Hearing Coach Wells talk constantly about physicality and competing is a breath of fresh air for me. His quote "I am looking for the 5 that will pop someone in the mouth" is what I want in an OL coach. Got to thinking about our OL recruiting
I love our OL recruiting strategy. Recruit long term development guys who have 1 thing in common, very athletic, tall and long. They knew the 2016's and 2017's wouldn't need to play right away.
Riley Locklear- 4 star 6'5 who played WR as a fresh in HS. Came in at around 280 (love that weight for a HS guy). No bad weight.
K'Rojhn Calbert- 6'6 280 who was a really good basketball player. Would have been very highly rated had it not been knee injuries as FR and Soph. Offers blew up when SR film got out. This is my guy right here. Long and crazy athletic. Just scratching the surface.
Trey Smith- enough said. Stud. Going to be All-SEC. #1 player in the nation.
Marcus Tatum- 6'6 250 out of HS. Very athletic and long. Got him from Florida. Will RS this year which will be huge for him. People rave about his ability.
Nathan Niehaus- 6'6 265 out of HS. Think he also played WR as a youngster. What I remember about his film was that he was nasty on the field. All the while holding no bad weight and being light. Looking forward to him being 290 with that attitude.
Devante Brooks- Top 50 player and #1 TE in the nation before knee injury. Big frame at 6'5 255 right now. Obviously long term development guy but the athleticism will absolutely play if he can get weight and strength where it needs to be. Heard he was more than willing to move to OT. Love that mindset from guys who like to compete. Rare today and those players typically produce because they want it.
Ryan Johnson- highly rated guy from great program. 6'6 280 right now.Love his attitude. Think he will make a great center for us in the future.
Not to mention the 2015 class that saw us get 5 Star Drew Richmond, Top 100 player Jack Jones, 4 Star Venzell Boulware and Chance Hall who may have the most potential of any OL on the team not named Trey Smith.
Love this philosophy. Very rarely should an OL play early in his career. It takes a special player to be able to stop 21-22 year old SEC lineman who are about to head to the NFL as a freshman. So this means that they need 3-4 years. So you take a kid who is very athletic and long and just work on his body. By the time their number is called they are pushing 300 pounds, are 20-21 years old and twice as strong as when they got on campus but the game changer is they are still that athletic, long kid from HS. Next thing you know you have an OL full of RS Jrs/RS Srs and are grown men throwing guys around instead of playing what we have had to play so much of since Dooley set our program back so far. Sure a guy like Trey Smith comes along every now and then (6'5 315 with no bad weight, strong and ready to go) but we have had to rely on this young guys for a few years now.
To me this staff is saying, if we are wrong we would rather be wrong with good athletes on the OL than the 315 pound HS kid who has topped out. I get excited thinking about a few years down the road.
I love our OL recruiting strategy. Recruit long term development guys who have 1 thing in common, very athletic, tall and long. They knew the 2016's and 2017's wouldn't need to play right away.
Riley Locklear- 4 star 6'5 who played WR as a fresh in HS. Came in at around 280 (love that weight for a HS guy). No bad weight.
K'Rojhn Calbert- 6'6 280 who was a really good basketball player. Would have been very highly rated had it not been knee injuries as FR and Soph. Offers blew up when SR film got out. This is my guy right here. Long and crazy athletic. Just scratching the surface.
Trey Smith- enough said. Stud. Going to be All-SEC. #1 player in the nation.
Marcus Tatum- 6'6 250 out of HS. Very athletic and long. Got him from Florida. Will RS this year which will be huge for him. People rave about his ability.
Nathan Niehaus- 6'6 265 out of HS. Think he also played WR as a youngster. What I remember about his film was that he was nasty on the field. All the while holding no bad weight and being light. Looking forward to him being 290 with that attitude.
Devante Brooks- Top 50 player and #1 TE in the nation before knee injury. Big frame at 6'5 255 right now. Obviously long term development guy but the athleticism will absolutely play if he can get weight and strength where it needs to be. Heard he was more than willing to move to OT. Love that mindset from guys who like to compete. Rare today and those players typically produce because they want it.
Ryan Johnson- highly rated guy from great program. 6'6 280 right now.Love his attitude. Think he will make a great center for us in the future.
Not to mention the 2015 class that saw us get 5 Star Drew Richmond, Top 100 player Jack Jones, 4 Star Venzell Boulware and Chance Hall who may have the most potential of any OL on the team not named Trey Smith.
Love this philosophy. Very rarely should an OL play early in his career. It takes a special player to be able to stop 21-22 year old SEC lineman who are about to head to the NFL as a freshman. So this means that they need 3-4 years. So you take a kid who is very athletic and long and just work on his body. By the time their number is called they are pushing 300 pounds, are 20-21 years old and twice as strong as when they got on campus but the game changer is they are still that athletic, long kid from HS. Next thing you know you have an OL full of RS Jrs/RS Srs and are grown men throwing guys around instead of playing what we have had to play so much of since Dooley set our program back so far. Sure a guy like Trey Smith comes along every now and then (6'5 315 with no bad weight, strong and ready to go) but we have had to rely on this young guys for a few years now.
To me this staff is saying, if we are wrong we would rather be wrong with good athletes on the OL than the 315 pound HS kid who has topped out. I get excited thinking about a few years down the road.
