Yahya Black is a Hawk!
- Thread starter Harbinger273
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Seems like DE right now but I'm not the expert on him. Whirlwind recruitment all done before I really heard much. Hope he turns out to be one of them great ones.
Excellent. A number of years back, Ferentz mentioned essentially how he wanted the Hawks to recruit our "backyard" more thoroughly. Not long thereafter, we started landing guys from Wisconsin with greater frequency. With Polasek ... he has places like western Minnesota well within his geographic wheel-house.
Anyhow, I'm excited about Yahya ... clearly a lot of growth potential ... and given how the Hawks develop guys ... he had the chance to be successful at a number of different positions.
Great news! Welcome to the family!
Anyhow, I'm excited about Yahya ... clearly a lot of growth potential ... and given how the Hawks develop guys ... he had the chance to be successful at a number of different positions.
Great news! Welcome to the family!
The thing that you have to appreciate about his film is that he puts in the effort plays ... even if the play gets behind him ... he then still runs to the ball. Those sort of effort plays show a lot about a kid ... about what sort of teammate you're working with.
Will be interested to see how he projects. I’m guessing either DT or offensive line. He’s not really a good DE prospect as he doesn’t have a great get-off and doesn’t bend the edge either. But this dude is a pancake machine.
Go back and watch some of Chauncey Golston's footage. A guy with nice length too. What you see in Yahya is what I saw in Chauncey ... however, Chauncey has subsequently developed wonderfully at DE. I was happily proven wrong in the case of Chauncey.
Just glancing at that picture, he looks like an OT. Watching the highlight, he looks really raw as an OL. If he was playing at 250, though, it was a skinny 250 and I'd have to imagine he could add a lot to that frame. So, not sure where he ends up, but I'll be interested to find out.
I love being wrong in these cases. However, I was just drawing inferences about Waggs from what I had been hearing.
Subsequently, he seemed to be drawing some praise from Kirk. When Kirk says something ... it's usually legit.
And for the record ... despite Chauncey being pretty skinny ... I liked his high school tape at DT. As he demonstrated this past year ... he's pretty nifty at that spot.
Hope Lee is the real deal at DE because we all know AJ is gone, but I think Golston will be gone too.
Jackson and Lattimore are buddies of Chauncey ... and they'll likely be gone after 2019 ... so that lends some credibility to your suspicion. However, unless you truly have an elite skill-set like Epenesa ... I think that it benefits a player too much to be a multi-year starter for the Hawks. Consequently, I still have Chauncey pegged to stick around for his SR year. However, as you've aptly noted ... I've been wrong on more than a few occasions!
We'll have Lee, VanValkenberg, and Waggs ... so hopefully that will give us some strong scaffolding if you're right!
Wait.... are you saying we’re going to have guys named Yaweh and Yahya?
Players leaving early is the reality today. Period. They don't look at getting drafted in the third round as a disappointment. You would have to be able to show them they would improve their draft stock dramatically AND not get injured during another season in college. We aren't going to see many three or four-year starters going forward.
I know your joking, but Polasek is a big dude. Saw him biking with some other football coaches and he's no small fry. Like what he's doing in the program.Is Tim P 5'5"?
Dude has some seriously long reach. This kid is definitely not done filling out. Doyle... Go to work!
yeah, i was. its just crazy how these teenagers look so damn massive next to the coaches.
On a side note: Doyle must just lick his chops. And the kids get free food, free nutritional supps & free training from the best of the best. What's that worth? Heck, good personal trainers start out at $100/hour last I heard. There's a lot that makes up the total value of a college scholarship, that's for sure.
say what you want about KF but I love the way he runs the program.
Yahya! Love that name. I love this commit as well. Looks like we can plug him in wherever we need. Nice to have that kind of versatility. Thanks you Yahya for becoming a Hawkeye. You won't regret it.
So are many here thinking he may not stay on defense? I know according to the recruiting board we have 3 of a projected 4 OL committed already.
