They both play DE... Bailey stands up and is more of a speed rusher. I just relay what I hear. I'm assuming they think Uwazurike would have been just as valuable to the team this year, no matter if he was playing LEO, or the other DE spot.
REPORT: Matt Leo is still signed with ISU (so Gunnerclone won't pee his pants...again)
- Thread starter JStanz51
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They both play DE... Bailey stands up and is more of a speed rusher. I just relay what I hear. I'm assuming they think Uwazurike would have been just as valuable to the team this year, no matter if he was playing LEO, or the other DE spot.
Football is not that hard to learn. It's not like starting with a raw athlete in basketball where it takes years and years to develop skills. If you are big and athletic you can learn to play football pretty quick.
Especially with him having a background in rugby.
Welcome to Cyclone Nation Matt.
Always glad to have very successful DL prospects on board. Look forward to seeing you lead our defense into being one of the most improved units in america!!!!
Always glad to have very successful DL prospects on board. Look forward to seeing you lead our defense into being one of the most improved units in america!!!!
In my experience, jucos are not always the instant relief fans may think they are when they sign. Because they've been out of high school for a year or two, they are often more physically developed than HS guys so look great in pictures. But a wise coach once told me there's about 3 reasons kids go to juco and they're not always great ones.
Some times, a kid went that route as he felt he was good enough, needed to get bigger and was willing to work his ass off to get there. That's a great reason. Plus you can see it on the field and he's typically a fairly safe choice. Some times kids had academic issues that forced them to juco. This one is a little sketchier. If they've worked hard and got themselves in great standing, good for them. If they continued to struggle at the juco level, pretty big red flag. The other big one is character/off field troubles. This is a really tough one, as it isn't always apparent that they've been "fixed". It can manifest itself in a lot of ways once they had off to big boy football. And all of it is clouded by being tough to evaluate due to level of competition.
Without going into full analysis, I looked at TCU's juco class from last year as they were the top juco class for the year. They signed 6 top 80 juco players, including 3 of the top 9 (247 rankings):
- Taj Williams (WR) was the #6 overall player and was a 4-star recruit. Started opening day and #1 on the depth chart at the end of the year.
- Tyree Horton (OLB) was the #8 overall player and a 4-star recruit. Dismissed from team on October 18th.
- Ryan Parker (WR) was the #9 overall player and was a 4-star recruit. Not on depth chart either beginning or end of the year. Appears to have not made it or left due to grades.
- Markel Simmons (CB) was the #52 overall player and a 3-star recruit. Played sparingly in back up role. Recorded 5 tackles.
- Matt Boesen (WDE) was the #53 overall player and a 3-star recruit. Played as a backup in 10 games, recording 28 tackles, half of which were in a 2 game stretch where the starter was injured.
- Chris Gaynor (OT) was the #80 overall player and a 3-star recruit. Played in 4 games, started 0.
- Demond Tucker was the #38 overall player in that class.
- Jaypee Philpert was the #80 overall player in that class.
- Bobby Leath was the #95 player in that class.
- Kendall Williams was the #101 player in that class.
Table for Mr. Killington? Mr. Buzz Killington?
This off-season is for us glass half full guys! If he comes in, competes, and makes the team better (on practice field, in class-room, in locker room, and ideally on game day) he's a success.
I'd say here is the rotation:
DE/Leo: J. Bailey, Stewart, Uwazarike, Leo, Benton, Waggoner
DT/NG: Johnson, Trent, Lima, Tongamoa, J. Bailey
I think that guys like Uwazarike, Leo and Waggoner can play inside on passing downs.
My retort would be that Leo, Lima, Tongomoa are being recruited to a defensive line unit that is very week due to graduation and onto a team that finished 3-9. The opportunity to come in and play immediately is very different for a situation like this vs coming to a school that has been fighting for a playoff birth. Granted, none of us can plan for academic situations or if they, or anyone in our program, keep their nose clean. But they will have the opportunity to play immediately here.
First I am not trying to downplay him, I think it is an awesome signing. He can and should be a dominant defender for us. However, there are clearly somethings he needs to work on to be effective at this level. The most obvious is his pad level is very very high. When you look a the huddle video you see his hips coming under his shoulders because he gets way to high. If he is a coachable kid and doesn't have flexibility issues that get in the way, I am sure that we will see a very different approach after spring ball. This is one that seems so simple but it is surprising how many guys it keeps of the field.
I anticipate the coaches working on fast twitch with him. Looking at his videos as well as his 10, 20 40 yards he has very good top end but needs to get out of blocks faster.
Very high ceiling, some work to do, but it gets me for the first time in forever during basketball season saying "Is it football season yet?"
I anticipate the coaches working on fast twitch with him. Looking at his videos as well as his 10, 20 40 yards he has very good top end but needs to get out of blocks faster.
Very high ceiling, some work to do, but it gets me for the first time in forever during basketball season saying "Is it football season yet?"
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Geesh, let's hope that's not the rotation. Tongamoa and Lima are not being brought to ISU to be backups. We've heard nothing about Stewart. I expect Uwazarike to be ahead of him in the rotation.
I know it's wise to be cautious with JUCO recruits, but for every Rony Nelson or Bobby Leath, there's a Tuba Rubin or Demond Tucker. Either way, that rotation has as much size as we've seen in a long time.
I have seen nothing that makes me think Vernell Trent is going to be able to beat out Lima and Tongamoa. Granted I haven't seen either one of them do anything, but I'd be pretty surprised if that happened.
It is agreed that Jucos are never a sure thing, but we have to add immediate help on the DL this year. I like that we are signing three highly rated Juco linemen. It increases our odds of success. If two of the three are as good as advertised, we should still be pretty good when they are paired with the guys already in the program. If all three are great, then we could have something special. Quality depth = something special
Might of already been said, but how old is he and how many years of eligibility does he have left?
We have been a sieve against the run the last few years, so getting big bodies in Leo, Lima and Tongamoa will at a minimum create competition and depth. If they develop into starters, it should give us the bulk up front to be tougher to run against.
The common thread by teams that beat ISU last year- they ran all over us. To even have a chance against Iowa, Texas, OU, KSU and WVU then we need to be able to stuff the run. Having close to 1,200 lbs. on the DL should go a long way and free up our LBs and safeties to make tackles.
The common thread by teams that beat ISU last year- they ran all over us. To even have a chance against Iowa, Texas, OU, KSU and WVU then we need to be able to stuff the run. Having close to 1,200 lbs. on the DL should go a long way and free up our LBs and safeties to make tackles.
