New Story ***Tyler Linderbaum commits to Iowa***
- Thread starter Blair Sanderson
- Start date
Consider this... Wirfs and Linderbaum going at it in practice for 3-4 years, leading their respective units... (along with AJ and plenty of other talent). Yeah.
Imagine him lined up at tackle next to AJ Epenesa... good god, how would you stop em? One side of the offensive line is under constant pressure.
I think DT. Ends usually are taller to knock down passes and longer arms to help the edge. DT like jaleel.
Was his Gpa Jerry Linderbaum? My Dad knew him pretty well growing up (back in Northeast Iowa). Said he was a great person / friend, but can't believe he had a Grandson topping 6 foot 2.
"good god, how would you stop em"
typical response around here
Look I'm glad we aren't letting instate talent escape our borders, but let's not act like every kid who commits to us will be the next Warren Sapp. At the very least, it isn't fair to them. Linderbaum has basically a nonexistent offer list, WTF leads you to believe he's going to be unstoppable?
I think he could be a contributor after a few years in the program, but I also feel like this kid would have been there for the taking quite a ways down the road of this recruiting cycle.. and watching some of you proclaim this to be some huge pickup is quite the indicator of how used to mediocre recruiting standards we've become. I would love to see us at least attempt to go after some prospects that are a bit higher up the board
While our rivals are landing Top250 talent that's been nationally recruited, we are anointing a 6-2/250 DT with minimal offers as the next "unstoppable force". He could very well pan out to be a solid guy for us, but more than likely a roster full of players of this caliber isn't going to get us to the top of the Big Ten. I would have liked to see KF at least test the waters a bit on some higher regarded prospects before accepting Linderbaum's commitment. It's only May, lots of time till NSD.
You either didn't watch this kid's film, or you have no idea what to look for in a football player. Barring injury, I'm betting this kid one day makes you look like an idiot.
I was thinking DE too. VERY fast off the ball and strong with his hands. But I'm certainly no coach
"Linderbaum has basically a nonexistent offer list, WTF leads you to believe he's going to be unstoppable?" - His offer list isn't of relevance if you watch his film. If you do, you may notice the things that make a very good football player. Unstoppable? Nobody is "unstoppable". But the film on this kid is very impressive to me. Many seem to talk of a kid based solely on his star ranking or who offered him. Typical response around here...
"good god, how would you stop em"
typical response around here
Look I'm glad we aren't letting instate talent escape our borders, but let's not act like every kid who commits to us will be the next Warren Sapp. At the very least, it isn't fair to them. Linderbaum has basically a nonexistent offer list, WTF leads you to believe he's going to be unstoppable?
I think he could be a contributor after a few years in the program, but I also feel like this kid would have been there for the taking quite a ways down the road of this recruiting cycle.. and watching some of you proclaim this to be some huge pickup is quite the indicator of how used to mediocre recruiting standards we've become. I would love to see us at least attempt to go after some prospects that are a bit higher up the board
While our rivals are landing Top250 talent that's been nationally recruited, we are anointing a 6-2/250 DT with minimal offers as the next "unstoppable force". He could very well pan out to be a solid guy for us, but more than likely a roster full of players of this caliber isn't going to get us to the top of the Big Ten. I would have liked to see KF at least test the waters a bit on some higher regarded prospects before accepting Linderbaum's commitment. It's only May, lots of time till NSD.
Yep - that's his Gpa. Some of the nicest folks you could ever hope to meet.
Let me introduce you to a 2Star guy that had ZERO D1 offers -
"good god, how would you stop em"
typical response around here
Look I'm glad we aren't letting instate talent escape our borders, but let's not act like every kid who commits to us will be the next Warren Sapp. At the very least, it isn't fair to them. Linderbaum has basically a nonexistent offer list, WTF leads you to believe he's going to be unstoppable?
I think he could be a contributor after a few years in the program, but I also feel like this kid would have been there for the taking quite a ways down the road of this recruiting cycle.. and watching some of you proclaim this to be some huge pickup is quite the indicator of how used to mediocre recruiting standards we've become. I would love to see us at least attempt to go after some prospects that are a bit higher up the board
While our rivals are landing Top250 talent that's been nationally recruited, we are anointing a 6-2/250 DT with minimal offers as the next "unstoppable force". He could very well pan out to be a solid guy for us, but more than likely a roster full of players of this caliber isn't going to get us to the top of the Big Ten. I would have liked to see KF at least test the waters a bit on some higher regarded prospects before accepting Linderbaum's commitment. It's only May, lots of time till NSD.
