apples and oranges.

I’ve posted this before but my nephews school in Miami-Dade had its entire front 7 on defense get D1 scholarships. And a couple of offensive players too. While that was a particularly good year they regularly have multiple D1a signees to SEC FSU Miami type programs and several to other places. Signing day isn’t 2 kids going to Central and 3 going to Bates.

 

[UConnJim]

Hmmm, we’ll Devon Matthews is a two star by Rivals and when compare his tape to Coyle’s there is no comparison - Matthews is much more physical. Of course there are over looked players here, but by and large, there is less talent and i’m not really buying there is a lot of over looked talent... some - but not that much...maybe 2 to 5 kids a year in all of New England. It’s not like we really see a bunch of NE kids routinely surprise rosters here or anyone else.

I would defer to 247 for ratings as they are really the best rating service right now. (Rivals doesn't even list his Indiana and Wake Forest offers.) Matthews is considered a 3* S and the 137th best player in Florida. He is not an overlooked 2* and I hope we get him.

As for CT kids, I looked at CT born kids (easier to find than kids who played HS in CT, but you would recognize the names) who played (not drafted) in the NFL since 2009, which is 29, or about 3 per year. 4 were 4*, 12 were 3*, 7 were 2*, and 6 were NR.

As for UConn, they have had 23 drafted from 2008. 16 have been from the Northeast states of CT, NY, MA, NH, NJ, and PA. Out of the 16, 8 were 3*s, 6 were 2*s, and 2 were NR. About one third of UConn's draft picks have been overlooked kids from the Northeast, which I would say is a large number.

 

[ktuck911]

I hope the Dallas Cowboys fire Rod Marinelli and he brings his D to UConn.. we go back to a 4-3 and get some edge rushers that hits the QB... Kids will come to UConn and play for him too...That'll settle that ( sorry about that guys... wishful thinking in my head that I had to spit out)

 

[Exit 4]

I would defer to 247 for ratings as they are really the best rating service right now. (Rivals doesn't even list his Indiana and Wake Forest offers.) Matthews is considered a 3* S and the 137th best player in Florida. He is not an overlooked 2* and I hope we get him.

As for CT kids, I looked at CT born kids (easier to find than kids who played HS in CT, but you would recognize the names) who played (not drafted) in the NFL since 2009, which is 29, or about 3 per year. 4 were 4*, 12 were 3*, 7 were 2*, and 6 were NR.

As for UConn, they have had 23 drafted from 2008. 16 have been from the Northeast states of CT, NY, MA, NH, NJ, and PA. Out of the 16, 8 were 3*s, 6 were 2*s, and 2 were NR. About one third of UConn's draft picks have been overlooked kids from the Northeast, which I would say is a large number.

247 is no better than Rivals. I used to think so, but they are equally behind the curve on so many recruits that its a wash between Rivals and 247.

I just don't think there is a deeper well than say another 2-5 kids deeper of overlooked players to take UConn to the next level (which would be out of the basement). We will need talent from outside of New England and Upstate NY to get us to 7 or 8 wins. And I dont count MD, PA and NJ as overlooked and under respected areas. Its NY and New England that nationally is generally under served by the recruiting services.

 

[huskyrob1]

Just so I'm clear on what you are saying:

You believe a DE in a three man front requires more speed than a DE in a four man front?

Are you kidding? No, obviously I'm saying the opposite, when I said a classic 3-4, meant 3 LB's and 4 down linemen. I think he's too slow in that situation, but in a three down linemen setup he might be ok, but as I said already, even at nose tackle, in the middle, against USF he got good pressure, but was always just half step away from Flowers when he pulled the trigger, or if no one's open Flowers easily sidestepped Foley as he lumbered toward him, and headed for the corner for a decent gain. Sorry for the 4-3, 3-4, confusion.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

In thast case I agree (although I've never heard of a defense where the number of LB's was named before the DL's).

In a 4-3 Foley is a DT without question. In our current defense he should be an end (and the guys we're playing at end all need another 15-25 lbs on them).

 

[UConnJim]

247 is no better than Rivals. I used to think so, but they are equally behind the curve on so many recruits that its a wash between Rivals and 247.

I just don't think there is a deeper well than say another 2-5 kids deeper of overlooked players to take UConn to the next level (which would be out of the basement). We will need talent from outside of New England and Upstate NY to get us to 7 or 8 wins. And I dont count MD, PA and NJ as overlooked and under respected areas. Its NY and New England that nationally is generally under served by the recruiting services.

