First it's Benjamin, now I see they offered Bell. These are two skill players we could really use in this class. Lines are shaping up nicely, now we need a few more skill players to make this a top 20 class.
Friggin Michigan
- Thread starter GunnerHawk
- Start date
If that were true, Iowa would have a total of zero wins against Michigan.
I've said this before but if Michigan really really wants Benjamin and Bell there is very little chance they come to Iowa. That's not settling for mediocrity, it's not having low expectations. It's just reality. The same schools have for years gotten the better athletes even when they are not playing very well. There is a reason for that. Those players will choose the bigger pay day 99 times out of a 100. It's just the truth of college athletics.
Right now Michigan has 3 RB's. You can bet if Benjamin is off the charts in his senior season, the 3 star from Georgia will get the boot from Harbaugh despite him being the first commit in Michigan's class.
I've been wrong before but odds are with me on this one.
It's like when Michigan wanted David Dawson. Dawson Committed to Florida and Michigan really wanted him. SO it cost them a full ride for his teammate Delano Hill to get him. Michigan, OHio State, Alabama, FLorida State, etc will almost always win these battles. Iowa may get a James Daniels or AJ Epenesa here or there, but they are very few and far between. It's a fact of life. If you see a team like Ole Miss and Kentucky starting to win these battles, expect the NCAA to get involved shortly there after. The NCAA don't like the status quo F'd with.
Right now Michigan has 3 RB's. You can bet if Benjamin is off the charts in his senior season, the 3 star from Georgia will get the boot from Harbaugh despite him being the first commit in Michigan's class.
I've been wrong before but odds are with me on this one.
It's like when Michigan wanted David Dawson. Dawson Committed to Florida and Michigan really wanted him. SO it cost them a full ride for his teammate Delano Hill to get him. Michigan, OHio State, Alabama, FLorida State, etc will almost always win these battles. Iowa may get a James Daniels or AJ Epenesa here or there, but they are very few and far between. It's a fact of life. If you see a team like Ole Miss and Kentucky starting to win these battles, expect the NCAA to get involved shortly there after. The NCAA don't like the status quo F'd with.
Eno Benjamin is a very good looking prospect and I hope he signs with the Hawks. However, Iowa has some pretty good looking young RBs and RB recruits already on board.
Anyone remember Toren Young? How about Toks Akinribade? These two class of '16 RBs will be arriving in a couple of months. Will they be future stars? No one knows for sure but they look pretty damn talented to my amateur talent scout eyes. Personally, I'm very interested to see how Young develops because he looks like a prototypical B10 back in the mold of former Hawkeye Marcus Coker.
Also, the most recent addition to the '17 recruiting class, Ivory Kelly-Martin, looks at least as promising as Benjamin. That's my assessment but others may disagree.
Eric Graham will be eligible off a red-shirt this fall. He was a late signee in '15 but has apparently been impressive this Spring.
Graham, Young, Akinribade, Kelly-Martin. That is a fairly solid stable of future RBs all ready on board or in the pipeline. I hope Benjamin joins the party but I won't be overly disappointed if he chooses another school.
Anyone remember Toren Young? How about Toks Akinribade? These two class of '16 RBs will be arriving in a couple of months. Will they be future stars? No one knows for sure but they look pretty damn talented to my amateur talent scout eyes. Personally, I'm very interested to see how Young develops because he looks like a prototypical B10 back in the mold of former Hawkeye Marcus Coker.
Also, the most recent addition to the '17 recruiting class, Ivory Kelly-Martin, looks at least as promising as Benjamin. That's my assessment but others may disagree.
Eric Graham will be eligible off a red-shirt this fall. He was a late signee in '15 but has apparently been impressive this Spring.
Graham, Young, Akinribade, Kelly-Martin. That is a fairly solid stable of future RBs all ready on board or in the pipeline. I hope Benjamin joins the party but I won't be overly disappointed if he chooses another school.
If Eno does choose Michigan, I would agree that someone on there RB verbally committed list will get the boot, most probable the 3* from Georgia. Who knows if AJ Dillon or any of the committed would reopen recruiting if Eno commits to Michigan, they might not all be happy with the amount of RB's they will have to compete with.
Yeah, but it's about 4 fewer than we may need if "the one who shall not be named" ever started really aggressively targeting that position group again.
Curious what you mean by "a different skill set"? For instance, what specific RB "skill sets" does Kelly-Martin possess now that Akinribade is lacking, or vice-versa?
Have some faith. There's more to recruiting than just the big name of a school. Eno is looking at Iowa for the following reasons IMHO.