High School
In an Iowa uniform
"good god, how would you stop em"
typical response around here....
.
typical response? No, it's quite specific to Linderbaum's highlight film and what we already know of AJ Epenesa. Not tough to envision those guys next to each other. Maybe he'll be a star, maybe not...but they both look like disruptors on film.
Perhaps we were reading different posts, but it appeared to me that HawkDrummer explicitly mentioned Epenesa and Linderbaum lined up next to each-other.
"good god, how would you stop em"
typical response around here
Look I'm glad we aren't letting instate talent escape our borders, but let's not act like every kid who commits to us will be the next Warren Sapp. At the very least, it isn't fair to them. Linderbaum has basically a nonexistent offer list, WTF leads you to believe he's going to be unstoppable?
I think he could be a contributor after a few years in the program, but I also feel like this kid would have been there for the taking quite a ways down the road of this recruiting cycle.. and watching some of you proclaim this to be some huge pickup is quite the indicator of how used to mediocre recruiting standards we've become. I would love to see us at least attempt to go after some prospects that are a bit higher up the board
While our rivals are landing Top250 talent that's been nationally recruited, we are anointing a 6-2/250 DT with minimal offers as the next "unstoppable force". He could very well pan out to be a solid guy for us, but more than likely a roster full of players of this caliber isn't going to get us to the top of the Big Ten. I would have liked to see KF at least test the waters a bit on some higher regarded prospects before accepting Linderbaum's commitment. It's only May, lots of time till NSD.
How would that be different from excitement over Clayborn lined up by Klug? In each case we'd be looking at a talented elite recruit lined up next to a talented "under-the-radar" recruit who has an excellent motor. The end result is a combo that is really hard to stop ... hence the "unstoppable" reference.
You see, what all has Linderbaum done to raise his exposure? Once he got offers from programs he already liked ... perhaps he didn't care to raise his star higher. Linderbaum is from a medium sized school that tends to send players to the Hawks. Thus, that also would have a tendency to scare off other suitors.
I frankly don't see Linderbaum being much different from Mitch King, Karl Klug, Matt Kroul, or Dominic Alvis ... and in each case the Iowa program wasn't disappointed with the end result. More recently, we've landed the likes of Newborg, Jansen, Duwa, and now Linderbaum. Are those guys all going to be world-beaters? Perhaps not ... however, are they also going to help make the team better? You better believe that they will. Kelvin Bell has stated it well in indicating that to many of these in-state players ... when they don a Hawkeye jersey ... it means something to them. They already have an inherently higher motivation for success ... because not only do they wish success for themselves, not only do they wish success for their brothers (their fellow players), but they also deeply want the program to succeed too. That extra "desire" ... that embodies "investment." When guys are so fully invested ... it tends to get other folks on board too. When everybody works together with such a single-minded focus ... they can accomplish nearly anything.
Love those Mount Vernon/Solon guys. They are always tough, hard working and smart.
I think too many peoplr are missing thr point.
Could this guy be great? yes. Should we like that he picked iowa? yes.
But too many go over the top with their love. There is a reason he is a three star, there is a reason he has minimal offers. Could he exceed those? yes.
But people are saying things like unstopable and amazing tape etc etc That is a bit too much
There is a reason? What is it? What do YOU think it is?
How many stars did Oliver Martin have last year before he hit all those camps? How many offers did he have before he got all that extra exposure?
Did those camps change the player he was? Did those camps change his SO or JR game-film?
Why Oliver Martin perceived as only a 2 to 3 star WR back then? Why did Oliver Martin have minimal offers? As you contend ... there's a reason right? The "issue" is that the answer ISN'T what you think it is!
He did play (well) against an Army All American (4Star) during his Jr year. Go watch his HUDL film, last play on the film vs Wirfs.
Are you related to him, you are getting way too worked up.
