Connor Neville
- Thread starter etowncoug
- Start date
Oh no, you must be kidding. I'm utterly shocked.
He came in to a system with an entrenched starter and a clear backup. Best case, competing for the 3rd spot with a couple guys with a 2-year head start.
After his redshirt season, he's still no better than 3rd on the depth chart. Then a grad transfer and a freshman get brought in, both end up ahead of him.
Doesn't play a down his freshman season. Another grad transfer and another freshman come in, both end up ahead of him.
So, 2 years in. 3 guys ahead of him are gone, but he hasn't risen on the depth chart. In fact, he's probably fallen. Doesn't know what the 2-deep even smells like. There's zero suggestion that he'll ever reach the backup spot, or do more than compete with the legacy walk-on for who gets to run the scout team.
Why would someone look at that situation and want to leave? And who could ever predict that?
Related: I also noticed that Casey Brink is no longer on the roster website.
You forgot to say "best of luck to this young man, hope he catches on somewhere and does well. Once a Coug, always a Coug".
He's the poster child of why you always want to bring in a QB with every class. I feel bad for the guy. The scandal his senior year in high school kind of put a cloud over everything and nothing has happened to make things look better. Best of luck to this young man, hope he catches on somewhere and does well. Once a Coug, always a Coug.
I wouldn't be surprised if John Bledsoe was ahead of Neville on the depth chart. Good luck to Connor. I lived in Wilsonville while he was slinging it in high school....a very good HS quarterback but actually was second team all-state at the 5A level. Bledsoe was first team. Neville got the scholarship, Bledsoe walked on.
Glad Cougar
Glad Cougar
This makes sense. I hope he finds a starting role somewhere. Perhaps a nonPower5 or FCS.
Everyone knows what the depth chart looks like.
There's not really any need to pile on the kid because he didn't end up being as good at football as he wanted to be.
Things have really changed for WSU in such a awesome way. Used to be that 4 stars, rarely came to WSU. Now 4 stars, whether clear 4 stars, or lowest ended, borderline, RR 5.7/5.8, upgraded 2,3 stars to 4 stars, etc, come to WSU at the rate of about 1,2,3,4,5, 4 stars a year, compared to about 1 4 star every 1,2,3 years in the past.
In the past a 4 star QB like Tyler Bruggman, Connor Neville would have started over QB's like Mencke, Birnbaum.
But not so now. That's saying something great awesome, about recruiting, development, depth, etc, when 4 star QB's, other positions, can't beat out the 2,3 stars, depth, make the 2,3 deep.
Also it's Amazing how many 4 stars are not starting, not backing up, not playing, not running scout team, have left WSU, did not get in, did not qualify, etc.
About 7,8,9 4 stars out of the about last 13 to 17 4 stars over the last 7 years, have not started, backed up, left WSU, didnt get in, qualify, etc.
It's getting to the point where ALMOST dread getting a 4 star, because they are likely to either not start, not contribute, transfer, not make it in, etc.
High end 3 stars have been a lot better, more consistent, etc, then 4 stars.
Maybe UCLA is not the place where 4, 5 stars go to get soft. Maybe 4 stars are soft. Maybe UCLA would do better to recruit High End 3 stars, over 4, 5 stars, then coach them up, develop them, etc. Maybe UCLA would be good then.
Hope UCLA doesnt see this, and continues getting soft 4 stars.
In the past a 4 star QB like Tyler Bruggman, Connor Neville would have started over QB's like Mencke, Birnbaum.
But not so now. That's saying something great awesome, about recruiting, development, depth, etc, when 4 star QB's, other positions, can't beat out the 2,3 stars, depth, make the 2,3 deep.
Also it's Amazing how many 4 stars are not starting, not backing up, not playing, not running scout team, have left WSU, did not get in, did not qualify, etc.
About 7,8,9 4 stars out of the about last 13 to 17 4 stars over the last 7 years, have not started, backed up, left WSU, didnt get in, qualify, etc.
It's getting to the point where ALMOST dread getting a 4 star, because they are likely to either not start, not contribute, transfer, not make it in, etc.
