The drive to upgrade the talent level was particularly focused at the wide receiver spot. UConn signed St. Paul-Bristol’s Marcus Aiken, a New Britain native; 6-foot-5 Malik Generett from York, Pa.; and a pair of highly-sought-after Florida recruits in Dwayne Difton of St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale — the No. 1-ranked high school team in the nation — and Mike Lang of Largo High in Largo.
With a new offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead coming aboard and a commitment to throw the ball more, the Huskies needed a jolt at the wide receiver position. Edsall didn’t guarantee anyone playing time, but at that spot it’s open season when the group gets to camp in August.
“Wide receiver is probably a position where there is a little bit more opportunity,” Edsall said. “If there is a guy that comes in and shows he’s above the other people, then he’s going to play.”
I have been reading a lot of the experts' recruiting wraps. Dwayne Difton is ranked No. 39 by rivals and No. 84 by scout. The Huskies' wide receivers are ranked 23 as a group.
This quote about Rutgers recruiting class from Allan Wallace courtesy of the AP.
“I’d rate Rutgers in the 30-to-45 (best) group,” Allen Wallace, publisher of SuperPrep magazine, said in a telephone interview. “It’s not a group filled with headlinders. However, it has a big talented kid at quarterback with a lot of touch on the ball.”
Are we done with the absurdity yet? Why is Difton not the 20th ranked receiver? Why isn't Rutgers 25th or why aren't they 50th overall? How can anyone tell?
UConn has 12 coaches devoted to watching film and rating players. They spend a ton of time on it. It's impossible to evaluate all of these kids, and even if you do, how do you start ranking players after the top handful of can't miss stars? It's absurd. I am stunned by how many papers have quoted these recruiting analysts today. Some schools buy in hook line and sinker. I will never write a "4-star" recruit in my paper. I do work for scout.com, and the service along with rivals.com are valuable. But, the thought that I am validating their player evaluations is silly.
The stars and the evaluations aren't valuable information. It's sports pornorgraphy, everyone has to stop looking at it.
It's who you got at certain deficient positions. I like Malik Generett's potential better than any of the other three the Huskies got. We'll see how it turns out.
Lastly, this feeds into the thought of great coach and terrible recruiter for Edsall. Is that accurate? Or, considering that UConn locked up a lot of these guys well in advance, did the Huskies get much of what they wanted?
As far as talent evaluation, I am sticking to the pro's whose jobs are on the line finding these guys. UConn does a good job at getting players who aren't "maxed out" as Edsall likes to point out. The hardest part of recruiting is projecting what a 17 year old will look like in three years. That is the test of the recruiter and the Huskies have done well there.
This staff has missed on getting a big-tme WR in a long-time. I can't really remember any working the players they brought in. All other positions the Huskies have recruited pretty well over the years.
All this team needed were breakout wide receivers. We'll see how it turns out, but they have several of them that look very enticing.
2 comments:
Fianlly some one said it, nice job John, very good read.
So if I keep surfing Scout's and Rival's websites will I go blind? (grin)
Please don't tell my wife I've been looking at porn.
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