Look I understand all the issues with stars and ratings. But, there is a reason the top rated guys also have a ton of offers. Because those coaches all see the same things.
I contend there is a reason why people have offers from Minnesota State and Iowa State and three stars and not five and offers from alabama. They just aren't as good as prospects. That's not to say they can't be. That's not to say they aren't good players. That's not to say they suck. It's only to say that either he is missed by about 1,000 DI coaches, he doesn't put himself out there or he maybe not, at this point, "unstoppable"
Edit to add: I like your allusion in this post and a previous that a player can chose to raise his star rating. Like one morning he just wakes up like "You know what world, today I'm a five star!"
I was suggesting that if a talented player goes out of their way to gain more exposure ... they'll gain more exposure. Furthermore, if such a player goes to the extra lengths to raise their level of exposure ... it also probably illustrates to other schools that the recruit is willing to entertain more out-of-state suitors.
For smaller town players - they're always going to be facing the perception that their success was attributable to the low-level that their division plays at.
What I'm saying is that Oliver Martin's remarkable transition from a relatively under-recruited 2-star recruit to a highly sought-after, high 4-star recruit provides a beautiful illustration of how flawed the recruiting ratings are. The quality of Martin's play didn't change an iota ... and yet the perception of his play changed remarkably.
The whole example of Oliver Martin explicitly illustrates how the bolded portion of your quote is NOT necessarily the case!
Of course, the coaches see the same thing when we're discussing 5-star players ... but apart from those guys ... coaches might see very different things. Furthermore, not all coaches are "equal" as it relates to prospecting talent.
Fact is nobody knows how good he'll be. The only thing for 100% certain is.. I'll be cheering for him (and all his mates) in Black and Gold.
We also need to relax.
Tyler (by his play) his senior year could be... wait for it... elevated to a 4 star player.. then what? Is it a "great get" by Iowa? "
This. Why do we need to always piss and moan about our commits? Can't wait to pull for this guy on Saturdays.
Hey coach can we put some of those plays I didn't do so well on film? Said no one ever. Great kid, great family, excited to see him as a Hawkeye. If you tell me that you watched entire game films of the kid and you think he is unstoppable then your opinion carries a little more weight. He had some moments where he struggled with kids going to levels below him. Doyle will build him up, he will arrive on campus well coached with the heart that fans will enjoy. However building up someone too far before arriving can have a negative end in the result.
It's mainly the local guys that they piss and moan about. THe 3 star athletes from outside of Iowa get all kinds of kudos and such. Then when we lose said star to another school its "how can we not keep talent here"... "he wasn't a true Hawk anyway"...
GO Hawks!
I think that many of us are simply excited about the promise of the Iowa DL in the future ... in general. That includes the lesser touted recruits like Duwa, Nixon, and Linderbaum ... but also includes the somewhat more highly touted recruits like Lattimore and Epenesa.
Heck, look at the recruitment of Anthony Nelson. He had offers from Iowa State and Missouri State ... and a few other low-level schools. College coaches weren't coming out of the wood-work for Anthony .... and yet look at the level of his play as just a redshirt freshman in '16! In an interview, I was absolutely shocked at how effusive Ferentz was with his praise concerning Nelson ... the indication being that the young man just continues to get better and better.
As HawkDrummer suggested ... given the quality of Iowa's offensive lines ... we'll likely be seeing an example of steel sharpening steel. We have some fine OL players and recruits ... some on campus already ... and some who are coming in the future. They will help to maintain "quality control" concerning our DL ... and that means that the DL will continue to be an excellent unit.
Heck, look at the recruitment of Anthony Nelson. He had offers from Iowa State and Missouri State ... and a few other low-level schools. College coaches weren't coming out of the wood-work for Anthony .... and yet look at the level of his play as just a redshirt freshman in '16! In an interview, I was absolutely shocked at how effusive Ferentz was with his praise concerning Nelson ... the indication being that the young man just continues to get better and better.
As HawkDrummer suggested ... given the quality of Iowa's offensive lines ... we'll likely be seeing an example of steel sharpening steel. We have some fine OL players and recruits ... some on campus already ... and some who are coming in the future. They will help to maintain "quality control" concerning our DL ... and that means that the DL will continue to be an excellent unit.
