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Predict Early Impact from this class so far

boydbuff

Club Member
Since we have 21 commits and are going into the dead period I thought we could try to predict who will get PT and make an impact in 2014 from this class.

My predictions:
Donovan Lee (Special Teams + I think Slot receiver but who knows)
Walker (ST + WR)
K. Keeney (TE): I know he needs to put on some weight but hopefully he will between now and Fall
Evan White (DB): We could always use help back there and he has the size to help out already
Dotson (RB): Some guys on AB are not thrilled with our RB situation but I am not one of them. I think with Powell, Adkins and Dotson, we have 3 BCS quality backs who can mix it up. If our line play improves I think our running game in 2014 is going to be very solid.

I also think one DE/DT may get in the rotation especially with CUD departure but not sure which one yet. Obviously a few others may get in on coverage teams.

HCMM & Co really impressed me with the development of the 2013 guys and their keen eye for who was ready to make an impact right away. They will do the same with this class.

And of course, if we are lucky there could be a few highly recruited guys we have been after that could flip our way somehow (like Ihenacho, Ballage, Holland) all of whom could also impact right away.
 
I really want a good portion of the class to redshirt. Like Walker, he's tallish, fast... sure he could contribute on ST etc, but he seems like a fit for the Z position that PRich vacated. I hope that Jeff Thomas wins that job and Walker gets to sit and learn. I see Witherspoon making the biggest impact right away. I could also see one of the LB's taking a Sam or Will spot.
 
The program will be in a better situation when 1 or 2 outstanding freshman play right away and the rest can redshirt. However, I don't think CU is there yet...but getting closer
 
SECOBuffsFan said:
The program will be in a better situation when 1 or 2 outstanding freshman play right away and the rest can redshirt. However, I don't think CU is there yet...but getting closer
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I agree. I think in almost every program, even the top 10 programs, a few freshmen always rise to the top and get some PT as true freshmen. Usually this is the skill positions (WR/RB). B/c we haven't had a deep enough roster in the last several years, we have had to start some true freshmen at DB, LB and even QB this year, which is far from ideal.

I think we are starting to get better depth but we still lack overall team speed so of course speedy freshmen have a shot at a lot of PT at this point. This is why pretty much everyone I listed that I think will get meaningful PT have the speed we have been lacking.
 
Of the ones you listed above, I would think Lee, Walker and Kenney have the best chance to play and help us this next season
 
That's 2 votes for Whitherspoon and I hadn't thought to include him in my early list. But you guys are right, he has some of the physical tools and is a Juco transfer so he has college experience already. May play ahead of White because of that.
 
Is anybody satisfied with this class? I'll withhold judgment until I see some play, but I feel really letdown right now. Good coaching will only take you so far in college football. Where our program is, we would be better off with a great recruiter than a great coach. If Mac2 doesn't work out, we may be in worse shape than we already were, and I didn't think that was possible.
 
Mac has a really strong record when it comes to recruiting. Look at the guys on SJSU who were nobodies out of HS and who played big roles. Look at Gillam and Adkins and others. I'm not hitting the panic button just yet. I fully expect there to be some good players in this class and I also expect the Buffs to improve on their record next season and attract more attention.
 
I am hoping we see very few of them this year.

Even the ones who could help us are developmental types, the extra year of maturity and development will help us a lot more on the back end of their careers than what they could contribute playing right away.

That in mind we have such a lack of depth that some may be forced to play, especially if we see injuries in key spots.

With PRich gone we do need a deep threat, Walker is taller and faster than our other options. Also very likely to see Smith snapping for us on STs.

Other than that some will play but hoping for as few as possible.
 
Hopefully some of the guys who redshirted this year are ready next. Then we can redshirt most of this class. Nonetheless I would love it if one of the true frosh could at least take over the KR/PR spot(s) (assuming no one currently on our roster can upgrade).

Anybody know if we can hold onto any hope of Harris applying for the sixth year?




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I see three guys helping next year.

Keeney, Lee, and Witherspoon. I could also see Walker play some depending on our development of the younger receivers (let's hope not). All three will probably see significant playing time with Lee seeing most on KR and PR duties.
 
I would love for every player graduating high school in 2014 to redshirt, but we have some pressing needs that will force some into action so obviously it's not a realistic wish. Walker and Witherspoon are already older so I'm looking for them to show maturity and make a more immediate impact. Of the "true" true freshmen, I suppose Lee and Keeney have a good shot at playing. I just wish Keeney had a redshirt year to get bigger in a college weight regimen but if his senior year talent translates well to Pac talent and he has the playbook down as good as or better than Slavin and Irwin then put him out there. Hoping every true freshman OL and defensive front 7 recruit redshirts, as well as Apsay.
 
fatbuff said:
Is anybody satisfied with this class? I'll withhold judgment until I see some play, but I feel really letdown right now. Good coaching will only take you so far in college football. Where our program is, we would be better off with a great recruiter than a great coach. If Mac2 doesn't work out, we may be in worse shape than we already were, and I didn't think that was possible.
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fatbuff - I totally agree with your comments and have been waiting for someone to make this point. This class is not anywhere close to what it needs to be, and CU absolutely needs a staff which has more recruiters (which we had until Bohn fired them). We're going nowhere trying to coach-up 50% of a class with no BCS offers. My opinion is MacIntyre absolutely has to add recruiters to his staff, or he won't stand a chance in the PAC 12. Problem is no one at CU, including the new AD, is paying attention to how bad this class is compared to our competition in the PAC 12.
 