I just have a funny feeling that Eno has this figured out. What I don't think Eno can imagine is the superstar treatment and reception he'll get in Iowa. (With one caveat, at the end of the day, a player's success depends on that player. All players have to decide how good they want to be and perform. Iowa certainly has proven their ability to help players develop. But much is up to Eno regardless of his school selection.)
- We have the most stable coaching staff in America.
- Our staff really cares about kids.
- We have a great program.
- We have incredible facilities.
- Our system is perfect for him. P-E-R-F-E-C-T
I just have a funny feeling that Eno has this figured out. What I don't think Eno can imagine is the superstar treatment and reception he'll get in Iowa. (With one caveat, at the end of the day, a player's success depends on that player. All players have to decide how good they want to be and perform. Iowa certainly has proven their ability to help players develop. But much is up to Eno regardless of his school selection.)
OHHHH no, you mean they offered a top 300 recruit too? We might as well just stop offering recruits with high major offers and not even worry about going into the top 300 rankings? Oh the humanity.
Who knows if all the RBs Michigan has recruited will become RBs. Some could end up at WR or DBs. They recruit some of the best athletes who probably can play more than 1 position.
I hear ya my brotha...........
Your post has provoked another comment. In recruiting, as in life, it's important to remember that birds of a feather flock together. In recruiting this means that a staff like ours is going to attract sincere, hard working, high character players. Players similar to our staff. Just like the way Miami gets tough inner city kids who relate to other tough inner city kids. (Dykstra will hate it.) It's how the world works. And at the end of the day, there have been a ton of super high quality guys recruited to Iowa. Dallas Clark, Chad Greenway, Shonn Greene, Brandon Sherff, Des King, Austin Blyth, J Jewell, CJ Beathard, Jordan Canzeri, etc., etc., etc..... Of course we'll get a few rogues and guys who are a touch outside the norm, but this is with all teams.
I like how our staff does it. And I like how the players decide to be the best they can be. Sure, we could use a few more 4*'s. But I kinda like watching Akrum Wadley the 2* go for over 200 yards too.
Kelly-Martin is the fastest of the three, but by far the least physical. Young is the most powerful of the three, but is by far the slowest. Toks is a fantastic blend of both, which seems to be the most successful in this conference. Rarely do you see a running back succeed on just power or speed at the college or professional level. I think Kelly-Martin would be best catching balls out of the backfield.
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You mentioned "skill sets". I guess I don't consider speed and/or power a skill or "skill set" insofar they are not, for the most part, a learned or acquired attribute.
Blocking, ball protection, following a block, route running, pass catching, etc...... these are more in line with what I consider skills particular to football (specifically here, RB). Speed and power (especially speed) are normally associated with natural talents in my mind. I see the term "skill set" loosely used and often wonder what the speaker / writer intended.
You mentioned "skill sets". I guess I don't consider speed and/or power a skill or "skill set" insofar they are not, for the most part, a learned or acquired attribute.
Blocking, ball protection, following a block, route running, pass catching, etc...... these are more in line with what I consider skills particular to football (specifically here, RB). Speed and power (especially speed) are normally associated with natural talents in my mind. I see the term "skill set" loosely used and often wonder what the speaker / writer intended.
Herk, when you are 25-30 years old and college is in your rear view, Iowa looks dam good for all the reasons you mentioned. When you are 17, uniforms are the most important.
I would hate to be a recruiter.
I'd hate to be a recruiter too but it's no different than being a businessman and attracting customers. But here's the X factor in my mind: Parents. For the most part, good parents produce good kids. And good parents help guide kids. And that benefits our staff IMHO.
Also, there are bright young people who know when things feel right and when they don't. And we're not the only good place with good people in college football. (There has to be at least one other one!!
)well that's just plain false. Michigan wanted Dawson and they wanted Hill. The 2 were unrelated to each other. Delano Hill is a heck of a player. He started some for a very good Michigan defense last season and he'll probably start every game this season (if healthy). He was not some courtesy scholarship to get David Dawson who might never start a game at Michigan.
As to the first part, I've also been saying this for years, but generally the other schools these kids select have great OLs to run behind as well. The problem is those other schools typically have 5 RBs as highly rated as the single one we'd like to get at Iowa. Slight tangent, but I've wondered why great kickers don't also target Iowa. KF is a fairly conservative coach, many of our games are close, and we're always on a good TV station. Who wouldn't want to be the Iowa kicker?