I trust our coaches' evaluation of talent after they have learned about a prospect a whole lot more than I do that of a writer with limited understanding of the game and who knows nothing about the young men they rank.
"good god, how would you stop em"
typical response around here
Look I'm glad we aren't letting instate talent escape our borders, but let's not act like every kid who commits to us will be the next Warren Sapp. At the very least, it isn't fair to them. Linderbaum has basically a nonexistent offer list, WTF leads you to believe he's going to be unstoppable?
I think he could be a contributor after a few years in the program, but I also feel like this kid would have been there for the taking quite a ways down the road of this recruiting cycle.. and watching some of you proclaim this to be some huge pickup is quite the indicator of how used to mediocre recruiting standards we've become. I would love to see us at least attempt to go after some prospects that are a bit higher up the board
While our rivals are landing Top250 talent that's been nationally recruited, we are anointing a 6-2/250 DT with minimal offers as the next "unstoppable force". He could very well pan out to be a solid guy for us, but more than likely a roster full of players of this caliber isn't going to get us to the top of the Big Ten. I would have liked to see KF at least test the waters a bit on some higher regarded prospects before accepting Linderbaum's commitment. It's only May, lots of time till NSD.
I couldn't care less about "star ratings", and never reference those when discussing a recruit - what I DO put A LOT of stock in is WHICH HEAD COACHES OFFERED A SCHOLARSHIP.
An arbitraetory ranking by some pencil pusher at Rivals is the least of my concern, but one of the best indicators of talent is which, and how many, coaching staffs have evaluated and offered.
With that said, I think Linderbaum could end up being a very good player for us - but he's someone that would have been there for us much farther into the recruiting cycle and I would have rather seen KF test the waters on some other highly touted and (*gasp*) more talented defensive lineman before accepting a commitment from someone who could have easily been a Plan B/C type recruit for us later in the year. A bigger indicater here is that the only other offers for this 6-2/250lb DT were Minnesota State and little bro ISU.
WGAF? For every 2 star with minimal offers that blossomed into an All Big Ten type player, there are 50 more who didn't.
These stupid examples always make me laugh.
Sure, playing high school ball in Iowa!
Put him in the Inland Empire and let's see how he stacks up. Again, I don't give a sh*t about star rankings - but the lack of offers is much more alarming. He could very well turn out to be a player for us, but I feel like we had the luxury of waiting to see if we could get in with some additional talented DTs who were possibly a little higher on our recruiting board, before accepting Linderbaum's verbal.
As far as your comment about him lining up next to AJ and "good god how would you stop them?" - so basically that goes for just about any recruit lining up next to Epenesa? What would you say about a kid with 25 offers lining up next to AJ? Again, Linderbaum might turn out to be a stud, but right now he's a minimally recruited 6-2/250lb DT, so let's pump the brakes on these "OMG how would other teams stop them" nonsense, which is essentially just a 'fill in the blank' type comment that you'd obviously make for any recruit lining up next to 5 Star AJ.
Sure he has a nice highlight reel, but right now he's an undersized DT from a high school in Iowa that lacks offers. Don't make him into something he isnt, at the very least for Tyler's sake.
"The end result is a combo that's really hard to stop"
Lol, ok man.. so just about any other kid lined up next to AJ would fall into this broad category then eh?
I mean if Linderbaum, a 6-2/250lb DT, next to AJ would equate to "unstoppable", then I'd love to see what you would call someone like Michael Thompson (who's got offers from everyone from Bama, Ohio State, Michigan to LSU, Oklahoma & USC) lined up next to AJ. Would he be 'super duper unstoppable'!?
This board makes every verbal commit into some excellent prospect, when the reality is we are talking about a kid who's undersized and lacks any substantial offers (Minn St & ISU), who would have been here for us much later in the recruiting cycle.
Personally, I would have loved to see KF wait until we developed some better relationships with some guys higher on our recruiting board, before accepting Linderbaum's commitment. Plain and simple.
I'm not even sure what this means.. "perhaps he didn't care to raise his star higher" ?? You're aware that the recruit has no say it that, right? And that putting a season's worth of film out there has been enough for hundreds of other Iowa HS football players to tender offers from big time collegiate programs; yet Linderbaum has a scholly to only MN State and ISU.