247 is behind on UConn recruiting as there is limited UConn info on the site, but overall they are ahead of Rivals. The founders of Rivals sold it to Yahoo in 2007 and then started 247 in 2010 and they have been slowly, but surely overtaking Rivals. In 2013, 247 took over the US Army All-AmericanBowl and US Army National Combine from Rivals and in 2015, they were acquired by CBS. They acquired Scout in 2017.

 

[Exit 4]

247 is behind on UConn recruiting as there is limited UConn info on the site, but overall they are ahead of Rivals. The founders of Rivals sold it to Yahoo in 2007 and then started 247 in 2010 and they have been slowly, but surely overtaking Rivals. In 2013, 247 took over the US Army All-AmericanBowl and US Army National Combine from Rivals and in 2015, they were acquired by CBS. They acquired Scout in 2017.

Now that we have a few years under the 247 belt so to speak, it would be an interesting exercise to compare specific recruits from CT and their rivals vs 247 rating. Looking back Taj Herring Wilson was an 84 on 247..... hmmm.

At the moment 247 is giving UConn zero coverage while Rivals actually has people paying attention to us.

 

[Pudge]

247 is no better than Rivals. I used to think so, but they are equally behind the curve on so many recruits that its a wash between Rivals and 247.

I just don't think there is a deeper well than say another 2-5 kids deeper of overlooked players to take UConn to the next level (which would be out of the basement). We will need talent from outside of New England and Upstate NY to get us to 7 or 8 wins. And I dont count MD, PA and NJ as overlooked and under respected areas. Its NY and New England that nationally is generally under served by the recruiting services.

Combines + Prep Schools. This is different than 10 years ago.

HOWEVER ... This is the same argument that has been around this place since 2003. My opinion has stayed the same: there are tons of overlooked kids in the Northeast. And they tend to be the Will Beatty to Zach Hurd to Liam Maloney types. Jordan Canzeri from Troy, NY exploded his senior year with 20 something TDs and had nothing but CAA offers until UConn came in late ... an then swooped in Iowa. Simple: they don't get watched by the bulk of these recruiting services and, then, we get a few or there are some 3 star talents at CAA schools like New Hampshire or Villanova or James Madison.

Line is different than other positions. HCRE has regularly identified a bunch of kids; then, watched their first handful of Senior year games.

There was one Prep School of note in the mid 2000s: Milford Academy. And, frankly, I am not sure what they are about academically. But with Cheshire Academy's last few years ... and then five to eight other NESCAC schools ... there is far better talent today there than 10 years ago. And thet is increasing. NYC? Boston? There are tons of really athletic kids; and now they are directed to skill development. I think Rutgers started really mining LI, Staten Island and Brooklyn/Bronx schools. There's more kids going to FBS today.

Summary? I think there are 2-4 kids overlooked from Canada a year. 7-10 from upstate NY, Metro NYC, CT, MA. Thus we need to regularly work this. We can get far better with solid evaluation and data base (which we seemingly have far better today than 10 years ago with Steinberg). We still need to win where HCRE always won. Western PA, Philly, NJ, MD ... and then GA + FL. Richardson did wonders as a recruiters; I can't imagine his relationships diminished; he will show. In a 3-5 year cycle, we will win with HCRE skillset to 7 to 8 wins; but, I feel we are in a tougher conference today than playing Syracuse, Rutgers, Pitt (with Wannstedt), Temple.

 

[Exit 4]

Combines + Prep Schools. This is different than 10 years ago.

HOWEVER ... This is the same argument that has been around this place since 2003. My opinion has stayed the same: there are tons of overlooked kids in the Northeast. And they tend to be the Will Beatty to Zach Hurd to Liam Maloney types. Jordan Canzeri from Troy, NY exploded his senior year with 20 something TDs and had nothing but CAA offers until UConn came in late ... an then swooped in Iowa. Simple: they don't get watched by the bulk of these recruiting services and, then, we get a few or there are some 3 star talents at CAA schools like New Hampshire or Villanova or James Madison.

Line is different than other positions. HCRE has regularly identified a bunch of kids; then, watched their first handful of Senior year games.

There was one Prep School of note in the mid 2000s: Milford Academy. And, frankly, I am not sure what they are about academically. But with Cheshire Academy's last few years ... and then five to eight other NESCAC schools ... there is far better talent today there than 10 years ago. And thet is increasing. NYC? Boston? There are tons of really athletic kids; and now they are directed to skill development. I think Rutgers started really mining LI, Staten Island and Brooklyn/Bronx schools. There's more kids going to FBS today.

