I had no expectation for this class. That is my starting point. Name your ten players (or less)

[CougEd]

you believe can contribute to this program. Do you see any players that are of the quality of say Cole Madison, Middleton or even Ecklund. Any backs the quality of say Wicks or Morrow. Any receivers the quality cracraft and say Patmon? QB the quality of Falk?

Corners as good as Molton? Dlineman as good as Garret McBroom and Daniel Eukale?

Tell me 10 players you think will be players at WSU.

 

[BiggsCoug]

you believe can contribute to this program. Do you see any players that are of the quality of say Cole Madison, Middleton or even Ecklund. Any backs the quality of say Wicks or Morrow. Any receivers the quality cracraft and say Patmon? QB the quality of Falk?

Corners as good as Molton? Dlineman as good as Garret McBroom and Daniel Eukale?

Tell me 10 players you think will be players at WSU.

If last years class falls apart and next years class is similar, these kids are going to play. Win or lose.

I dunno which direction you go with recruiting at this point. JD says they’re a development program but takes what, 18 high school kids? Out of a possible 25.

But here is the portal that can solve immediate issues right away too. So do you just treat it like free agency? What happened to developing kids?

Some schools kids will sit at. They will redshirt, maybe they get a little time on special teams as a RSFrosh, maybe they get a little time as a backup as a RSSoph. And they’re cool with that. There are other perks around the program that keep them there.

Some other schools kids won’t sit at. If they aren’t playing right away they are gone.

Which do you think WSU is?

 

[Flatlandcoug]

you believe can contribute to this program. Do you see any players that are of the quality of say Cole Madison, Middleton or even Ecklund. Any backs the quality of say Wicks or Morrow. Any receivers the quality cracraft and say Patmon? QB the quality of Falk?

Corners as good as Molton? Dlineman as good as Garret McBroom and Daniel Eukale?

Tell me 10 players you think will be players at WSU.

I think it's foolish for any of us to suggest that we "know" how good any of these kids are going to be. Hell, we were all pumped about Shelton Danzy and he was a bust. 28th ranked nationally and 6th best player in the state according to the recruiting services and was clearly not cut out to be in the Pac-12. I loved his enthusiasm and passion and hope he's still a die hard Coug, but nobody "knows" anything right now.

Hell, even when you think that a guy's proven that he's a star....he can end up sucking. Khalil Tate was the next coming of Mariota after his sophomore season at Arizona with a Heisman hype train and all that and he was benched as a senior because he was mediocre after getting dinged up.

It's fun to discuss recruiting and all that, but it's important to remember that it's all pissing in the wind at the end of the day. Don't open your mouth up too much or it's not gonna be pleasant. Some would argue it's best to not even do it.

 

[TrumpCoug]

I think it's foolish for any of us to suggest that we "know" how good any of these kids are going to be. Hell, we were all pumped about Shelton Danzy and he was a bust. 28th ranked nationally and 6th best player in the state according to the recruiting services and was clearly not cut out to be in the Pac-12. I loved his enthusiasm and passion and hope he's still a die hard Coug, but nobody "knows" anything right now.

Hell, even when you think that a guy's proven that he's a star....he can end up sucking. Khalil Tate was the next coming of Mariota after his sophomore season at Arizona with a Heisman hype train and all that and he was benched as a senior because he was mediocre after getting dinged up.

It's fun to discuss recruiting and all that, but it's important to remember that it's all pissing in the wind at the end of the day. Don't open your mouth up too much or it's not gonna be pleasant. Some would argue it's best to not even do it.

Long live the Vipers. The BigBack and his pops are still butt hurt.

 

[roses04]

Who knows, you never know, there are 4 and 5 star can't miss people that are out of football in 1-2 years. And unrated players like Ben Roethlisberger, that aren't ranked that become pro bowlers and win super bowls. Needless to say teams like Alabama load up on 4 and 5 star talent and win every year, so stars do matter when you have a roster full of them, when you don't it's different. WSU has always been a program that has done more with less, and that will be tested over the next 2 years. I guess we have to trust the coaches and as true Cougs, hope for the best.