I think being 250lbs and playing DT has more to do with the lack of quality scholarship offers than him "not wanting to raise his star higher" or shutting down other suitors because he "got offers from programs he already liked" (us & MN St & ISU
) or whatever other nonsensical reasons you'd like to try and spin this situation with.I couldn't care less about "star ratings", and never reference those when discussing a recruit - what I DO put A LOT of stock in is WHICH HEAD COACHES OFFERED A SCHOLARSHIP.
An arbitraetory ranking by some pencil pusher at Rivals is the least of my concern, but one of the best indicators of talent is which, and how many, coaching staffs have evaluated and offered.
With that said, I think Linderbaum could end up being a very good player for us - but he's someone that would have been there for us much farther into the recruiting cycle and I would have rather seen KF test the waters on some other highly touted and (*gasp*) more talented defensive lineman before accepting a commitment from someone who could have easily been a Plan B/C type recruit for us later in the year. A bigger indicater here is that the only other offers for this 6-2/250lb DT were Minnesota State and little bro ISU.
WGAF? For every 2 star with minimal offers that blossomed into an All Big Ten type player, there are 50 more who didn't.
These stupid examples always make me laugh.
Sure, playing high school ball in Iowa!
Put him in the Inland Empire and let's see how he stacks up. Again, I don't give a sh*t about star rankings - but the lack of offers is much more alarming. He could very well turn out to be a player for us, but I feel like we had the luxury of waiting to see if we could get in with some additional talented DTs who were possibly a little higher on our recruiting board, before accepting Linderbaum's verbal.
As far as your comment about him lining up next to AJ and "good god how would you stop them?" - so basically that goes for just about any recruit lining up next to Epenesa? What would you say about a kid with 25 offers lining up next to AJ? Again, Linderbaum might turn out to be a stud, but right now he's a minimally recruited 6-2/250lb DT, so let's pump the brakes on these "OMG how would other teams stop them" nonsense, which is essentially just a 'fill in the blank' type comment that you'd obviously make for any recruit lining up next to 5 Star AJ.
Sure he has a nice highlight reel, but right now he's an undersized DT from a high school in Iowa that lacks offers. Don't make him into something he isnt, at the very least for Tyler's sake.
"The end result is a combo that's really hard to stop"
Lol, ok man.. so just about any other kid lined up next to AJ would fall into this broad category then eh?
I mean if Linderbaum, a 6-2/250lb DT, next to AJ would equate to "unstoppable", then I'd love to see what you would call someone like Michael Thompson (who's got offers from everyone from Bama, Ohio State, Michigan to LSU, Oklahoma & USC) lined up next to AJ. Would he be 'super duper unstoppable'!?
This board makes every verbal commit into some excellent prospect, when the reality is we are talking about a kid who's undersized and lacks any substantial offers (Minn St & ISU), who would have been here for us much later in the recruiting cycle.
Personally, I would have loved to see KF wait until we developed some better relationships with some guys higher on our recruiting board, before accepting Linderbaum's commitment. Plain and simple.
I'm not even sure what this means.. "perhaps he didn't care to raise his star higher" ?? You're aware that the recruit has no say it that, right? And that putting a season's worth of film out there has been enough for hundreds of other Iowa HS football players to tender offers from big time collegiate programs; yet Linderbaum has a scholly to only MN State and ISU.
I think being 250lbs and playing DT has more to do with the lack of quality scholarship offers than him "not wanting to raise his star higher" or shutting down other suitors because he "got offers from programs he already liked" (us & MN St & ISU
Spot on, he may become a stud and has the heart and work ethic to do so. That being said I watched his team with two Iowa commits and a NWMSU commit give up 400+ yds rushing in one game. BF admitted that ISU has forced their hand some in aspects. Iowa has given earlier offers and stands by their offers.
I couldn't care less about "star ratings", and never reference those when discussing a recruit - what I DO put A LOT of stock in is WHICH HEAD COACHES OFFERED A SCHOLARSHIP.
An arbitraetory ranking by some pencil pusher at Rivals is the least of my concern, but one of the best indicators of talent is which, and how many, coaching staffs have evaluated and offered.
