Newsome, one of top backs in the country. 4+ stars

[mcs333]

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-football/hc-uconn-football-0205-20140204,0,6907668.story

 

[sdhusky]

http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-football/hc-uconn-football-0205-20140204,0,6907668.story

sweet.

Love the stockpiling of OL for Newsome to hide behind

 

[sportsart]

Wow...

 

[Palatine]

Oh no, this happened to Andrew Bynum.

 

[sportsart]

Oh no, this happened to Andrew Bynum.

He played RB too?

 

[metsfan2323]

He played RB too?

I think he is saying there is a chance Newsome will declare for the NBA draft.

 

[IMind]

If he jerks the Sixers around too it might be worth it.

 

[Waquoit]

Look how great Diaco is, not even here 2 months and he bags a 4-star. 4-star plus!

 

[Chin Diesel]

Look how great Diaco is, not even here 2 months and he bags a 4-star. 4-star plus!

If he was any good he'd be bagging 5-star minus recruits.

 

[UConnDan97]

I love the fact that Newsome is coming to UConn! I do hope that he is allowed to grow and "find his way" here. In other words, he's already got a lot of pressure on his shoulders to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, and that type of expectation is tough to live up to. I just hope he has a really really good career in the national flag blue...

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Yeah, let's not "Savon Huggins" the kid.

 

[freescooter]

I love the fact that Newsome is coming to UConn! I do hope that he is allowed to grow and "find his way" here. In other words, he's already got a lot of pressure on his shoulders to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, and that type of expectation is tough to live up to. I just hope he has a really really good career in the national flag blue...

Not so sure about the expectations thing. One of the good things about football is that guys tend to redshirt which in a way takes them out of the news for a year and helps lower the hype a bit. I'm assuming that will happen with Newsome. I doubt the expectations will be any higher than they were for Boyle and most people have pretty much let him off the hook.

 

[Husky68]

4++ star running backs are backups to All Americans at Alabama, they start as freshman at UConn. Put LM or any other current UConn back on Ansonia last year and they would be 2nd string.

 

[Drumguy]

Is he the highest rated recruit for the program ever?

 

[metsfan2323]

I would be very surprised if Newsome is our starting RB next year, shocked actually. Too much to learn over one summer, and a running back needs to pass protect.

On top of that Max and McCombs are underrated by most posters on this board. I thought Max really started to show versatility as a guy who could catch passes out of the back field and move the chains (Max always falls forward at the end of a play). McCombs yards per carry shot up after the coaching change.

If Newsome is as good as advertised I could see the coaches trying to scheme ways to get him in the open field like (as someone else mentioned) Tavon Austin.

 

[freescooter]

4++ star running backs are backups to All Americans at Alabama, they start as freshman at UConn. Put LM or any other current UConn back on Ansonia last year and they would be 2nd string.

I assume you are exaggerating for effect.
By the way, Scout and Rival and 24/7 all have him as a 3-star, not a 4 star. Of course Donald Brown was a 3 Star recruit and he turned out pretty good. So was Todman, who did play as a true freshman, but mostly in a spot/backup role.

 

[sportsart]

New offense + new OL + frosh RB on the smallish side = disaster IMHO. A RS year gives him time to get bigger and stronger and let the OL growing pains play out.

 

[UConnDan97]

I assume you are exaggerating for effect.
By the way, Scout and Rival and 24/7 all have him as a 3-star, not a 4 star. Of course Donald Brown was a 3 Star recruit and he turned out pretty good. So was Todman, who did play as a true freshman, but mostly in a spot/backup role.

Todman was a 2-star recruit, which drives your point home further:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/connecticut/football/recruiting/commitments/2008/Connecticut-202

 

[UConnRock]

The Todman rating was why many just hare the star system. He was a 2 star all through his recruiting process except for a 2 or 3 day period when Penn St took a run at him. Prior to saying no to PSU he was bumped to a 3 star. After saying no to PSU he was dropped back to 2 star.

 

[Sportsman5]

I assume you are exaggerating for effect.
By the way, Scout and Rival and 24/7 all have him as a 3-star, not a 4 star. Of course Donald Brown was a 3 Star recruit and he turned out pretty good. So was Todman, who did play as a true freshman, but mostly in a spot/backup role.

It's extremely difficult to get 4 or 5 stars when a player plays at a small school. It pretty much doesn't happen because analysts are unsure of how their play ill translate to the next level. The exception may be kids with off the charts measurables. Like a 6'4" receiver who ran a 4.4 and had a 38" vertical leap at a combine as a junior. If newsome could have played at a bigger school and had great production, than there is no question he would have been rated higher. I think having a lot of small schools in new england can be an advantage if the coaches can figure out ways to project play at the college level other than production against top competition in high school.

 

[Jimdish255]

Most of the people on the board that have seen Newsome play more than once have a better idea of his potential than Lemming or any other recruiting service.

 

[Jimdish255]

It's extremely difficult to get 4 or 5 stars when a player plays at a small school. It pretty much doesn't happen because analysts are unsure of how their play ill translate to the next level. The exception may be kids with off the charts measurables. Like a 6'4" receiver who ran a 4.4 and had a 38" vertical leap at a combine as a junior. If newsome could have played at a bigger school and had great production, than there is no question he would have been rated higher. I think having a lot of small schools in new england can be an advantage if the coaches can figure out ways to project play at the college level other than production against top competition in high school.

Those are really good points.

 

[Husky68]

I assume you are exaggerating for effect.
By the way, Scout and Rival and 24/7 all have him as a 3-star, not a 4 star. Of course Donald Brown was a 3 Star recruit and he turned out pretty good. So was Todman, who did play as a true freshman, but mostly in a spot/backup role.

Better comparison is 2002 team that returned several running backs from previous year who had been part of subpar running attack and a true freshman 5-7 and 178 lb fairly lightly regarded RB from Maryland came in and ran for over 1,200 yards with 5.7 ypc average.

 

[BNich]

I posted this in another thread. If he was 3 -5 inches taller plus some pounds, put up similar numbers and lived in Texas he would be the #1 recruit in the country ala Jonathan Gray two years ago.

 

[UConnDan97]

The Todman rating was why many just hare the star system. He was a 2 star all through his recruiting process except for a 2 or 3 day period when Penn St took a run at him. Prior to saying no to PSU he was bumped to a 3 star. After saying no to PSU he was dropped back to 2 star.

Not only is there institutional bias (like the one you're referring to), there is also a state bias. In other words, how in the hell is the number 4 player in all of Massachusetts (Todman) a 2-star player??? If Jordan was from Jersey, he would have been at least a 3-star, and if he was from Florida, maybe even higher.

But this brings us back to Arkeel. He's from CT, so when they give a CT player a 3-star rating, that means that they are extremely high on him. In my mind, a CT 3-star is worth more than an FL 3-star, whether it's true or not...