This is where we need some BIG improvement.
We were used to, in the BE period from 2003 on, energy arriving from kids who were redshirted. Over the months before he left, Edsall (and the assistants ... many still here) brought in almost all these kids and gained verbal commits. (the ones he didn't tie down ... to my recollection ... were Clax, Gutierrez, Levy, Stephens, Shortell, Vinci, Whitmer). We need to see the arrival of many of kids into the depth charts and making our special teams good. To date, we haven't heard (of course, Bryan and Silva never made campus and some have left already - Shortell, Vinci) much great from the usual sources. Excepting Levy.
The 2011 and the 2012 classes (this Edsall last class) need to improve dramatically from what we have seen so far on the field. Ashiru, Vann, McQuillan, Foxx, Nwokeji, Hemmingway, Adams ...
The key to our Edsall years, imho, was the continuous development through the ranks of recruits. Sure ,,, we obviously had a good 20% that never saw the field. Edsall often reached on good solid athletes & they never got to the level needed. But ... many many kids (Sio Moore, Darius Butler, Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Mo Petrus, Scott Lutrus for example) became bigtime contributors. Development? Hope to see it this August.
The incoming fall 2011 class was Edsall's last recruiting class as head coach, and it was partial. Of that entire 2011 class, we had a few players that came in and committed and signed for fall 2011, well after Edsall had left, and I think that from that class, those that haven't already seen game day roster two deeps, it's going to be a difficult climb to get to the game day rosters at this point. Any addition to the game day rosters from the 2011 class that we haven't already seen, would be welcome, but I don't think it's going to happen. I think we'll see a big contribution from 2012 class on the two deeps though and I think you'll see 2012 OL's pushing the 2011 OL's out of the two deep.
I agree that redshirts were used differently by Edsall than Pasqualoni uses them, but differently than I think you are saying "energy" wise. My feeling is that the difference was mostly that Edsall approached recruiting and targeted players for recruiting, with an embedded process of differentiating players that need development time, vs. players that could have immediate game day impact, while Pasqualoni recruits with the intention of every single player being ready to compete for the starting roster from day 1 and waits until camps have sorted themselves out before making redshirt type developmental time roster decisions about players. That is entirely my own opinion, and not based on anything much other than my own observations.
regardless if my opinion is true or not, this year - 2013, both the 2011 and 2012 classes are beyond the redshirt freshmen developmental roster decision making process, and it should follow that this year, the competition on the roster in the depth chart should be much better than last year - IF recruiting across the board truly has improved, and nowhere is that more important this team's success than on the offensive line.
The single most undeniable thing to look at to determine what kind of direction recruiting is going, is to look at competition on the depth chart, and see whether or not classes are moving up or down, and how those players have found their way on to the roster.
The 2011 class, Edsall's last, had three offensive linemen, that are now going into their third fall camps, and have yet to prove themselves and 2011 was a very, very important OL class, because of the 2010 class, we lost one OL player to a child pornography charge, and the other we lost, wasn't really an OL anyway. Of that 2010 class of four offensive linemen, Gus Cruz has come through as a contributor only. Bryan Paull, I hope to see push at the center position this year and we brought in only three OL"s in 2011 as NLI signees.
Kevin Friend and Steve Greene alone are where they should be on the depth chart ideally on the OL since 2009. What else do we have? Bullock - recruited as a DL. Bennett - needed a medical sixth year, otherwise who is our starting LT? The thing that is most overlooked at what Pasqualoni has done with this roster, but might be just the most important thing that has been done - is getting Bennett that sixth year. What else is lined up behind the projected starters? We've been patchworking our starting offensive line depth chart with transfers, converted positions players, walk ons, and true freshmen on the OL lately in the past few seasons, and none of the 2011 class have been involved.
The 2012 OL class, Pasqualoni brought in four offensive linemen, of which at least two were competing for game day roster spots in their first camp(one made it, the other was an academic casualty and may or may not be back eventually, and the other two OT's were redshirted, in favor of the the 2011 OT's but are now ready to push)
We were woefully thin on offense when Pasqualoni arrived on the offensive depth chart. Everywhere on offense, including the supposed position of strenght - the OL. This wasn't going to be fixed overnight. But our offensive roster, is not quite so 'Offensive' anymore, and with the 2014 additions, continues to improve.