As to the part about "star treatment", I personally think that's one of the biggest problems Iowa has. Once these kids arrive and think they are stars, a lot of shaky dominoes can start to fall (my academics don't matter - they'll protect me, I can do whatever I want to that girl, "we talkin' about PRACTICE, I don't need to work hard in practice", etc etc etc). I understand you attached a caveat to it and agree in principle with it, I'm just suggesting reality for many of these kids is Iowa City will treat them like stars when they are just foolish 18 year olds like everybody else, except with freakish athletic skills.
This is no dig at you but this is hilarious. When he first committed everyone on here said he was too slow, now you're saying he's got great speed. Message boards are fun. Reading scouting reports on them are even more fun.
Being the fastest doesn't mean he has great speed, it just means he's faster than the other two...not saying he's slow or a blazer, but closer to the faster end of the spectrum
Lol it isn't very clear, is it? I though the commitment thread generally said he was fast, but I could be wrong
Greene was FB fast not 40 fast he also in 2004 when he graduated from HS was a 2* after a year at Milford he was bumped up to a 3*,
Akinrabe was a 4* by Tom Lemming the guy who invented the star rankings, even QB Stanley was a 4* by Lemming and Scout.
as for young in the 1st round of the state playoffs Young ran for 314 yards on 13 carries,
you don't get that many yards on just 13 carries by BEING SLOW. Wade who many says will be a LB also ran for over 2000 yards his SR year.
what's funny is that some on here claim that stars DON'T MATTER and yet because Eno is a 4* he will be the best RB on the IA team if he commits and the biggest miss if he chooses Michigan,
RB White out of Ohio is a 4* and rated higher than Eno.
what's even more strange is some are saying a 5'11 195 RB is to skinny and yet Wadley is a player the coaches just want to get to his ideal playing weight of 190 and Wadley is 5'11.
Akinrabe was a 4* by Tom Lemming the guy who invented the star rankings, even QB Stanley was a 4* by Lemming and Scout.
as for young in the 1st round of the state playoffs Young ran for 314 yards on 13 carries,
you don't get that many yards on just 13 carries by BEING SLOW. Wade who many says will be a LB also ran for over 2000 yards his SR year.
what's funny is that some on here claim that stars DON'T MATTER and yet because Eno is a 4* he will be the best RB on the IA team if he commits and the biggest miss if he chooses Michigan,
RB White out of Ohio is a 4* and rated higher than Eno.
what's even more strange is some are saying a 5'11 195 RB is to skinny and yet Wadley is a player the coaches just want to get to his ideal playing weight of 190 and Wadley is 5'11.
James Naismith invented the game of basketball, but that hardly qualifies him as being the best at it.Greene was FB fast not 40 fast he also in 2004 when he graduated from HS was a 2* after a year at Milford he was bumped up to a 3*,
Akinrabe was a 4* by Tom Lemming the guy who invented the star rankings, even QB Stanley was a 4* by Lemming and Scout.
as for young in the 1st round of the state playoffs Young ran for 314 yards on 13 carries,
you don't get that many yards on just 13 carries by BEING SLOW. Wade who many says will be a LB also ran for over 2000 yards his SR year.
what's funny is that some on here claim that stars DON'T MATTER and yet because Eno is a 4* he will be the best RB on the IA team if he commits and the biggest miss if he chooses Michigan,
RB White out of Ohio is a 4* and rated higher than Eno.
what's even more strange is some are saying a 5'11 195 RB is to skinny and yet Wadley is a player the coaches just want to get to his ideal playing weight of 190 and Wadley is 5'11.
Young is a D1 football player playing in the middle divisions of Wisconsin high school football, I sure hope he can run for that many yards against a 3-7 team.
Tape and competition level don't lie on Eno.
Not a chance in the world that Kelly-Martin weighs 195 pounds right now
you actually seen him in person and put him on a scale yourself to verify his actual weights?
as for Young I don't care who he played against those are solid stats, plus he was the Wisconsin POY. s for Lemming he is the top Talent scout out of Chicago so your comparison to Naismith was/is a TOTAL FAIL.
Lemmings make his living off of evaluating players,
I've seen pictures of him compared to Wadley, which I showed you, and he is clearly smaller. Your eyes are failing you if you see otherwise.
Young was not the Wisconsin gatorade POY, Ben Bredeson was. He was not the wisconsin football coaches association offensive POY and therefore, not the POY.
My comparison was SPOT ON. Just because he invented the star system means nothing. He is no different than any other high school scout in that he misses at significant rate. Maybe it's a little less than most (I have no idea), but he still misses QUITE OFTEN.
If three players run 5.7, 5.4, and 5.1 40's, does that mean the guy who runs the 5.1 has great speed?