With that said, I think Linderbaum could end up being a very good player for us - but he's someone that would have been there for us much farther into the recruiting cycle and I would have rather seen KF test the waters on some other highly touted and (*gasp*) more talented defensive lineman before accepting a commitment from someone who could have easily been a Plan B/C type recruit for us later in the year. A bigger indicater here is that the only other offers for this 6-2/250lb DT were Minnesota State and little bro ISU.
WGAF? For every 2 star with minimal offers that blossomed into an All Big Ten type player, there are 50 more who didn't.
These stupid examples always make me laugh.
Sure, playing high school ball in Iowa!
Put him in the Inland Empire and let's see how he stacks up. Again, I don't give a sh*t about star rankings - but the lack of offers is much more alarming. He could very well turn out to be a player for us, but I feel like we had the luxury of waiting to see if we could get in with some additional talented DTs who were possibly a little higher on our recruiting board, before accepting Linderbaum's verbal.
As far as your comment about him lining up next to AJ and "good god how would you stop them?" - so basically that goes for just about any recruit lining up next to Epenesa? What would you say about a kid with 25 offers lining up next to AJ? Again, Linderbaum might turn out to be a stud, but right now he's a minimally recruited 6-2/250lb DT, so let's pump the brakes on these "OMG how would other teams stop them" nonsense, which is essentially just a 'fill in the blank' type comment that you'd obviously make for any recruit lining up next to 5 Star AJ.
Sure he has a nice highlight reel, but right now he's an undersized DT from a high school in Iowa that lacks offers. Don't make him into something he isnt, at the very least for Tyler's sake.
"The end result is a combo that's really hard to stop"
Lol, ok man.. so just about any other kid lined up next to AJ would fall into this broad category then eh?
I mean if Linderbaum, a 6-2/250lb DT, next to AJ would equate to "unstoppable", then I'd love to see what you would call someone like Michael Thompson (who's got offers from everyone from Bama, Ohio State, Michigan to LSU, Oklahoma & USC) lined up next to AJ. Would he be 'super duper unstoppable'!?
This board makes every verbal commit into some excellent prospect, when the reality is we are talking about a kid who's undersized and lacks any substantial offers (Minn St & ISU), who would have been here for us much later in the recruiting cycle.
Personally, I would have loved to see KF wait until we developed some better relationships with some guys higher on our recruiting board, before accepting Linderbaum's commitment. Plain and simple.
I'm not even sure what this means.. "perhaps he didn't care to raise his star higher" ?? You're aware that the recruit has no say it that, right? And that putting a season's worth of film out there has been enough for hundreds of other Iowa HS football players to tender offers from big time collegiate programs; yet Linderbaum has a scholly to only MN State and ISU.
I think being 250lbs and playing DT has more to do with the lack of quality scholarship offers than him "not wanting to raise his star higher" or shutting down other suitors because he "got offers from programs he already liked" (us & MN St & ISU
That theory back fired with Oliver Martin last year. Iowa needs to find the guys before the blow up and the big names come in trying to poach them. Or when trying to get the big name and you miss out some solid guys like Linderbaum sometimes are gone and have to drop down for someone less who just gives some posters even more ammo to complain about Iowa recruiting. I'm sure Iowa goes after lot of 4* players but with recruiting if that player isn't showing a lot of interest no point of wasting more time on him. Kids are committing earlier and earlier and even 3* guys like Linderbaum will say want to have commitment wrapped up during summer or before senior year starts and up to staff if they are comfortable or not in pulling the trigger and offering him.
As for a few exceptions like James Daniels or Cedric Lattimore most OL/DL red shirt at Iowa anyways and key as we all know is to bulk and build them up with Doyle. A 250lb HS DT when he sees the field at Iowa going to be bigger than that.
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What happens far more frequently, an Oliver Martin scenario or early offers that don't pan out? This isn't a knock on Tyler, heard he is at 270 already. He has access to Doyle's type of program and Miller will have him coached up. In looking at the situation from the outside my opinion is that even if he blew up like Martin the Hawks would have a large advantage. I am not sure that is the case due to several influences in the Martin case.