High end 3 stars have been a lot better, more consistent, etc, then 4 stars.
Maybe UCLA is not the place where 4, 5 stars go to get soft. Maybe 4 stars are soft. Maybe UCLA would do better to recruit High End 3 stars, over 4, 5 stars, then coach them up, develop them, etc. Maybe UCLA would be good then.
Hope UCLA doesnt see this, and continues getting soft 4 stars.
Surprisingly the history of 4 stars at WSU hasn't been impressive. I suspect this having to do with our recruiting challenges over the rivals era.
In the Price/Doba era guys like Matt Kegel, Jeremy Williams, and Michael Bumpus (all successes) were never the top dog. Kegel sat behind the less heralded Gesser until his senior year. Williams was overshadowed by a two star from Anacortes. Bumpus was never the top receiver on the squad as both Jason Hill and Brandon Gibson were better.
Other than Gabe Marks and (it's looking like) Max Borghi, the 4 stars in the Leach era aren't setting the world on fire.
CJ Mizell is the only example of a player who only got on the field because of his physical abilities. Athletic freak, but our staff couldn't control him. Played him anyway.
In the Price/Doba era guys like Matt Kegel, Jeremy Williams, and Michael Bumpus (all successes) were never the top dog. Kegel sat behind the less heralded Gesser until his senior year. Williams was overshadowed by a two star from Anacortes. Bumpus was never the top receiver on the squad as both Jason Hill and Brandon Gibson were better.
Other than Gabe Marks and (it's looking like) Max Borghi, the 4 stars in the Leach era aren't setting the world on fire.
CJ Mizell is the only example of a player who only got on the field because of his physical abilities. Athletic freak, but our staff couldn't control him. Played him anyway.
4 star success rate (as measured by getting to the NFL) is inly slightly better than 3 stars, so this shouldn't be groundbreaking news. Obviously bigger programs have more 4 and 5 star athletes and their success rates appear better because they are more visible.
As to CJ Mizell - dude was a stud and made plays. I wouldn't have toed the line in that sh!tty scheme either.
FWIW - Kyler Murray was rated 4 stars on Rivals...
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slightly better than regular 3 stars, or high end 3 star, borderline 3, 4 star low end 4 star?
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Wrong poster, sorry.
But I'll find the research and post it if you want.
If there's a joke there sorry I didn't get it, I've blocked his rambling nonsense
It's pretty normal for about half a class to leave before graduation. Normal attrition.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I don't recall seeing any stars above the players' lockers when I toured the FOB a few years back.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I don't recall seeing any stars above the players' lockers when I toured the FOB a few years back.
Not piling on, just pointing out the completely justifiable reasons he’d want to be somewhere else. Not really any fault of his own.
My mistake, not using the sarcasm font.
If you take the entire population of four stars, yes, they are significantly better than three star athletes. But I was specifically referring to the four star athletes who get recruited to WSU. We aren't landing many of the top 150 recruits in the country, who are top choices pretty much everywhere. Since there are about 400 four star recruits each year, it makes sense that there would be plenty of disagreement between analysts and coaches about who belongs in the second tier. Long story short, the four stars we've gotten over the years are likely players recruiting "experts" have liked more than coaches at blue blood programs.
Classy post and sentiment. Thanks for taking the high road Flatland.
I don’t remember anything about an academic scandal in high school, but I do recall how exciting it was to get a highly-rated 4-star QB in the fold.
Maybe like Fight Fight Fight for Washington State indicated, Neville could make the move to FCS.
Now that you mention it, perhaps he will turn out to be the player to be named later for Eastern in the Gage Gubrud deal.
QB is the toughest position to evaluate when recruiting HS kids. You need one every year because you simply cannot be sure how they will do in the P5 environment. I wish Connor well and hope he ends up somewhere where he can get on the field, which is where every competitor wants to be....
There wasn't an academic scandal, and i won't elaborate. Google is there if you need to know, thoughClassy post and sentiment. Thanks for taking the high road Flatland.
I don’t remember anything about an academic scandal in high school, but I do recall how exciting it was to get a highly-rated 4-star QB in the fold.
Maybe like Fight Fight Fight for Washington State indicated, Neville could make the move to FCS.