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anon_likibb9jzd3e0
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What I like is that Iowa is starting to routinely get 6'4"+ guys at DE like Michigan and tOSU naturally do. Iowa use to take a 6'2" HS LBs and try to built a DE with quicker frames. The Nate Meier mold. Iowa sees and offers more 6'4"+ kids and Iowa is getting better starting quality Midwest kids. Iowa is not on the nationwide level as the blueblood programs are but the trend looks better. AJE's star status in the pros may reap benefits in years to come. It's helpful when key spots in the NFL are filled with former Hawkeyes and the media has to talk about them and what program they attended. Go Hawks!
Is Tim P 5'5"?
Eh, judging by the picture he looks more like 5’9 or 5’10. Looks buff as hell though, I’m sure a lot of 6’4” 240 types wouldn’t want to mess with him.
Steve Wiltfong with 247Sports said he was told by someone close to Black's recruitment that he is a future 1st rounder.
We will have Golston back. He's gonna have to have a monster year to go pro early.
I don't have any thoughts one way or the other on whether he'll go early or not, but I bet he does have a monster year with AJE drawing double and triple teams freeing up the rest of the DL for 1:1 matchups.
He has more pro potential than Anthony Nelson. He'll have a solid year and likely be gone.
I agree with you ... I was just replying to Johnsoda123's post ... wherein he was of the opinion that Golston would be gone after the '19 season too.
While I really like Golston and I think that he's a really talented player ... I also think that he needs to utilize all the college starts he can in order to continue to maximize his ability.
The NFL goal is not just to reach it and get an opportunity .... ultimately a guy wants to STICK and reach that second contract. You don't get to that position unless you've cultivated the skill-set that will permit you to stick. A lot of fans and a lot of players don't seem to realize this simple NFL equation.
A really telling stat will be the following ... how many guys left early for the '19 draft? How many of those guys went undrafted? How many of those guys even manage to ultimately make a practice squad?
A little impatience (and bad information from agents) could ultimately end up killing the NFL dream that some of these young men have.
Golston is in his fourth year on campus. He played in all 13 games last year and posted really solid stats as part of a rotation. I thought he was fantastic in the bowl game. He will play another 13-14 games this year. I never even imagined Nelson and Hooker leaving early but it happened. Golston will have a decision and maybe guys we never thought of like Stone and Hankins. Ferentz has said it is the new normal.
Nelson was a part-time starter in '16 and then a full-time starter in '17 and '18. I would guess that Nelson was convinced that there was nothing that another year would do to increase his draft stock. As it was, he probably got a pretty favorable draft grade ... and given the quality of the DEs and edge-rushers ... his draft position simply slid down further than he anticipated.
Golston did perform pretty well as a back-up ... however, it's still a different beast being an every-down performer. There's still a ton he can yet learn.
As for Geno Stone ... I love his skill-set ... but he lacks the physical measurables to garner too much NFL attention.
The NFL looks at potential. That is why they put so much stock in measurables. GMs think they can fix errors and develop the players into what they want them to be. You can't coach Golston's explosion. Even if they don't see him as an every-down player, someone will take him as a rush specialist. I see him as a second or third round pick whether he comes out after 19 or stays until 20. I suspect he will be gone after this year, as will Wirfs, Alaric, and AJE. Hankins is a possibility if he reaches his potential. It is what it is.
The NFL does prospect upon talent ... but not because they're big into player development. They expect players to ultimately add value to their organization that results in production and wins. If players don't produce ... then they're disposed like yesterdays garbage. The NFL is very much a "what have you done for me lately" sort of league (like it or not).
It benefits a player a great deal to have a high football IQ ... and for guys who aren't no-brainer draft picks ... more time learning to break down tape and prepare for games in college helps to build that IQ.
I'll reiterate ... what do folks think the net result will be of all those guys who left early? It's not near as rosy a scenario as many might wish to think ...
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How do you figure that he has more pro-potential than Anthony Nelson? I'd love it if this were true ... however, it's not at all obvious at this point.
I'd add ... as a redshirt freshman, Anthony Nelson experienced a tougher schedule ... and still managed to net 8 TFLs and 6 sacks. As a redshirt sophomore ... seeing a comparable number of snaps ... albeit against a lighter schedule ... Golston managed to get 9 TFLs and 3.5 sacks. Another point to notice ... Golston had the benefit of having a human wrecking ball on the right side of the D. A guy like Epenesa tends to open up opportunities for other guys.
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