 

[BiggsCoug]

Who knows, you never know, there are 4 and 5 star can't miss people that are out of football in 1-2 years. And unrated players like Ben Roethlisberger, that aren't ranked that become pro bowlers and win super bowls. Needless to say teams like Alabama load up on 4 and 5 star talent and win every year, so stars do matter when you have a roster full of them, when you don't it's different. WSU has always been a program that has done more with less, and that will be tested over the next 2 years. I guess we have to trust the coaches and as true Cougs, hope for the best.

“Hope is not a strategy for success.”

Rick Neuheisal

 

[froropmkr72]

“Hope is not a strategy for success.”

Rick Neuheisal

"If "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts, wouldn't it be a Merry Christmas?"

-Dandy Don Meredith

 

[CougEd]

I think it's foolish for any of us to suggest that we "know" how good any of these kids are going to be. Hell, we were all pumped about Shelton Danzy and he was a bust. 28th ranked nationally and 6th best player in the state according to the recruiting services and was clearly not cut out to be in the Pac-12. I loved his enthusiasm and passion and hope he's still a die hard Coug, but nobody "knows" anything right now.

Hell, even when you think that a guy's proven that he's a star....he can end up sucking. Khalil Tate was the next coming of Mariota after his sophomore season at Arizona with a Heisman hype train and all that and he was benched as a senior because he was mediocre after getting dinged up.

It's fun to discuss recruiting and all that, but it's important to remember that it's all pissing in the wind at the end of the day. Don't open your mouth up too much or it's not gonna be pleasant. Some would argue it's best to not even do it.

Not impossible. Folks have seen enough video to say this class is a disaster or the coaches needed to be better recruiters and evaluators. They should be able to land an opinion which players stand out to them.

I remember going to the Bill Doba dinner. I am gonna say it was the 04 class and the 05 class . They paraded out Aaron Joseph, Stefan Bluhm, Hamil, Dany, Baird. I looked at my brother and told him we are in great trouble. Those kids like Danny don’t look like Coleman or Thompson or any other safety we had recruited from 95 to then .

Then the misses at DT really told the story as well . There was no Eaton or Bender or Holmes . It was clear that staff didn’t have a clue .

You can see explosion in a player . Hercules was so quick off the ball and played low . You can see that on tape .

 

[roses04]

“Hope is not a strategy for success.”

Rick Neuheisal

Needless to say in the long run it's not a strategy for success. I think with a winning record next year, an exciting offense, and some more improvement on defense can lead to a successful year. As always the lines are critical, but more wins usually adds to higher ranked classes. Just need to weather the storm of turnover in staff an players the past 2 -3 years.

 

[BiggsCoug]

Needless to say in the long run it's not a strategy for success. I think with a winning record next year, an exciting offense, and some more improvement on defense can lead to a successful year. As always the lines are critical, but more wins usually adds to higher ranked classes. Just need to weather the storm of turnover in staff an players the past 2 -3 years.

JD needs the kids not on board to leave, now. Full the roster with kids that want to be here and kids that aren’t hung over from the last staff. Then move forward.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

Not impossible. Folks have seen enough video to say this class is a disaster or the coaches needed to be better recruiters and evaluators. They should be able to land an opinion which players stand out to them.

I remember going to the Bill Doba dinner. I am gonna say it was the 04 class and the 05 class . They paraded out Aaron Joseph, Stefan Bluhm, Hamil, Dany, Baird. I looked at my brother and told him we are in great trouble. Those kids like Danny don’t look like Coleman or Thompson or any other safety we had recruited from 95 to then .

Then the misses at DT really told the story as well . There was no Eaton or Bender or Holmes . It was clear that staff didn’t have a clue .

You can see explosion in a player . Hercules was so quick off the ball and played low . You can see that on tape .

There are certainly instances where you can tell that a player is special. The first time I saw Kyle Weaver play in person was when we watched the Cougs play O-State in Stillwater. I ran into his mom at halftime and told her that it didn't matter how the game was going, Weaver was a stud and he was going to be in the NBA. He didn't play much...but he made it to the league.

The first time I saw Marquess Wilson in person, I knew that he was a special talent. I didn't know that he was going to be a total flake two years later, but he was clearly amazing as a true freshman. The thing is though.....because he was scrawny as hell, he ended up getting only one other Power 5 offer. Until his fallout with Leach, he was considered one of the best receivers in the conference. If it's so damned easy for people to see, how did he end up getting passed up?