I get what you are saying. I guess my point is with Iowa's history on OL/DL I'm not as worried what kids star rating or offer sheet looks like for these positions. Look at 2015 starting DL had 3 kids who played 8 man football. Is it a bonus when they get 4* like Jaleel or Clayborn? Absolutely but if staff feels at this point and time when its still early in recruiting cycle that Linderbaum fits what they are looking for take him and still keep going after some of the big names people are clamoring for.
He does have good speed, but he's already up to 270 this spring and DT is a much bigger need right now.
I'm sorry but you couldn't be more wrong as it relates to your comment that I highlighted. Recruits can most definitely increase their exposure. If they're willing to drop down some cash - they can attend all sorts of 3rd party camps.
The main knock on players from schools that are perceived as lower division or from a poor conference - their success is often attributed to the quality of competition being low. When a recruit attends a camp where there are more highly rated guys .... the word goes out on the recruit that they are the real deal. There are tons of guys who on film look like "men amongst boys" ... so how does a coach figure out if the kid is legit?
Well, most of the time, your Ohio State's of the world focus on recruiting the "football factory" high schools that are known to produce elite talent and who play against elite competition. Thus, the quality-control step of their evaluation is almost automatically done for them.
Prospecting guys from lesser regarded schools or from small schools is too much work - and most of the Ohio State's of the world don't even bother to recruit such guys. Recruits can also earn more offers if they attend camps at other schools. Sometimes a guy will have a good camp ... sometimes he won't. However, often when the kid does have a good camp ... it can encourage the host school to give him an offer.
When a kid has garnered a "critical mass" of offers ... then the copy-cat effect can occur ... and then the kid's recruitment can blow up.
Furthermore, a kid may be a great football talent ... but may not necessarily "test" well. Thus, again, if a kid is willing to drop down a lot of cash ... then he can get training at athletic facilities around the nation that can teach the kid some of the tricks that can help him test better (in terms of some of the sorts of drills that are done at college and 3rd party camps). A guy like Brandon Wegher is a great example of a talented kid who also happened to have an affluent enough family to afford doing all the extra things that can raise his profile ... and he ended up being a 4-star recruit as a result (one with plenty of college offers too).
So to reiterate - a kid CAN raise their profile ... but it isn't always easy. For kids from poor families, the cost can be prohibitive. For other kids, once they get a few key offers - they may not care to garner more offers. This latter scenario was certainly true for guys like Matt Kroul and Mitch King. Once those guys got their Iowa offer - they had their decision made. They didn't need to or want to further raise their recruiting profile.
I suspect that Iowa was slow playing Oliver Martin's recruitment ... and, exactly as you stated, the strategy back-fired. Once Martin's recruitment blew up ... Martin had already moved past any childhood affection he may have had for the Hawks. Once that seed of "scorn" set it ... it undermined any inherent advantage that the Hawks could have had.
For folks who really closely track recruiting, Iowa State and Minnesota are seemingly trying to poach far more recruits than usual from the Hawks prime recruiting grounds.
To the credit of the Hawks, their spring practices in Des Moines are a retaliatory step to edge our footprint more firmly in Des Moines and the western part of the state. The Hawkeye coaches want to make sure that folks from the western (or even central) part of the state don't think that the Hawks only care about eastern part of the state.
So you want the Hawks to go down the road that other schools do ... and hand out non-committable offers? That may be putting words in your mouth - so I don't want to suggest that you've explicitly indicated that. However, what you're saying suggests it. Alternatively, you're suggesting that we don't offer Linderbaum at all ... and wait until we're "more desperate" ... and then offer him only if we need to? Never mind he already had an early ISU offer ... and the longer we wait to offer him the longer the pool is getting poisoned.
You see the coaches evaluated Linderbaum and determined that they liked him. His value ISN'T only at DT. He's a versatile enough player that he projects BOTH on the OL and the DL. Furthermore, since he's a high motor guy with decent speed ... he could also be a good special teams contributor (possibly). All those factors potentially raise his "value" in the eyes of the coaches. Lastly, he's a guy who shows all the raw essentials that the coaches know that they can use to mold into a good P5 talent.
