There are a few depth charts out there looking at our scholorship number. After seeing them I think Vonn Bell is a must get or we have to land Conely and start Cam Burrows at S, although I am under the impression that he is planning at starting out at CB. After next year we will be losing 2 three year starting safties in Bryant and Barnett as well as Brown who played a good amount this year and should see even more snaps with the departure of O. Johnson. That will leave us with 4 potential S candidates for 2014 in Bogard, Tanner, Jayme Thompson and potentially Darron Lee. I thing Bogard will end up be a very good player for us but Tanner has been quite so far and Thompson and Lee will most likely be redshirt freshman or sophmores. I Also dont see any of them besides Bogard seeing extended time besides special teams seeing as they will be behind the aformentioned 3 year starters and a senior with decent playing experience.
I know Urban has already offered some oustanding prospects for the 14 class like Quin Blading, Nick Glass and Others but we havent had as much success recruiting safties as we have had with other positions. I think we have had very servicable Safties recently but no superstars like an Eric Berry or even a Mike Doss. I know safties like Eric Berry dont come around every year and if they do will undoubtably have offers from everyone but do we really want to have a true freshman starting on defense while trying to win a NCG. Im not saying that Tanner, Bogard, Lee or Thompson cant be All americans for us just that they will be unproven and as we have seen some players are destined to start and some are destined to be role players. If you factor in Injuries like we had this year and also the Star position it is clear that we need more depth not neccesarily for next year but definately for 2014. I personaly really hope we can get both Bell and Conely in this class as we could use them. A lot of people talk about lacking linebackers but at least we have young talent that just needs to learn the mental aspect of the game. Considering how much nickel we have been playing in past years i definately think safties is ahead of Linebacker on the need list
Burrows will end up at safety. I've seen him play numerous time over the past 2 years, and he will not be able to play corner in college, especially if we begin playing more man coverage. He could be a great safety, though.
Thompson could end up being very good. He has been somewhat inconsistent, but if e corrects that, he should be a good one.
Obviously, Bell would be huge in this class, but I think we will be in good shape if he goes somewhere else.
Don't forget Darron Lee. He has the size and frame to play LB, STAR, or Safety.
worley as well right?
mark may wins douchebag of the year... again
Don't forget about Tyvis Powell who was doing well before injury. Najee Murray can play safety as well.
With Thompson, Lee and the eventual move of Burrows, plus the fact that there will be at least 1 more recruit coming in, I think safety is less of a concern than Linebacker.
Personally, I don't think Bryant and Barnett work real well together. Despite the overall weakness of the LB position, those 2 scare me with missed tackles. Bryant is good and I believe Barnett can be good, but both together just miss too many tackles. Hard hitters but bad instincts and no wrap up. It is bad enough when tackles are missed in the flats, worst when the second tackle is missed deeper by them. maybe its just me though.
Bryant defensed the final play in OT against UW and admittedly played GREAT against UM. HOWEVER, I think he has been a huge liability the past 2 years.
After a great Sophomore year, Barnett has never been the same since coming back from injury in game 5 or 6 this year.
Because there appears to be talent, it appears there is a problem with developing our DBs
Nah. Corey Brown was recruited as a CB at first. He moved. OJ is about as good as projected, he never was supposed to be a stud. Just decent.
Bryant is good. He's just a hard hitter, run defender type and Barnett is a lesser version of the same thing. Need a ball hawk back there to compliment Bryant. that is why as much as I would like Burrows and Woodard to be the starting CB, Burrows moving to safety is best because he can be a great quarterback for the secondary.
Plus I have seen a vast improvement from what was there last year overall. The DB coach is making progress. The current freshmen were making strides before injuries riddled them.
Hope you are right about Burrows cause I thought they looked ragged with Orhian Johnson doing that throw down thing and #7 playing for picks every time.
Doran Grant looked okay replacing Roby in early-mid season and then disappeared again
Never thought I would miss Chekwa, BUT I DO
P.S. Guess how many personal fouls #2 had this year.
I'm gonna say 4 and I'm gonna say that it's the most since Spitler, and then I'm gonna say that even though I respect your posts that you are way way way off on #2