Now that you mention it, perhaps he will turn out to be the player to be named later for Eastern in the Gage Gubrud deal.
Classy post and sentiment. Thanks for taking the high road Flatland.
I don’t remember anything about an academic scandal in high school, but I do recall how exciting it was to get a highly-rated 4-star QB in the fold.
Maybe like Fight Fight Fight for Washington State indicated, Neville could make the move to FCS.
Now that you mention it, perhaps he will turn out to be the player to be named later for Eastern in the Gage Gubrud deal.
Yeah.....it wasn't an academic scandal. Let's just say that Connor Neville failed to be as thoughtful as he should have been and he made a fool of himself.
Star recruits that never quite produced at WSU is Cougar football history. Mark Rypien, our top recruit ever, #1 nationally, had a mixed and inconsistent career. LBPT Perfect 10, DeWayne Sanders, never lit it up, Derek Sparks, ordinary, Drew Bledsoe, never played anywhere near his talent level until his last two games, Josh, who last name escapes me (brother played DE), they weren't just 4 star guys, they were can't miss 5 star kids. Compare that to the greatest Cougar football player, college and the pros, was a very lightly recruited two star TE who couldn't catch the ball. Price had some success with 4 star kids, but that probably had something to sheer numbers, as a "players coach" he signed quite a few during his years on the side line. I'm so jaded at this point, that when 4 & 5 star kids show real interest in WSU, my thoughts turn to "what's the problem." Give me an athletic kid with fixable whole in his game, any day.
That's him, Never the player that his smaller slower far less recruited brother was. Go figure!
We're getting about the same number of 4 stars that we always got. By that, I mean ACTUAL 4 stars.
f
Quick thoughts:
1. Not this bullshit with fake 4-stars again. That's been debunked. Remember, I'm not your enemy here in terms of saying the recruiting hasn't taken a step up with Leach. It has. It doesn't require these false standards you invent to back that, though.
2. Consider whether there might be any reason that kids rated 4 stars who attend WSU tend not to work out as frequently as high 3-stars or, we may reasonably assume, 4-star recruits who attend many other schools. I was going to let implication do the work, but I'll come out and say it ... I think it's because of our 4-star recruits, compared to those who attend most other schools, there in many, but not all cases are reasons they wound up at WSU instead of UCLA, UW, USC, and the like. To be absolutely clear, I'm not saying this about all of them ... Gabe Marks, for example, was a legit 4-star who lived up to his ranking. I'm talking about the Chandler Leniu types.
I will point out that 4 stars frequently don't pan out, regardless of where they attend school. Just look at the typical UCLA recruiting class of this century and see how many kids were 4 stars (many) and how many worked out (anecdotally, it has to be less than half, and probably a lot less than that).
Yeah, no disagreement with that. I just think (based on nothing terribly analytical or quantitative, but just my past recollection) that we've often landed 4-stars who had things fall through elsewhere, who have had that initial ranking based on early film (with interest from other schools dying off), who have had character or grade issues, etc., and those guys have failed to pan out even more frequently. It's just based on what I recall seeing over the years, though, and the group of WSU 4-stars is a pretty small sample, unfortunately, making it difficult to extrapolate from that cohort.
Are we even all on board that 4 stars fail at a higher rate than 3s?
Using Rivals & 247 info, in Leach's history, I've got...
Calvin, Hillinski & Marks as hits, vs Drue Jackson, White Jr, Toki, Bruggman & Alex Mitchell as busts.
Neville and Leniu are not currently listed as 4 stars at either service, but I believe they were under the old Scout format. I think maybe Borghi was as well? Then the jury is still out on Cooper and Fisher
So, if we include all of them, that's 4 hits and 7 misses. 36%? Is that way off of our overall recruiting performance?
Best of luck to Connor, he was in the program for 3 years, worked hard, did everything he was asked. And he like most QBs want to go somewhere to get on the field during a game, can't blame him for that. He's still a Coug and I'll follow his progress wherever he goes, just like most people on this board.
Don't think Jim Walden would've survived Cindy Sandberg bringing daily train service back to Pullman