Back in 2009, the Hawks offered Van Sloten when nobody else did. The kid was even an ISU legacy, if memory serves ... but Chizik refused to offer because of his speed (or something dumb like that). Already by the bowl game in 2011, Van Sloten started against Oklahoma and was one of the few bright spots in that game.
The Hawks are likely going to land a few DTs in the '18 class. As much as you might hope that the Hawks land a Thompson or a Trout ... we're still on the outside looking in with those guys. The rest of the guys who the Hawks have a shot with ... you think that they're clearly that much better than Linderbaum? Suppose the Hawks end up as a finalist for a guy like Thompson ... you think that the coaches won't accept his verbal? Worst case - they shift how they view Linderbaum - project him as an interior O-lineman ... then they're still setting well with their defensive tackle numbers (if you're doing roster arithmetic).
You say "playing ball in Iowa" yet many good-great players have done so and when those players don't go to Iowa you and yours are the first to piss and moan about them not being Hawk. Then when someone has an opinion that "maybe" a duo could form you have a shit fit and go on a rant.I couldn't care less about "star ratings", and never reference those when discussing a recruit - what I DO put A LOT of stock in is WHICH HEAD COACHES OFFERED A SCHOLARSHIP.
An arbitraetory ranking by some pencil pusher at Rivals is the least of my concern, but one of the best indicators of talent is which, and how many, coaching staffs have evaluated and offered.
With that said, I think Linderbaum could end up being a very good player for us - but he's someone that would have been there for us much farther into the recruiting cycle and I would have rather seen KF test the waters on some other highly touted and (*gasp*) more talented defensive lineman before accepting a commitment from someone who could have easily been a Plan B/C type recruit for us later in the year. A bigger indicater here is that the only other offers for this 6-2/250lb DT were Minnesota State and little bro ISU.
WGAF? For every 2 star with minimal offers that blossomed into an All Big Ten type player, there are 50 more who didn't.
These stupid examples always make me laugh.
Sure, playing high school ball in Iowa!
Put him in the Inland Empire and let's see how he stacks up. Again, I don't give a sh*t about star rankings - but the lack of offers is much more alarming. He could very well turn out to be a player for us, but I feel like we had the luxury of waiting to see if we could get in with some additional talented DTs who were possibly a little higher on our recruiting board, before accepting Linderbaum's verbal.
As far as your comment about him lining up next to AJ and "good god how would you stop them?" - so basically that goes for just about any recruit lining up next to Epenesa? What would you say about a kid with 25 offers lining up next to AJ? Again, Linderbaum might turn out to be a stud, but right now he's a minimally recruited 6-2/250lb DT, so let's pump the brakes on these "OMG how would other teams stop them" nonsense, which is essentially just a 'fill in the blank' type comment that you'd obviously make for any recruit lining up next to 5 Star AJ.
Sure he has a nice highlight reel, but right now he's an undersized DT from a high school in Iowa that lacks offers. Don't make him into something he isnt, at the very least for Tyler's sake.
"The end result is a combo that's really hard to stop"
Lol, ok man.. so just about any other kid lined up next to AJ would fall into this broad category then eh?
I mean if Linderbaum, a 6-2/250lb DT, next to AJ would equate to "unstoppable", then I'd love to see what you would call someone like Michael Thompson (who's got offers from everyone from Bama, Ohio State, Michigan to LSU, Oklahoma & USC) lined up next to AJ. Would he be 'super duper unstoppable'!?
This board makes every verbal commit into some excellent prospect, when the reality is we are talking about a kid who's undersized and lacks any substantial offers (Minn St & ISU), who would have been here for us much later in the recruiting cycle.
Personally, I would have loved to see KF wait until we developed some better relationships with some guys higher on our recruiting board, before accepting Linderbaum's commitment. Plain and simple.
I'm not even sure what this means.. "perhaps he didn't care to raise his star higher" ?? You're aware that the recruit has no say it that, right? And that putting a season's worth of film out there has been enough for hundreds of other Iowa HS football players to tender offers from big time collegiate programs; yet Linderbaum has a scholly to only MN State and ISU.
I think being 250lbs and playing DT has more to do with the lack of quality scholarship offers than him "not wanting to raise his star higher" or shutting down other suitors because he "got offers from programs he already liked" (us & MN St & ISU
Enjoy.
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