Thinking about Randy's press conference yesterday I came away with a few thoughts.
-) Horray, he actually watched tape on our team unlike Disastro who was too arrogant (and stupid).
-) He said the team needed a speed upgrade (indictment on Disastro as others here have noted!).
-) He said we need more speed at the WR position (looking at Beals, Mayala and McLean?)
-) He said Van Denmark and Holmes and Tunstall could even play this year (conclusion, current OL is also not up to par as we know).
-) He said when he built the program the first time he just took athletes (again the opposite of Diaco, who was attracted to prototypes).
The fix
-) We took Swan, Swenson, Fortt, Brown, King and Olaniyan to reload the secondary in a big way.
-) We added Gardner for LB. Sure its only one player, but I think he is the beginning of a return of better LB play for UConn after this Disastro dip. I should add that Beavers has potential too as well to boost our overall athletisism at LB as well.
-) We added Burnett for WR speed and Hairston for WR speed/height/pure catching ability.
-) We added Holmes. This kid is going to play early, I am confident in that.
-) We took in 3 Qbs! Incredible. Disastro would never have been able to accomplish this.
-) We add Williams at RB which will take some pressure off Hopkins and Vickers as they see the field for the first time this year.
Next step in the fix-
-) As others have posited, I think Hahn, Watkins and Garland move to LB, Freeborn, Carrezola and maybe AJ Garson move from LB to DE. As others have stated, we have several players on D that should probably move up a level - closer to the line of scrimmage. Looking at our our recruiting, you have to figure that is the staff's plan as well.
-) Edsall stated they are interested in a 5th year WR. I expect they find one this spring.
-) I think they will also find a 5th year OL as well.
-) Doesn't seem like its in the works, but I personally would feel better if we did take in an RB in this class. I know the staff doesn't believe in taking kids for the sake of filling all the slots. I get it. Next year we'll have just 3 kids on scholarship as RBs and that assuming we don't lose any to injuries, etc.
-) Seems unlikely, but if they can get a quality DL transfer that is not a 5th year senior, that would be a good add too for 2018+.
Conclusion - when you did deeper it seems like a lot was accomplished with this recruiting class. They have a plan. You can see it now.
I'll be super pumped if they find those first two remaining pieces in that 5th year WR senior and OL help this spring.