All BS aside, you have no way of "knowing" how a kid is going to look in three years. You can formulate opinions and it's part of the fun of being on one of these boards, but we never know anything for sure. I will say that you can usually tell if a class is going to have a short term impact, but it's pissing into the wind to pretend like we know if this class is good or bad yet.

 

[ShockandAweWSU]

I will say this. Reece Sylvester's film is super impressive. He has a lot of upside as a free safety. Closing speed for days and packs a major punch when he gets there. Will play early.

 

[cr8zyncalif]

When it comes to how recruiting classes pan out, I guess it is fair to say that, "the more things change, the more they stay the same".

I think it is safe to predict that one of the collection of QB's will turn out to be better than the others. I don't know if it will be a scholie kid or a PWO. I don't know if he will have a cannon for an arm, or not. Don't know how mobile he will be. What I can tell you for sure is that it will be the kid with the best combination of field vision, anticipation & accuracy...but that isn't something you can know for sure until they try it at actual PAC speed. Our #2 guy behind Ward may not have a bunch of experience, but he will be able to play the position, and we'll probably have a #3 that is able to perform at a better level than what we had last year.

We got 5 HS OL. I feel pretty secure in saying that 2 will eventually be players and a 3rd might turn into some useful depth. It is amazing how consistent that has been over the years.

We got 2 RB's, and they are not clones of each other; one is smaller and fast and the other is larger and appears to be a bit more along the power back model. I like getting one of each every year. If we are fortunate, one will turn out well. Our HS RB odds seem to be more like 1 out of 3, so no predictions here.

I'd expect at least one or two of the DB's to turn out well. We also could have a guy that is initially intended to be a safety that develops into an OLB.

We have a real opportunity for a TE to get PT. I expect we'll pick up at least one more (could be either transfer or HS) that we don't already know about, and I'm pretty confident that the two best of the group will get some PT.

And the WR's are a crap shoot. No way to predict, other than to say that there seems to be a surprise freshman every year, and I'm pretty confident that we'll have someone (HS or portal) who comes through this year.

I don't think this class is noticeably better or worse than the average class for the past decade. It is definitely different, however, because we got some portal kids that look made to order for our needs, and that is a new development....and we are now looking for TE's with nobody returning at that position on the roster. That is also pretty unique.

 

[CougEd]

When it comes to how recruiting classes pan out, I guess it is fair to say that, "the more things change, the more they stay the same".

I think it is safe to predict that one of the collection of QB's will turn out to be better than the others. I don't know if it will be a scholie kid or a PWO. I don't know if he will have a cannon for an arm, or not. Don't know how mobile he will be. What I can tell you for sure is that it will be the kid with the best combination of field vision, anticipation & accuracy...but that isn't something you can know for sure until they try it at actual PAC speed. Our #2 guy behind Ward may not have a bunch of experience, but he will be able to play the position, and we'll probably have a #3 that is able to perform at a better level than what we had last year.

We got 5 HS OL. I feel pretty secure in saying that 2 will eventually be players and a 3rd might turn into some useful depth. It is amazing how consistent that has been over the years.

We got 2 RB's, and they are not clones of each other; one is smaller and fast and the other is larger and appears to be a bit more along the power back model. I like getting one of each every year. If we are fortunate, one will turn out well. Our HS RB odds seem to be more like 1 out of 3, so no predictions here.

I'd expect at least one or two of the DB's to turn out well. We also could have a guy that is initially intended to be a safety that develops into an OLB.

We have a real opportunity for a TE to get PT. I expect we'll pick up at least one more (could be either transfer or HS) that we don't already know about, and I'm pretty confident that the two best of the group will get some PT.

And the WR's are a crap shoot. No way to predict, other than to say that there seems to be a surprise freshman every year, and I'm pretty confident that we'll have someone (HS or portal) who comes through this year.

I don't think this class is noticeably better or worse than the average class for the past decade. It is definitely different, however, because we got some portal kids that look made to order for our needs, and that is a new development....and we are now looking for TE's with nobody returning at that position on the roster. That is also pretty unique.

Agree....if we get two lineman to be players, it will be what we have done since 2012. People talk about Leach and depth. He had bodies. I bet two thirds never sniffed a down. He got them out of teh prorgam and took another chance on another 5 kids.

One RB will work out. If Ward can play that is a big lift. I don't see him being a step back from JDL.

Do we have corner who can play? Two safeties? The pram killer will be Dline. But that has always been the case.