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"Stars? I don't need no stinkin' stars"


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RUger the staff wants big guys who can move, not just big guys.  We have Corey Grissom committed, and he is 6'2" 275.  We are recruiting Kyrhi Thornton pretty heavily and he is 6'4" 290.  Both guys can move.

"If they can move", then they "can be moved" is an old saying I remember hearing somewhere regarding the differences between Run Stopping DTs and Pass Rushing DTs.  Look at Grady Jackson.  The guy doesn't have to move to stop the run, he just has to step right or left and eats up two blockers feeing up LBs to fill the holes. 

The problem with guys 275 and 290 are 300lb linemen have no problem tying them up one on one and then when you have 5 lineman, plus a TE, this leaves all kinds of guys (plus FBs) getting into blocks on the second level.  Even if you hit them square and don't miss the tackle with a LB, a RB with momentum is still going to fall forward 2 yards in addition to the 3 he's already got and BAM, you can't stop them.

We need two HUGE guys in the middle who can occupy space so Selvie can get one on one and RBs have a hard time even seeing a hole.  That hesitation with our speed at LB is what we need to stop this up the gut bleeding.

I don't care how athletic these guys are, but at only 275 and 290, they are going to still only command one on one blocking assignments and will be easy to "steer" to open up holes.

How many times did you see us with GREAT penetration up the gut on a run to have the RB run right by our defensive tackles on the way for a big gain up the gut? 

We need BEEF in the middle, speed on the ends with LBs who can go sideline to sideline.  If you have that and even "average" CBs, you'll have a shut down defense.  The problem is right now, our defense is built in exact reverse.  The best unit are the DBs no one has to go at followed by our LBs who can't run free to the RB on running plays and then our Ends who are rendered useless bc they are running inside of them and don't even have to pass!

We need to get a recruiter in some of these places like Nebraska where they're having a crappy year and offer some of these kids a chance to come down to the fun, sun and bikinis!

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Thornton is much higher on USFs wishlist than Boyd.Too bad he might be heading to FSU if they offer.

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275 and 290 as high school seniors is pretty big since they are bigger than all but Clebert and McClain at DT right now.  Warren Sapp was a monster DT in college but was under 300.

College running games are different than pros.  In college you can get to the corner much easier due to overall lack of speed, and therefore you have to have tackles who can move better.  In the pros everyone is fast on the edge so runners are forced to stay between the tackles for the most part so DTs only have to travel 5 yards to make a play.

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Pulling in kids at 275 and 290 means by the time they see the field they very well could be 300 or 300 plus.  Most of these kids wont see the field right away and will have a year, or two or three to bulk up and improve their strength.  If we want immediate help we need to look to Juco and not high school.  We really need a big tough juc defensive tackle. 

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Well there are two different issues, one is stars and the other is class rankings.  According to Rivals we have 13 commits and 6 are 3-stars, yet we have a #66 recruiting class.  Looking at the schools ahead of us there is no correlation between stars and class rank as teams with less commits and less stars have many more points.

It's hard to figure out exactly how that works.

Even more head scratching is how a player like Corey Grissom is still only ranked with 2 stars by Rivals, when they write such a glowing report on him:

A Sleeper heading to South Florida: The South Florida Bulls have taken a lot of not-so-high-profile recruits and turned them into major players to help them put their program on the map.

They may have another one this year in defensive lineman Corey Grissom. Grissom is a 6-foot-2, 275-pound interior defensive lineman that will fit right in down in Tampa.

He quietly picked up double-digit offers this year and the Bulls may be getting a steal. He explodes off the ball, he keeps his pad level low and he is dominant with the bull rush.

Grissom was mainly a pass rush guy on the edge last year, but this year he moved inside and has become a more balanced defensive lineman. He has good size, good quickness and he plays hard. He is a good get for the Bulls.

http://usf.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=736998

How can he STILL be considered a "sleeper" when he has all those offers and is mentioned so highly by their top recruiting guy? I suspect they don't feel a "need" to upgrade him since he's already a verbal and USF doesn't have many subscribers on their site.

