Another perspective on Cougar recruiting...

[YakiCoug]

Let's not kid ourselves. WSU football's struggles since 2006 can mostly be attributed to poor recruiting on either line. Today, WSU signed five offensive linemen and four defensive linemen. In the previous two years, WSU signed 10 offensive linemen and nine d-linemen, although a combined four are no longer in the program, with some never enrolling.
The best news is that not one of the incoming freshmen O-linemen will have to play in 2015, due to the fact all starters and a few key back-ups return.
Only two of the incoming d-linemen (Jeremiah Mitchell and Thomas Toki) will see action, thanks to improved depth both inside and outside.
If the adage that the game is won in the trenches applies, this program is poised to make big strides.

 

[Coug90]

I mostly agree Yakinthat games are won and lost in the trenches and sure as hell hope you are right and most of these guys become beasts for the program...sure feels like a lot of polish on a big turd of a day though from what we all originally expected.

 

[dgibbons]

Would it make you feel better if...

Mason signed with WSU but didn't qualify and never enrolled?

"De-committing" from USC, then flipping from WSU to San Jose State is one hell of a fall.

 

[Coug1990]

Another way to look at this is that we know that players will bust. Many players bust at all programs. Everyone of these players don't seem like they wanted to invest in the WSU program. If they are not happy in their choice, it would be unlikely they would have done well at WSU. It is better to weed them out now than when they get on campus and are transferring out after a year.

 

[YakiCoug]

Originally posted by Coug90:
I mostly agree Yakinthat games are won and lost in the trenches and sure as hell hope you are right and most of these guys become beasts for the program...sure feels like a lot of polish on a big turd of a day though from what we all originally expected.

In watching the higher level bowl games the last seven or eight years, I've focused on the line play, offense and defense. We haven't even come close to the size, strength and mobility I've seen from these teams. We're still not there, but as McGuire said, we'll have about 20 o-linemen on the roster this fall. As we continue to recruit and continually build both lines, success should come.

 

[GoldenCoug]

Now we actually need to start winning in the trenches.

On the offensive side of the ball our line protected well enough for Halliday to set records and move the Cougar offense effectively through the air. On the other hand they still are not too good at opening up large holes when we attempt to run. If we could improve here that would be a big win. Can the same players make that happen?? Hopefully that is the case so we don't have to break in a new player and will have continuity going into next season.

On defense, our line was good but not great last season. I am hoping that this year we will have the talent to have a great rotation of players on the D Line.

NTackle
Barber 6'3 305
Tapa 6'2 314

Tackle
Veo 6'4 295
Ekuale 6'3 "285

D End
Paulo 6'2 260
Mitchell 6'5 260

Speed rush guys coming in with Kingston Fernandez and Hercules Mata'afa and you have some serious power in the D Line.

I personally will be surprised if Toki and Fehoko are in the mix at least early on but this is a a damn good start. Now if we can get the secondary to play well we may have the makings of a dangerous defense.

 

[cr8zyncalif]

Yaki, we had 4 needs this recruiting cycle.

You discussed the O and D lines. +1 on that.

But we also really needed D back help and at least one, maybe 2 kickers who were PAC level.

I think we probably addressed all those needs.

And there were a scattering of kids at other positions, none of which looks to be a bust. Of course, not every kid in any recruiting class for any NCAA team works out…there are always some busts. But none of these kids looks high risk from either an academic or athletic standpoint. So I think this class will go down as one more step in the right direction. I also think we win 6 or more games next year, and that, combined with not losing Simmons and his recruits at the last minute, should mean that next year's class will probably rank a bit higher than this year's. Though as we all know, somebody ought to re-rank those classes after 3 or 4 years to see how they really worked out…rankings the day after LOI day are subject to wild fluctuation as reality sets in.

This class appears from an academic standpoint to be likely to show up 100% for this fall. And most will probably keep up their eligibility and get a degree. That alone puts this class ahead of many from the past decade. And since by my count we lost at least two kids near the end due to academic risk, not because they actually decided to flip (I mean, Mason to SJSU is pretty clearly an academic issue), I'm actually happy they did not end up with us. We don't need a bunch of athletes that can't get or stay eligible. We've tried that. It doesn't work.