Summary? I think there are 2-4 kids overlooked from Canada a year. 7-10 from upstate NY, Metro NYC, CT, MA. Thus we need to regularly work this. We can get far better with solid evaluation and data base (which we seemingly have far better today than 10 years ago with Steinberg). We still need to win where HCRE always won. Western PA, Philly, NJ, MD ... and then GA + FL. Richardson did wonders as a recruiters; I can't imagine his relationships diminished; he will show. In a 3-5 year cycle, we will win with HCRE skillset to 7 to 8 wins; but, I feel we are in a tougher conference today than playing Syracuse, Rutgers, Pitt (with Wannstedt), Temple.

I remember the recruitment of Canzeri, my how time flies - that was already 7 years ago? However, you defeat your argument when in the end a B10 school swoops in to take the kid in our under recruited region. So how is that overlooked? I guess you could say UConn should had this kid tied down, but thats a different story than whether or not the area is overlooked. A much better story would be a kid that gets an NFL try out from I-AA program or CUSA /SunBelt school that is from NY/NE. Tell me those stories.

Tyler Matakevich is probably a better fit for this narrative since the kid was in our backyard and never got a real look from UConn as I recall.

 

[Pudge]

I remember the recruitment of Canzeri, my how time flies - that was already 7 years ago? However, you defeat your argument when in the end a B10 school swoops in to take the kid in our under recruited region. So how is that overlooked? I guess you could say UConn should had this kid tied down, but thats a different story than whether or not the area is overlooked. A much better story would be a kid that gets an NFL try out from I-AA program or CUSA /SunBelt school that is from NY/NE. Tell me those stories.

Tyler Matakevich is probably a better fit for this narrative since the kid was in our backyard and never got a real look from UConn as I recall.

Ken O'Keefe

SEE: it only takes one set of eyes. Nobody saw Canzeri but UConn and CAA. But, O'Keefe is a Northeast guy and clearly walked in ... and PP hesitated. SEE ... I actually know the Troy coaching staff. So if you really think you're going to win the ARGUMENT, you ought to know some of the background.

 

[Exit 4]

Ken O'Keefe

SEE: it only takes one set of eyes. Nobody saw Canzeri but UConn and CAA. But, O'Keefe is a Northeast guy and clearly walked in ... and PP hesitated. SEE ... I actually know the Troy coaching staff. So if you really think you're going to win the ARGUMENT, you ought to know some of the background.

What background do I need to know to win the argument? None. Your hidden guy went to Iowa, IOWA! So he made it to big time football at near the highest level. Your tale would have relevance to your thesis if it was a Danny Woodhead type story were everyone missed out except lowly and invisible Chadron State College in Nebraska. The Woodhead story is the story we are looking for. Guys in NY and NE that punched a ticket to the B1G aren't hidden gems at all. To the contrary they are "found" guys, regardless of whether its early or late in the recruiting process.

 

[ZOOCONN]

BIG question here though is does/will he have the desire to play Nose Guard for us if we put him on D??? Historically speaking, when it comes to CT kids... there's only one town I'm aware of where kids that play make it at DT at the FBS level.. That town happened to be Windsor... Right now, my $$$ is on T Jones playing OL somewhere, primarily OG...but it would be nice to see him show a little versatility and dominate on that side of the ball at either OG or OT....

I say we look elsewhere to fill the gaps along the defensive front for this system ( JUCO, GS, transfer, overlooked under the radar kids the way Edsall knows how to recruit them - Kendall Reyes types )

the only thing i wonder with jones is that edsall and lashlee have already stated that they want their OL to be smaller and quicker, that means that jones would have to drop somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 lbs, that's a lot, that kind of weight changes has unintended consequences. im all for the big boys being quick, its just not as easy as plug and play.

 

[UConnRock]

the only thing i wonder with jones is that edsall and lashlee have already stated that they want their OL to be smaller and quicker, that means that jones would have to drop somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 lbs, that's a lot, that kind of weight changes has unintended consequences. im all for the big boys being quick, its just not as easy as plug and play.

If there was a choice between big and quick or small and quick I don't think the big guy would lose. Jones will go through the normal transition that all big guys go through and I am sure he will drop/redistribute weight. He seems to be a commodity in terms of size and speed that UConn has not had in a while. Jones' position is somewhat dependent on the development of Hubbard, Holmes and Leone and whether Jones' skills outshine other young OGs.

 

[Exit 4]

Jones' position is somewhat dependent on the development of Hubbard, Holmes and Leone and whether Jones' skills outshine other young OGs.

I think this is true. Plus, if we somehow end up with four Dline recruits that have some size; say 6'5'' ish, then that takes pressure off the notion of trying Jones on DL. Jones has four position possibilities; C, OG, DT and DE. This is a nice situation for once.