Nice to see Rivals just bumped Grissom up to three stars.

http://usf.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?sport=1&pr_key=73164

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RUger the staff wants big guys who can move, not just big guys.  We have Corey Grissom committed, and he is 6'2" 275.  We are recruiting Kyrhi Thornton pretty heavily and he is 6'4" 290.  Both guys can move.

"If they can move", then they "can be moved" is an old saying I remember hearing somewhere regarding the differences between Run Stopping DTs and Pass Rushing DTs.  Look at Grady Jackson.  The guy doesn't have to move to stop the run, he just has to step right or left and eats up two blockers feeing up LBs to fill the holes. 

The problem with guys 275 and 290 are 300lb linemen have no problem tying them up one on one and then when you have 5 lineman, plus a TE, this leaves all kinds of guys (plus FBs) getting into blocks on the second level.  Even if you hit them square and don't miss the tackle with a LB, a RB with momentum is still going to fall forward 2 yards in addition to the 3 he's already got and BAM, you can't stop them.

We need two HUGE guys in the middle who can occupy space so Selvie can get one on one and RBs have a hard time even seeing a hole.  That hesitation with our speed at LB is what we need to stop this up the gut bleeding.

I don't care how athletic these guys are, but at only 275 and 290, they are going to still only command one on one blocking assignments and will be easy to "steer" to open up holes.

How many times did you see us with GREAT penetration up the gut on a run to have the RB run right by our defensive tackles on the way for a big gain up the gut? 

We need BEEF in the middle, speed on the ends with LBs who can go sideline to sideline.  If you have that and even "average" CBs, you'll have a shut down defense.  The problem is right now, our defense is built in exact reverse.  The best unit are the DBs no one has to go at followed by our LBs who can't run free to the RB on running plays and then our Ends who are rendered useless bc they are running inside of them and don't even have to pass!

We need to get a recruiter in some of these places like Nebraska where they're having a crappy year and offer some of these kids a chance to come down to the fun, sun and bikinis!

Ever watch Warren Sapp play in his prime?  And you are saying that he did not command double-teaming?  They worked with him to keep his playing weight below 300 to insure the speed and footwork.  Good enough for Monte Kiffien and probably good enough for the Bulls.... ;D

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Ever watch Warren Sapp play in his prime?  And you are saying that he did not command double-teaming?  They worked with him to keep his playing weight below 300 to insure the speed and footwork.  Good enough for Monte Kiffien and probably good enough for the Bulls.... ;D

I am far from an expert on linemen, but it seems that Sapp would likely be the exception to a rule like this, not the rule himself.  He was a great talent (helped to be playing alongside McFarland those years), and to compare other small linemen to him is like telling college students that they should drop out because, hey, it worked for Bill Gates.

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An 18 year old coming in at 275 could easily be up to 300+ within 2 years.

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Ever watch Warren Sapp play in his prime?  And you are saying that he did not command double-teaming?  They worked with him to keep his playing weight below 300 to insure the speed and footwork.  Good enough for Monte Kiffien and probably good enough for the Bulls.... ;D

I am far from an expert on linemen, but it seems that Sapp would likely be the exception to a rule like this, not the rule himself.  He was a great talent (helped to be playing alongside McFarland those years), and to compare other small linemen to him is like telling college students that they should drop out because, hey, it worked for Bill Gates.

We will never have the 320 Lb NT/UT guys at USF, that is for the Big Ten.  We run a gap system that requires burst and get off to disrupt the play.  This is an age old debate.  Same thing with the Bucs, never pick up Ted Washington or some other 400 lb guy because he doesn't fit the system.

If you watched and listened to commentators yesterday they were slurping Alan and Richard for their "Florida Speed" and ability to get off the ball to disrupt.  That's our game.  Recruits we have coming in seem to fit that mold.

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I'm glad to see that DT Kyrhi Thornton, 6'4" 290 lbs, has scheduled a visit with USF. He's another somewhat under the radar guy with only two stars. 

http://southflorida.scout.com/a.z?s=359&p=8&c=1&nid=3247328

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