UConn has star potential in secondary (John Silver)

[huskymedic]

Didn't see this here yet (sorry if duplicate - catching up from a week of hell)...

Good quick read. Huge accolades from Coach BD for Byron and Obi.

http://post original url/rQN81IuR1p

 

[sportsart]

Pretty powerful statement by Diaco.

“(Notre Dame) had a first round draft pick, a pro bowl safety in Harrison Smith. From a talent standpoint, (Melinfonwu) the most talented safety I’ve ever been around.”

 

[dsturdy5]

I read that and I get even more excited for the season.

 

[BNich]

Didn't know the tid bit about Byron. Very cool. He appears to be a very nice young man with a great head on his shoulders. The secondary should be the strength of the defense as it has the most experience of any position. Good size and athleticism back there.

 

[UconnFamily]

Pretty powerful statement by Diaco.

“(Notre Dame) had a first round draft pick, a pro bowl safety in Harrison Smith. From a talent standpoint, (Melinfonwu) the most talented safety I’ve ever been around.”

Melinfonwu had 70 tackles, 2 interceprions, 2 forced fumbles and 3 tackles for loss as a Freshmen. #Beast #Bleedblue #Uconn

 

[BoatShow]

Gratz and Wreh-Wilson 2.0????????????????

 

[uconndogs]

There is plenty of talent out there that does not show up on the recruiting sites in any meaningful way. My sense is that this coaching staff is going to recruit a lot like the Edsall staff did. Look for athletes to develop that are at least initially under the radar.

Folks get way to wrapped up with the recruiting sites, stars and class rankings. UCONN has never shown well there, but has put a steady stream of kids in the NFL. If the coaching staff can evaluate talent and then develop that talent then UCONN will be fine.

 

[uconnfan68]

Pretty powerful statement by Diaco.

“(Notre Dame) had a first round draft pick, a pro bowl safety in Harrison Smith. From a talent standpoint, (Melinfonwu) the most talented safety I’ve ever been around.”

We got a huge steal here folks. This kid may end up being the most highly rated we've ever had. Off to a pretty good start, some freshman mistakes but talent just oozes.

 

[BoatShow]

Jhavon Williams had some really good flashes last year too.

 

[uconndogs]

We are going to need the DL and secondary to play really well this year. The unknowns and unproven at LB are huge, especially moving to a 3-4. I have a feeling (maybe hope) that Frank may step up as a great pass rusher from either the LB or DE spot. That would be huge.

 

[sportsart]

There is plenty of talent out there that does not show up on the recruiting sites in any meaningful way. My sense is that this coaching staff is going to recruit a lot like the Edsall staff did. Look for athletes to develop that are at least initially under the radar.

Folks get way to wrapped up with the recruiting sites, stars and class rankings. UCONN has never shown well there, but has put a steady stream of kids in the NFL. If the coaching staff can evaluate talent and then develop that talent then UCONN will be fine.

Couldn't agree more. People need to realize that kids who are 3/4/5 stars are usually the ones who have matured earlier as an athlete. RE was great at finding those who have not realized their potential. He and his staff were also great at coaching them up.

I think we can agree that all of our guys that went to the NFL were actually 4/5 star players but had not showed it yet in high school.

Find a smart and athletic overachiever and have the right staff and you will see success. Diaco has shown to be a man with a plan. I have complete faith in him and his experienced staff. Throw in our facilities and S&C coach and we are in good shape.

 

[metsfan2323]

I can't wait to see Obi on the safety blitz this year. I don't think we blitzed him once all last year. The guy is built like a linebacker, he should occasionally be blitzed like linebacker, with that speed and size he'd be hard to handle. He's bigger and faster than Trevardo Williams.

 

[LIUCHusky]

I can't wait to see Obi on the safety blitz this year. I don't think we blitzed him once all last year. The guy is built like a linebacker, he should occasionally be blitzed like linebacker, with that speed and size he'd be hard to handle. He's bigger and faster than Trevardo Williams.

He is neither bigger nor faster than Trevardo Williams. How quick we forget. Williams ran the 100 meters in the range of 10.6 or 10.7 in high school.

 

[UConnDan97]

I think the other thing to mention in this thread is that Obi was a 3-star recruit (according to rivals). I know that our bread and butter at UConn has been training up the athletic 2-star recruits, but Obi was pretty well regarded before landing on campus. Of all the things that Pasqualoni didn't do, at the very least he gave us Obi...

 

[Stinger92860]

Despite the the fact that pp was a terrible head coach in many facets, he may have recruited better than we did previously. With Balis Diaco and staff in charge we may be on the road to recovery. Let's hope Foley can continue is magic with the O-line. He is a great coach and in time we will dominate the line of scrimmage against most of the opponents on our future schedule.

 

[DoctorWho85]

I knew Jones and Obi were good players, but I didn't know they were that big. That's Seahawk's secondary big and that defense was pretty much lights out. This gets me so much more pumped to see what this teams is going to do on opening day.

 

[gioff23]

let's not forget Adams who had a terrific freshman year but seemed affected by injuries last year. I think our secondary is our strength going in to the year. I'd like to see more depth at CB.

 

[B1GEast]

I think it's safe to assume that with a strong secondary we can expect to see a lot of blitz packages this year. Hope the DL can penetrate

 

[Srqhusky]

With the praise given to him by p and diaco it will be interesting to see if he may become the first uconn player to go top fifteen in the nfl. you have two coaches that have seen a lot of talent saying he is one of or the best they have ever seen. the nfl is drafting corners and safeties like never before so it will be interesting in a few years