Our scout team is filled with these guys redshirting, and we here rave reviews about all of them.
 
buffs233 said:
fatbuff - I totally agree with your comments and have been waiting for someone to make this point. This class is not anywhere close to what it needs to be, and CU absolutely needs a staff which has more recruiters (which we had until Bohn fired them). We're going nowhere trying to coach-up 50% of a class with no BCS offers. My opinion is MacIntyre absolutely has to add recruiters to his staff, or he won't stand a chance in the PAC 12. Problem is no one at CU, including the new AD, is paying attention to how bad this class is compared to our competition in the PAC 12.
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Hi, Jon. How is Cleveland treating you?
 
"hater" is often used to discredit a legitimate point. I understand many CU fans hated Embree and his staff, but we still needed to hire a recruiter first given our serious dearth of talent. IMO, CU did not need to hire a coach who has little experience recruiting in a BCS conference, and then compounded the error by hiring a staff which frankly does not have very good recruiters.
 
This is all based on your judging a recruiting class strictly on the numbers system....who had a bigger impact on the team this year.....poor little 2 star Gilliam or 4 star stud Yuri Wright? Oh, and if Embree and staff were such great recruiters...where are all our star studded players that are gonna make us a 9 or 10 win team.
 
Mac HAS recruited in a big conference. ACC (Duke) and Ole Miss (SEC). He knows how to recruit. Bauer does too. He built Notre Dame into a power. Jeffcoat is fantastic. How are you going to pull big name guys to CU after a 1 win season and a 4 win season? Show progress and this team is doing so.
 
vinniew_11 said:
Mac HAS recruited in a big conference. ACC (Duke) and Ole Miss (SEC). He knows how to recruit. Bauer does too. He built Notre Dame into a power. Jeffcoat is fantastic. How are you going to pull big name guys to CU after a 1 win season and a 4 win season? Show progress and this team is doing so.
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I think Troy Walters was a huge addition to the staff as well. He's lighting up twitter and getting the word out about CU football.
 
skinsfan55 said:
I think Troy Walters was a huge addition to the staff as well. He's lighting up twitter and getting the word out about CU football.
Click to expand...

With Mac, Eli Manning and Patrick Willis credit him for getting them to Ole Miss and now Duke has a wonderful D all started by Mac.
 
buffs233 said:
fatbuff - I totally agree with your comments and have been waiting for someone to make this point. This class is not anywhere close to what it needs to be, and CU absolutely needs a staff which has more recruiters (which we had until Bohn fired them). We're going nowhere trying to coach-up 50% of a class with no BCS offers. My opinion is MacIntyre absolutely has to add recruiters to his staff, or he won't stand a chance in the PAC 12. Problem is no one at CU, including the new AD, is paying attention to how bad this class is compared to our competition in the PAC 12.
Click to expand...
I agree with everything you are saying, but we didn't have recruiters here that were run off. We had what we thought could be good recruiters. But they didn't pan out, either. Talent generally wins over coaching, and while coach has done a good job of finding overlooked talent, you have a better chance of good players being recruited by good programs turning into stars. I don't like what I'm seeing with these offer lists. I feel like a ****ing lammie fan getting excited about beating Army for a recruit. I have been guilty of black and gold colored glasses in the past, but this **** has a potential of finally killing the program. I'm not giddy about the future, with a bunch of Rudys in black and gold.
 
Not for Nuttin' but Duke has recruited exactly one 4 star player since 2009.

If HCMM can get CU to a bowl game with these type of players, then he should be able to start recruiting a lot better. CU has the history and the tradition. We just need to start winning again to really get the ball rolling.

I have faith that this staff can get it done.
 
Until Mac demonstrates he is a bad evaluator and developer of talent, I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt. The true freshmen he started this year were damn good. In fact 3 of them were rated amongst the best freshmen in the nation at their positions with Gillam getting 1st team. Adkins and Sefo were honorable mention. Awuzie showed serious potential too.

We haven't seen most of the rest of the players he recruited at the last minute last year since they thankfully redshirted. We will see more of them play this year, plus the stars from this class get PT as well, so if we don't see continued improvement on the field or growing contributions from his recruits, than I'll give all you pessimistic b***es more cred.

Unti then I prefer to trust a guy who took a 1-11 team that was in danger of being removed not just from its conference but entirely eliminated from the sports teams offered by SJSU to 10-2 in just 3 years. Not only that HCMM has been an understudy of some world-class NFL and College coaches.
 
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